ã€ŠRisou no Himo Seikatsuã€‹


 Chapter Volume 1 Prologue

    ¡°I wee you, my future husband. First off, I offer you my apologies for my impolite behaviour of bringing you here into this world, into this pce of mine without any notice. I ask you to forgive me.¡±

    The captivating beautiful woman with red hair and light brown skin called out to him with a sweet smile.

    ¡°¡­¡­.Huh?¡±

    The man the woman called out to¡ª Yamai Zenjirou raised a dumbfounded voice withoutprehending the situation at all.

    Just what was going on?

    If Zenjirou¡¯s memory proved him right, today should be Saturday, the first holiday after half a year, where he didn¡¯t have to work.

    Since he could rarely enjoy two consecutive holidays after bing a working adult, he knowingly woke up at the same time like during the week and took a drive with his bicycle to the nearby convenience store to fetch some breakfast. He properly remembered it up to this point.

    And as a matter of fact, Zenjirou¡¯s bottom was ced on the saddle of the bicycle even now and his hands were holding the handle.

    Stuffed into the front basket were the heated up ¡°Fried Chicken Lunchbox¡± and a 500ml pet bottle with green tea.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    To confirm his sanity, Zenjirou, still sitting on the bicycle, reached out his right hand and tried touching the lunch box and tea in the basket.

    The lunch box was warm and the tea cold. This actual sensation made this unlikely to be a dream. While on the topic, the lunch box hadn¡¯t cooled down and the tea hadn¡¯t be lukewarm, so it was unlikely too that he lost consciousness and was taken somewhere far away without knowing it.

    However, if that was the case, then why did he have to be smiled at by a stunning beauty in a dim and stony room like this when he was pedalling his bicycle through the Kantou area in Japan just a moment ago?

    Zenjirou inadvertently peered hard at the beautiful woman standing in front of him.

    She must be the in the middle of her 20s? Though for that she showed an unusual appeal andposure, so she might be a bit older than that. At least she didn¡¯t look younger than the twenty-four old Zenjirou.

    She wore a slinky red dress with a V-neck around her chest, but her figure was in no way inferior to this elegant dress.

    The cleavage peeking out from the V-neck prided itself with a size that was worth being called enormous, one size above huge, and her slender waist was inversely proportional to it. A long skirt covered the line down from her waist, so he couldn¡¯t see it, but at this rate there was much to anticipate.

    Her figure with broad and somewhat square shoulders would turn off some men with certain tastes, but at least to Zenjirou, she had plenty of womanly charm.

    In fact, her beauty was so perfect for Zenjirou¡¯s liking that he would scream ¡°I have loved you ever since I was born!¡± if he had the assurance that the current situation was a dream.

    ¡°Your Highness, we do not have much time. The ¡®summoning¡¯ seeded, so you should start exining as soon as possible.¡±

    While Zenjirou was captivated by the red-haired beauty, a young man in a leather armour standing to the right of the woman, advised her so with a monotone voice.

    On this remark, Zenjirou realized for the first time that other people were in this stony room besides him and the beautiful woman.

    When he hastily looked around, he could see a total of four men that held spears and were d in the same leather armour like the man, who spoke, standing still around him at all sides.

    Moreover, on the woman¡¯s left stood an old man in a purple robe with a long staff.

    The reason Zenjirou didn¡¯t notice these people around him wasn¡¯t because he was particrly short-sighted.

    The red-haired beauty in front of him had just that much of a presence. On a closer look, the armed guards had an impressive physique and their features were rather dignified as well, but next to the beautiful woman, they just looked like ¡°extras to the Queen¡±, even when regarded with favour.

    Guess they called this ¡°charisma¡±? While Zenjirou thought about that, the woman nodded short and looked straight into his eyes, beginning to talk.

    ¡°I know. Well then, my future husband. I am sure you have no idea why you are here. May I exin and warrant the chain of events?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Ah, y- yes.¡±

    Zenjirou shook his head vertically, overwhelmed by her smile rather thanprehending her words.

    On his obedient reply, the woman brightened her smile.

    ¡°Good. Now then, we cannot have a leisurely talk in this dim ce, so we should move on. Please follow me.¡±

    The woman said so, then turned around with her red hair ttering greatly and walked away.

    ¡°We will take care of this vehicle of yours.¡±

    ¡°Ah, o- okay. Thanks.¡±

    Without having the slightest clue, Zenjirou got off his bicycle and somewhat habitual flipped down the kickstand, locking the bicycle with the key from his trousers. Then he quickly went after the woman, who looked back at him at the entrance.

    * * *

    Passing through a long hallway with stony walls and floor, Zenjirou was guided to a broad room into which the bright sun rays shone. Two long leather couches were set up across each other with a big wooden table in-between.

    Prompted by the woman, Zenjirou sat down on the couch.

    After waiting for him to sit down, the woman sat down across of him and slowly opened her mouth.

    ¡°Let us start with a self-introduction. My name is Aura Carpa. I want you to call me Aura.¡±

    ¡°Ah, okay, Aura-san it is. I¡¯m, no, my name is Yamai Zenjirou. Yamai is myst name and Zenjirou my first name.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then my I call you Zenjirou-dono?¡±

    ¡°Yes, by all means.¡±

    Hearing his affirmation, the woman¡ª Aura smiled happily.

    ¡°Thank you, Zenjirou-dono. Well then, I will now simply exin the chain of events of what happened to you. To you it might sound like an absurd action that you cannot agree with, but do know that is not impossible to undo the current situation.

    Should it go against your will, I will make everything like before. That I promise you. So could you please listen to my whole story in silence for now?¡±

    Aura made a rather unsettling prologue with a sudden serious expression, whereupon Zenjirou got a bad feeling, but after pondering for a bit, he nodded in the end.

    At any rate, he had no clue in what kind of situation he was right now anyway. Altogether, before showing any anger like Aura had mentioned, he could not get angry over a situation he didn¡¯t understand.

    One filed aint after hearing the whole standpoint from the other party.

    ¡°I understand. Please let me hear it.¡±

    On Zenjirou¡¯s answer, Aura made a sigh of relief and after a deep breath, she started to talk.

    ¡°Thank you. Then I will start exining from the fundamentally question of what this ce is. We are in the Carpa Kingdom, which is located in the west of the Landlion continent¡ª also known as the ¡®South Continent¡¯. And this is a room in the pce, which is the center of the capital of Carpa. I am sure all these names do not mean anything to you.

    Well, naturally, since this is a different world from the one you were born and lived in. A so called ¡®Parallel Universe¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­Huh? Parallel universe¡­?¡±

    Still notprehending the situation, Zenjirou tilted his head, whereas Aura gave him a wry look and continued to exin.

    Aura¡¯s exnation went on for a long time. Or more precisely he couldn¡¯t tell at all, but when he looked at his wristwatch midway once, it was half past seven and right now with the exnation all done with, the needle of the clock had turned to the eight.

    Somehow gleaning Aura¡¯s exnation that hadsted for at least thirty minutes, but more likely one hour, into his head, Zenjirou said in a dazed tone.

    ¡°Ehm¡­ In other words, this is a country called the Carpa Kingdom in a different world and you, Aura-sama, are the Queen of it, correct? Furthermore, magic exists in this world and you used a ¡®Space-time magic¡¯ that¡¯s only practicable by the royal family, to summon me into this world.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is correct. It seems you finally understand. Ah, also, you do not need to use respective speech with me. Just casually call me Aura.

    Certainly, I am the Queen of this country, but you are not a citizen of my country. Or rather, I dragged you into this world without any notice, so you are nothing but a victim. At the present time there stands no reason for you to ord me your courtesy.¡±

    Saying so, Aura remorsefully lowered her head a bit.

    ¡°O- Okay, I understand, Aura¡­-san.¡±

    Zenjirou hastily averted his eyes from Aura¡¯s voluminous cleavage he got a deep insight on due to her bow.

    The reason that this simple exnation took nearly one hour was that Zenjirou hadn¡¯t really tried to understand her words.

    Well, understandable. There was no way that a typical Japanese from the modern age would take a strange urrence like ¡°being summoned to a different world¡± as reality.

    Aura persistently kept exining to Zenjirou, who was quite doubtful about this being a different world, without getting irritated. As a result, Zenjirou finally admitted the fact that he was in a different world right now.

    The deciding factor was the ¡°Raptorial Dragon¡± ridden by a ¡°Knight¡± that came to the window on Aura¡¯s order.

    This ridiculouslyrge lizard with twice the size of a horse, had stuck his long neck through the window from the garden and licked Zenjirou¡¯s cheek.

    That lukewarm and real sensation ridded Zenjirou of any possibilities that this was a dream or somerge-scaled prank.

    Zenjirou spoke out a question while wiping the ¡°Raptorial Dragon¡¯s¡± grass-stinking saliva from his wet cheek with the sleeve of his T-shirt.

    ¡°What I don¡¯t get is why you would summon something like me.¡±

    Zenjirou had no special skills and was just your average Japanese male. At least he didn¡¯t consider himself valuable enough to purposefully be summoned by a Queen to a different world through magic.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to make me do something, right? Not to brag about it, but I can¡¯t swing a sword, nor can I use any magic.¡±

    To discourage her from it, Zenjirou said so with a timid tone, whereas Aura smiled sweetly and shook her head.

    ¡°No, I have not the slightest intentions to make you do something so dangerous. This western part of the South Continent was engulfed in a long war for generations, but now it has rtively calmed down. What I want to ask of you is just one thing: To be my ¡¯spouse¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Spouse?¡±

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t understand the meaning behind Aura¡¯s words right away, so he tilted his head and asked back.

    ¡°Yes, my spouse. Or husband, if you prefer it that way. I am asking you to marry me.¡±

    Spouse, husband, marry. After being told that much, even Zenjirou¡¯s currently slow brainprehended it.

    ¡°Ueeeh!? M- Ma- Marry!? Why!?¡±

    Understanding Aura¡¯s request, Zenjirou jumped up from the couch.

    As she predicted his reaction to some extent, Auraughed a bit, then continued to exin with a calm voice.

    ¡°This will take a while, but please hear me out first. Like I said before, my country fought a long war. Fortunately our country managed to be on the winning side in this war, but the price was high.

    We lost citizens, the aristocrats were displeased and the royal family died out, except for me.

    Blessedly there is hope for rehabilitation in some way thanks to the support the citizens and aristocrats gave the country afterwards, but the problem is the royal family. With me as thest member of the royal family, our bloodline could end any time, so you could call my marriage an absolute duty.

    However, the ¡®Carpa¡¯ lineage inherits the unique ¡®Space-time¡¯ magic in it¡¯s blood. Not just anyone will do for a marriage partner. To bequeath the magic onto the next generation, apanion that inherited the same Carpa blood would be most desirable.¡±

    ¡°Hah, I see¡­¡±

    Not quiteprehending it, Zenjirou gave an agreeable response on reflex.

    The custom of taking a partner with a blood-rtion as close as possible to keep the royal lineage pure-blooded was often practised on earth in the past too.

    All the more was it natural to value a pure-bred in this world, where it came with the practical benefit of an inherited ¡°bloodline magic¡±.

    However, he understood the current situation even less then.

    ¡°But if that¡¯s the case, why me? I¡¯m just an earthling that doesn¡¯t even know the runes for magic.¡±

    Aura smiled meaningful upon Zenjirou¡¯s frank question and answered.

    ¡°The reason is quite simple: Because you clearly inherited the blood of the ¡®Carpa¡¯ family.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­.Huh?¡±

    This time for sure Zenjirou didn¡¯t understand the meaning behind Aura¡¯s words for a while. ¡°You inherited the blood of the Carpa family.¡± It took him more than ten seconds toprehend the meaning behind these words. Zenjirou pped his hand in front of his face like a broken doll and denied Aura¡¯s words.

    ¡°No, no. What¡¯s up with that!? Not possible, never!¡±

    Zenjirou denied it with all his might, but Aura continued her speech without paying mind to it.

    ¡°It dates back to five generations before me, roughly 150 years ago.

    It was erased from the royal documents, so I am not so sure myself, but I heard that it all started with the first prince of our country at that time, who fell in love with a woman that he originally should not marry.

    It is both said that this woman was just amoner or the princess of a rival country, but the truth is unknown.

    Anyway, the prince fell in love with a person that he would never be allowed to marry since he was in line to seed the throne and he did not even listened to his parents, the King and Queen.

    Since they were not allowed to be together in ¡¯this world¡¯, the two lovers decided to go into a ¡¯different world¡¯ and be together there. Quite romantic.¡±

    Being told that much, Zenjirou could guess what Aura wanted to say.

    ¡°Do you want to say that¡­ I¡¯m their descendent?¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    Zenjirou asked back dumbfounded, whereas Aura affirmed it without breaking her smile.

    ¡°I did not used the summoning magic just like that. I specified it, so that it inevitable would summon a man that inherited the blood of the Carpa family. As a result, you appeared, Zenjirou-dono.

    Thus there is no doubt that you are their descendent.¡±

    Even while Zenjirou affirmed Aura¡¯s definitely stated words in a part of his brain, he still put out another objection.

    ¡°That can¡¯t be. No, even if it¡¯s true, it¡¯s five generations ago, you know!? That means he would be my, ehm¡­ great-great-great-grandfather? So I inherited just a tiny bit?¡±

    Aura nodded shortly to these words from Zenjirou once, then answered with a firm tone.

    ¡°Yes and to be honest, I was prepared for that too. However, to my surprise, you have inherited it quite strongly. It is not as strong as a direct descendent, but on the level of a branch family¡®s head and so much that we can hope for you to use the ¡®Space-time magic¡¯ yourself with some training.¡±

    ¡°Y- You can even tell that?¡±

    Aura dered with a serious expression, whereas Zenjirou inquired while relocating his seating position backwards wincing.

    ¡°I can. I might not be able to say if you inherited the ¡®royal¡¯ blood or not, but I can confirm thetent magic power in someone on sight. Zenjirou-dono, your magic power is a semi-royal ss.

    The fact that my summoning magic reacted to you means that you have the blood of the ¡¯Carpa Family¡¯ without doubt, and judging by your magic power, I conjecture that your inherited blood is quite strong too. This must be what they call a lucky surprise.

    It is as if they purposefully repeated consanguineous marriages in the other world to preserve the bloodline.¡±

    On Aura¡¯s words, Zenjirou suddenly recalled a certain fact.

    ¡°Oh, right! Now that I think about it, it¡¯s rted¡­ I guess?¡±

    ¡°Zenjirou-dono? Do you have something in mind?¡±

    Aura asked with her head tilted, whereas Zenjirou answered while pondering a bit.

    ¡°Ah, yes. Actually, Ie from an isted rural vige with a long history. From way back, only one or two people per generation married someone from outside the vige.¡±

    Zenjirou had been tired of the isted and thus unchanging country side, so he enrolled in an university in the Kantou area, found a job there and started his life in the city.

    Come to think of it, most people of the vige, starting with his parents, who died in a traffic ident when he was in middle school, had rather dark skin and reddish hair for a Japanese.

    As a matter of fact, for a Japanese man, Zenjirou too had rather darkish skin and reddish-brown to ck hair.

    On his words, Aura ced her hand onto her chin and nodded as to consent.

    ¡°Indeed. So as a result, that isted vige prevented the royal blood from thinning down in the other world.¡±

    ¡°Yes, if you take it as that, it fits the story.¡±

    (Seriously? Actually I¡¯m not a genuine Japanese, but are partly a person from a different world? I never heard anything about this!?)

    Yes, it fit the story. It matched. Zenjirou mentally fell into a abysmally panic while showing a stiff smile on the surface.

    Unexpectedly getting to know his ancestor¡¯s secret, he turned pale, whereas Aura showed a happy smile and drew closer.

    ¡°You are indeed thepanion I seek. What do you say, Zenjirou-dono? You must be confused by the sudden story, but would you seriously consider choosing the path of marrying me and living in this world?¡±

    Aura put on a serious expression and broached like that, whereas Zenjirou pondered with a wee bitposed expression.

    Marrying the woman in front of him. That in itself was by no means a bad thing. As described earlier, Aura¡¯s appearance was a perfect match to Zenjirou¡¯s taste and judging by their conversation, her nature didn¡¯t seem bad either.

    That said, she was a Queen and conducting herself ordingly, so he mustn¡¯t forget that it was dangerous to extrapte her nature from just her behaviour so far.

    However, the more pressing problem was that it wasn¡¯t ¡°Aura marrying into his family¡±, but ¡°him marrying into her family¡±.

    The moment he epted this proposal, Zenjirou would say good-bye to earth. No matter how much of the ideal woman she was to him, when he had to give up everything like his work, friends or amusements and cuisines, which could only be enjoyed on earth, in exchange for it, then he just couldn¡¯t make a decision.

    Also, with his brain slowed down by the thought of ¡°Is this a dream?¡°, Zenjirou couldn¡¯t reply to this matter right away.

    After pondering about all that, he suddenly realized that he left out an important matter.

    ¡°Uh- Uhm, I¡¯m already here and all, but what if, and I mean just hypothetically, what happens if I turn down your proposal?¡±

    It was obvious at a first nce what he feared by seeing his face colour while he timidly asked so.

    To reassure the pale man in front of her, Aura answered with a diligent smile.

    ¡°In that case, I will naturally take responsibility and return you to your own world with the ¡®Deport Magic¡¯. I told you at the beginning, remember? ¡®Should it go against your will, I will make everything like before.¡¯

    As things stand, I already dragged you into this world without any notice. I have the discretion to reverse everything in case that you decline. Please be at ease ande up with an answer as your heart dictates you.¡±

    ¡°Ah, i- is that so¡­¡±

    On Aura¡¯s answers, Zenjirou made a deted sigh of relief.

    When he leaned back into the sofa, his T-shirt stuck to his back nastily. Apparently his back had be drenched by a cold sweat without his notice.

    In a lot of cases of ¡°summoning to a different world¡± in novels or manga, you could be summoned, but not returned, so the summoned person was forced to live in the different world against his will, but seemingly the reality Zenjirou confronted here wasn¡¯t that unreasonable.

    At any rate, it was fortunate that he could be returned. Upon hearing that, Zenjirou, who was about to blow up, regained a bit of hisposure.

    ¡°At any rate, I n to return you to your world once too if you should ept my offer. When you are going to part with your original world, I am sure you have people you want to say farewell to. The usage of the summoning and deport magic depends on the constetion of the stars, so I cannot use it freely, but much to our luck, the current constetion willst till tomorrow.

    Moreover, the stars will be in position for a summoning again in one month¡¯s time.

    In other words, if you decline my offer, I will send you back home and everything will be over. If you ept it, I will let you return temporarily tomorrow and summon you again in month.¡±

    ¡°Hoh, it can be used that frequently?¡±

    Zenjirou made an easy-going observation, whereas Aura shook her head with a wry smile.

    ¡°No, we are just blessed with a special star constetion. In fact, if we let the chance next month go by, we will have to wait thirty years for the next. There is no need to be overly worried, but we cannot take it too optimistic.¡±

    ¡°Geh, no way, thirty years?¡±

    On Aura¡¯s answer, Zenjirou inadvertently forgot his respective speech and leaked his natural voice.

    Thirty years was certainly too long. If he were to ept this marriage proposal, he would have to say good-bye to earth for good without doubt.

    But knowing that he would be returned to his world tomorrow if he declined, Zenjirou¡¯s mental condition made a considerable change for the betterpared to before.

    A person¡¯s mentality was a mysterious thing, since it thought ¡°I want to go home at all cost¡± if told ¡°You can never go back¡±, yet when told ¡°You can go back if you want¡±, it thought ¡°I don¡¯t really need to go back, do I?¡±.

    (If everything Aura-san says is actually true, then it¡¯s quite the attractive story. To begin with, I don¡¯t have started an own family, nor do I have a lover. As for my job¡­ Well, I was doing fine in it, but I¡¯m not really attached to a job with around 150 work hours plus overtime on a monthly average.)

    Thinking back on it, today was his first day off on a Saturday after half a year.

    Coming home after midnight on a weekday was the norm. Saturday was in principle a workday. He even worked on three Sundays per month. It was a salvation that he was at leastpensated the exact hours of overtime without deception, but he had no free time in his days to spend that money.

    Even when he came home, he had not even the energy left to cook himself and his dinner on a weekday was always either a lunchbox from the convenience store or a meal at a restaurant. Now that he was thinking about it, hadn¡¯t it been half a year, since he talked to a woman outside of work or shopping?

    (After some thought, I¡¯m really not attached to my life on earth¡­)

    His original world. No lover and every day full of work.

    This world. Marriage with a hot babe.

    When hepared it over again, wasn¡¯t this proposal a so-called ¡°godsend¡± for Zenjirou?

    He thought about that for a moment, but his mentality, out of control from his original timidity, put a stop to it.

    (No, no, wait. Even if everything so far is true, I still haven¡¯t heard about one factor. Aura-san¡¯s a Queen, right? There¡¯s no way I would get to sit back and do nothing after marrying a Queen.)

    The royal family members were born to be politicians. In novel or manga, Princes often lived a rosy life, but they were nothing but an exception and those that took their royal obligations serious were so busy all the time that you pitied them.

    Instead of such a lifestyle, it would be easier to be a ck suit sry man in his original world.

    Zenjirou took a few short deep breathes covertly, calming down his own heart that hastened to a conclusion.

    ¡°Ehm, then let¡¯s assume for now I ept, what kind of obligations would I have in this world? The husband of the Queen is part of the royal family too, right?¡±

    Aura smiled gently on Zenjirou¡¯s question, as she took it as a positive sign.

    ¡°There are no arrangements for that. I am the 32rd person to ascend the throne in our country, but I am only the third woman to do so in the history of Carpa.

    Moreover, my two antecessors remained single and either adopted a child from a branch family with a strong kinship as her sessor or let the younger brother, who was still a baby at the time of her enthronement, take the throne.

    In other words, you are the first one to be a Queen¡¯s husband here in Carpa, Zenjirou-dono.¡±

    Aura spoke as if it was already decided that he would be her ¡°husband¡±, but Zenjirou couldn¡¯t afford to concern himself with that, because in her sentence was a part that drew all his attention.

    ¡°P- Please wait a moment! Do you mean that this country does not legally fix the rights and obligations for the prince consort?¡±

    Prince consort was referring to the Queen¡¯s husband. Since no Queen married in this country so far, this term might not actually exist.

    The Queen nodded calmly to the flustered Zenjirou.

    ¡°Yes, document-wise that is the case. However, be at ease, Zenjirou-dono. As you can see from our history with three female rulers amongst thirty-two, our society is patriarchic. Naturally at business, but the head of the family is also always a man too. It is a women¡¯s virtue to bepliant.

    I promise that once we marry, I will do everything in my might to meet your wishes, whatever it might be¡±

    She uttered incredible sweet words like that.

    ¡°Uh-oh¡­¡±

    The conversation had totally gone over Zenjirou¡¯s head and he answered with a silly reply and a nk facial expression.

    If he could trust all of Aura¡¯s story, then he would have no special obligations to fulfil when marrying her, and she even would bepliant, trying her best to please him.

    ¡­That sounded way too convenient. Not even Zenjirou, whose brain gears were still working slowly, could ept this so easily. It was obviously too good to be true.

    (Wait, just think about it. There has to be something behind it.)

    Faced with conditions so good that he inadvertently wanted to swallow them without judging too strictly, Zenjirou desperately wracked his brain.

    (To begin with, what does Aura-san gain from this marriage? Preserving the royal blood line? Just that?)

    Zenjirou strongly inherited the royal blood, so his existence was incredible appealing for sure, considering that the royal family died out except for Aura.

    However, would one offer such sweet conditions just for that? A husband that did nothing but making a child. The world called them ¡°spongers¡±.

    (Going so far as to make her husband a sponger, maybe Aura-san has a high craving for good-for-nothings? Can¡¯t be¡­)

    If that wasn¡¯t the case, there should be some huge merit for her somewhere. Otherwise she wouldn¡¯t have offered such ¡°sweet conditions¡± to begin with, no matter how suitable to the lineage Zenjirou was.

    (It¡¯s no use. I don¡¯t know enough.)

    ¡°Push through a deal without reading the small print and it¡¯lle back to haunt youter.¡± Zenjirou recalled the bitter words of his senior at work and asked Aura a question afterwards.

    ¡°Excuse me. Getting back on topic, what will you do when I reject your offer, Aura-san? You will still have to marry, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. In that case, I will most likely have to ept an aristocrat with rtively strong royal blood from within the country as my husband. Though while I say strong, it is not all that noteworthy.

    That is precisely the reason I went through all the trouble to call you here, Zenjirou-dono, albeit knowing what troubles it causes you.¡±

    Aura showed a self-deprecating smile.

    (I see. She technically has groom candidates in the country too. Well, figures. ¡­Mh? Wait, could it be¡­ I¡¯ll try a leading question.)

    Zenjirou suddenly came up with a certain possibility, swallowed his saliva unknown to Aura, then asked the next question with a voice that feignedposure as much as possible

    ¡°I take that these candidates had their great-grandfather or great-grandmother in the royal family?¡±

    Aura, not seeing through his leading question, shook her head with a wry smile.

    ¡°Not at all. There is no one left with such thick kinship. They are people, whose great-grandfather¡¯s grandfather or at best, great-grandfather¡¯s mother was part of the royal family.¡±

    (! I knew it. Bingo!)

    Zenjirou hid his inner surprise on Aura¡¯s answer and somehow kept a poker face.

    His superior at work once said: ¡°In business let your reason control your expression, not your emotion.¡± That teaching came to be useful in a different world.

    Aura¡¯s answer just now was obviously strange. To express it in numbers, the aforementioned were people with royal blood in the fifth generation in case of the great-grandfather¡¯s grandfather or in the fourth generation in case of the great-grandfather¡¯s mother.

    In turn, Zenjirou¡¯s ancestor that came to earth, lived five generations ago. If there were people around with blood in the fourth generation like Aura said, then there was no reason to summon Zenjirou, whose blood was only in the fifth generation.

    Zenjirou had a rather thick kinship due to the isted rural vige he was raised in, but Aura shouldn¡¯t have known about that until she summoned him. In fact, she called it a ¡°lucky surprise¡±.

    In other words, the very exnation about summoning a groom from a different world to have a child with someone that strongly inherited the royal blood, was a lie.

    (Then why did she summon me? Maybe even the stuff about marrying me was a lie? No, don¡¯t go there. If I doubt that, there¡¯s no end to it.)

    Zenjirou himself had basically no way to return home by his own strength. Going by that, Aura had no need to deceive him with an appealing offer, because she could just lie to him with ¡°There is no way to return you to your original world¡±.

    Most likely Aura was trying to have a discussion as sincere as possible.

    (So it should be safe to assume that both her desire to marry me and the favourable conditions are true. And it makes more sense that way. But then why? Why did Aura-san dare to summon a descendent, whose kinship was weaker than the aristocrats in this country, from the royal family that fled to a different world and even give such favourable conditions?)

    ¡°Zenjirou-dono? What is the matter?¡±

    ¡°Ah, nothing. Sorry. I was a bit preupied in thoughts. So, when I marry you, what do you expect me to do? And I don¡¯t mean on the official front, but your personal aspiration.¡±

    Aura shrugged her shoulders a bit on Zenjirou¡¯s question, then answered pleasantly straightforward.

    ¡°Nothing in particr. If you ept my proposal, it means that you will throw away everything, your home, your family and your life so far for my sake. I am not so shameless to ask anything more of you.

    I just would like to have your cooperation in making a child for preserving the royal bloodline.¡±

    Apparently his only obligation would really be to make a child with the hot babe in front of him. At least it to his eyes it looked like Aura was saying that in good earnest.

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Aura¡¯s answer was still the sweet temptation that drove a man crazy, but Zenjirou had anticipated that answer this time.

    (Maybe my assumption is actually true? These conditions aren¡¯t favourable ¡°to me¡±, but right from the beginning, they were the most desirable ones ¡°to Aura-san¡±?)

    Zenjirou arranged the information he had gained so far inside his head.

    ?The Carpa Kingdom had people with a thicker kinship than the descendant from the royal family that fled into a different world.

    ?Yet, Aura dared to summon that descendant (Zenjirou) as her husband.

    ?Zenjirou happened to have strongly inherited the royal blood, but that was just a ?lucky surprise¡°.

    ?Aura told him that he had nothing to do, except making a child.

    ?This country¡®s society was fundamentally patriarchic and the existence of a Queen was rare.

    ?By the culture of this country, the head of the family was always the husband while the wife had the virtue to bepliant.

    ?The Queens so far had been single and in the history of this county, this would be the first time a ?Prince Consort¡° existed.

    Going by their conversation so far and the overwhelming charismaing from her whole body, Aura had more than enough talent as a Queen.

    Zenjirou kept asking questions to prove if his assumption was correct.

    ¡°Allow me two more questions please. Where would I live if I were to stay here?¡±

    ¡°In the Inner Pce, most likely. Usually the King of our country would take various wives as his Queen or concubines. It is a bit of an irregrity, but the Inner Pce would be the home to our married life.¡±

    As expected. There was nearly no doubt now.

    ¡°Then onest question.

    How would you take it if I were to shut in myself in the Inner Pce, avoid contact with the outside as much as possible, concern myself only with you and just spent my days by hanging around sloppily after I married you?¡±

    Aura reflexively replied to Zenjirou¡¯s hypothetical question with today¡¯s brightest smile, as she couldn¡¯t hold it back anymore.

    ¡°That would be fantastic!¡±

    Zenjirou confirmed that his assumption waspletely correct upon that utterance.

    (Okay, the puzzle is solved. There¡¯s no doubt. The condition ¡°No need to do anything¡± isn¡¯t a bait for me, but she genuinely wants a ¡°husband that does nothing¡±.)

    Her first choice of a man was a sponger, in the truest sense of the word.

    If you thought about it, it wasn¡¯t actually all that strange.

    His days swamped with work in a kind of sweatshop, Zenjirou had tried to measure things with his own values, but that was his mistake.

    Since he was tired from work, getting a lifestyle without work and all necessities provided + a beautiful bride was rather appealing to him, but that wasn¡¯t the general value concept in this world.

    For the one that became ¡°Prince Consort¡±, working meant nothing else but exerting the political power.

    Surely only a minority of men found it unappealing to make use of a mighty political power.

    In this country, a ¡°Prince Consort¡± could gain a respectable political power, even if his authority wasn¡¯t legally fixed.

    After all, the country¡¯s culture itself was modelled around a patriarchic society and the head of a ¡°family¡± would always be a man, even if he married into the family.

    And the woman, who became his wife, was expected to be aspliant as possible to the man she married. So in an extreme case, the ¡°Prince Consort¡± might even be able to ¡°order around¡± the ¡°Queen¡± through the ¡°family¡± instance.

    At least, the ¡°Queen¡± wouldn¡¯t be able to ignore the ¡°Prince Consort¡¯s¡± opinion in public.

    (Right. A groom from the aristocrats would probably strive for power and if such a person became the ¡°Prince Consort¡±, Aura-san might get all of her power snatched away from her. Well, even if he doesn¡¯t go that far, he would work out a profit for his parental home for sure.)

    A dual power system of a Queen and a Prince Consort. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if it caused a civil war in the worst case.

    (Indeed, if you think about it like that, it¡¯s understandable that she wants to specially call a groom from a different world. There is no proof that a groom from a different world has no political ambitions, but at least he won¡¯t pull any strings for his own family. Although it just prevents the groom¡¯s family from abusing their power as the consort n, it¡¯s a reasonable action.)

    Throughout the history of all countries alike, there are quite a lot of cases, where the family of the ruler¡¯s partner¡ª the ¡°Consort n¡± were the reason for the country¡¯s ruin.

    Aura had curiously watched over Zenjirou, who had pondered a lot and asked question after question, and opened her mouth once she saw that he had calmed down.

    ¡°I am well aware that it is absurd to have you make such a life-changing decision on the spot. However, as I mentioned before, the summoning magic is dependent on the star constetion, so we do not have much time.

    You do not need to give me an answer right here, but I would like you to make up your mind until tomorrow morning at thetest.

    I am one-sidedly pushing my circumstances onto you. It will cause you no harm if you were to reject it, and if you were to ept it, I promise you that I will conduct myself as your wife as faithfully as possible.

    What do you say, Zenjirou-dono?¡±

    Aura exined it to Zenjirou like that with a soft smile and an earnest look. No, ¡°persuaded¡± might be more appropriate for this.

    ¡°Yeah, well¡­¡±

    Zenjirou simply closed his eyes on the Queen¡¯s persuasion and pondered.

    If the assumption he came up with earlier was correct, then this was a sweet deal.

    However, to say it again, the price for it was his whole life that he spent on earth so far.

    Somehow, the man called Yamai Zenjirou had lived up to this very day by supporting himself, adjusting himself and cultivating himself as a single human.

    Certainly, his job was tough and he was always considering to quit, but he took pride in managing an independent lifestyle.

    It must be called a ¡°man¡¯s pride¡±.

    epting Aura¡¯s proposal meant to throw away that ¡°pride¡± and ept a lifestyle where he depended on a woman.

    Now, was that eptable? Was Yamai Zenjirou¡¯s ¡°pride¡± something so trivial that it could be thrown away so easily?

    (If I think about it a bit calmly, it¡¯s nothing to be troubled over.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a matter to idly dy until tomorrow morning. Because he had alreadye to a conclusion.

    When Zenjirou opened his eyes with his mind made up, he looked straight into Aura¡¯s reddish brown eyes, leaned over the table and said tly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get married, Aura-san!¡±

    Yamai Zenjirou¡¯s ¡°pride as a man¡± counted indeed for nothing.

    In the night of the day Yamai Zenjirou was summoned, Carpa¡¯s Queen Aura the First assembled several of her trusted retainers in her private chamber and had an informal meeting.

    The mes from the candleholder on the table bathed the broad room in a feeble light.

    Aura sat on a chair that was woven from southern vines with her legs crossed, looked at the retainers assembled before her and opened her mouth.

    ¡°So, what about my future husband?¡±

    She first spoke to a young waiting maid with long blonde hair, who stood at the very back.

    ¡°Very well. It appears he has turned in for the night a short while ago.¡±

    The blonde waiting maid reported inly with a high and clear voice.

    ¡°I see, good. Still, it seems he is quite the night person. We might have to prepare an extra budget for illumination in the Inner Pce from now on.¡±

    Absorbed in thoughts, Aura rested her chin on one palm of her crossed arms and muttered.

    If Zenjirou had heard that, he surely would have been disinclined about that evaluation. The current time was around ten at night at best. Zenjirou was used to return home around midnight on a weekday, so this was probably an early retire for him.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t been all that sleepy, he willingly had erased the lights and gone to bed in consideration to the waiting maids, who had to stay on duty until he went to sleep.

    Calling that ¡°Staying upte¡± or ¡°Night person¡± would leave him in a bind.

    Well, no surprise. In modern Japan he could have plenty of light through electricity all day long if he wanted to, whereas in this world the only light source was generally ¡°fire¡± itself, used on torches, candles ormps. The perception of a night¡¯s timeframe was fundamentally different.

    There were very few shops in this world that had opened during the night. Even the extremely busy mainstay of the Pce truthfully perceived ¡°the night as the time to sleep¡±.

    A middle-aged man with a slender face, who stood at the front and seemed to be a civil officer, remarked upon hearing Aura¡¯s words.

    ¡°At any rate, congrattion on obtaining a groom, Your Highness. Now, as what kind of person did Zenjirou-dono appear to you?¡±

    That middle-aged man¡ª Fabio Debache was Aura¡¯s private secretary.

    Originally the private secretary was a position without much authority, but at the present time, Aura hadn¡¯t appointed a Prime Minister, nor an Admiral, and lead the government and army by herself. So his authority has the ¡°Queen¡¯s right hand¡± was unimaginable vast.

    The Queen lightly shrugged her shoulders on the question of her trusted retainer, then

    ¡°He is far more keen than I had imagined. Moreover, he possesses a coolly judgement and a fair amount of audacity. I say it is an ¡®unlucky surprise¡¯.¡±

    she answered tly.

    Determining her evaluation, which only sounded like a praise, as an ¡°unlucky surprise¡± was proof that the Queen wasn¡¯t seeking a capable husband.

    The ideal husband for Aura was a man that drowned himself in the offered luxury, was satisfied by simply having practical desires like money, woman and delicacies fulfilled and showed not the slightest interest in political power.

    ¡°Especially thatst question from him. Zenjirou-dono most likely realized my intentions. And he still epted my marriage proposal.¡±

    Aura remembered the conversation from during the day and snickered. After all, he went as far as asking ¡°How would you take it if I were to shut in myself in the Inner Pce, avoid contact with the outside as much as possible, concern myself only with you and just spent my days by hanging around sloppily after I married you?¡± outright.

    It was quite apparent that he fully understood what she wanted from her husband, or to be more precise ¡°what she didn¡¯t want¡±.

    ¡°At first I assumed that he was of humble upbringing, but judging by his intelligence, he might belong to an aristocrat ss in the other world.¡±

    ¡°That cannot be ruled out.¡±

    ¡°His behaviour and manners leave a bit to be desired, but it is a fact that it would be somewhat strange to consider him an uneducatedmoner.¡±

    All of the assembled retainers nodded in agreement to Aura¡¯s failed expectations.

    At this point, Aura and the others unwittingly ended up applying themon sense of their own world to the other world. In their world only the royal family, the aristocrats and a few rich families had the right for education.

    For the better or worse, the great majority of themoners were nothing but illiterate and unrefined people to them. Taking the whole south continent into consideration, there were education institutes open even formoners, but a country like modern Japan, where every citizen went through a mandatory education of nine years waspletely unfathomable for Aura and the others.

    ¡°However, if that is the case, it is not unthinkable that Zenjirou-sama has some kind of ulterior motive for epting this marriage. If you wish to annul the engagement with him, we can give up on re-summoning him a monthter.¡±

    The man, who said that, was the elder in the purple robe that had stood on the left of Aura when Zenjirou came to this world.

    In reply to the words of Carpa¡¯s royal archmage Espaldion, Aura turned up her nose at him and shook her hand vehemently.

    ¡°Stop jesting, old geezer. Are you suggesting I should take the ¡®Insatiable Wolf¡¯ of the Guill¨¦n Family or the ¡®Marite¡¯ of the M¨¢rquez Family as my groom? If I were to do that, Carpa would fall to ruin from civil strife after we finally lived through the war.¡±

    The old mage showed a wry smile in response to the Queen¡¯s curt words, stroked his long grey beard, then picked up on the groom candidates that the Queen had criticised.

    ¡°Your Highness, you are being too harsh. Sir Puyol Guill¨¦n is a brilliant general and Sir Raffaello M¨¢rquez is an excellent civil official.¡±

    ¡°I am aware of that even without you telling me, old geezer. I myself put them into these positions. However, I am saying that no matter how capable they are, an overly ambitious man or a youngling that does not dare to oppose his parents are not suited to be my husband.¡±

    Aura¡¯s evaluation of them was harsh, but by no means wrong, so the aged magician couldn¡¯t say anything back anymore.

    ¡°Then you are going to take Zenjirou-dono as your husband after all?¡±

    The middle-aged man with the slender face¡ª Fabio got back on topic, to which Aura simply nodded in response.

    ¡°Yes. I am a bit concerned that he is more intelligent than I expected, but I approve of his personality. At least he is better than the ¡®Insatiable Wolf¡¯ and the ¡®Parent¡¯s Marite¡¯. His royal blood is strong as well, so we can hope that he himself will be able to use the ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯ with some training, instead of simply passing on the disposition for it onto our child.

    Then not even the aristocrats will be able toin in public.¡±

    Marriage for the sake of passing on the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±, the royal bloodline magic onto the next generation with certainty was a more than enough of a just cause in this world, where the country¡¯s strength was adequate to the number of people that could use the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±.

    In the not so distant future, when Zenjirou himself learned to use the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±, no one would be able to openly oppose their marriage.

    ¡°However, not only has he a different social standing, but he is also from a different world. I believe there will be many problems to building a family even after you get married.¡±

    In response to the elder mage, who worried about the future, Aura replied with a meaningful smile.

    ¡°Well, these are problems that arise regardless of whom I marry. It is just a matter of my sincerity and effort now. I already told my future husband this noon, this marriage purely arises from my one-sided circumstances. I will grant his wishes as long as they do not interfere with our government.¡±

    The good faith Aura had shown Zenjirou this noon was by no means a farce.

    Aura herself had a mental burden of debt towards Zenjirou for dragging him into her circumstances and even rational considered, it was natural to meet your future husband with sincerity.

    A husband was not a subordinator, but a family member. If everything went well, he was a closepanion she would live with for years until their death, sharing the bed numerous times.

    Having a feud would only be exhausting.

    ¡°I understand. That is a ¡®family¡¯ matter, so we will leave that up to you, Your Highness. However, it is a state matter whether you will have a child or not. In the unlikely case that you are ipatible for the ¡®night duties¡®, please report to us at once.

    Fortunately for us, Zenjirou-sama has inherited the royal blood strong enough that we can hope that he will learn the ¡¯Space-Time magic¡¯. And there are a lot of ¡®women¡¯ in our country that have inherited the royal blood as strong as Puyol-dono or Raffaelo-dono.¡±

    It was secretary Fabio, who spoke so extremely frank and tant.

    Indeed. The situation had changed from before, now that a man with strong royal blood in form of Zenjirou had appeared.

    Until now, only Aura had been able to use the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±, so it had been the utmost priority that Aura gives birth to a child, but now Zenjirou, a man withtent royal blood on a level where he should be able to use the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±, had appeared, which set the priorities somewhat anew.

    In an extreme case it was also possible that Aura ruled as an unpaired Queen like the other precedents and the child between Zenjirou and a woman with royal blood would seed her.

    To begin with, the marriage of a Queen was a contradiction between thew, ¡°absolute authority of the ruler¡±, and the culture, ¡°the head of a family is always a man¡±.

    It was more than likely that the aristocrat women with royal blood would use that contradiction as an excuse to call off the Queen¡¯s marriage and aim to marry Zenjirou themselves once his existence became known.

    In a way, Zenjirou was a golden egg, but also andmine at the same time.

    However, Queen Aura showed no signs of anger over her retainer¡¯s tant words and recrossed her legs while sitting on the chair, giving a profound answer.

    ¡°Yes, that will be a matter forter, but I have already thought of a way to deal with it. However, I believe your concern is unnecessary. I will properly make a child with my future husband.¡±

    ¡°Hoo? May I inquire where this confidencees from?¡±

    The elder mage asked curiously, whereas Aura replied with a sweet smile.

    ¡°Oh, it is quite simple. Sitting across from him, I had dinner with my future husband tonight and his gaze was painfully fixated on my chest. He himself thought I would not notice, but it was without a doubt a lustful gaze.

    It appears my body is stimting enough for his sexual desire.¡±

    Saying so, Aura threw out her extrarge chest proudly.

    What men considered to be just a nce was as good as staring for women.

    Somehow or other, Zenjirou¡¯s wicked thoughts werepletely exposed to the Queen.

 Chapter Volume 1 1

    The next day, Zenjirou woke up in the guest room of the pce.

    What leaped into Zenjirou¡¯s freshly opened eyes was the curtain of a luxury bed.

    He shivered his body briefly on the unfamiliar sight, but after a while he remembered where he had gone to bedst night and rxed his shoulders.

    ¡°¡­Ah, right. I¡¯m in another world.¡±

    Zenjirou got out of the bed that seemed bigger than his 10m2 room and lowered his feet onto the carpet on the floor.

    He put on the slippers that were prepared for him next to his feet and walked down the broad room whereupon he noticed that he was unconsciously scratching his stomach with his right hand.

    ¡°Argh, it itches all over. Guess the bugs got me. Yesterday I epted the marriage on the spur of the moment, but I might have been a been hasty¡­¡±

    Zenjirou mumbled all toote.

    Just by being here all day yesterday, he realized how inconvenient this world waspared to modern Japan.

    All of the food that had been served for lunch and dinner was deliciously seasoned, but the water and alcohol to it were oddly lukewarm.

    Zenjirou¡¯s taste buds were so poor that he couldn¡¯t tell the difference between normal beer and low-malt beer, but like a proper Japanese, his motto was ¡°Low-malt beer has to be ice-cold¡±.

    So for him, the warmth of the wine served for dinner was disgusting, not even taking the taste into consideration.

    Speaking of warmth, the climate itself was a problem. The impression he got from Aura¡¯s conversation yesterday was that this Carpa Kingdom had a rather hot climate, evenpared to the Kantou area of Japan.

    Even at the coldest season, rarely anyone would wear long sleeves outside and during the hottest season, people would ¡°refresh¡± themselves by sticking close to each other in confined spaces as much as possible, since the outside temperature would raise above the one of the body.

    Zenjirou recalled with a somewhat displeased face how he heard about a simr countermeasure for Indian summers.

    Things like thermometers didn¡¯t exist in this world, so he couldn¡¯t be sure, but he better prepared himself for winters with a minimum temperature of 20¡ãC and summers with over 40¡ãC.

    Needless to say, this world didn¡¯t know about air conditioning either. For Zenjirou, who only ever spent summers with air conditions in Japan, this heat was hell.

    As a matter of fact, he had a hard time sleepingst night because of it. Although it wasn¡¯t the peak of the summer yet, it took him more than an hour to fall asleep while he continued to turn around on top of the king-sized bed.

    That said, not only the heat disturbed his sleep. The other factor interfering with his pleasant rest was ¡°bugs¡±.

    Apparently this world had no ss windows. Due to that, the windows all had wooden shutters, which were kept open during the day to let the light in. Naturally, the bugs had a carte nche to enter.

    Technically the curtain of the bed functioned as a mosquito, but it couldn¡¯t shut out all of the bugs.

    As a result, Zenjirou had been bitten by bugs all over his body by the time he woke up.

    However, even facing all these inconveniences, what annoyed him instead was the restriction of the night.

    To be honest, he had never thought that a night without electrical light would be so troubling.

    During his meal with Aura, arge chandelier with big candles had illuminated the ce sufficiently, but when he walked down the hallway, he could only rely on the oil pan carried by the waiting maid that escorted him.

    And even his room had only a single oil pan prepared on the table as a light source.

    If he were to try reading a book with that kind of light, he would ruin his eyes for sure.

    ¡°I had heard that people went to bed early and woke up early in the past, but now I can rte. I mean, you can¡¯t do anything but sleep during the night like this.¡±

    Zenjirou changed his clothes while inadvertently mumbling someints.

    Yesterday, he had already turned down the ¡°help with changing clothes¡±, which was a custom for royals and aristocrats, from the waiting maid.

    His current attire was loose trousers with a sash around the waist and a baggy top like a negligee that reached till his knees.

    These were the typical night clothes for the upper ss, but after one night of wearing them, Zenjirou got the impression that he would rather sleep in trunks and a T-shirt instead. To begin with, he got entangled in the negligee he was wearing, since he turned around numerous times due to his bad sleeping posture.

    Having said that, Zenjirou was a special guest, the Prince consort, albeit unofficial at this point. Clothes, food and residence, everything provided to him surely were of the greatest quality, but it was a matter of fact that these goods couldn¡¯t satisfy Zenjirou, amoner of modern Japan.

    The era and degree of culture was significantly different.

    After he changed from the borrowed clothes into his own familiar clothes, Zenjirou sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for the waiting maid to get him.

    ¡°Now that I think about it, Japan sure is blessed. Nearly all houses have a refrigerator and air conditioning. Inparison, this ce doesn¡¯t even have electricity. But I don¡¯t have to work here. Not to mention, Aura-san is super pretty.¡±

    He had gone through warm alcohol, an ufortable bed and a dark night, but what captured him enough to make an informal engagement yesterday was Aura Carpa¡¯s charm.

    Aura had appeared in a red evening dress with a bold slit in front of Zenjirou at yesterday¡¯s dinner and fascinated her fianc¨¦ from the other world again with her charming smile and sexy body.

    Completely smitten by her Highness¡¯ daring and alluring figure, Zenjirou had let his gaze wander over the cleavage of Aura¡¯s voluminous breasts, her dress slit and thighs in a natural way (or at least Zenjirou thought so himself) the whole time.

    Thinking back on it now, that ass, breasts and thighs were worth enough to throw away the life in modern Japan.

    ¡°Oh, right. I brought my bicycle with me here. That means, when Ie back in a month, I can take some luggage with me, doesn¡¯t it. Great, I¡¯ll make a list for marriage-portion once I¡¯m home!¡±

    Saying so, Zenjirou pped his hands together and at the same time, the door was knocked.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Excuse me. The breakfast is served.¡±

    Zenjirou replied to the familiar voice of the waiting maid from the other side of the door with a loud voice.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ming!¡±

    Standing up from the bed, he swiftly rushed over to the door.

    * * *

    It was a fact that Yamai Zenjirou was a special guest in the Carpa Kingdom, but his existence was currently only known to Queen Aura and her close retainers.

    Due to that, the only one that sat with Zenjirou at the dining table for this world¡¯s third meal, this morning¡¯s breakfast was Aura, just like during yesterday¡¯s lunch and dinner.

    To express it with Zenjirou¡¯scking vocabry, the culture of Carpa felt like ¡°a mixture of a typical fantasy set in mediaeval Europe and an uncivilized southern country¡±.

    The long table, at which easily around 30 people could dine at the same time, surprisingly was one log split into two and with the surface polished up smoothly.

    Zenjirou couldn¡¯t even imagine how old that tree had been. To manufacture such a long log in one piece must cost way more than one out of marble.

    On top of thisrge wooden table were soup in silver tes and round bread in basket lined up.

    Zenjirou relished the foreign food while chit-chatting with Aura.

    ¡°We have already made preparations for your return. The constetions are favourable during forenoon today too, so it simply depends on you, Zenjirou-dono, when you will return. Just tell us when you are ready.¡±

    Wiping the bottom of the soup te with a piece of bread, Aura put it into her mouth and after she chewed it carefully and swallowed it, she reported the current situation to Zenjirou with her usual calm voice.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou, ignorant of this world¡¯s table manners, tilted the soup te with his left hand while he tried to remember how Aura took her meal. He spooned the amber-coloured liquid with his silver spoon and timidly lead it towards his mouth.

    ¡°Thank you, Aura-san. I am fine with returning any time. I only have one question: How much luggage can I take along between the worlds during the summoning or return?¡±

    Aura wasn¡¯t the type of person, who would fuss over table manners during a private meal, but Zenjirou would definitely attend public dinners as the Prince¡¯s consort from now on.

    Aura appreciated Zenjirou¡¯s attempt at remembering the table manners now and swallowed her words of ¡°You can eat as you want without minding about manners¡±, giving him a smile instead.

    ¡°Mhm, the summoning magic summons a person, so it principally should only be able to bring over things that you wear on your body. That mysterious vehicle you brought with you by chance surely is the limit.¡±

    Zenjirou inadvertently dropped his shoulders on Aura¡¯s answer, which was greatly different from his expectation.

    ¡°Uwa, seriously? That¡¯s bad. Then I can¡¯t take anything fancy¡­¡±

    ¡°Zenjirou-dono? Has something caught your eyes in the inner pce?¡±

    Aura tilted her head, whereas Zenjirou shook his hand in front of his head, correcting her misunderstanding.

    ¡°Ah, no. I didn¡¯t mean for my return, but for the next summoning in one month. If possible, I would¡¯ve liked to bring over some tools and stuff from my world¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Aura came to an understanding upon Zenjirou¡¯s answer.

    Come to think of it, her future husband should be in possession of some properties for living in the other world. If Zenjirou was an aristocrat or nobility in the other word, just like the retainers had spected with Aurast night, it wouldn¡¯t be strange that he owned an immense fortune that he doesn¡¯t want to let go.

    ¡°Certainly, considering your position, you would want to do something about that. Let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    The Queen wanted to fulfil his demands as best as possible all along, so she pondered what to do.

    ¡°¡­.Oh, I know. We might be able to use that.¡±

    After going through various possibilities inside her head, Aura found an useable one and pped her hands together.

    ¡°Is there some kind of way, Aura-san?¡±

    Zenjirou sat on the edge of his chair with a joyful look, whereas Aura nodded once.

    ¡°Yes. We have a magic carpet with barrier magic weaved into it, which is the foundation for the ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯.

    We will give you the carpet for your return to the other world and if you activate it¡¯s barrier when we summon you again in a month time, it should bring over everything inside that barrier.

    In the end, it is just a single carpet. It most likely cannot store all of your fortunes, but at least you will be able to bring more than with your bare hands.¡±

    ¡°Ohh, sound like I can bring a lot of stuff then! Ah, but my potential aside, I cannot use magic at the moment¡­¡±

    Zenjirou¡¯s joyful look changed into a disappointed one. Aura gave him a ¡°No worry¡± smile and exined.

    ¡°Rest assured. A magical tool activates just by pouring mana into it. If in the worst case, you cannot even do that, just drip some blood onto the carpet. Your blood is rich on mana.¡±

    On Aura¡¯s reply, Zenjirou¡¯s joyful look returned at once.

    ¡°Ah, now that is something even I can do. Thank you for everything, Aura-san.¡±

    ¡°Oh please,pared what you are doing for me, this is insignificant, so your gratitude is unnecessary.¡±

    Saying so, Aura gave him aposed smile.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t know the value of a magical tool, so he epted Aura¡¯s good will without questions, but if he had known of its value beforehand, he might have realized for a bit just how sincere Aura¡¯s interaction with him had been.

    Magical tools were created with a magic called ¡°Bestowal Magic¡±.

    Just like the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± from the royal Carpa Family, the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± could only be used by members of a certain royal family too. It wasmonly known as ¡°Bloodline Magic¡±. Needless to say, magical tools created with ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± were extremely rare and had skyrocketing prices.

    Not to mention, the magic weaved into carpet in question was ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±, although just the basic of basics. In other words, it was a gem thatbined the secret techniques of two royal families. It could also be called the proof of good rtions between these two families. It was without a doubt a national treasure.

    At this point, Aura casually added as she suddenly realized something.

    ¡°Anyway, I am d that you are pleased, Zenjirou-dono. Is there anything else you need? You are my betrothed, so there is no need for restraint now.¡±

    Aura, who had finished her breakfast at some point, appeased her thirst after the meal with some citrus water and softly called out to Zenjirou.

    Tasting the same drink from a silver cup, Zenjirou appraised it¡¯s sweet-and-sour, but refreshing vour (which would be even better when cold from ice cubes) as sumptuous while he pondered for a while. Then he replied.

    ¡°Well, not that I can think of any¡­ Oh, wait. Betrothed. Yes, we are going to marry. In that case, Aura-san, do you have a ring for your ¡¯left ring finger¡¯? If so, I want you to lend me one.¡±

    Being reminded about ¡°wedding rings¡± from the words betrothed and marry, Zenjirou asked that.

    But as this world had no custom of ¡°wedding rings¡± or ¡°engagement rings¡±, Aura didn¡¯t understand Zenjirou¡¯s intentions and tilted her head puzzled.

    ¡°Mhm, I think I will find one when I look, but what are you going to use it for?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s, well, uhm¡­ Something to look forward to in a month.¡±

    Zenjirou smiled vaguely on Aura¡¯s question and gave an ambiguous answer. Since she didn¡¯t know about ¡°wedding rings¡±, he wanted to hide it¡¯s existence until he handed it to her as a surprise.

    However, she could easily deduce from joining the two statements ¡°Lend me a ring of your size¡± and ¡°Look forward to it in a month¡± together that her betrothed tried to present her a ring upon his return, even if there was no custom such as ¡°wedding rings¡±.

    Aura showed a mysterious smile that was very charming, yet not flirtatious and looked straight into Zenjirou¡¯s eyes, nodding once.

    ¡°I understand. I will do so then. I take that you will tell me what kind of meaning a ¡®ring for your left ring finger¡¯ holds in your world in a month?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Yes, I¡¯ll definitely do so then.¡±

    Zenjirou realized that she already had seen through his n more or less. Along with a bitter smile, he replied with these words.

    * * *

    The first transfer had ended before he knew it, but the second one left Zenjirou with a kind of drunkenness.

    ¡°¡­Whoops.¡±

    He staggered on his first step, shook his head to shake off the sensation that warped his vision and let his eyes wander around.

    An asphalt street. Countless cars driving on it. And on each side of the street stood misceneous concrete buildings lined up next to each other.

    The familiar scenery and the smell of fumes really made Zenjirou feel ¡°at home¡±.

    Nothing had really changed here, so he wondered if his trip to that world had only been a daydream, but the fact that he was now on foot without his bicycle he went out with, was proof against it. Instead he was now carrying a rolled up carpet in his hands.

    Moreover, he wore the golden ring he got from Aura on his left little finger.

    This physical proof convinced him that yesterday had not been a dream.

    ¡°Actually, it felt like everything happened in session, but actually a whole day went by¡­didn¡¯t it?¡±

    Mumbling to himself, Zenjirou suddenly lost confidence in his own senses. He had spent a whole day in the other world, so he simply thought that today was Sunday, but there was no guarantee that the same amount of time had passed on earth.

    It could still be Saturday for all he knew. In the worst case, numerous days could have even passed here.

    Well, there were no major changes in the surroundings, nor in the temperature or the angle of the sun, so he thought everything was alright for now, but he couldn¡¯t be sure.

    ¡°Damn, first I need to confirm my situation.¡±

    Zenjirou¡¯s imagination treaded into dangerous waters and he shivered. Then he swiftly headed towards his apartment while firmly holding onto the carpet.

    ¡°Good. There doesn¡¯t seem to be much of a time gap.¡±

    Returning to his single apartment, he confirmed today¡¯s date and time on his digital rm clock and made a sigh of relief.

    His wristband watch he brought with him into the other world and the digital rm clock in his apartment both showed the same time.

    It seemed that the time flow of the other world was nearly synchronic to this one. That was fortunate. Or so he carelessly thought, but if there had been a difference in time flow between the worlds, his n to live in the other world would have been fundamentally gone awry.

    After all, the arrangement to re-summon him had been ¡°30 dayster in the other world¡±. If the time flow had been different, he would have to live with the suspense of getting summoned at any time.

    Needless to say, bringing over any dowry would be a dream within a dream then.

    Anyway, Zenjirou knew that most anxieties were nothing but groundless fears, so he sat down in front of hisputer, which was set up in the corner of his room, with a bright expression and turned it on.

    ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t have much time, so I better hurry.¡±

    Zenjirou pped his cheeks with his hands to regain some spirit.

    Right now it was a bit past ten o¡¯clock in the morning. The room he had left alone for a whole day had saved up the early summer heat and had be really humid.

    Still sitting on the chair at theputer desk, he took the control of the air conditioning and lowered the set temperature down to 20¡ãC.

    ¡°Fuuh¡­ This is heaven.¡±

    The artificial cold and unhealthy breeze blew down onto the chair, where he sat on. Zenjirou sighed and wiped the sweat from his palms on his pants, then put his right hand onto theputer mouse.

    The time span of one month seemed long, but was short.

    Before you noticed it, the time passed in a blink of an eye while you arranged an appointment with your business partner, allotted time and prepared the necessary materials for a presentation.

    As to not even waste a single second, Zenjirou first opened an online search site and entered all the keywords he could think of.

    ¡°¡­Aw, damn! Guess it¡¯s no good.¡±

    After a couple of minutes. Zenjirou tore his hair in front of the various tabs of searching sites.

    One of the few advantages of the small one room apartment was that the temperature went down satisfactory in a short period of time. He raised the air conditioning back to 25¡ãC.

    In this artificially controlled temperature, Zenjirou rocked the chair as if he was tormenting the cheap carpet on the floor and mumbled to himself.

    ¡°Mhm, even if something so unrealistic like a different world takes ce, reality won¡¯t be so easy¡­¡±

    What Zenjirou missed badly during his two-days-one-night stay in the other world was mainly electric tools like air conditioning, a refrigerator or light. None of these worked without a constant supply of electricity.

    So what Zenjirou first looked for was a small power generator for domestic use. However, a convenient generator that kept providing electricity for years and could be taken to the other world didn¡¯t exist.

    ¡°The most simple would be a diesel or petrol generator. But the fuel¡­¡±

    This kind of generator, which was sold for camping, could easily provide electricity without any special set-up, but naturally it needed a fuel like petrol or diesel oil.

    He had heard about someone making bio-diesel on his own before, so he had looked into it, but as an amateur, Zenjirou had no hope to do that in the other world.

    Roughly speaking, bio-diesel fuel consisted of threeponents: vegetable oil, methanol (methyl alcohol) and caustic soda.

    Of these only vegetable oil could be obtained in the other world. Zenjirou had no choice but to make the methanol and caustic soda on his own. Methanol could be gained from distilling pyroligneous acid during charcoal production, whereas caustic soda could be produced from electrified salt water in two water tanks connected with an ion exchange membrane. That was what he looked up, but it was obviously beyond his powers.

    Of course he could just buy ethanol and caustic soda in great quantities at a pharmacy and take it to the other world, but if he did that, it would be faster to just go to a filling station, fill a stic container with diesel oil and take this along. However, to begin with, the amount of fuel he could fit on a single carpet wouldn¡¯t evenst for a month. Same applied if he were to bring methanol and caustic acid.

    ¡°Steaming power¡¯s no good. Then next is wind or sr power?¡±

    Wind power was pretty realistic. The wind blew in the other world too. But what worried him was the fickle output. Since it literally ¡°depended on the wind¡±, it would be useless at a calm, sultry night.

    Sr power was totally out of question. Zenjirou needed electricity for ¡°light at night¡± above all.

    Electricity that could only be used during the day wasn¡¯t appealing at all. He could buy a sr power generator with an integratedrge battery for night use, but batteries were ¡°consumable goods¡± with an extremely short life span. It was unreliable as a long-term power source.

    ¡°That only leaves the wind/sr hybrid power generator that¡¯s the current fad. That one doesn¡¯t seem bad.¡±

    Zenjirou poured some tea from the pet bottle into his cup, then returned his hand to the mouse.

    Consequentially the hybrid generator was the safest choice. ording to the producer it was ¡°Easy to set-up within half a day and operable on the same day¡±.

    If he could trust that slogan, even Zenjirou should be able to set it up by himself in the other world.

    However, Zenjirou was conflicted over one more power generator he coincidentally stumbled upon, even when he reached that conclusion.

    ¡°A hydropower generator for domestic use, huh. Even something like that exists¡­¡±

    Zenjirou muttered, seized by its charm.

    It wasn¡¯t applicable as often as wind or sr power since it depended on location, but at present even the waves of a small power generator for domestic could be applied as hydropower.

    The ¡°small hydropower generator for domestic use¡± he had his eyes on came in two versions, one with 0.5kW, the other with 1.0kW, and operated through the use of the gravitational force of falling water.

    ording to what Zenjirou looked up, hydropower generators that produced less than 10kW were ssified for ¡°general usage¡± and with suitable conditions regarding location, even a single household could rtively easily purchase one.

    That said, there were troublesome formalities like the ¡°riverw¡± involved starting with the purchase through to the set-up, so it wasn¡¯t simple on sale at the nearby do-it-yourself store like the fuel based power generators.

    Needless to say, the charming points of the hydropower generator were the 24/7 runtime and the overwhelming output that distinguished itself from the others.

    With wind or sr power it was difficult to provide the necessary electricity for one household, even with favourable wind and sun, but not for hydropower. If the specifications in the producer¡¯s catalogue could be trusted, the output of even a small one matched the power consumption for a single household.

    In other words, Zenjirou could use all the electronics here, like the air conditioning, refrigerator andputer, simultaneous without a problem even in the other world.

    But as good as it sounded, there was a problem as well.

    ¡°Are there even any rivers or canals near the pce?¡±

    He didn¡¯t get a chance to step outside the pce during his stay. Not knowing if there was enough water near the pce to operate the generator was a fundamental problem.

    Going by themon sense of this world, it was unthinkable to not have water near the pce, where hundreds of people lived, but it concerned a world where magic existed after all.

    ¡°Yes, we have a mage specializing in water magic that makes us water every morning.¡±

    The possibility of being told that wasn¡¯t zero.

    So he considered for a moment to buy both the hydropower and hybrid generator, but that raised a problem with his budget.

    Working in a somewhat exploitingpany, where at least the overtime was paid properly, for years, Zenjirou had saved up 3 million yen.

    That was plentiful, considering that he was in his early 20s, but in light of his objective it was hardly enough.

    The hybrid generator on his list costs around 500.000 yen. The hydropower one costs actually 1,5 million yen.

    Besides the generator, there were a few other things like a big air conditioning, a refrigerator,mps or a newputer on which he wanted to spent his budget. And when he also bought stuff like underwear, toothbrushes, soap, towels, bath towels and gauze handkerchiefs in ce of tissues, the sum would be by no means negligible.

    Adding Aura¡¯s ¡°wedding ring¡± to it, he couldn¡¯t afford to spent two-third of his savings only on the generators.

    However, as long as there was no solution for the generator, he couldn¡¯t settle on the electronics to take along.

    ¡°Aww, guess I¡¯ll have to choose one in the end. A safe low output against a high output with the risk of being futile. Mhm¡­¡±

    The matter was too delicate for a prompt decision, but he didn¡¯t got all too much time. It was different from buying meat or vegetables at a near supermarket. Delivery would take a few days too once he ordered it, and he needed a bit of time to learn how to set it up and operate it.

    ¡°Mh? To begin with, will they even sell me one if I tell them I just want the goods to set it up by myself?¡±

    Zenjirou suddenly noticed a fundamental problem and sighed. ording to the homepage he just read, the responsibility for safety wasn¡¯t with the buyer, but with the trader that set it up. So the chance that they sold only the goods was rather low?

    He researched on the inte for a while, whereupon he found some rather troubling information as expected.

    ¡°¡­Yeah, figures. Everypany has a mandatory ¡®consultation¡¯, ¡®local examination¡¯ and ¡®estimate for set-up¡¯ before the purchase.¡±

    Zenjirou made an exhausted sigh in front of hisputer.

    It required a consultation and a local examination and on top, he hadn¡¯t decided on a ce yet, so it would be safe to assume that they wouldn¡¯t sell him a generator.

    It seemed the hydropower generator wasn¡¯t something to buy with ordinary methods.

    ¡°In that case, would it be okay when I let them set it up at some river here, learn the course of action from watching and secretly dissembled itter to take it with me to the other world?¡±

    Zenjirou mumbled that and was reminded about the old vige he was born in right away.

    ¡°I think there was a tattered hut on the mountain near the vige and close to it should be a small river with a rather fast stream. Thend rights there should still belong to me, I think?¡±

    The vige was already in the middle of nowhere and the hut stood deserted even farther into the mountain. If his memory didn¡¯t prove him wrong, thend around there should belong to the Yamai family.

    When Zenjirou graduated from university and found employment in the city, he had transferred the main house and fields to his uncle and his wife, as they had taken care of him. But the hut andnd around it were still under his name.

    Luckily enough, that hut was just a small storage shed without any electricity. It shouldn¡¯t raise any suspicion if he told them that he wanted to set up the small generator in the nearby river for electricity in the hut.

    Make hay while the sun shines. Right now he was pressed for time above all.

    Zenjirou dialled the number of apany for micro hydropower generators that was written on their homepage and called them immediately.

    After three call signs, the phone was picked up. However, what answered him was a recorded mechanical voice.

    ¡°Hello, you have reached the sales and executive department of Technotics. We are currently unavable to take your call. Please leave your name, phone number, and¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, right. Today¡¯s Sunday, of course they¡¯re not doing business.¡±

    Zenjirou clicked his tongue as he hung up.

    ¡°Oh well. For now, I¡¯ll send a mail and add both my email addresses for myputer and cell phone.¡±

    He faced theputer again and started to type a mail with the topic ¡°buying desire¡± to purchase a hydropower generator from thepany.

    * * *

    On the next day, Zenjirou waited meekly in front of his superior, who solemnly looked at the ¡°letter of resignation¡± before him with his arms crossed.

    ¡°You¡¯re quitting¡­?¡±

    His superior asked grumpy, whereas Zenjirou lowered his headmendable.

    ¡°Yes, I am sorry.¡±

    In fact it was apany with harsh working conditions. People quitting wasn¡¯t all that unusual, but in Zenjirou¡¯s case, he had managed his work for years and finally became a part of the ¡°working force¡±, only to quit now.

    His superior couldn¡¯t just tell him ¡°Fine, just get out here¡± like with the neers.

    As the perfect model for a middle-age man with his wrinkles, balding and drooping belly, his superior red up at the standing Zenjirou from his seat.

    ¡°Going home to seed the family, huh. Didn¡¯t you take this job because you hated that?¡±

    Reading the made-up excuse for quitting in the resignation letter, his superior looked grim and tilted his head.

    Zenjirou had written the resignation letter, which his superior was looking at right now, with all his mightst night, so he could quit smoothly.

    ¡°Well, yes. What can I say, I kind of had a change of heart¡­¡±

    Since he couldn¡¯t write that he was going to be a sponger by marrying the queen of another world, he had no choice but to lie for the reason. Breaking out in a cold sweat mentally, Zenjirou made a meek face.

    ¡°Mhm¡­ Well, even if I force you to stay, you wouldn¡¯t do your job properly anymore. Fine.¡±

    These words came out of the mouth of his superior after a long re. Hearing that, Zenjirou inadvertently made a sigh of relief.

    But as to spoil his delight, the middle-aged superior raised his voice.

    ¡°However! At least finish all your projects that are due soon properly. Of course I¡¯ll assign your long-term projects to someone else.

    Ah, another thing, write up some guidelines for the next neers. I won¡¯t go as far as telling you to write up something that makes you an expert just from reading it, but at least something that lets the neers differentiate left from right. Okay?¡±

    If he had the right to choose, he would say not okay. To be honest, he couldn¡¯t waste a single second right now, as he was preparing for his trip to the other world.

    But he wouldn¡¯t feelfortable when he declined and left a bad impression behind. And if he opposed carelessly and was questioned thoroughly, leading to the exposure of his lie, then things would be way more troublesome.

    ¡°I understand. Excuse me then.¡±

    In the end, Zenjirou had no choice but to y safe and work hard until his resignation.

    Some of his work might have been taken over, but since he had to write up guidelines, he had even fewer time left than he thought.

    As Zenjirou couldn¡¯t waste even a single second, he quickly finished his lunch at a nearby beef bowl shop, then hurried over to a nearby jeweller.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, this ring would be around the size of 14 or 15. Your own size would be 17.¡±

    The female shop clerk finished evaluating the ring and Zenjirou¡¯s left ringer finger and said that without breaking her business smile.

    It was his first timeing to a jeweller, so even when she told him that, he had no idea what these sizes meant.

    A fancy chandelier, a carpet, neatly polished like the new products, and show sses, disying the numerous jewellery.

    Zenjirou couldn¡¯t tell that this wasn¡¯t an all too high-ss shop for a jeweller, so he felt extremely out of ce with his suit reeking of beef bowl.

    ¡°Oh, is that so.¡±

    The shop clerk could immediately tell that it was all Greek to Zenjirou from his behaviour and casually exined it while she went on.

    ¡°For a woman, it is a slightly big size. We only have a few rings at hand here that fit this size.¡±

    Zenjirou replied a bit stammering to the shop clerk¡¯s kind exnation.

    ¡°Yes, well, going by height, she is taller than me.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I understand. Though you are by no means short yourself. A somewhat wider ring would surely suit such a tall person better. Please wait a moment.¡±

    The shop clerk vanished into the back to fetch some samples.

    ¡°Ah, yes.¡±

    Left behind, Zenjirou naturally remembered Aura¡¯s appearance.

    A tall and sexy body, clear facial features shining with strong emotions, ming red and long hair that represented her personality and light brown skin, which was fundamentally different from a tan.

    What kind of ring would suit her the best? Zenjirou didn¡¯t understand anything about jewellery, but like the shop clerk had said, a slim ring might not suit her.

    However, Zenjirou was mistaken on one thing. Aura was not taller than him.

    In fact, Zenjirou was taller, even if only by a finger length. He was 1,72m tall, so Aura¡¯s height was probably around 1,70m.

    Zenjirour reckoned Aura to be somewhere between 1,75 and 1,80, but that was nothing more than optical illusion caused by the aura emitted from her entire body.

    ¡°I beg your pardon for the wait. These are the rings that can be modified for you in a few days.¡±

    One by one, the shop clerk put various rings on a tray and brought it over to Zenjirou.

    ¡°Ohh, there¡¯s quite the variety.¡±

    Even while he said that, he first checked the price of each ring.

    Although he knew that he was being stingy, the bills leaving his wallet weighted on his mind above all as he knew nothing about the quality of the rings.

    ¡°I rmend choosing the metal for the socket first if you are undecided. Here in Japan the mostmon is tinum, but going by your skin colour, I would say that gold looks better on your finger. If yellow gold is too imposing for you, we have rings in pink gold like this one as well.

    Of course the poise with your fianc¨¦ is the most important factor.¡±

    In general, tinum or silver were for people with pale skin and gold for those with dark skin.

    As Zenjirou had inherited the blood from the other world, his skin colour was rather dark for a Japanese.

    Let alone Aura, who was 100% from the other world. Her skin had a natural and pretty light brown.

    ¡°Yes, my partner has even darker skin than me. Kind of light brown¡­¡±

    ¡°In that case I really rmend the yellow gold. As for the ornate stone, a colourful ruby or sapphire might be more favourable than a colourless diamond. Excuse the question, but can it be that your partner is a foreigner?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s right, she isn¡¯t Japanese.¡±

    He certainly couldn¡¯t answer ¡°My fianc¨¦ is the Queen from another world¡±, so he brushed it off with a vague answer.

    ¡°Since she is a foreigner, it is also possible to choose the stone matching with her eye or hair colour. That way, it is congenial to her and it also holds the image that you are paying attention to her.¡±

    ¡°O- Okay, I see.¡±

    Zenjirou wasn¡¯t used to be exposed to this kind of situation for long, so he was overwhelmed by the shop clerk¡¯s sale arts and just nodded to her words.

    * * *

    What awaited Zenjirou after his hectic lunch break with lunch and the jeweller, was an even more hectic afternoon with work.

    He hung his suit jacket on the coat rack in the corner of the office, immediately loosened his necktie by a fist length and unbuttoned the top button on his half-sleeved white T-shirt. In that loose fashion, he sat down at his desk.

    Zenjirou¡¯spany had followed the recent cool biz campaign too and allowed them toe to work in casual clothes during summer, but the smallpany it was, it unfortunately couldn¡¯t be applied to all departments.

    Belonging to the ¡°service department¡±, Zenjirou had his main work in the office, so there should be no probleming in casual clothes, but in reality there was a high chance that he went outside to make rounds, so he actually had no choice but toe to work in a business suit.

    For that reason, it was silently epted that he loosened his attire unsightly like this to work a bit more rxed when he had no work to do outside the office like today.

    That said, Zenjirou only loosened his necktie and one button, which was still harmless. His direct superior, the middle-aged section chief usually took off his necktie, shoes and even socks inside the office and walked around barefooted in sandals.

    ¡°Better than ying tough and getting athlete¡¯s foot.¡±

    His excuse was rather blunt.

    Zenjirou couldn¡¯t be so open. He put the 500ml pet bottle with tea that he bought during his lunch break behind his mouse pad and woke hisputer from the sleep mode that he had ced on it before the break.

    The nowadays antique CRT disy lighted up.

    ¡°Okay, go for it.¡±

    He was currently working on the guidelines his boss asked him for during his resignation this morning.

    There was no easy job that could be learned just through reading a document in this world, but his superior had told him to write something like a ¡°helper for troubled times¡± for the neers.

    ¡°¡­Well, I didn¡¯t have one when I started, though.¡±

    Stopping his hands from typing on the keyboard, Zenjirou said that isted.

    He wouldn¡¯t go as far as to say nasty stuff like ¡°other people¡¯s misery tastes like honey¡±, but it seemed somewhat unreasonable to him that the next neers would have less trouble than what he went through as a neer. Even more so when the very item to save them trouble was created in hard work by him, who practically resigned already.

    Still, work was work. To resign without any troubles, he had no choice but to finish his work satisfactory.

    ¡°Mhm, guess this will do as a general outline. Next is¡­¡±

    He just finished writing down a sketchy structure, so he withdrew his hands from the keyboard and took a sip from the tea in the pet bottle.

    For detailed examples or what he couldn¡¯t remember, he consulted old documents. He basically wrote a summary of his projects during his three years here, so most of the documents were saved on hisputer.

    However, for the documents that weren¡¯t on hisputer or in his file case, he had to go over to a co-worker.

    After he looking for the necessary documents on hisputer¡¯s hard drive for nearly an hour and not finding it, he stood up from his chair and headed towards his working senior co-worker.

    ¡°Excuse me, Yoshihi-san. Do you have the documents from the contract with the Yamaguchi Company from two years ago?¡±

    ¡°Mh? Yamaguchi two years ago?¡±

    Zenjirou called out to a skinny man in his thirties. The man stopped his work and turned only his head towards him from atop his chair.

    ¡°Yes, you know, the project you were in charge of and I helped you with two years ago.¡±

    ¡°Mmh? Ah, that one. Wait. I¡¯m busy right now, so I¡¯ll send it per mail when I find it. Will be by today enough?¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Reminds me, the chief just told me. You¡¯re quitting, Yamai-kun?¡±

    Yoshihi called out to Zenjirou, who was about to leave at once.

    He hadn¡¯t hidden it in particr, but it went around already.

    While smiling vaguely with slightly guilty feelings, Zenjirou replied with ¡°Well, yes¡±.

    ¡°I see. You¡¯re quitting. You¡¯ve been doing a lot of projectstely. I just hope they won¡¯t be shifted over to me.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I am sorry. I will try to finish as much as possible.¡±

    This time he felt really sorry and he lowered his head in a servile manner.

    Zenjirou¡¯s resignation was different from a fresh neer as he worked there for three years. He was part of the current working force and his leave meant that his share of the work would have to be covered by someone else.

    Zenjirou realized that his real reason for quitting wasn¡¯t all too admirable, so he felt really sorry about it.

 Chapter Volume 1 2

    After doing overtime till thest train, Zenjirou managed to arrive home safely. Entering his one-room apartment, he went straight for theputer and sat down before it.

    He deliberately ignored the exhaustion and sleepiness that was in every fibre of his body, ced the lunch box and tea pet bottle that he bought at the convenience store on the way home, on the left side of hisputer desk and checked his inbox for new mails.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ Three years. 1,5 million yen for only three years.¡±

    Reading the mail, Zenjirou buried his head into his hands in front of theputer and leaked a groan from his mouth.

    He had groaned because of the reply from thepany that sold hydropower generators for domestic use.

    In short, Zenjirou inquired about three things in his mail yesterday: ¡°Can I set up the generators you sell by myself?¡±, ¡°Can I maintenance it by myself?¡± and ¡°And if I do, how long can you guarantee functionality on self-maintenance?¡±.

    Thepany responded to that with ¡°You cannot. You need an electrician license. The responsibly for set-up and maintenance is with the technician, not the buyer, so we ask you to leave the set-up to ourpany¡±, ¡°It is possible to do perfunctory maintenance like removing pebbles from the water tanks or cleaning away moss when you read the manual, but we cannot guarantee anything then. If possible, we ask you to leave the maintenance to us too.¡± and ¡°The guaranteed runtime is three years.¡±, which heartlessly smashed Zenjirou¡¯s hopes.

    Zenjirou had anticipated the set-up and maintenance matters, so the shock from it was rtively low, but the guaranteed runtime of three years at the end gave him an immeasurable shock.

    ¡°Three years, only three years¡­¡±

    Zenjirou mumbled with empty eyes.

    He was prepared for it to a certain extent. To begin with, even if a dream-like generator existed that functioned until his death without any maintenance, the important electrical appliances¡ª The air conditioning or refrigerator itself had a limited lifespan.

    Their service life was about ten years at best.

    Either way, we would be plunged into the lifestyle of the other world without any cultural conveniences after some time.

    Therefore Zenjirou considered the electrical appliances he would bring with him as kind of ¡°training wheels¡± for him to get used to the new culture.

    ¡°My body will surely limate oneself in ten years and if necessary, I can wilfully ask Aura-san to rebuild my room to have water running down the walls like in the old pce of the Maharaja!¡±

    Zenjirou took his hand off the mouse and stretched both his arms upwards towards the ceiling.

    This information originated from the inte as well. Back in the old days when luxury goods like air conditions didn¡¯t exist yet, one of the Maharaja in India used his enormous fortune to build a primitive, butrge system, where water streamed down the walls and was drained outside through gutters in the ground, to cool the ce.

    Principle-wise it was the same as the ¡°water sprinkling¡± custom in old Japan. The endothermic reaction from the evaporation of the water lowered the temperature in the room.

    Such a structure seemed possible in the other world too, but even though Zenjirou knew nothing about architecture, he could at least imagine that it would require arge sum of money.

    Aura had told him that the country just made it through a long war and was still recovering.

    Would she allow him, a mere stallion by the name of Prince Consort, to waste such arge fortune and manpower during such a time?

    At any rate, it would be impossible any time soon. But ten yearster, when the country stabilized, a certain degree of selfishness might be allowed. Or so he thought.

    ¡°Three years just isn¡¯t enough. The problem is the battery.¡±

    Zenjirou faced hisputer and pondered.

    The consumable parts of the hydropower generator were the bearing (from the rotating propeller) and the battery.

    Thinking rationally, it was kind of obvious that a battery was included in any generator to guarantee a stable output.

    The battery had a lifespan of three years. Luckily enough, even a greenhorn could change the battery by the help of the manual, since it was a consumable part to begin with, but that didn¡¯t mean he could just go and buy a lot of spare batteries.

    Of course the maker sold them separately.

    To begin with, a hydropower generator was hard to use in cities due to the terrain requirement, so the majority of customers lived in the country side, where mending wasn¡¯t easily practicable by the maker.

    Due to that, it was quite natural to buy a spare battery along with the generator for unforeseen idents, but the problem was that a spare battery was in the end, just a spare.

    A battery that wasn¡¯t used certainly lived longer than one that was in use 24/7 throughout the year, but even then, it wouldn¡¯t be as good as new anymore after three years with unprofessional storage.

    Maybe it¡¯s easier to understand with rough example: Would you expect a battery to work exactly like the maker guarantees even after five or ten years?

    ¡°Well, I guess I can bridge some time when I buy three spare batteries? I somehow want to have enough for ten years. The bearing is good for ten years and difficult to change, so I won¡¯t need a spare. Ah, but since most of the electrical appliances only have a life span of ten years anyway, I might as well try to do some repairs by myself then.¡±

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t want to abandon his n to take electricity with him, even if it became useless after somefortable years in the beginning.

    As a student, he had watched a lot of TV and DVDs, but after bing a working adult, he just recorded the shows and had no time to watch them, slowly amassing DVDs with the recordings from his hard disk.

    He had only seen the results for the World Cup in Africa on the news too and didn¡¯t watch a single game of his favourite junior league team or the European Football Championship in thest few years.

    Ever since Zenjirou was in middle school, he had recorded and watched two to three famous drama series from the inte per year. He also never missed an episode of the one hour idol group show airing on Sunday evening. However, these recorded shows too only added to his pile of unwatched DVDs after he starting working.

    Spending time leisurely without working, only satisfying basic needs and watching recorded shows.

    That was a rather unproductive lifestyle, but it was more appealing than anything to Zenjirou as he was currently worn out from work.

    Right now, it was so appealing that he even ignored the voice in the back of his head that asked ¡°Won¡¯t you eventually grow tired of such a life and don¡¯t know what to do with yourself anymore?¡±.

    ¡°Either way, I can only bring with me as much as fits on the carpet and my money would be useless over there. Okay, let¡¯s spend it all!¡±

    With a renewed spirit, Zenjirou started collecting information about the electrical appliances he would take with him.

    ¡°Mhm, I should be able to set up the air conditioning by myself if I try hard¡­ Wait, how do Iy the venttion pipe outside? The walls in the pce were out of thick marble¡­ To begin with, can a normal AC even cool down that damn broad and tall room? Will a model designed for 30m2 be enough¡­?¡±

    On a second thought, there were many obstacles on his way to a life with electricity in the other world.

    Nevertheless, Zenjirou immersed himself in his inte research to prolong his brighter future by even just one second while washing down the slightly cooled off meat bun with the tea from the pet bottle.

    * * *

    On busy days time flies.

    Previously when he was buried in work, time seemed to pass in a sh and Zenjirou felt impatient and lost over it, but after announcing his resignation, he now epted it gratefully.

    Leaving his house early in the morning, he went to thepany while reading manga on the packed train.

    As there were no morning assemblies in hispany, he clocked in with his time card and headed for his desk.

    His job now consisted mainly of coordinating his projects with those who would take it over after he resigned.

    Rewriting documents that he understood by himself so far, in a way that others could understand them as well.

    Andstly, informing the trade partners he was in charge of, about theing change by going there with his sessor and lowering his head while saying ¡°Due to personal circumstances, I will be resigning from my position. Mr. XY will take over from now on, so please treat him well as you have me¡­¡±.

    In between these tasks, he wrote the guidelines for the neers.

    Even when he worked until shortly before thest train, there just wasn¡¯t enough time, so Zenjirouter did extra hours in the morning, but never spent the night in the office. It was all for the sake of getting some more funds for his trip to the other world.

    In the case he missed thest train, he would sleep at a business hotel near thepany, but he had to pay the hotel fee by himself for now.

    If he handed the ounter a receipt, taken in the name of thepany, he would get the money back on his pay check the following month, so it usually wasn¡¯t a problem, but as of now, it was a huge problem.

    After all, Zenjirou would leave for the other world before he received hisst pay check. Even if the hotel expenses were added to it, it waspletely in vain.

    To avoid this, Zenjirou worked overtimete into the night, leaving with thest train, and extra hours in the morning,ing with the first train.

    For all that, it was worth the effort.

    It had been three weeks, since he had handed his superior his resignation.

    As of today, thanks to immersing himself in overtime with only a little bit more than four hours of sleep at average, Yamai Zenjirou resigned peacefully and without any problems from thepany he had worked at for three years.

    ¡°Well then, Chief, thanks for everything. Good-bye.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, stay well.¡±

    The section chief with middle-aged spread only replied shortly with that when Zenjirou paid him ast visit before leaving.

    Moreover, after standing up, he looked at him for only a few seconds, then sat down again and got back to work like nothing had happened.

    His attitude went beyond indifferent and could have made one feel hated, but Zenjirou knew how stressed the section chief was, so he sympathized with him instead of holding an ill will.

    Just like in any smallpany, the section chief in thispany wasn¡¯t just a ¡°management¡± position either. Supervising the work of his subordinators and having to do his own share of work on top of it, he was a full-fledged working member.

    Moreover, he got a bonus for being a section chief, but unfortunately didn¡®t get overtime paid in return. Usually a section chief was under suspicion of being a chief ¡°in name only¡± due to that, but while the chief in thispany was given more authority, he had to do the same share of work as his subordinators, since there was just too much work, so he was in a darkish grey area, where a strict investigation would bust him, but was left atrge.

    Zenjirou, running away from the workload of an average employer at this very moment, lowered his head to the section chief, who was stuck in the bottomless swamp called overtime hell up to his neck and faced his job noble as if to say ¡°This is my life!¡±, with his utmost respect and left the ce.

    * * *

    Afterwards Zenjirou rode his beloved hybrid car and after a drive of a few hours, he arrived at the vige he was born in.

    ¡°Kuh¡­ Uhh¡­!¡±

    After getting out of the car, Zenjirou rolled his stiff shoulders to get rid of the stiffness under the setting sun.

    The car space he rented monthly was farther away than the convenience store or supermarket he usually went to, so he had always used his bicycle. Due to that, a rare long drive like this was quite tiring for him.

    Zenjirou bathed in the twilight and looked at the familiar two-story home, narrowing his eyes a bit.

    ¡°Nothing has changed here.¡±

    Since he had lost his parents in middle school, this house, where now the family of his uncle lived in, was ¡°home¡± for Zenjirou.

    ¡°Okay, here I go.¡±

    He felt a bit nervous as he hadn¡¯t been home in years, so he purposefully spoke out aloud to get a grip and determined rang the doorbell.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Zenjirou-kun. You look well.¡±

    Zenjirou¡¯s uncle¡ª Yamai Tadashi weed the son of histe brother. He still looked like Zenjirou remembered him: A slender face with sses and a gentle smile.

    The family of his uncle consisted of four people.

    His uncle, his aunt, their daughter in her senior year of high school and their son in his senior year of middle school.

    The daughter attended a high school far away and lived in a boarding house, so only his uncle, aunt and the son were sitting at the table this night, but there were five chairs, not just four.

    The fifth chair belonged to Zenjirou.

    They had only taken care of him for nearly one year, from the summer in his second year of middle school, where his parents died, till he moved over to the dormitory of his high school, but the caring couple always kept a chair for Zenjirou even afterwards.

    ¡°Okay, we can catch upter, first we eat, Dear.¡±

    The aunt announced the start of the dinner like that and brought a steaming pot over from the kitchen.

    She was the typical ¡°hard-working olddy from the countryside¡±, both in appearance and character. Zenjirou tried to stand up to help her, but the aunt stopped him with ¡°It¡¯s okay, sit down¡± and set the table so quickly that there wasn¡¯t even time to help. Taking off her apron, she then sat down on her own chair.

    ¡°If you please, Dear.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Thanks for the food.¡±

    Prompted by his wife, the uncle took the lead.

    ¡°Thanks for the food.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the food.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the food.¡±

    The aunt, the son and Zenjirou followed suit and the Yamai family started their dinner.

    Needless to say, the talk this night was all about Zenjirou.

    ¡°I see. You¡¯re going overseas, Zenjirou-kun.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I n to leave in ten days. Sorry that it¡¯s so sudden.¡±

    His uncle said with his ssed fogged from the steam of the pot, whereupon Zenjirou swallowed the pickled Chinese cabbage, handmade by his aunt, and lowered his head, still holding his chopsticks in his right and the rice bowl in his left hand.

    The uncle showed the familiar gentle smile on Zenjirou¡¯s honest bow.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. If that¡¯s what you want. Just never forget that this is your home too and you¡¯re always wee.¡±

    He gave him a warm look.

    However, Zenjirou was going to another world instead of overseas.

    ¡°Ah, yes. Thank you.¡±

    Zenjirou hid the fact that he won¡¯t be able to return for at least thirty years once he went over there and felt guilty over his uncle¡¯s goodwill.

    He kind of forced a topic change, since he wanted to get away from that guilt and feared he would reveal the truth if questioned further.

    ¡°Ah, right. I can¡¯t exactly say how long I¡¯ll be gone, but I definitely won¡¯t be back for quite some time.

    Therefore I want to sign over my car to you, Uncle, and leave it with you.¡±

    The uncle frowned for the first time this night on his nephew¡¯s words.

    ¡°Zenjirou-kun, you don¡¯t need to be so considerate for us.¡±

    Zenjirou had anticipated this response from his caring uncle, so he put his chopsticks aside and shook his hand exaggerated in front of his head.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. I¡¯m really troubled about what to do with it. I¡¯ll be gone for so long that I will not only miss the next inspection, but even lose my license.¡±

    He pressed on like this.

    However, the caring uncle hesitated even more after hearing these words from his nephew.

    ¡°Mhm, I see. But why don¡¯t you just sell it then?¡±

    The result was that the uncle suggested this to have his nephew benefit at least a bit. His caring side hadn¡¯t changed at all.

    Zenjirou unconsciously assumed a smiling expression from witnessing his uncle¡¯s unchanged good-will and exined further.

    ¡°No, that won¡¯t work. I¡¯ll leave in ten days, so I¡¯ll be gone before I find a buyer.¡±

    ¡°Then I can handle the sale for you and put the money into your ount. These days you can even withdraw money from overseas, right? And if that isn¡¯t possible, you can just use it when youe back.¡±

    His uncle¡¯s good-will exceeded Zenjirou¡¯s expectations as he thoroughly refrained from epting the car.

    In light of his uncle¡¯s care, Zenjirou felt really heartless to have chosen to abandon everything here and marry in a different world.

    ¡°No, it won¡¯t fetch a good price anyway, since it¡¯s a really old car. It¡¯s more reasonable to have you use it.¡±

    Pushed by his guilt, Zenjirou forced his beloved car onto his uncle kind of rebellious.

    The uncle then spoke with a different tone than before as he had noticed his nephew¡¯s zeal.

    ¡°Mhm, but you know, I already have a car and a small truck.¡±

    An own car was indispensable for living in the countryside. Moreover, for a full-time farmer like his uncle, it was normal to also have a small truck, which could be driven with an ordinary license, for transporting things besides the normal car.

    So getting another car on top of that wasn¡¯t such a blessing.

    However, Zenjirou had anticipated that answer as well, so he continued his persuasion without dy.

    ¡°Yes, so what do you say about signing it over to you, but having Sanae-chan use it? She starts university next year, right? When she has a car, she¡¯ll visit you more often.¡±

    Yes, he raised the name his uncle¡¯s daughter.

    The uncle showed a wry smile on his slender face for the first time today upon these words.

    ¡°You have a point there. It¡¯s quite convincinging from you.¡±

    His tone as he said that had a hint of ming him.

    Zenjirou only ever had responded half-hearted to the calls of his uncle asking him to drop by for a visit, when he was in university, and didn¡¯te back even once in four years, so he felt ashamed now.

    ¡°I, I¡¯m sorry. But I remember that Sanae-chan¡¯s first choice is an university here in the prefecture, right? Then I really think a car makes a difference.¡±

    ¡°I see. But driving can be dangerous.¡±

    The uncle still wasn¡¯t convinced by Zenjirou. Meanwhile, someone spoke, who had stayed silent so far, while pecking at the pot. It was the uncle¡¯s son.

    ¡°Hey, are you saying that Sis will use Zen-nii¡¯s car? I wonder if she¡¯ll drive me to Iida then when I ask her.¡±

    The uncle smiled gentle at his son, who was already sparkling his eyes from the conversation just now, and rebuked him with a not so scary look.

    ¡°Watch it, Yuusaku. It¡¯s not decided yet, so stay out of it. Either way, it¡¯ll be still a year before Sanae gets her license and you¡¯ll be in the high school boarding house by then.¡±

    The energetic 9th grader didn¡¯t flinch at all from his father¡¯s words.

    ¡°But, but, during summer vacation Sis and I wille home, right? Can I ask her then?¡±

    He ced his wish, assuming that Zenjirou¡¯s beloved car already belonged to Sanae¡ª the daughter of the uncle.

    Most guys would hate it to have their older sister drive them into the city to hang out when they get into high school, but judging by Yuusaku¡¯s words, the siblings got along quite well even now.

    Catching a glimpse of the harmonic family situation, Zenjirou showed an honest smile, took a sip from the tea his aunt poured for him after dinner and called out to his ten-years younger cousin.

    ¡°Well, as long as Sanae-chan agrees, I don¡¯t see any problems. Try asking her when shees back.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll try per mail. Thanks for the food!¡±

    ¡°Ah, hey, wait!¡±

    Without any time for the uncle to stop him, Yuusaku quickly piled up his own tableware, carried it into the kitchen and then went up to the second floor with pitter-patter footsteps.

    He most likely was going to send his sister a mail at once.

    ¡°Yuusaku!¡±

    The uncle couldn¡¯t stop him and had stood up in the middle of the dinner. Then Zenjirou, sitting across him, called out to him.

    ¡°See, Uncle, Yuusaku-kun seems pleased too, so what do you say? Will you ept it?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Even at this point, the uncle still hesitated over his nephew¡¯s good-will and fell silent with a troubled expression.

    Thest push was given by the aunt, who had silently watched over their exchange so far.

    ¡°Why not, Dear? Zenjirou-kun is already a fine adult. If you keep rejecting his favours, it seems like you¡¯re still treating him like a child and that¡¯s just rude.¡±

    ¡°I, see. Yeah¡­ okay.¡±

    On his wife¡¯s advice, the uncle finally made up his mind and faced Zenjirou again with a clear expression.

    ¡°Zenjirou-kun.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Allow me to take you up on your offer then. Thanks. I¡¯ll tell Sanae to take good care of it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sorry that it¡¯s an old car, but consider it my gratitude for taking care of me up till now. Please use it without reservation.¡±

    Zenjirou showed his uncle, who bowed a bit on the other side of the table, a relieved smile and gave him a bow in return, too.

    At night on the same day. After the dinner, Zenjirou went straight to bed.

    The 10m2 Japanese-style room hadn¡¯t change at all from the time, when he upied it from the summer in his second year of middle school till the end of his third year.

    A study desk in the corner of the room. An old radio-cassette yer on top of the dresser that only yed CDs.

    The mattress heid out after taking it out of the closet earlier, was still the same too.

    ¡°I guess this will always be my room¡­¡±

    Zenjirou sat cross-legged on the mattress in his light blue pyjama with the lights still on and talked to himself while tampering with his cell phone.

    His uncle¡¯s family had taken care of him from middle school to university and he loved them for it, but inside his head there were still ¡°rtives¡± rather than ¡°family¡±.

    ¡°Rtives¡± as close as a family. However, the uncle might see it differently.

    ¡°I guess, I¡®ve to repay them at least a bit¡­¡±

    Zenjirou spread his legs andy down on the mattress.

    They had kept the room of an adult that already left the house, in order, so he could return at any time. The housing situation in the countryside certainly allowed that, but it was undeniable that this was a perfect example of the good-will from his uncle¡¯s family towards him.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    Looking up to the round fluorescent light that brightened up the room, he sighed.

    Just as he sighed, a faint scent of bug repellent from the mattress teased his nose. It was inappropriate, but Zenjirou felt a bit relieved from it.

    Because his own scent waspletely gone from the mattress and gave him the impression that this no longer was a ce for him to return.

    ¡°Well, at any rate, I¡¯m saying good-bye to this world in ten days¡­¡±

    Zenjirouy on his mattress face up in his pyjama, opened his copsible cell phone and confirmed today¡¯s date.

    When he left his apartment, he had issued the shutoff of his phone line, gas, electricity and water, but terminated only his cell phone contract for the end of this month. The bill for his cell phone was written off his bank ount anyway and the ount would get this month¡¯s pay credited after Zenjirou left, so there were no problems with the payment.

    So he decided to keep this convenient cell phone, which could be used anywhere, operable until the veryst minute before going over to the other world.

    ¡°It¡¯s toote to regret anything now anyway¡­¡±

    He had already given Aura his okay for re-summoning him in ten days. Even if he faltered now, there was no way to let Aura know about his change of mind. His transfer to the other world in ten days was already an established fact.

    ¡°And Aura-san said that it was actually an exception to be able to send me back and forth in such a short time.¡±

    When Zenjirou was summoned to the other world in ten days, the next chance to return him to this world again woulde in thirty years.

    Thirty years was a long period. As a matter of fact, he needed to be ready to get buried in the other world.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready for that¡­ or at least I think so.¡±

    Zenjirou put his cell phone besides his pillow and picked up the palm-sized rectangr box covered in a blue velvet cloth that was next to it.

    Inside the box was a set of pair rings.

    The wide yellow-golden ring had three transparent diamonds embedded into it next to each other.

    As the diamonds didn¡®t stick out from the ring, itcked a fancy appearance, but the detailed geometric pattern engraved in the socket and the radiance of the three diamonds gave it a sufficient charm.

    ¡°Aura-san¡­¡±

    In face of the ring, Zenjirou recalled the face of the Queen that waited in the other world.

    Upon that, his lingering feelings for this world, which had reached a peak ever since he met his uncle¡¯s family again, gradually weakened.

    ¡°Guess they call this¡­ love at first sight.¡±

    He still had some restraints, but sorted things out for a bit. Raising only his upper body on top of the mattress, he pulled the string on the fluorescentmp and turned the light off.

    * * *

    The next day, Zenjirou woke up early in the morning and thankfully ate the breakfast his aunt had prepared for him. Then he went to the tattered hut in the mountains, around thirty minutes away from the vige.

    He stopped his car on the bumpy mountain trail, which was overrun with weed except in the rut. Looking at the tattered hut, he inadvertently leaked a voice.

    ¡°Uwah! I haven¡¯t been here since grade school, but to think it turned into this¡­!¡±

    The hut, which barely withstood rain and wind, and the area around it belonged to Zenjirou.

    When he graduated from university and found a job in the capital, he had kind of forcefully pushed the house and fields he had inherited from his parents onto his uncle, who had managed them as his guardian so far, but his uncle just wouldn¡¯t ept this hut and thends around it.

    Apparently the old, tattered hut was the starting point of the Yamai family.

    That said, the cabin in front of him currently had a roof of zinc, so the hut itself must have been reconstructed after the 90s. Anyway, it didn¡¯t change the fact that it was a tattered hut.

    ¡°When I heard about that history, I had wondered if my ancestors were maybe chased out of the vige, but if Aura-san said the truth, then it might actually be possible.¡±

    Zenjirou looked at the tattered hut illuminated by the morning sun and mumbled deeply moved.

    If Aura¡¯s story was true, then the ancestors of Zenjirou and the Yamai family were a pair of lovers from the other world, who eloped here 150 years ago.

    Two foreigners with a mixed appearances of Latin and south Asia must have stood out in a bad way during the end of the Edo period.

    It was more than possible that they walked a thorny path, even after they fleeing to this world, until they found peace in this tattered hut.

    ¡°Well, seeing that the vige has not a single tradition about that, they could also have blended in easily.¡±

    Zenjirou finished his dark imagination with a positive outlook. If his ancestors were actually shunned, he would¡¯ve at least heard a fraction of it, even if it happened in a small part of the countryside 150 years ago. However, Zenjirou hadn¡¯t heard a single word about it.

    Like he had uttered just now, it was quite imaginable that they adapted to the vige surprisingly easily.

    While such thoughts crossed his mind, the heavy sound of a diesel engine could be heard from the weed-stered rugged road.

    ¡°Oh, here theye.¡±

    Zenjirou spotted the manufacturer¡¯s truck appearing between the trees, quickly got in his car and relocated it to make space for the truck to park.

    After a few minutes, three man wearing grey overalls got off the truck parking in front of the hut.

    ¡°Please excuse our dy. We are from Technotec. I take you are ¡®Yamai-sama¡¯, who purchased the micro hydropower generated and requested its set-up?¡±

    The seemingly oldest of the three, a middle-aged man called out to Zenjirou, who stood in front of the hut, like that.

    ¡°Yes, I am Yamai. Thanks foring today.¡±

    The middle-aged man returned a smile on Zenjirou¡¯s words.

    ¡°Yes. Likewise, thanks for choosing us. We already finished siding the ce a few days ago, so we can start with the set-up at once.

    Just in case, I would like to confirm your order again.

    You want the generator set-up in the small river over there for electricity in the building behind you. Is that correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡±

    Zenjirou replied affirming with curt words.

    Truth be told, he wanted to use that hydropower in the royal pce in the other world, but there was no way he could answer them honestly here.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that I want to be able to do some minimum maintenance by myself too if something acts up, since this is the middle of nowhere as you can see. So I would like to ask if it is alright with you when I record the construction?¡±

    Zenjirou put his request as nonchnt as possible, whereupon the middle-aged man showed a wry smile.

    ¡°Mhm~ I don¡¯t mind the recording, but maintenance, huh. Well, it certainly is advantageous if you know how to clean the filter or water tank, but it¡¯s better if you don¡¯t meddle with the device itself.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. Only what I can manage as an amateur.¡±

    The middle-aged technician fell for Zenjirou¡¯s deceit.

    ¡°Okay. If that is the case, you are free to record it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much. Please tell me if I should get into your way.¡±

    Having his wish granted, Zenjirou smiled at the middle-aged technician while saying so, then he returned to his car to fetch the ¡°handycam¡± he had borrowed from his uncle.

    ¡°Uaah¡­ This looks moreplicated than I thought. To be honest, I might¡¯ve been a bit na?ve¡­¡±

    A few hourster, Zenjirou said so a bit exhausted after he kept recording the work of the technicians with his handycam the whole time.

    They started their work at ten in the morning and weren¡¯t done yet after lunch time.

    If three professional technicians already took so long, then how much trouble would it give Zenjirou when he tried to reconstruct it by himself in the other world?

    ¡°Maybe I was a bit rash.¡±

    It was understandable that he inadvertently regretted his choice.

    The slogan ¡°easy to set up by just connecting the water intake and drainage¡± on the homepage apparently meant ¡°easy for professionals¡±.

    The small hydropower generator wasposed of three big parts.

    The first part was the water tank, which regted a steady volume of water and filtered out the sand.

    The next part was the generator with the water wheel and therge ma, which would produce the electricity.

    Thest part was the control system that managed a stable output with an exchangeable battery.

    The water tank was positioned near the river¡¯s upstream, then a thick hose for supply was put into the river and let the tank fill with water from the river.

    Afterwards, the generator part was positioned at a ce sufficient lower than the water tank to allow the water to fall.

    The water tank and generator were connected through a durable and flexible small hose. Through it the water, free from sand and pebbles thanks to the filter inside the tank, streamed into the water wheel within the generator.

    After spinning the wheel, the water flowed through a drainage hose back into the river¡¯s downstream.

    The control system on the other hand was inside the hut.

    Drilling a round hole into the wall of the hut and installing a power cable through it, the cable then was connected to the generator part at the river. All the electricity produced by the generator was fed to the control system part.

    The control system part had two big batteries installed, which covered the typical fluctuation in the output of the generator to a certain extent.

    In a normal house, the control system would be set up to feed the electricity into house¡¯s interior power supply unit, but the tattered hut didn¡¯t have such an advanced thing.

    Therefore he had ordered that the control system part was extra equipped with numerous outlets, so that the electrical appliances could supply themselves directly from the part, for an additional fee.

    With these outlets it was apparently possible to supply even a TV, aputer and a refrigerator without a problem.

    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡±

    With these words, the middle-aged technician went over to the truck for a moment and came back with an old electricmp. Most likely for a final check to see if the generator worked wless.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m turning it on!¡±

    Then he middle-aged technician peeked out only his face through the opened door of the hut and shouted so to his two subordinators working outside.

    ¡°Yes, the water tank is alright!¡±

    ¡°No problems with the generator unit!¡±

    The two other young technicians, who were respectively running the final checks for the water tank and generator, turned their arms round and round, signalizing everything alright with a loud voice.

    The generator started up.

    The water wheel spun and produced electricity. That electricity was immediately fed into the control system inside the hut.

    The sound of a fan spinning came from the rectangle box and the light at the top on the right of the control system shone green, the proof that the device was running regr.

    ¡°Okay, time to test it.¡±

    Confirming the green light, the middle-aged technician put themp down on the seasoned wooden floor and plugged its cable into the control system. Then he turned on themp.

    The dim interior of the hut was illuminated by the bright light of themp.

    ¡°Ohh!¡±

    ¡°It seems to work just fine.¡±

    Zenjirou was in awe and the middle-aged technician in front of him showed an aplished smile from finishing his job, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the towel around his neck.

    About one hourter.

    ¡°Okay, now I¡¯ve taken the biggest hurdle.¡±

    After the truck with the Technotec guys left, Zenjirou, staying behind at the hut all by himself, muttered that in front of the new-build generator.

    The charging cable of the handycam with the record of the generator¡¯s assembly was connected to the generator¡¯s outlet.

    Seeing as themp for proper charging was shining, the generator operated without any troubles so far.

    Zenjirou picked up the manual the technicians left behind and browsed through the control system category.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, the redmp here is for abnormalities and this value shows the current output. With an output like this, it seems like I can use all my electrical appliances from my apartment simultaneous, but when I bring it over to the other world, I have to reassemble it from scratch and there¡¯s no guarantee it¡¯ll produce the same output then.¡±

    The manual had a wattage list formon electrical appliances too.

    With that, it was evident at a nce how much electricity an electronic appliance roughly needed to work.

    The maximum output of his ¡°micro hydropower generator¡± was 1 kW. A single living in a one-room apartment could easily make do with that amount, but a family of four or five could normally live in a single house with that too, but that was only theoretical at best.

    The disy currently indicated an output of a bit more than 600W at the most.

    Even if he seeded in somehow taking this generator to the other world and reassembling it there, it was unlikely that he would get the same output as the current one, which was assembled by professionals.

    ¡°That kind of limits the electrical appliances I can use regrly¡­¡±

    Zenjirou red at the holey ceiling and pondered for a while.

    ¡°Maybe should I just bring the appliances I stored away over here and try them out to see how many work with it.¡±

    He reached such a conclusion.

    Either way, it was pretty much a matter of fact already that he would depart to the other world from here, since the hydropower generator was set up here.

    On thest day, he would have to turn off the power and empty the water, cing everything on the carpet he got from Aura, but the generator itself was already 75kg heavy.

    With a handbarrow, Zenjirou could load it into the car by himself some way or another, but instead of all this trouble, it was way more efficient toy out the magic carpet inside the hut and use this ce as his departure location for the other world. Getting the generator from the river to the hut required a bit of effort, but it was nothing impossible with a handbarrow.

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ve to bring everything here on thest day anyway. So it won¡¯t harm to bring them over even now.¡±

    When he had moved out of his apartment, he had rented a storage room and put everything he wanted to bring with him to the other world there, disposing of all the rest.

    The only things he brought with him to the house of his uncle in his car were: a bit of hand baggage, a change of clothes, the wedding rings and the magic carpet.

    And when he contacts the moving service and has his stuff at hand before he transferred, it saved him ast minute rush.

    Additionally, he could try out how many electrical appliances he could run simultaneously with the generator or what he needed for a life apart from a town, which was fun in itself.

    ¡°I still have a few days to spare anyway. If I think of anything useful, I can just buy it at the do-it-yourself store in the nearby town with my car. But I need to consult my remaining funds about it¡­¡±

    Although it was called close, the nearest town was a two-hour drive by car away, but that was still tolerable.

    Actually Zenjirou had nned to help his uncle on the fields until he departed, but it would only be for half a day, either in the morning or the afternoon.

    Even if it was only for a few days, there was no way he, a grown-up man, would sit around doing nothing when they provided him with food and a ce to stay, but he had to consider his own circumstances as well.

    ¡°Okay, better make the call then. Let¡¯s see¡­ Wait, there aren¡¯t any radio masts here? Uwah, then I won¡¯t be able to use my cell unless I go all the way to the highway.¡±

    Having settled on his future actions, Zenjirou got into his hybrid car, whose grey paint was sullied by mud and dust, to make a call to the moving service and the manager of the storage room.

    * * *

    The time to prepare went by in an instant.

    It had been exactly one month since the day he made the promise with Aura.

    The shabby hut with the zinc roof stood isted on the mountain draped with morning dew.

    Inside that tattered hut, Zenjirou sat in the middle of the magic carpet and waited for the right time.

    To sum it up in one word, he looked ¡°ridiculous¡±.

    Right now, he wore a grey suit and shouldered a big backpack on his back like one used only for professional mountain climbing.

    That alone made him look pretty suspicious already, yet he also held a box cutter in his right hand like a sword and upheld the tip of his small finger on his left hand.

    Calling this ¡°suspicious¡± was still sugar-coating it.

    ¡°Any moment now? Nah, not yet. ¡­Maybe it was all just a dream? No, no, that can¡¯t be. I DO have the ring and the carpet. ¡­But I guess something unexpected could¡¯ve happened and they abandoned the idea of re-summoning me?¡±

    He had continued to spill blood on the carpet by periodically pecking at the wound on his left little finger with the box cutter in his right hand, and was now driven by an immense anxiety.

    All preparations for crossing over to the other world were already done.

    He had quit hispany, cancelled all essential utilities like gas, water, phone line and electricity and moved out of his apartment. Only his contract for his cell phone was still effective, but he had taken measure that it would cancel by the end of month too.

    To his only blood-rtives, the family of his uncle, he told the lie ¡°I¡¯m going overseas for a job transfer¡±.

    The entry in his registration certification was changed back from his working ce to his hometown too.

    His bank and post ounts remained, so hisst pay check would be added to it on the 10th next month, but Zenjirou himself wouldn¡¯t be able to use that money. He shouldn¡¯t be able to. If he were to, it would be troubling.

    If in the worst case, the summoning didn¡¯t happen, Zenjirou would end up wandering about homeless with nothing but his hydropower generator, which was nearly useless in modern Japan, and a ridiculous long extension cord in hand after he did all these preparations.

    To be honest, if he wasn¡¯t summoned now, his life was pretty much ruined.

    ¡°Shit, I¡¯m getting dizzy. Did I lose to much blood?¡±

    Zenjirou muttered this as he was under impression that his sight turned dark, but that wasn¡¯t possible. The amount of blood he had lost so far wasn¡¯t even a tenth of a blood sample in the hospital.

    His dizziness and narrowed vision had a mental origin.

    While it was already summer, the temperature was rather low in the mountain, given that it was still morning.

    ¡°¡­So cold.¡±

    Zenjirou was befallen by a shiver, not knowing if it was from the cold or his nervousness.

    ¡°Did I pack everything? The generator¡­ The water tank part, the control system part. The supply and drainage hoses. Okay, everything¡¯s there.¡±

    In an attempt to distract himself form the shiver, he checked the all important ¡°micro hydropower generator¡± by pointing at each part.

    Yesterday, it took him the whole day and a lot of effort to carry them onto the carpet.

    Zenjirou wanted to be praised by someone especially for the effort of carrying the 75kg generator part into the hut all by himself.

    Simply for that, he had bought a handbarrow at the do-it-yourself store, but without it, he would have never get it done by himself.

    The technicians had stabilized the rectangle generator part with stakes on the levelled mountainous ground. By the time he had pulled out these stakes one by one while looking out for not letting the part copse, and slipped the handbarrow underneath it, the T-shirt and boxers under his blue tracksuit were soaking wet.

    But thanks to that effort, the full ¡°micro hydropower generator¡± stood now on top of the magic carpet.

    Excluding the five-door refrigerator, it was the biggest item amongst his luggage.

    ¡°In the end, I could only buy Aura-san some alcohol in addition to the rings, but that should suffice, I guess. She seemed to like alcohol.¡±

    In the corner of the carpet were bottles of brandy, whiskey, wine and sake lined up.

    Speaking of alcohol, Zenjirou usually only drunk low-malt beer or in extremely rare cases a 1500 yen whisky, so he would consider buying a bottle for the price of ten to twenty-thousand yen insane, but for a present for a Queen, he needed to invest at least that much.

    That reminded him that the other world only had low percentage plum liquor, so he had bought a domestic still in a hurry, but he hadn¡¯t tested yet if he could properly make distilled liquor with it.

    Well, it would be a good bargain if he seeded.

    Either way, he had bought low-malt beer and a suited local whiskey by the boxful, which shouldst for a while.

    Next up, Zenjirou checked his current attire.

    ¡°This looks good enough¡­ Well, even if it doesn¡¯t, I don¡¯t have any better clothes.¡±

    The grey suit he currently wore were the priciest clothes in his collection, one¡¯s best suit so to speak. After all, he was going to his wedding. Even if the cultures were different and his partner was from a different world, he had to dress appropriate in his own way.

    At first he considered getting a white suit like the bridegroom wore during the reception, but its ridiculous price put an end to his idea at once. It clearly crossed the limit of warrantable expenses for clothes that would be worn only once.

    As Zenjirou was short on assets, he could only prepare the most decent attire from his collection.

    And as he was checking out his attire, he noticed that the belt from the backpack on his back wrinkled his suit.

    ¡°Uwah, not good. Will I be even able to fix that in the other world? Still, I don¡¯t have the courage to leave it behind just because of that. I just gotta live with it.¡±

    His backpack was filled with a change of clothes, sturdy tramping boots, several rechargeable AA batteries and a sr charger for them. Furthermore, there was dry bread, chocte chip biscuits, bars of chocte, water pet bottles, a dozen lighters and tool knifes, a dynamo LEDntern and a heat insting nket. In short, the contents were kind of an ¡°emergency pack¡±.

    When he thought of unforeseen incidents like being summoned to the wrong ce or time or if the magic of the carpet failed and only his belongings on his body were transferred, he didn¡¯t feel like putting the backpack down on the carpet at all, even if it wrinkled his suit a bit.

    Of course, the most important item, the ring for Aura, was safely tucked into the inside pocket of his suit together with its box.

    Suddenly Zenjirou itched for checking on the ring in his pocket again.

    However, his right hand was still upied with the box cutter and the little finger of his left hand was bleeding even now.

    Zenjirou considered putting down the box cutter for now and look into his inside pocket. At that very moment.

    ¡°Guh¡­!?¡±

    A familiar feeling of drunkenness befell Zenjirou sitting on top of the carpet.

    He immediately threw the box cutter away and put both his hands down on the carpet. Then he heard a ¡°nk¡± noise from his right and in the next moment, the appealing voice of a female, which he hadn¡¯t heard for a month, came from above his head.

    ¡°I wee you, my future husband. I am d the second summoning went well. Now I can finally say this with all sincerity:

    Wee to this world, to my country. I am d to see you, my lifelong partner.¡±

    ¡°Aura-san¡­¡±

    Zenjirou had perfectly transferred along with the carpet and forgetting to stand up, he looked up at the Queen, who spread her arms weing, while he still was on his knees like a fool.

 Chapter Volume 1 3

    It had been a couple of minutes since Yamai Zenjirou safely transferred over to the different world.

    Dressed as he was, Zenjirou was escorted to the inner pce.

    All the luggage he bought with him would apparently be carried to the inner pceter by the reliable castle guards.

    That meant not only everything on top of the magic carpet, but also the backpack he had shouldered.

    It was too obvious what they intended to do, but as Zenjirou understood that it was only natural from their point of view, he entrusted his luggage to the guards withoutining.

    Needless to say, he still reminded them explicitly about being extra careful with the electrical appliances such as the hydropower generator on the hand barrow, the refrigerator, the air conditioning or the floormps, telling them that were fragile and pointing at each of them.

    ¡°Of course they want to check if there¡¯s anything dangerous when I suddenly bring a lot of strange stuff into the pce.¡±

    Zenjirou muttered, then slumped into the beautifully woven wooden chair.

    In the worst case, they would judge the appliance as dangerous and dispose of them, but Zenjirou remained optimistic. After all he somehow or another had Aura¡¯s, the Queen¡¯s permission to bring these goods with him.

    Even if they should identify one of the goods to be dangerous by mistake, he surely would be given a chance to exin it in person.

    ¡°I think I refrained from bringing anything they would mistaken as something dangerous or strange, but you never know, it¡¯s a different world after all¡­¡±

    All said and done, he was still worried as he sighed, temporarily stood up from the chair, took off his jacket as if he was remembering something and hung it over the backrest of the chair.

    Then he pulled on the knot of his necktie with his index finger, liberating his throat with a jerk, and undid the top button of his white shirt.

    ¡°¡­Fuh.¡±

    Now he felt a bit better.

    This world was indeed hot. In Japan it had already been the beginning of summer, so the temperatures now and then raised above thirty degree in the noon, but here it felt more like Japan¡¯s midsummer¡ª temperatures of thirty-five and above.

    ¡°I can still stand this heat, but if it gets any hotter, I¡¯m not so confident any more.¡±

    Zenjirou told himself that it was necessary to find counter-measures against this heat at once after all. At that very moment, a knock resounded on the door and a voice followed afterwards.

    ¡°Excuse me, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Zenjirou was surprised for a moment as it was the calm voice of an unfamiliar woman, but he somehow managed to reply without showing any of his surprise.

    ¡°I would like to introduce the waiting maids of the inner pce. May I ask a bit of your time, Zenjirou-sama?¡±

    ¡°¡­.Ehm.¡±

    For a moment, Zenjirou was stumped for an answer, but there obviously was no reason to decline right now.

    Whilst his actions were restricted right now, he wasn¡¯t all that concerned about it due to the nervousness from having transferred to a different world, and hadn¡¯t anything to do anyway, leaving him incredible bored.

    ¡°Yes,e in.¡±

    He reflexively sprung up form his chair, then invited the waiting maids on the other side of the door in.

    After his consent, more than ten waiting maids entered the room one after another.

    All the waiting maids basically wore the same style of clothing, albeit for small differences.

    Their clothes with white and ruby as its predominant colours, could be passed off as unique maid clothes, but it might be easier to understand to describe them as an arrangement of a half-sleeved top from India or Middle East with a miniskirt. Especially the shawl-like cloth around their heads reminded one of the typical Indian garment, the sari.

    At least the wardrobe was so refined that even Zenjirou, knowing nothing about fashion, was charmed by them at once.

    The waiting maids single-minded formed three rows in front of Zenjirou as if they had decided on the order beforehand, and stood still.

    Nine young waiting maids lined up next to each other in the rear row, whereas four waiting maids in their 30s and 40s made up the middle row.

    And at the very front stood a single slender waiting maid, near her 40s, like a representative of them and spoke.

    ¡°Then allow me to introduce all of the waiting maids that will take care of you from now on, Zenjirou-sama.

    First of all, I am Amanda, the supervisory maid in charge of all the attendants in the inner pce. I am responsible for everyone in your residence, the inner pce, so pleasee to me when there is anything troubling you.¡±

    Saying so, the frontmost waiting maid¡ª the supervisory maid Amanda bowed politely.

    Her tone and brisk behaviour gave her the aura of a ¡°capable woman¡±.

    Needless to say, it wasn¡¯t just an aura. All the women serving in the inner pce had to bepetent.

    (Man, I bet rectangle sses would look quite good on her.)

    Zenjirou automatically harboured this impolite impression.

    He pictured her like the strict ¡°dormitory superintendent¡± of a female boarding school he had read about in a girl¡¯s manga long ago.

    ¡°Amanda-san, okay. Nice to meet you.¡±

    Upon his answer, the supervisory maid Amanda contorted her face for a moment as if she wanted to say something, but immediately looked serious again, bowing politely.

    ¡°¡­Yes, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    In the world of business, Zenjirou had learned to read his opponent¡¯s mental state from their expression to a certain extent, so he noticed superiority maid Amanda¡¯s reaction.

    (Mh? Was I a bit too polite? I¡¯m technically the master here and Amanda-san an attendant.)

    To humble himself when meeting someone without an urate grasp of their rtionship, was a Japanese¡¯s principle, but now that he thought about it, here in the different world, in this kingdom, he was royalty.

    When he was too polite, it could lead to confusion instead.

    On a closer look, even the other waiting maids, standing behind the supervisory maid, showed more or less expressions of surprise and bewilderment.

    Seemingly his manner of speaking had been a poor choice indeed.

    The reason they hesitated to rebuke him with ¡°You do not need to address us like that, Zenjirou-sama¡± was because of their different standings as royalty and attendants?

    If so, then it was troubling for him. As someone from a different world, he didn¡¯t know left from right here, so if no one pointed out his mistakes to him, he would always remain ignorant to affairs in this world.

    (¡­Guess I¡¯ll consult with Aura-santer.)

    While such thoughts crossed his mind, the supervisory maid Amanda continued the introductions.

    ¡°Next up I will introduce the heads of each department. First off, the one in charge of cleaning, Ines.¡±

    ¡°My name is Ines.¡±

    A waiting maid on the right in the second row stepped forward and bowed deeply.

    ¡°The next in line is Vanessa, in charge of cooking.¡±

    ¡°My name is Vanessa. Please leave the kitchen to me.¡±

    ¡°Going on, we have Emilia, in charge of gardening.¡±

    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°Lastly, there is Olsha, in charge of bathing.¡±

    ¡°My name is Olsha. Please feel free to call out to me whenever you are taking a bath, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°These four are the important responsible parties in the inner pce.¡±

    ¡°At your service.¡±

    On supervisory maid Amanda¡¯s words, the introduced four lowered their heads in unison.

    ¡°O- Okay. Likewi¡­ no, I mean¡­ I am looking forwa¡­ no, I¡¯m expecting you to work hard.¡±

    Zenjirou unconsciously was about to reply polite again, but corrected his tone stammering to sound as exalted as possible.

    To him it seemed unnecessary haughty and would make himugh out loud, but apparently it was the correct attitude.

    The waiting maids bowed with ¡°Understood¡±, obviously relieved.

    Seeing them like that, Zenjirou felt like holding his head in his hands.

    (Uwah, seems this kind of tone is appropriate after all. I¡¯ve to consult Aura-santer on about how to correctly deal with the attendants.)

    Ignorant to Zenjirou¡¯s inner conflict, the supervisory maid Amanda proceeded with the introductions.

    ¡°Now we have the nine waiting maids in the back. They will be responsible for any other immediate jobs. Please order them directly for any minor issues instead of involving the department heads or me. There are various others maids for misceneous tasks, but these nine will always be avable for your summoning.

    Girls, introduce yourselves.¡±

    Upon her urging, the nine waiting maids in the third row started to introduce themselves one after another.

    ¡°My name is Karina. Please order me anything, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°I am Keyshia.¡±

    ¡°Kristel is my name.¡±

    ¡°I am Kate¡­¡±

    At this point, Zenjirou¡¯s only average memory power reached its limit.

    The supervisory maid plus the four department heads. For a total of five people, he somehow kept up his will-power to remember their names and faces, but had he known that there would be nine more, he would¡¯ve raised the white g from the start.

    ¡°¡­My name is Dolores. I will do my best to serve you whole-heartedly, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    By the time the nine waiting maids finished their simple self-introduction, Zenjirou had abandoned any ns to remember the names and faces of everyone present.

    (Oh well. I¡¯ll get to remember them anyway while we¡¯re together in the inner pce. For now I¡¯ll just keep the names of the important ones in mind, like the supervisory maid and the department heads.)

    Zenjirou had his fare share of visitingpanies for business, so he wasn¡¯t exactly bad at remembering faces or names, but thirteen people at once was certainly impossible.

    He had only vague recollections for everyone but the supervisory maid and the department heads.

    (At any rate¡­)

    Watching the thirteen waiting maids, Zenjirou thought to himself.

    (They perfectly fit into two categories. Maybe there are two eptance criteria? Capable and good-looking.)

    The waiting maids in front of him fit so well into two general categories that he inadvertently suspected that.

    To put it bluntly: ¡°old and not very pretty waiting maids¡± and ¡°young and pretty waiting maids¡±.

    Needless to say, supervisory maid Amanda and the four department heads belonged to the ¡°old and not very pretty¡± category, whereas the other nine lower-ranked waiting maids belonged to the ¡°young and pretty¡± one.

    Supervisory maid Amanda and the cleaning department head Ines were still slender, but the remaining three department heads were all middle-aged women with plenty of flesh on their abdomen, the typical ¡°middle-aged spread¡±.

    On the other hand, amongst the nine waiting maids, introduced as their subordinates, was not a single one that a dwindled style like that.

    Zenjirou¡¯s impression of capable and good-looking ones might not necessarily be wrong.

    However, the nine of them were all different from each other. Their looks for example: One was suitable to be called ¡°cute¡±, another one would deserve the description ¡°pretty¡±.

    There were tall ones as there were short ones. Just as some had a big bust, others had a small one.

    Only one girl had short hair, maybe due to cultural restrictions, but the hairstyles of the others were extremely varied and wide-ranged.

    But it couldn¡¯t be Zenjirou¡¯s imagination that overall, there were more taller girls than short ones and more girls with big busts than ones with small busts. Especially in regards to busts, seven out of nine prided themselves with a size of ¡°huge breasts¡±.

    Amongst them, one exceptional person even boasted of a size bigger than Aura.

    (Reminds me, Aura-san too has a rather tall figure and big breasts by Japanese standards. Maybe women in this country tend to be taller and have bigger breastspared to the Japanese average?)

    Zenjirou forced his gaze to fixate upward, so it wouldn¡¯t wander over the waiting maids¡¯ breasts, while he pondered like that, but reality was different.

    These young waiting maidens were carefully chosen by Aura as ¡°girls, who Zenjirou could safely put his hands on in the near future¡±.

    There were more tall girls because he had expressed arge interest towards the tall Aura. The majority of big-breasted girls was based on Zenjirou¡¯s staring at Aura¡¯s voluminous breasts when they dined together before.

    In other words, Zenjirou¡¯s assumption that the young waiting maids were chosen based on ¡°good looks¡± was absolutely correct.

    Naturally, they were carefully picked from a range of people with skills appropriate for the inner pce through the added criteria ¡°looks¡±.

    Zenjirou, not knowing anything about that, had no time to admire these beautiful maids as he was mostly preupied with the nervousness of having arrived in the different world not long ago.

    ¡°Okay. I expect all of you to work hard.¡±

    All that was on his mind was to ¡°get this over with safely¡±.

    * * *

    While Zenjirou, who had gone ahead to the inner pce, was hard pressed from the unfamiliar interaction with the waiting maids, Carpa¡¯s Queen Aura the First had her subordinates check the ¡°dowry tools¡± that Zenjirou brought along, one by one in a chamber of the pce.

    ¡°Open everything and examine it closely. However, when you cannot open it, do not force it and just put a mark on it. I will enquire of Zenjirou-dono about it personallyter on. Bring any dangerous or strange objects to me without exception.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The soldiers d in white leather armours and the waiting maids wearing white aprons over their exotic maid clothes, obeyed the Queen¡¯s order and started to open Zenjirou¡¯s luggage carefully.

    One opened the five-door refrigerator from top to bottom and checked the inside by sticking the head in. One tried to look inside the air conditioning with a puzzled look. One opened the half-transparent stic box with clothes, spread all of Zenjirou¡¯s T-shirts and boxer shorts one by one and folded them again.

    The soldiers and waiting maids worked all around the room with pooled forces.

    A great amount of ¡°suspicious objects¡± was suddenly brought into the pce. It had to be checked, but it belonged to the future husband of the Queen.

    As to not to damage or dirty the goods by chance, the work was conducted with incredible caution.

    Due to that, there were ten people assigned to it, yet there was little progress.

    Nevertheless, their task continued and one person, having spotted something of concern, reported to Aura.

    ¡°Your Highness, the contents in these transparent containers seem to be alcohol. It has a unique seal, so we do not know how to open it, but we can confirm an alcoholic smell from the broken ones.¡±

    The bottles of alcohol, which Zenjirou brought with him as a present for Aura, must have fallen over from the summoning. One bottle of each the Japanese sake and wine, which had rtively thin bottles, were broken and their contents had soaked into the carpet.

    Needless to say, Aura had noticed that there was alcohol amongst Zenjirou¡¯s luggage from the smell, so she nodded short.

    ¡°Take the remaining bottles into the wine cer underground. And bring the broken ones over here. Ah, be careful with the handling. These containers seem so fragile that you cannot evenpare them to wooden barrels.¡±

    She ordered the soldiers and waiting maids.

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    The soldiers carefully carried each bottle with both hands and left the room with them. Meanwhile the waiting maids picked up the broken bottles and held them out to Aura.

    It were the white shaded bottle of Japanese sake and the transparent bottle of dark red wine. Receiving the two broken pieces, Aura looked through them at the sun shining in from the window and raised a surprised voice.

    ¡°¡­Marvelous. It looks like it is made out of crystal. Is such a toolmon in the world of my future husband?¡±

    The Carpa Kingdom did not know of ss manufacture.

    The set of bottles made on modern Earth seemed more like work of art than tools to the people of this world. Even more so for the bottles of whiskey and brandy, which had an borated design.

    ¡°Your Highness, this appears to be tableware. The sses and tes are not made out of wood or silver either, but out of the same transparent material as the alcohol containers and some brilliant stone. A few of them also broke during the summoning.¡±

    The tableware Zenjirou brought along was an average porcin set from Japan and the wine or whiskey sses were all out of ss.

    Zenjirou especially brought these fragile things with him, since he noticed on his previous dinner here that all the tableware was made out of wood or silver.

    It didn¡¯t bother him so much that he would point it out, but as he was used to porcin and ss tableware, it definitely felt a bit strange to him.

    And while he didn¡¯t notice it himself, the main reason for his strange feeling were the jars for water or alcohol.

    Silver didn¡¯t rub off on the vour as much as other metals, but that didn¡¯t mean it waspletely tasteless.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t feel as ufortable with the forks or spoons, since they were made out of stainless steel in Japan too, but it was different for the jars.

    For example, it was the same difference in vour one experienced when drinking the same tea from either a pet bottle, a can or a ss cup.

    When Aura picked up the transparent, colourless wine ss, she clicked her fingers with a snap.

    ¡°This is impressive as well. It would make a good present for nobles with a fancy for collecting artefacts.¡±

    Of course these belonged to Zenjirou and Aura, even if she was his wife, had no right to do with them as she pleased. However, her future husband was an understanding and kind person. If she were to ask him, he would surely oblige her.

    Aura shook her head as she was already picturing the ensnared face of the nobles, and turned her thoughts back onto the current situation.

    ¡°Did you find anything else?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness. Please look at this. We believe that these might be ¡®weapons¡¯.¡±

    Saying so, the soldiers brought over a long, blue rectangle box with metallic sticks, a small pouch with many small, twisted nails and a strange edged object that had an inward de at the tip.

    ¡°Let me see. Mhm¡­ No, that are not weapons. They are most likely some kind of tools. For weapons, they are too impractical.¡±

    Aura replied after looking at the ¡°screwdriver set¡±, ¡°screws¡± and ¡°pipe cutter¡± that she received.

    These tools were all needed to assemble the air conditioning. There were a lot of other tools unknown to a resident of this world lined up, like a ¡°percussion drill¡±, a ¡°vacuum pump¡± or ¡°vacuum gauge¡±, and with thisplete set, it was possible to set-up the air conditioning.

    However, that only applied to professionals.

    From his research on the inte, Zenjirou learned that an amateur had hardly any chance to assemble an air conditioning with just a manual, but at that time, he had already bought therge air conditioning.

    He had brought a printed version of the whole assembly instruction from the homepage with him and had no intention to give up his ¡°air conditioned lifestyle in the different world¡±, but considering that he quickly purchased an ¡°electric fan¡± and a ¡°metal basin big enough for the freezer¡± afterwards, he hadn¡¯t lost his touch with reality entirely.

    Next up, a soldier carrying a device of unknown utilization stepped forward in front of Aura.

    ¡°Your Highness, I would say that this is a weapon. Please take a look. On a first nce, it appears to be a simple box, but there are various des inside and they quickly turn when you spin the bar on the side.¡±

    ¡°Oho, quite intriguing. An interesting mechanism indeed. However, I doubt that it is a weapon. How would you attack someone with it?¡±

    ¡°Spin the bar after you put your opponent¡¯s hand inside¡­ Maybe?¡±

    The soldier¡¯s words fizzled out, as he noticed the incredibility of them midway in his sentence, and Aura gave him a wry smile.

    ¡°Then it is not a weapon, but an instrument of torture. Well, depending on its utilisation it might prove dangerous, but it surely was not built with the intention to harm. Put it back.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Zenjirou¡¯s ¡°ice crusher¡±, nearlybelled as an ignominious instrument of torture or weapon, was safely put back into ce.

    Even after that, the discoveries of unknown objects, like the supply of soap, the toothbrushes or mosquito coil, continued.

    In appearance at least, the various LED floormps of the same model resembled therge candle stands of this world, so the usage could vaguely be guessed, but there was no ce to put a candle or oil pan, so they remained mysterious objects in the end.

    In the meantime, not only the things on the carpet were checked, but a waiting maid also confirmed the contents of the backpack that Zenjirou had shouldered, and she approached Aura with the open backpack in one hand.

    ¡°Your Highness, the contents in here mainly consist of water, food, a nket and a change of clothes.¡±

    ¡°Water and food? ¡­Oh, I see. I guess he prepared it for any kind of emergencies. After all, I missed out on exining to him what happens when my summoning fails.¡±

    When the summoning failed, the magic itself wouldn¡¯t activate. Therefore Zenjirou¡¯s precaution waspletely unnecessary, but if anything, Aura was at fault here.

    ¡°Not good. I made my future husband worry unnecessarily. I have to apologizeter. ¡­Mh? What is the matter? Is there something else?¡±

    Aura noticed the strange behaviour of the waiting maid, who was pale in the face, with the backpack and asked her.

    The waiting maid, still pale, answered ¡°Y- Yes¡± with a small voice.

    ¡°P- Please look at this.¡±

    Saying so, she pulled out two small pouches from the side pocket of the backpack and held it out to Aura.

    ¡°Oh, this is¡­!?¡±

    After casually opening the pouches and looking inside, Aura opened her reddish brown eyes wide and became speechless.

    One of the two pouches Aura had opened, was filled with colourful, transparent jewels of the size of a fingertip, the other one had countless small grains, radiating in various colours, with a hole in the middle.

    To put simply, it were ¡°marbles¡± and ¡°beads¡±.

    This too was one of Zenjirou¡¯s ¡°countermeasures against unforeseen happenings¡±.

    For the unlikely event of being transferred to somewhere else in the different world than the pce, Zenjirou had brooded about an item that wasn¡¯t bulky and could easily be traded for money in the other world, resulting in ¡°marbles¡± and ¡°breads¡± as his choice.

    Zenjirou had chosen them as he remembered that the pce had not a single window with ss or jar out of ss, but it felt to him like he was treating the people here as ¡°natives from a backward region¡±, which wasn¡¯t all too pleasant.

    However, he had no alternatives. If a single marble could bring a room at an inn for a night and a couple of beads could be traded for a meal, he couldn¡¯t ask for more. At the very least, Zenjirou had imagined that, but it has to be stated that the actual value was vastly different.

    Even if they were ¡°toys¡± in modern Japan, these ss pearls with a perfectly round shape that visible air bubbles could hardly ever achieve, had not the value of ¡°some small change¡± as Zenjirou imagined them to be.

    Frankly said, they were treated as ¡°jewels¡±.

    In fact, a kind of ss pearls known as ss beads were traded for over one million yen per piece due to its historical value even on Earth.

    Of course the marbles and beads from Zenjirou weren¡¯t that valuable. They were nothing but toys, costing a few hundred yen per bag, but this world didn¡¯t know of ss manufacture, so their value exceeded Zenjirou¡¯s guess by far.

    ¡°Carefully put them back.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes¡­!¡±

    Receiving the order, the waiting maid took the two pouches from Aura¡¯s hands and put them back into the pocket of the backpack with a caution like handling explosive.

    The long check of Zenjirou¡¯s luggage finally reached the final stage. By the time the number of soldiers and waiting maids standing near the wall as not to disturb the others, exceeded the number of people still working, Aura addressed everyone.

    ¡°Do you have nothing to report anymore?¡±

    She had received reports about most of the goods already.

    So Aura asked just in case while she was already half-sure that there were no more reports, and shifted her gaze towards a soldier that was opening a clothing case. At that moment.

    The watched soldier obviously trembled his body with a shiver and quickly tried to put what he held back into the case.

    ¡°Wait! What are you hiding there!? Stay put and slowly take your right hand out of the case!!¡±

    Catching him, Aura raised a sharp voice.

    (What was that? Did he sneak in some poison or so into my future husband¡¯s belongings?)

    The imperial guards here had gone through very strict selections, but was there a traitor amongst them?

    Aura shot the suspicious soldier a fierce and stern look.

    ¡°Y- Your Highness! I did nothing wrong¡­!¡±

    ¡°Keep your excuses for yourself! I am telling you to be quiet and remove your hand.¡±

    The soldier started to exin surprised, whereas Aura shouted at him with a fierce rebuke.

    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    As he figured that it would be in vain to protest in light of Aura¡¯s threatening attitude, the soldier slowly pulled out his right hand from the clothing case.

    Just as Aura had suspected, there was a brilliant red cloth in his hand.

    ¡°What is that? Turn around and spread the cloth with both your hands.¡±

    ¡°Y- Your Highness, this, uhm¡­¡±

    ¡°Do it.¡±

    Aura ordered the soldier, who tried to oppose even now, with an overwhelming voice.

    Preparing for any eventualities, the other soldiers, watching the course of events, took their short shields leaning against the wall, and swords in hand and surrounded the interrogated soldier at a distance.

    The waiting maids stopped their work for the moment and retreated towards the wall, hiding behind the embattled soldiers.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    A tense atmosphere. A painful silence. Someone could be heard swallowing their saliva with a gulp from all the tension.

    With the attention of everyone in the room on him, the soldier made a big sigh like giving up on something precious and widely spread the cloth in his right hand in front of the Queen.

    It was a thin, red ¡°negligee¡±. Needless to say, for a woman.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Aura stared at the averted face of the soldier through that red cloth. Yes, ¡°through the cloth¡±. The soldier¡¯s expression was visible to Aura through the cloth he held up in front of his face.

    The kind of clothes from which you couldn¡¯t expect any protection against the gazes of others.

    ¡°..¡­¡±

    Remaining silent, Aura kept staring at the transparent negligee for a very long time, then slowly questioned the soldier.

    ¡°That was in my future husband¡¯s clothing case?¡±

    As he couldn¡¯t lie to the Queen he had sworn loyalty to, the imperial guard answered short and precise.

    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The atmosphere ckened, but the silence was still painful. Someone could be heard swallowing their saliva with a gulp from sexual excitement.

    Amidst that, Aura had initially cast her eyes down to endure something, but she reached her limit atst and broke the silence with a burst ofughter.

    ¡°Kukuku¡­ I see now. Well, forgive me. I falsely suspected you.¡±

    The Queen, having doubted her soldier, admitted her own mistake and gave him an apology.

    ¡°No, I am yours tomand.¡±

    As a soldier, he could only reply with that. On closer consideration, he had tried to suddenly hide something from the Queen¡¯s eyes. It was only natural that he was doubted.

    Anyway, what a disaster.

    Lascivious clothes, obviously for a woman, were found in the belongings of the Prince consort.

    It didn¡¯t need a genius to figure out to whom the owner of these clothes wanted to give them and for what reason.

    ¡°I deeply apologize for behaving so rashly and raising suspicion.¡±

    Still holding the transparent negligee in his right hand, the soldier lowered his head faithful, which only stimted Aura¡¯sughter even more.

    ¡°It is fine. Do not let it bother you. Like I said before, it was my mistake, so let bygones be bygones. Still, I see, my future husband had such a piece. ¡­Kukuku.¡±

    Aura continued tough even now with her shoulders trembling. Tears dwelled up in her eyes fromughing too much and she wiped them away, muttering.

    ¡°My future husband is a ¡®man¡¯, too after all.¡±

    Despite being in front of her subordinators, Aura kept being convulsed inughter all over.

    * * *

    Evening on the same day.

    In one chamber of the inner pce, to where all of his belongings were carried, Zenjirou sat on a ck leather couch, a paradigm for luxury, across from Aura.

    ¡°So all my things are allowed into the inner pce?¡±

    Aura had told him the result of the check, so Zenjirou showed an obvious relief on his face while he confirmed it.

    ¡°Yes. There are a few objects that need verification about their utilisation, but everything should be here by tomorrow. Except, I took the liberty to store the alcohol in the wine cer already.¡±

    Queen Aura, calmly crossing her legs across from him, replied so with a generous nod.

    The bright red light of the setting sun shining through the open window dyed the Queen¡¯s red hair even redder.

    Captured by her appearance, Zenjirou voiced the question he suddenly thought of.

    ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t mind. The alcohol would only spoil if it was kept here. But who ¡®brings the goods here¡¯? If I remember correctly, ¡®no males are allowed¡¯ in the inner pce besides me, right?¡±

    Things like the clothing box or theputer were no problem, but the two metre tall refrigerator and hydropower generator surely were beyond a woman¡¯s strength. Maybe there was a kind of ¡°power maid¡± for physicalbours?

    Aura shook her hand on his question and answered as if it was trifling.

    ¡°Naturally some trustworthy members of my imperial guard will handle it. While it is certainly true that ¡¯males are banned¡¯ from entering the inner pce, a certain flexibility of the rule is possible for temporary entry.

    Otherwise we would need to employ ¡®female masons¡¯ and ¡®female carpenter¡¯ in the pce. After all, the building of the inner pce and the water fountain in the garden are not built for eternity.¡±

    Zenjirou obediently consented with ¡°Oh, right¡± to the Queen¡¯s slightly teasing words.

    No matter how the world worked, there were still matters a woman¡¯s strength couldn¡¯t solve by itself. If one still inflexible insisted on ¡°no males allowed¡± at such a time, the inner pce would be a ridiculous and ufortable ce.

    Still, it were good news for Zenjirou. If he could get the help of other men, there was something he wanted to do as soon as possible.

    ¡°In that case, could I borrow the help of a few men on this asion? Actually, I brought over a thing called ¡®Hydropower Generator¡¯. I want to set it up in the garden somehow and get water to¡­¡±

    As the sun started to set, the pce was dimly lit and Zenjirou told Aura his undertaking while leaning forward on the couch.

    * * *

    The reason Yamai Zenjirou was summoned to this world was to marry Queen Aura.

    For that sake, he safely transferred over to the other world and spent a night in the ridiculous huge bed in the unfamiliar inner pce. What weed him on the next morning was his inescapable fate of endless days with preparations for the marriage ceremony.

    The ceremony was scheduled to begin in fifteen days andst for five days, all night long.

    For a royal wedding, the period for both the nning and the ceremony itself were abnormally short.

    The preparations had probably already started one month ago, when Zenjirou had epted Aura¡¯s proposal, but still, that month and fifteen days only made a total of forty-four days.

    It was an exceptional short period to prepare for the ¡°marriage ceremony¡± of the ruling Queen.

    In a kingdom as big as the Carpa Kingdom, the preparation period alone would usually be at least one year when it concerned the marriage of a direct descendent of the royal family. Royalty and nobility from home and abroad would get notified with enough time to spare and a schedule would be written out so that as much important people as possible could attend, putting up the most luxury ceremony to show off the country¡¯s prestige.

    A royal wedding was more than a simple celebration. It was a suitable asion to gather influential people from near and far, doing diplomacy behind the scenes.

    However, with only one and a half month to prepare, the best they could do was to gather the influential nobility from the own country, but the royalty and nobility from other countries probably wouldn¡¯t find the time to attend. It was expected that most of them would send representatives with far lower status at best. In other words, this marriage ceremony wouldn¡¯t give a chance for secret deals. To be honest, a ¡°wasted¡± opportunity.

    The reason Aura tried to push through the marriage in such a short time despite knowing this, was that she feared someone would intervene if they took their sweet time.

    After all, it was the first marriage ever of a Queen from the Carpa Kingdom.

    As there were no precedent, they coulde up with as much faults as they wanted.

    It was an undeniable fact that the Queen¡¯s marriage wouldplicate the hierarchy and even worse, Zenjirou had inherited the royal blood strong enough so that he could pass on the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± onto the next generation even if he made a child with someone other than Aura.

    If Aura¡¯s judgement was correct, Zenjirou had the potential to use the basic ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± if he learned magic by the book, so his lineage was quite close to a direct descendent.

    If news about Zenjirou¡¯s blood spread to the influential nobles in the country, one or two would surelye up with the audacious scheme of keeping Aura as an unpaired ruler for a while longer and putting the child between Zenjirou and their daughter next on the throne.

    Aura didn¡¯t consider her political skills as so weak that she would get outmanoeuvred by such strenuous politics, but preventing any trouble from urring to begin with was the best choice.

    These spections lead to the conclusion that their marriage ceremony had an abnormally short preparation period for a royal wedding and was inevitably ¡°small-scale¡±.

    ¡°¡­This is ¡®small-scale¡¯, huh.¡±

    Having heard these circumstances from Aurast night, Yamai Zenjirou unconsciously leaked that utterance.

    ¡°Mh? Did you say anything, Zenjirou-sama?¡±

    Zenjirou sat on a chair woven from ivy and a couple of waiting maids scuttled around him, happily puzzling over colourful fabrics and dazzling jewellery that they brought over with ¡°Not this, not this either¡±.

    As he could already tell from Aura¡¯s evening dress and the waiting maids¡¯ uniform, the Carpa Kingdom had a western-style fashion too, but apparently this culture was introduced by another country only in the recent years and public events like marriage ceremonies called for their traditional garments.

    Currently, the maids were choosing the cloth for Zenjirou¡¯s turban that he would wear at the ceremony, along with a stick pin for it.

    The five-day ceremony included a parade through the streets of the capital in an imperial carriage together with Aura. It was typical for noblemen of this country to wear a turban around their head when outside.

    Thinking back on it, he had already run out of luck when he asked supervisory maid Amanda ¡°What clothes would be suitable?¡± as he had no idea about this world¡¯s fashion and she promised ¡°Leave everything to me¡±.

    The enthusiastic waiting maids, a lunatic look in the eyes that said ¡°Please leave it to us¡±, kept Zenjirou busy forever afterwards.

    ¡°No, nothing. Go on.¡±

    ¡°Yes, certainly.¡±

    It had already been a little over an hour since he sat down on the chair. There was not the slightest indication that the turban selection would end any time soon. Moreover, in the back, the waiting maids in charge of the essories he would wear on the appointed days, a ¡°decorative bronze sword¡° and a ¡°marvellous sash¡°, were already waiting eagerly.

    Most likely, he would spent all of today on this.

    (Aura-san allowed me to borrow some soldiers, so I want to set-up the hydropower generator as soon as possible and get back to my life with electricity¡­)

    Zenjirou sat motionless in his chair to let the maids work freely and sighed innerly.

    He had only spent a single day in the inner pce so far, but this inconvenient lifestyle cut off from modern culture already threw his heart into a clear turmoil.

    However, the waiting maids, unable to hear their master¡¯s inner voice, wanted to meet his expectation as he entrusted them with everything, and selected the turban and stick pin with all their might.

    Their efforts seemed to say that their master¡¯s shame was their own, so he just couldn¡¯t bring himself to say ¡°I have other things to do, so don¡¯t take so long and choose whatever works¡±.

    ¡°The pin of the flying dragon with rubies as eyes seems to be the best choice after all. And in my opinion, a white turban will then keep a good bnce with the other wearing apparel of the day.¡±

    They finally seemed to settle on something. Zenjirou suppressed a sigh of relief and replied with ¡°Okay, let¡¯s try that¡±.

    He still didn¡¯t feelfortable in this atmosphere, but it was slighter better now as he didn¡¯t have to use a forced exaggerated tone like yesterday.

    After consulting with Aurast night, she approved that he, public asions aside, may speak in a casual way inside the inner pce, but addressing the attendants with respectful speech was certainly going too far.

    ording to Aura, the inner pce was the private chamber of royalty and it would be putting the cart before the horse if the master exhausted himself from being considerate to the attendants.

    Zenjirou was quite grateful about her Highness¡¯ decree.

    At once, he started to speak normally, mindful not to use respectful speech. The waiting maids were perplexed at first, but over time, they got used to his manner of speaking and started to talk to him in a rxed way.

    ¡°Yes, very well. Excuse me.¡±

    The waiting maid revealed her joy about having her idea epted and wreathed the cloth around Zenjirou¡¯s head with a practiced hand.

    (Wow. It¡¯s almost like magic.)

    Zenjirou got that impression as he saw how the simply wide cloth was wrapped around his head in no time through the mirror on top of the table.

    The waiting maid finished wreathing the turban very easily andstly stitched it together by sticking the golden stick pin into the central part above the forehead. Then she said proudly.

    ¡°How do you like it, Zenjirou-sama?¡±

    On her question, Zenjirou turned his head left and right numerous times in front of the mirror and affirmed the position of the turban from various angles.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The rectangr mirror, vividly showing Zenjirou¡¯s reflection, also reflected how the young waiting maids were rebuffed by the older maids for curiously sneaking a peek.

    ¡°¡­Yeah, looks good.¡±

    Having witnessed that scene in the mirror, Zenjirou suppressed a burst ofughter and answered unaffected.

    Speaking of mirrors, this world only knew of metallic mirrors such as polished silver or bronze tes and a metal jar filled with water, so the ss mirror Zenjirou brought with him must have greatly impressed them.

    He had intentionally bought the mirror for shaving and tooth-brushing, so it easily reflected his face whole.

    It was hard to imagine how much it would cost to make a bronze mirror as big as this, let alone a silver one. A metallic mirror didn¡¯t allow any distortions or scratches, so the price skyrocket by just increasing the size a little bit.

    And above all, the reflectance of metallic and ss mirrors were in different leagues. To people, who were used to the vague reflection of a metallic mirror, it must seem like there was another world beyond the ss mirror.

    ¡°Very well. Then we will make use of this turban and stick pin for the ceremony.¡±

    The waiting maid, recovering from the rebuff, said so and the waiting maids standing in the back smiled brilliantly as to agree. When the beautiful waiting maids, except for a few, smiled in unison, it rxed the atmosphere as much.

    ¡°Now then, I would like to move on to the selection of the sash and sword you will be wearing on your waist during the ceremony. Is that alright with you?¡±

    ¡°¡­.Sure. Go ahead.¡±

    Thanks to their smiles, Zenjirou somehow managed to nod with a smile to the verdict of ¡°being a dress-up doll for another hour¡±.

    * * *

    Just like during the month before his transfer, the busy time went by in a sh.

    It had been fifteen days, since Zenjirou came to the other world.

    Before he knew it, he faced the very day of his marriage ceremony.

    The Carpa Kingdom had a special banquet hall in the pce that was only used for ¡°marriage ceremonies¡± of royalty or rtive high-ranked nobles. Its name: Room of the Dragon King.

    The whole floor was covered with a single carpet that showed an ancient dragon drawn in mainly red colours. Its fibers were so long that you would sink in up till your angle if you were to stand on it barefooted. A relict of the past, when people were still sitting directly on the ground.

    Nowadays, after the cultural introduction of chairs and tables from the northern continent, the custom of sitting directly on the floor had vanished nearlypletely, but the ¡°seatingfort¡± carpets, remnants of the old times, had be an easy criterion for wealth and power.

    Going by that, such a ridiculousrge carpet with long fibers made the ¡°Room of the Dragon King¡± more than a suitable ce for holding the royal wedding ceremony.

    Needless to say, only chosen nobles from houses with a certain status were allowed to set foot into this impressively vast hall.

    Various round tables stood in thisrge hall and the nobles sat at them in their own cliques.

    There didn¡¯t seem to be a strict etiquette and while the food wasn¡¯t served yet, all kinds of drinks were prepared and the nobles at their tables enjoyed some with idle talk.

    The topic of their chatting was of course the stars of today¡¯s wedding ceremony: Queen Aura and the mysterious Prince Consort to-be Zenjirou.

    ¡°I must say, Her Highness is pretty daring. To think she would take a man summoned from a different world as her husband.¡±

    ¡°Yes, indeed. I wonder what kind of man he is.¡±

    ¡°There is no coteral royalty left in the Carpa Kingdom, so no one will oppose the marriage anyway¡­¡±

    ¡°The question is, how much magical power does he possess?¡±

    ¡°Rumours says, it is so much that it would not put the royal family to shame.¡±

    ¡°Oho!? If that is true, he is a wonderful catch.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Should the circumstances allow it, it is also possible that in order to spread the royal blood, other women besides Her Highness will be weed into the inner pceter on¡­¡±

    While the nobles engaged in such talk, a young man d in a full dress of a civil officer, appeared from the adjacent room.

    The young civil officer approached therge bronze gong in the corner of the hall, took the wooden drumstick that hung next to it and swung it powerful at the center of the gong.

    The loud noise silenced the people and gained their attention. The civil officer then said with a loud and clear voice.

    ¡°We will now conduct the wedding ceremony between the absolute Ruler of the ever so strong Carpa Kingdom, ourpassionate and wise Queen Her Highness Aura I and His Highness Zenjirou Yamai.

    Herees the pai~r!¡±

    These words dered Aura¡¯s and Zenjirou¡¯s entry.

    In response, all present nobles wordless shifted their gazes to the entrance with a diligent expressions.

    Now then, what kind of person would the rumoured ¡°Queen¡¯s husband¡± be?

    The high nobles with their evaluating eyes and the rest with curious eyes, eagerly awaited the arrival of that very person.

    Before long, a man and woman appeared in the entrance. The sunlight from the windows illuminated the path from the entrance to the altar like a walkway not by chance.

    The ¡°Room of the Dragon King¡± was a room optimized for marriage ceremonies by nature and the schedule too was adjusted in the way that the bridal pair would enter exactly when the sunlight shone onto the walkway.

    Zenjirou took one step into the bright sunlight, resisted closing his eyes reflexively and slowly walked down the illuminated path.

    (Uwah, not good. If I look around, I¡¯ll just turn crazy from nervousness¡­!)

    Zenjirou felt the gazes of all the dressed up nobles in the hall on him and deliberately kept his gaze only on the path in front of him.

    He felt rather grateful to the bright sunlight. Thanks to it, he couldn¡¯t see the nobles well.

    Under the strong sunlight of the south continent, Aura and Zenjirou approached the altar step by step with linked arms.

    Aura was dressed in a bridal gown and Zenjirou wore a ck formal dress with a sash and a decorative bronze sword at his waist.

    A keen observer would notice that the bridal pair paid careful attention that none of them would take the lead and advanced in perfect synchronisation.

    If Aura were to take the lead, it would give the bad impression that she was a ¡°woman holding the reins¡± and if Zenjirou were to take the lead, it would create the image that he was a ¡°man taking control of the Queen¡±.

    Royalty even had to mind to the way they walk.

    However, if you didn¡¯t pay so much attention, Aura only looked like a happy woman in a beautiful bridal gown right now.

    As the bride, Aura wore a sleeveless, white dress.

    Her skirt wasn¡¯t long enough to draggle a train, even if it had a red cuff, and had freshly-picked white flowers sewn onto it instead ofce. Some details were different, but it would pass as a ¡°wedding dress¡± from Earth.

    (Reminds me, the colour is always white whether it¡¯s a Japanese wedding kimono or western wedding dress)

    Was it amon sense transcending even worlds, not just country borders, that made the colour white esteemed for a bridal gown? Zenjirou thought about such things to distract himself from the curious and piercing gazes from all sides at least a bit. A dressed up Aura had her right hand attached to his left arm.

    As the groom, Zenjirou¡¯s attire was the traditional ck ceremonial dress he brought with him just in case.

    Standing next to Aura, who wore an extravagant wedding dress along with a crown as a regalia, Zenjirou looked slightly shabby, but there was a good reason for it.

    The awareness that ¡°a man was the head of the family¡± was deeply engraved into the people of this country and the marriage of the currently ruling Queen had no precedent.

    A variety of opinions regarding Zenjirou¡¯s, the husband-to-be¡¯s attire and behaviour at the ceremony literally fluttered about and to be precise, there weren¡¯t any regtions.

    Carpa¡¯s customs demanded that Zenjirou, the groom, wore more dignified clothes than Aura, the bride. However, as the current Queen, Aura had to attend the ceremony with a crown to show her sovereign right.

    Although Zenjirou was the husband, if he were to dress in more dignified clothes than the Queen, it would raise question to the absoluteness of her im of power. That said, if the groom attended in less dignified clothes than the bride, people would me royalty for ignoring the traditions of the country.

    In the end, Aura covered up the problem by making use of Zenjirou¡¯s birth in the other world, reasoning that ¡°in respect to her husband¡±, she allowed ¡°the groom to dress in the appropriate clothes of his world¡±.

    The formal ck clothes Zenjirou brought with him from his world would have been appropriate if he attended the ceremony as a normal guest, but weren¡¯t originally meant for the ¡°groom¡± to wear. That said, only Zenjirou himself knew this, so as long as he concealed it, their story was watertight.

    What weighted on his mind instead was the perfumed oil that coated his short hair and stickily parted it to one side.

    The ceremony today would be held indoors the entire time, so he didn¡¯t need to wear a turban, but it actually annoyed him that his hair was waxed with the particr smelling perfumed oil in exchange for it.

    (Argh, it itches and stinks. I want to wash it off in the bath as fast as possible¡­)

    As his nervousness faded, that difort started to gradually eat away at his entire consciousness, beginning with the corner of his head.

    While resisting the urge to scratch his head or close his eyes to the dazzling sunlight, he slowly, but steadily walked down the walkway.

    The attending nobles from all over didn¡¯t focus their attention onto the acquainted Queen Aura, but onto her future husband, whom they were seeing for the first time.

    (Oho, that¡¯s him)

    (He certainly has a lot of magical potential)

    (Seems the ¡°bloodline magic¡± will be passed on just fine)

    (Not only that, we can also hope for a child that inherits the ¡°bloodline magic¡± from a woman besides Her Highness)

    (In that case, the inner pce will really turn into¡­)

    (No, no, it is still too early to say that. The problem is his character)

    (I heard that in the half of a month he has been here, he shut himself in the inner pce and rarely showed himself)

    (You mean, he is an utilitarian husband for Aura-sama?)

    (Who knows)

    (If we at least knew his preferences, we would have a lead to make his acquaintance)

    (This is but a rumour, but the groom seems to like a red, seen-through¡­)

    Zenjirou concentrated his mind solely on the body warmth from Aura on his left arm as to ignore the stares from those around him, and move forward with stiff steps. The further he got, the closer the distance to the nobles got.

    Like it or not, his nervousness increased from the curious gaze at point-nk range.

    (Shit, I¡¯m so nervous, I don¡¯t feel my feet anymore¡­!)

    He couldn¡¯t even tell if he was walking on a carpet or marble floor.

    Never would he¡¯ve imagined that just walking straight ahead was such a difficult task.

    (Damn, I¡¯ll trip! I¡¯m royally tripping!)

    Zenjirou screwed up his face and broke out in a cold sweat, but the crisis was averted by his wife-to-be next to him.

    (Oh!?)

    Aura noticed that he had lost his bnce and pretended to hold onto his left arm with her right hand, but actually she was supporting his arm from below and kept him in bnce so that he wouldn¡¯t trip.

    (C- Close call¡­)

    Aura was the current Queen, who had been exposed to public attention as a direct descendent from royalty by birth. Whereas Zenjirou on the other hand was a mere sry man with an all-toomon life up till now.

    It was natural that Aura was used to such situations and he not, but it certainly felt a bit pathetic to have his bride help him with walking straight ahead.

    Still, it apparently seeded in engrossing his thoughts.

    Zenjirou temporarily forgot about the gaze around him as he was preupied in thoughts and in some way or other, he regained the minimum bnce necessary to keep walking.

    The religion on the south continent was ¡°animistic¡± in pretty much all countries.

    Since ¡°spirits¡±, giving blessings in form of ¡°magic¡±, actually existed, there was no room for other religions.

    Some people put their faith in the ¡°ancient dragon race¡± that supposedly existed long ago, but they were a minority in the Carpa Kingdom at least.

    Still, the influence of the ¡°Animism¡± was hardly worth mentioning as there was norge-scale religious organisation at a supraregional level.

    The main role of the priests was to held important ceremonies like this one.

    ¡°May the blessing of the spirits always be with them. Even if there shoulde times of hardships, listen to the voice of the ancestral spirits. The husband will protect the wife in such circumstances and the wife will support the husband in such circumstances¡­¡±

    At the altar, the priest¡¯s kind words continued forever.

    These kind of ¡°blessing speeches¡± didn¡¯t seem to differ much in the different world.

    Zenjirou tried listening to the ¡°blessing¡±, since he thought it actually might have an effect, considering that this world knew of magic, but that wasn¡¯t the case.

    Due to his nervousness, he couldn¡¯t follow the priest¡¯s words well, but the ¡°marriage ceremony¡± progressed smoothly even without that.

    * * *

    Night of the same day.

    ¡°Fuh, finally over¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufu, you certainly look exhausted. Well, same goes for me too.¡±

    Zenjirou and Aura were sitting on couches confronting each other with a table in-between in one room of the inner pce andforted each other¡¯s fatigue.

    After the three-hour marriage ceremony ended, they took part in another rite called ing-out ceremony¡± for over two hours as the main attraction.

    The marriage ceremony aimed at making their debut to the high-toned upper-ss nobles, whereas the ing-out ceremony¡± aimed at the middle and lower-ss nobles, who couldn¡¯t attend the former.

    They simply had to wave from the balcony of the pce at the assembly in the front yard, which was conducted in form of a stand-up meal party, but doing so for two hours certainly took its toll on their stamina and willpower.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou waspletely exhausted right now as he wasn¡¯t used to such festivities, but Aura was as well, since she additionally had to cover up his shorings.

    Zenjirou had been so exhausted that he no longer had the energy left to decline the offer from the waiting maid to ¡°help him in the bath¡±, which he normally would reject by all means. Or rather, it was more urate to say that the maid in charge of baths didn¡¯t allow him to take one by himself when she saw the drained face of her master.

    While the bath in the inner pce was spacious and luxurious, it wasn¡¯t the kind of refined ce like in modern Japan.

    It had no shower, nor a mirror. The marble floor looked indeed beautiful, but it was extremely slippy when wet from foam.

    It was dangerous to take a bath all alone whenpletely exhausted.

    Anyway, after somehow finishing their bath safely, Zenjirou and Aura leaned back into the couches in casual clothes, freed from the formal attire they had worn for half a day.

    Aura was dressed in a red night dress with a deep slit up till her waist, whereas Zenjirou wore a white-blue striped pyjama from his world.

    It were extremely affable outfits, but they had already entered into the bond of marriage.

    The pair would now wee their first night together, so there was no problem with exposing such an appearance to each other.

    That said, every time Aura across from him re-crossed her legs that peeked out from the slit, Zenjirou couldn¡¯t help but get conscious of it.

    Tonight, he would finally embrace this morous, voluptuous and beautiful woman in front of him in his arms.

    (Damn. I can¡¯t tell anymore if I¡¯m aroused or nervous)

    ¡°I- It¡¯s quite hot. Do you want to drink anything, Aura-san?¡±

    He said so to hide his nervousness and stood up.

    ¡°Yeah, I will take a ss, since you already offered it.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Then I¡¯ll open a wine. The red wine sadly broke in the summoning, but the white and rose wine is safe and sound.¡±

    Zenjirou headed over to the refrigerator in the corner of the room that emitted a quiet thrum. During the period of time from his transfer to this world up till now, the micro hydropower generator was set-up safely in the courtyard of the inner pce.

    As expected, the generator¡¯s output was somewhat lesserpared to the time when professional assembled it in Japan, but even so, it provided enough electricity to run all the important appliances at the same time.

    The refrigerator in the corner. The TV alongside the wall. And the six LED floormps that currently illuminated the room. At the moment, all of them functioned without any problems at the same time.

    He took out a bottle of wine from the refrigerator, then fetched two vitreous sses from the sideboard next to it and went back to the couch, where his new wife waited.

    (Oh god, it¡¯s nothing to be proud of, but I haven¡¯t had a girlfriend since my second year in university. I¡¯ve not the slightest clue how to create a good mood)

    More precisely, his experience with women was limited to a single woman that he dated for one year, from his second year in university to his third year. Thanks to that, his age no longer equalled his time without a girlfriend and he lost his virginity, but it was an undeniable fact that he had insufficient experience with women.

    ¡°Here.¡±

    After pouring the white wine into the sses, Zenjirou ced one in front of Aura.

    Then he was about to go back to the other couch while holding the other ss, but Aura called out to him.

    ¡°Zenjirou-dono, if you do not mind, would you sit down here instead?¡±

    Saying so, Aura tapped besides her on the couch she was sitting on.

    The surprised Zenjirou answered flustered with the ss of white wine still in his hand.

    ¡°Eh? W- Well, but, that¡­¡±

    ¡°Why the hesitation? From today on, we are a genuine married couple. There is no need to be bashful about huddling together.¡±

    It felt wrong to hesitate after she said all that.

    Zenjirou nodded.

    ¡°Okay. Then excuse me.¡±

    Telling so in advance, he sat down next to Aura.

    Their thighs touched each other.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    (Oh shit, this is definitely too close)

    He had sat down on the couch that provided enough space for five grown-up people, in the way that their legs stuck together. It was a bit awkward, but if he dared to move now, it would seem like he was strangely sensitive to it and that would be even more awkward instead.

    Like Aura had said just now, they were already a married couple. This was their private space and no reason to avoid physical contact.

    (What now, I should say something¡­!)

    While sipping on his wine, he impatiently searched for a topic, whereas Aura spoke to him in her usual rxed manner.

    ¡°I must say, these ¡®electrical appliances¡¯ you brought along are truly fascinating. This light and this cooling, I feel like I am in the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell.¡±

    Aura looked at the LED floormps that lightened up the room while saying that.

    The floormps used LED light bulbs and were as tall as a person.

    Zenjirou brought over eight floormps in total, which used three LED light bulbs each, to the different world.

    At present, six were ced in the living room and two in the bedroom.

    If all eighteen light bulbs were turned on, even the broad room of the inner pce could be lightened up as brightly as the night in modern Japan. Of course the light didn¡¯te from above and as it came from multiple sources, the covering wasn¡¯t equal.

    Right now, only twomps near the sofa were on for creating the mood.

    While Zenjirou smiled wryly about Aura¡¯s consideration to start a topic,

    ¡°Yes, I worked hard for it. Apart from the preparations for the ceremony, I used up all my time to set-up the electrical appliances.¡±

    he said that a bit proudly.

    In reality, it was more urate to say that all he did since he came here was just assembling the hydropower generator in the inner court and running the power cable to the room.

    Needless to say, it had been Aura¡¯s soldiers, who actually carried the generator, diverted the water from the fountain in the court to the water tank, moved away the stones in the wall and opened a hole for the cable.

    However, Zenjirou had drawn a n for transporting the generator safely, exined it and instructed the workers amidst temperatures of over 30¡ãC every day (measured by an actual thermometer he brought with him, not by sense), which was midsummer by Japanese standards.

    Considering the reason why Aura chose him as her partner, he knew that he ought to abstain from getting in touch andmanding arge group like that, but he had no choice this time. It was not something he could entrust to others.

    The hydropower generator converted the energy from the falling water into electricity, so the water tank had to be ced sufficiently higher than the generator.

    For that, the water tank was ced on amassed soil, but then the water wouldn¡¯t flow into the tank from the fountain when they connected the hose.

    One problem solved, the next arose. After try and errors, when they finally got a sufficient flow of water to generate the needed electricity, Zenjirou had shouted ¡°Hell yeah!¡± with a guts pose, ignorant his surroundings.

    But the effort had paid off and now the refrigerator, the LEDmps and hisputer were operating wless.

    ¡°It definitely seemed worth the effort. Yes, having cold alcohol is not all that bad, too.¡±

    Aura emptied her ss with white wine in no time and put the ss back onto the table soundless.

    ¡°Fufu¡±

    Ignorant to his nervousness or not, she took his right arm with both hands and pinched it between her cleavage, resting her head on his shoulder.

    A sensation of her soft breasts enveloping his arm. A warmth on his shoulder and back of the neck from her damp and hot breathing. The sweet citrus fragrance from her red hair was the shampoo he brought over.

    The soft sensation and sweet fragrance made Zenjirou dizzy.

    ¡°Ah, uh, ah, right, reminds me, what is that ¡®Twin Kingdom¡¯ you mentioned earlier? Is it the same as this country?¡±

    Aura raised a chuckle from the back of her throat in reaction to her husband¡¯s flustered stuttering, then answered him sympathetic.

    ¡°Oh, the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell. It is a vast country in the middle of the southern continent, where two royal families, the Sharrow family with their ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ and the Jilbell family with their ¡®Healing Magic¡¯, exceptionally rule side by side.

    The ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ makes it the only Kingdom, where ¡®Magic Tools¡¯ can be created, and its royal pce is illuminated by ¡®Light Jewels¡¯ at night, cooled by ¡®Wind Jewels¡¯ when it is hot and warmed by ¡®Fire Jewels¡¯ when it is cold.

    Well, you will learn about these things in time. Zenjirou-dono? Something has been bothering for a while, you see.¡±

    Aura suddenly grabbed his cheeks with her hands and turned his head into her direction.

    ¡°W- Wh- Wha- What is it, Aura-san?¡±

    Zenjirou, unable to properly stand his ground, replied with intense stammering as he looked into Aura¡¯s face at such a close range that the focus of his eyes was off.

    ¡°That precisely. You add a san to my name as if I were a stranger. Can you not do something about that? I doubt that you always speak like that. Previously aside, but from today on we are a married couple.

    I am aware that it is unreasonable to ask you to change your attitude all of a sudden, but before long, our rtionship will be ustomed to such a sense of distance.

    So please, would you talk to me with a genuine tone?¡±

    Just like Aura had pointed out, Zenjirou had deliberately used a rather formal manner of speaking. He collected himself a bit and answered.

    ¡°Now that you mention it¡­ But I could say the same about you, Aura¡­-san.¡±

    ¡°This is my usual tone. Nor am I humbling myself. But you have a point. Calling my husband with ¡¯Zenjirou-dono¡¯ every time would certainly be a bit too formal.

    May I inly call you just Zenjirou, too?¡±

    Aura asked him that with a gentle smile.

    A gentle smile and earnest eyes. Without averting her gaze for even a moment, Aura silently waited for the answered from her newlywed husband.

    ¡°Ah, yes. Wait, I mean¡­ Yeah, sure. Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Zenjirou.¡±

    Upon his answer, Aura brightened her smile happily and called him by his name at once.

    ¡°Now you call me by my name too, Zenjirou.¡±

    As expected from a Queen used to negotiations. She stunningly pushed her will through like a bargaining point, even though he hadn¡¯t agreed to anything right.

    Overwhelmed by it, Zenjirou answered.

    ¡°A- Aura¡­¡±

    ¡°Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Aura.¡±

    At a range where they could feel each other¡¯s breath, the pair brought their faces closer and called each other by their names.

    Both of them were prepared to spend the night together tonight from the start.

    Who approached the partner¡¯s lips first?

    ¡°¡­.Mm.¡±

    ¡°¡­Mh, Mm.¡±

    Either way, their lips ovepped like it was the most natural thing ever. At the same time, Zenjirou¡¯s arms tightly twined around Aura¡¯s back and she put her arms around his neck.

    ¡°Mm, Mmm, Mhm¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Mh¡­ Mm.¡±

    In an affectionate embrace, their lips madly joined together.

    ¡°Aha¡±

    ¡°¡­Fuh¡±

    They ended this long and passionate kiss nearly at the same time, too.

    But while the kiss ended, the embrace didn¡¯t.

    After separating their lips, Aura ced her chin on Zenjirou¡¯s shoulder, then hugged him more tightly and whispered into his ear with a small voice that it tickled.

    ¡°I will head to the bedroom first. Women have a lot to prepare, so follow me after you slowly counted till hundred.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Ah¡­¡±

    Leaving these words behind, Aura slipped out of his arms and stood up from the couch.

    ¡°A- Aura?¡±

    Zenjirou reflexively reached out his hand, so Aura looked over her shoulder and showed him a bewitching smile.

    ¡°Fear not, I will not flee. So count until hundred, okay?¡±

    With thesest words, she disappeared in the bedroom next-door.

    ¡°¡­Fuh¡±

    Aura, going ahead into the bedroom, closed the door behind her and took a deep breath first of all. Then she went straight to the side of the bed and turned on the LED floormp there.

    Zenjirou had taught her how to do it, but when she turned on the lights by herself, it filled her with admiration once again.

    The LED light bulb for the bedroom wasn¡¯t giving off the usual white, but an orange light.

    ording to Zenjirou, this one ¡°suited the bedroom better¡±, but Aura couldn¡¯t really tell the difference.

    Amidst the orange light, Aura recalled her earlier words and behaviour, blushed her cheeks and wriggled her sinuous body.

    ¡°Th- That was rather stimting. Do all married couples do such embarrassing, yet joyful things every night?¡±

    Aura embraced her own body that was d in the red nightgown.

    Her heart beat fast like an rm bell and her whole body, from head to toe, felt hot like it was set on fire.

    ¡°I, I hope Zenjirou-dono did not notice it. N- No, we shared such a dear embrace, so he must have noticed. ¡­Wh- What do I do?¡±

    She had brought it up herself before, but now she was calling him with a honorific again. That she didn¡¯t notice it showed how agitated she was.

    Well, no wonder. Aura admittedly had lived longer and survived more bloodsheds than Zenjirou, but her essential experience with the other sex was even lower than his ¡°one case¡±. In other words, ¡°zero¡±. An authentic virgin.

    Unlike the males of royal blood, who were expected to widely spread their seed now and then, the females of royal blood were expected only to receive the seed of a better lineage into their stomachs and generally had a strong sense for chastity.

    Due to that, unmarried woman of royal blood were equated with inexperienced, which was true for the majority.

    In the culture of the Carpa Kingdom it was typical that the man took the lead in the rtionship.

    So there was no problem with telling Zenjirou the truth and entrusting her body to him, but the reason she still pretended to have to upper hand was either her dignity as the Queen or her pride as the older one.

    Anyway, Aura slipped off the red night dress and was naked except for some small shorts. When she tried to get onto the king-sized bed, she suddenly noticed.

    ¡°The light¡­ is a bit too bright.¡±

    Even just one LEDmp illuminated the bed considerably. ustomed to candles and oil pans, Aura couldn¡¯t help but feel embarrassed and hesitant over weing her bridal night in such a bright light.

    ¡°¡­.Mhm. I, I wonder if this will do?¡±

    She covered the LEDmp with the red nightgown she had taken off just now.

    Like she had hoped, the brightness dimmed a bit, but through the red cloth, it gave it a rather obscene atmosphere instead.

    ¡°Well, I cannot concern myself with this too much.¡±

    If she kept thinking it over, her husband would appear.

    A resolved Aura climbed onto the bed and positioned herself in the middle of it.

    ¡°Fuh, Hah¡­ Fuh, Hah.¡±

    Then she took deeps breaths to regte her breathing and heartbeat, so that she would appearposed at least outwards, continuing that lovable effort for a while.

    The silence was broken from a knock on the door.

    ¡°!¡±

    ¡°Say, can Ie in now?¡±

    Hearing her husband¡¯s voice beyond the door, Aura took one more deep breath, then replied with her usualposed voice.

    ¡°Yes, you maye in. I am awaiting you, Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°E- Excuse me then¡­!¡±

    Zenjirou timidly came in through the opened door like he was sneaking into the bedroom and when he saw Aura illuminated by the orange light, he unconsciously gulped.

    Aura was lying sprawled on the bed with her upper body rested on the pillow.

    Her lower body was slipped under a thin cloth like a nket made out of toweling, but he could perceive her bare body line. As for her upper body, except for the peaks of her voluminous breasts, which were barely covered by her red hair, everything was in in view.

    ¡°Oh my, how long do you want to stand there, Zenjirou? No need to be shy. Come here. Let us spend a passionate night together.¡±

    In Aura¡¯s behaviour as she tempted Zenjirou with a bewitching smile, was no longer a shred of the adorable agitation from earlier.

    * * *

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    Having finished the bridal night well, Zenjirouy down his sweaty, naked body on the bed. The coption in this sultry night left Zenjirou¡¯s body greatly exhausted, but his mind was in high spirits.

    He would go for a second round at once if their bodies were to allow it. The sexual intercourse with his new wife was such a captivating experience.

    ¡°Hah, Hah, Hah, Hah¡­¡±

    On the other hand, the Queen was breathing roughly besides him with noposure to look at him.

    Normally, sex was more exhausting for the man than for the woman, except for some coital positions, but the tension from her first time must have ruled out that theory.

    Aura should have way more stamina than Zenjirou, but she was still groggy.

    Zenjirou¡¯s manhood still stood tall, but as expected, his mind had cooled down after ejacting once.

    Even while he was captivated by his wife¡¯s erotic appearance as her extrarge breasts went up and down with every breath she took, he wouldn¡¯t dare to go for a second round right away.

    Without getting up, he stretched out his hand, fetching the gauze handkerchief and orange towel he had ced there in advance.

    After wiping his genital area with the handkerchief, he wiped Aura¡¯s body with the orange towel while she was still out of breath.

    ¡°Hah, Hah, Ah? Oh¡­ Thanks.¡±

    As her sweat was wiped from her body with the fluffy towel from modern Japan, Aura finally opened her eyes a bit and thanked her husband for his devotion.

    ¡°No problem. Are you okay? Was I too rough?¡±

    Zenjirou dried her whole body off the sweat pearls while asking that.

    When he wiped her soft breasts or the captivating line of her lower parts, he was aware that the blood shot between his legs again, but he endured it for now.

    Even if they were married, it would cause a little trouble if he were to challenge his exhausted wife for a second round right after they finished their first time.

    Meanwhile, Aura let out sweet ¡°Kuh¡± or ¡°Hau¡± moans every time her nipples or private parts were wiped as her body was most likely still sensitive from the just finished act and tickled by the towel.

    But by the time Zenjirou had finished wiping her whole body, Aura had recovered enough to somehow face him and talk.

    ¡°¡­Anyway, I guess this is the end of it?¡±

    Turning her head towards him a little bit on the pillow, Aura asked that, whereupon Zenjirou, still reclined, rested his cheek in his hand and answered.

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re done, for the most part. So, how¡­ was it?¡±

    Zenjirou, aware now that he had been a bit rough earlier, timidly asked Aura.

    Amidst the orange light, Aura showed a smile that was a mixture of a smirk and a wry smile.

    ¡°Well, what can I say. It certainly was an ¡®unknown sensation¡¯. I have been through many battles, be it in war or politics, but this was a first for me.

    The first time I considered ¡®capittion¡¯.¡±

    She dered with a slightly usative tone.

    ¡°U- Ugh, ehm¡­ Sorry.¡±

    ¡°No, there is no reason to apologize. I might not look like it, but I had no experience in this. But I would appreciate it if you could hold back a bit.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes¡­ I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    He felt ashamed from his wife¡¯s words, but had no confidence that he would keep his own promise.

    Even this time, he didn¡¯t have any intentions to get so excited at first. To be honest, it was quite likely he would be just as rough during their next time.

    Aura intensified her wry smile as she read his inner thoughts, and shrugged her naked shoulders.

    ¡°Fuh¡­ Oh well, this is a duty of a wife as well. Anyway, Zenjirou, you are the only man I have been with, so I cannotpare it with others and thus I am going to speak my subjective opinion.¡±

    ¡°Mh? Wh- What?¡±

    He was anxious about what she would say.

    ¡°You are surprisingly ¡®pushy¡¯.¡±

    Aura frankly described her husband¡¯s conduct with a tone without spite.

    ¡°Agh¡­!¡±

    Zenjirou couldn¡¯t deny that when he reviewed the night act.

    In the end, he didn¡¯t object and buried his face in the sheets, writhing like an infant for a while.

    ¡°Have you calmed down?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah, somehow.¡±

    After a while, Zenjirou managed to recover from begin called a ¡°pushy pervert¡±, raised his head from the sheets and faced Aura again.

    While he had been drowning in shame, Aura rested her cheek on her right arm lying as her mental and physical fatigue left her, and watched him very interested.

    Most of her sweat had drawn back too. The temperature tonight was around 25-30¡ãC. Sleeping naked posed no problem as long as one wiped away the sweat.

    ¡°Then shall we go to sleep? We have an early morning tomorrow.¡±

    Looking her husband, who finally faced her, into the eyes, Aura asked for his opinion.

    Their bridal night concluded without problems.

    The main event of the marriage ceremony waspleted today, but from tomorrow onwards, there were still other things to be done, like the parade in the imperial carriage through the streets of the capital.

    They couldn¡¯t afford to cut down on their sleeping time.

    ¡°Yeah, right¡­¡±

    He must have remembered these future ns. Even while he gave the voluminous breasts of his wife a regretful look, he nodded, but then he suddenly remembered something important.

    ¡°Oh! I totally forgot!!¡±

    ¡°Zenjirou?¡±

    Standing up out of the blue, Zenjirou got off the bed, so Aura called out to him surprised.

    ¡°Wait a moment, I¡¯ll be back real quick!¡±

    He rushed out of the bedroom with these words into the living room.

    ¡°¡­What was that?¡±

    Aura, still naked, sat up on the bed and tilted her head. Shortly thereafter Zenjirou, naked too, came back from the living room.

    Unlike before, he was now holding a small box of blue velvet cloth in his right hand.

    Aura suddenly remembered that Zenjirou had asked her to lend him a ring for her left ring finger before he returned to his world once.

    ¡°So this is¡­ I see.¡±

    It was easy to guess what was inside that box once she remembered that.

    Back in the room, Zenjirou pulled off Aura¡¯s clothes from the LEDmp and the room brightened up again.

    ¡°Aura. Can you get off the bed and stand in front of me? It won¡¯t take long.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    She obediently did as he said.

    Even if she already knew that she would get something, it was still exciting when it came down to it.

    A different kind of excitement from the earlier contact with a man elerated her heartbeat while she stood in front of him.

    The pair, both naked, confronted each other in front of the orange LEDmp.

    Zenjirou took the ring with three diamonds in the socket out of the small box.

    The rite of exchanging rings.

    Normally, the rite was conducted in a wedding dress and tuxedo while a priest oversaw it, but since their marriage ceremony was held in the custom of the Carpa Kingdom, he couldn¡¯t bring it up.

    Nevertheless, it would be a waste to do it after the five-day ceremony was over, so he figured that it might be a good timing to hand it over after their first night together.

    With that in mind, Zenjirou came up to Aura at a distance of one step with her ring in hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s a custom of my world. The groom and bride put rings on each other¡¯s left ring fingers during the ceremony and swear to love each other forever. Aura, give me your left hand.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Like this?¡±

    Aura obediently held out her left hand before her chest, which Zenjirou grasped with his left hand and put the ring on her ring finger with his right.

    ¡°I promise to love, respect,fort and help you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in wealth and in poverty, until death do us part. I take this oath on this ring.¡±

    Along with the oath to love her forever, the ring was put onto the Queen¡¯s left ring finger.

    ¡°¡ª¡±

    As the yellow-golden ring was colder than she expected, Aura shivered for a moment, but showed no other reaction to the wedding ring on her ring finger.

    ¡°Can I ask you to do the same? Here.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yeah, okay.¡±

    Zenjirou now handed Aura a ring one sized bigger, but with the exactly same design as the ring on her finger.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    With the ring in hand, she remained silent for a moment as she thought about something, but before long, she put the ring on his left ringer finger in the same way he did.

    ¡°Is that alright?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thank you. Now we¡¯re done.¡±

    Zenjirou held the ring she had put on up high against the LEDmp and smiled happily. For an Earthling, this ring exchange definitely felt more like a ¡°wedding¡± than the ceremony in the different world.

    At any rate, he had done what needed to be done.

    ¡°¡¯Wedding rings¡¯ of oath, mhm. An interesting custom. If we spread it well enough, it might be popr here as well.¡±

    ¡°Haha, that would be great. That would make us the first couple ever to exchange rings.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that sounds sweet.¡±

    They naturally returned to the bed in their birthday suits.

    ¡°Good night, Aura.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, good night. Forgive me, but I am really going to sleep. If we do it any more, it will affect tomorrow¡¯s events.¡±

    ¡°I, I won¡¯t, really! I¡¯ll go to sleep, too.¡±

    Aura noticed the slightly disappointed expression of her husband and considered teasing him a bit more, but if she were to do that, it would cut down their sleeping time too, so she kept her mouth shut.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll turn off the light.¡±

    When Zenjirou turned off the LEDmp, the bedroom with the wooden door closed fell into absolute darkness.

    ¡°¡­Aura.¡±

    ¡°¡­Mm, Zenjirou.¡±

    In the middle of therge bed, the naked pair naturally groped for holding hands.

    The room was warm enough to disturb one¡¯s sleep, yet their body warmth only felt strangelyfortable.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Before long, Aura and Zenjirou started to make quiet sleeping sounds in an embrace even if no one in particr snuggled up to the other.

 Chapter Volume 1 4

    The cold, electronic buzzing from his cell phone next to his pillow slowly woke up Zenjirou¡¯s consciousness from its slumber.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Mh?¡±

    Still half-asleep, Zenjirou reached out his right hand routinely, searched for his cell phone and turned off its morning rm. Then he brought the cell phone close to his face and looked at the time.

    5:30 AM

    Compared to the time a sry man woke up in modern Japan it was rather early, but in this world it was already consideredte.

    In a culture, where nearly no other sources of light but natural fire existed, the daytime was a very precious period.

    It wasmon in this world to raise after the sun came out at four in the morning and sleeping in untilte was a sign of luxury.

    However, there was actually no need for Zenjirou to wake up at this hour by specifically setting an rm.

    He had the LED floormps to illuminate the night and nothing special to do during the day.

    There was but one reason that Zenjirou used the rm function of his cell phone, the loyal partner of his sry man days, to wake up this early.

    His wife¡ª Because he didn¡¯t want to miss out on Aura.

    It was a rather lonely experience to see that your wife had already gone to work when you woke up after going to bed together.

    Zenjirou put the cell phone back to where it was before and turned his body to the left on the bed. There was Aura, exposing an innocent sleeping face while making peaceful sleeping sounds.

    Today it had been ten days since their bridal night.

    After their marriage, Zenjirou and Aura had spent their nights together here in the chamber of the inner pce.

    Even yesterday, they satisfactorilypletely their conjugal duty, then fell asleep right after wiping their bodies with a wet towel, so both of them were stark-naked right now.

    Technically a thin nket made of something simr to towelling covered them, but the nights in the Carpa Kingdom were so hot that even that thin nket seemed oppressive.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Still not fully awake, Zenjirou twined his arm around his wife¡¯s back.

    Embracing her with his right arm around her back while still resting sideways, Zenjirou caressing patted Aura¡¯s back with his palm.

    Her heartbeat he felt on his chest and the feeling of her skin on his palm made him remember the act that was conducted nearly every night in thest ten days.

    ¡°Aura¡­¡±

    He had slept with this woman.

    This feeling of reality had quickly fostered his love for Aura. Zenjirou had embraced Aura so closely that her bare nipples were pressing on his chest and he caressed the back or red hair of his beloved wife numerous times with a lot of affection.

    It was inevitable that Aura would wake up from that.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Ah¡­? Zenjirou?¡±

    Having woken up, Aura indulged herself in Zenjirou¡¯s arms and docilely stuck her naked body onto his. Then she nuzzled her head against his neck like a spoilt cat and purred.

    (Ah, rather than a cat, I feel like I tamed arge feline carnivore like a ¡°lioness¡± or ¡°tigress¡±)

    Squinting from the tickling, butfortable feeling around his neck, Zenjirou squeezed Aura tighter while such a thought crossed his mind.

    People often matched women with cats, but such an adorable animal didn¡¯t do Aura¡¯s appeal justice.

    Even a pantheress was no match for her. She disyed the aura of a supreme ruler pretty much like a tiger or lion, carnivores at the top of the food chain.

    For a while then, they remained embraced naked for a while to savour the other¡¯s body temperature, but before long, Aura slipped out of Zenjirou¡¯s arms and got off the bed.

    While freely exposing her charming body that was filled out or firm only at the ces it was supposed to be, Aura wetted the towel in the pail of water that was prepared next to the bed and wiped her body.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    After the act, they technically wiped their bodies before going to bed, but even then they sweated unsavoury with their embracing amidst the sultry night.

    ¡°Ah, when you¡¯re done, give it to me. I want to wipe my body too.¡±

    Zenjirou, who was rather palepared to Aura, said that and got off the bed naked, then approached his wife, who was cleaning herself.

    ¡°Yes, of course. If you want, I can even do it for you? My dear Husband.¡±

    His new wife replied with a prankish smile and Zenjirou was about to give in to the temptation for a moment, but he shook his head and answered.

    ¡°That sounds really attractive, but it¡¯s too attractive and I don¡¯t think I can stop midway then. Though when you tend to it from beginning to end, then I¡¯m all in.¡±

    ¡°Too bad. I am afraid I have work lined up, so I do not have the time for that. Forgive me, you have to wait until tonight.¡±

    On their first night, Zenjirou one-sidedly had his way with Aura, but in thest ten days, she quickly adapted to the night duties. And now, she had improved so much that she could respond with such frivolous talk.

    After wiping her body quickly, Aura soaked the towel in the pail and wrung it out, then she tossed that towel to Zenjirou.

    ¡°Okay. Can¡¯t wait for it. Speaking of, how¡¯s today going to be? I mean, for meals.¡±

    While wiping his body with the caught towel, Zenjirou asked this to Aura as he suddenly remembered.

    While getting dressed, Aura

    ¡°Yeah, seems like I will not have the time to get back here for breakfast or lunch. But I might make it in time for dinner if everything goes well. Though you could alsoe to the pce yourself, Zenjirou, if you wish to dine together with me.¡±

    said so and gave Zenjirou a probing nce.

    Zenjirou, at the end of that nce, racked his brain at once.

    (It seems likely that I¡¯ll run into other nobility when I eat together with Aura in the pce. As clueless as I¡¯m right now, I might cause trouble for her in an unexpected way when I talk to them carelessly.)

    From her all too imposing behaviour one might forget about it, but Aura¡¯s authority as the Queen in this patriarchic Kingdom was by no means unshakeable.

    If Zenjirou should ever utter anything from his mouth that could be interpreted as criticism orin towards Aura, she would receive plenty of detriment from just that.

    (I might be overthinking, but better safe than sorry.)

    ¡°No, it¡¯s troublesome to go all the way to the pce. I¡¯ll ratherze around here. Ah, but I sure would like to learn about the manners andmon sense of this country to an extent that it wouldn¡¯t embarrass you soon. We can¡¯tpletely rule out that I¡¯ll have to appear outside, too.¡±

    That was Zenjirou¡¯s way of saying ¡°I¡¯ll try not to cause you any trouble as much as possible¡±.

    Aura understood the meaning behind his words and replied with an affectionate smile,

    ¡°I see. Then I will try to finish my work by dinner at all costs. I am sure you will be lonely all by yourself until night, but bear with it. As for manners andmon sense, I could teach you about it personally, but I do not really have the time for that¡­ Okay, I will find you a suited teacher.¡±

    assuring him like that.

    ¡°Sorry for all the trouble.¡±

    ¡°Pay it no mind. I am forcing these inconveniences on you.¡±

    Before long, Aura finished dressing and they approached each other nearly simultaneous.

    ¡°Well then, see youter.¡±

    ¡°Yes, see you.¡±

    The roles as man and woman were really reversed. While smiling wry in his heart, Zenjirou exchanged a short kiss with Aura and sent off his wife with a smile as she was going to pursue her duties as a Queen.

    ¡°Now then, what do I do today?¡±

    After sending off Aura, Zenjirou waszing around on the couch in the living room, dressed in a T-shirt from his world and loose, white trousers without a tuck from this world over his trunks.

    Ever since he came here, he had been busy with things like the marriage ceremony or setting up the generator.

    His real ¡°lifestyle of doing nothing butzing around¡± only started today.

    In time he might not know what to do with his free time, but at least for today, he had a mountain of things he wanted to do.

    During his sry man days, he had recorded as much as he could on DVD, but never watched any of it, and bought as much games as he could without ever opening them.

    He had also continued to buy the songs of the bands or singers he liked during his university days at legal download portals, more out of habit than anything, but the only time he listened to them was duringmuting between home and work. There were still a lot of songs he hadn¡¯t listened to even once.

    ¡°Guess firstes my backlog of TV series. Ah, but if I start now, it¡¯ll coincide with breakfast.¡±

    When it was time for breakfast, the waiting maids of the inner pce would appear.

    Practically, Zenjirou was the master of the inner pce, so he could change the time for breakfast on a whim if he wanted to, but it wasn¡¯t something to be mentioned casually.

    After all, this world didn¡¯t even know of gas stoves or water pipes, let alone microwaves. Preponing breakfast meant that the attendants had to scoop water faster and postponing meant that it had to be redone at ater time.

    It wasn¡¯t as simple as in modern Japan, where one could just reheat a prepared meal in the microwave.

    ¡°In the end, I merely married into the family. I don¡¯t want to get on the attendants¡¯ bad side. Let¡¯s see, how much is left of the food I brought with me?¡±

    Zenjirou felt a little bit hungry, so he peeked into the refrigerator.

    The five-door refrigerator powered by the hydropower generator thankfully operated without problems so far.

    At present, the refrigerator was filled with fruits and alcohol from this world and the rations Zenjirou brought with him from Japan.

    That said, most of these rations were chocte, dry bread, beef jerky, biscuits and the like. He had packed all these dry foods into his backpack for emergencies and there was no real meaning in putting them into the refrigerator.

    The remaining rations were forced onto him by his aunt as she believed his lie about ¡°transferring overseas¡±: Handmade dried plums together with some dried and buckwheat noodles from Shinshu Soba on the rmendation of his uncle.

    ¡°The chocte are too good to eat. From what Aura told me, they don¡¯t even know of cocoa here. It¡¯s pretty much hopeless to make any. Luckily, they seem to have no shortage of sugar, but it¡¯s crude brown sugar.¡±

    Most likely, it was just a substitute product they got by wringing out and filtering the essence of sugarcane or a nt with just as much sugar content. The sugar of this world had a peculiar vour to Zenjirou¡¯s tongue as it was used to the first-rate sugar from Japan.

    Technically he had the receipts for cakes, cookies or pudding on hisputer, downloaded from a homepage with pictures to the exnations, but it was a little doubtful if he could properly make them with the sugar and wheat flour from this world.

    To begin with, Zenjirou didn¡¯t bring any hand mixer or microwave with him, so it was impossible to make sweets as easily as in modern Japan.

    If he were to do it, he had no choice but to call for the waiting maid in charge of cooking and teach her the rough method.

    Zenjirou had thought he had gathered the essential things as best as he could during the one month of preparation, but now that he started his life in the different world, he often found himself regretting ¡°Why didn¡¯t I bring that with me!¡±.

    His greatest regret was ¡°window ss¡±.

    Zenjirou looked at the window, which mercilessly let the outside air through the opened wooden shutters, and all the parts of the air conditioning in the corner of the room, raising an empty voice.

    ¡°Quite the blunder. The interior in Japan¡¯s buildings is naturally enclosed by windows, so it totally slipped my mind¡­¡±

    Even if he were to assemble the air conditioning in this room without window ss, he wouldn¡¯t get thefortable temperature he sought. The air conditioning wouldn¡¯t even reach half its effectiveness with the windows gaping wide open.

    On the other hand, closing the shutters in the middle of the noon, cutting of the sunlight and living with just the LEDmps was certainly a bit too unhealthy. Even if he were to do that, he couldn¡¯t hope for the architecture of this world to be as airtight as an average building in modern Japan.

    All the same, it was doubtful how much the domestic air conditioning could cool down the living room, since it exceeded a size of sixty-six square metres.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s more likely I¡¯ll screw up the assembling anyway, so I might as well resign myself to never having one to begin with. Hah¡­¡±

    Zenjirou sighed and decided to put the matter with the air conditioning and window ss on hold for now. As a sop for his dilemma, he had figured out that when he put a block of ice, made in the refrigerator, in front of the fan, it gave a chilling in a local area more than he had expected.

    ¡°Oh well. It¡¯s no usementing. I have to live with the inconveniences.¡±

    Adopting this clear-cut attitude, Zenjirou took out a bag stuffed with DVDs from the TV stand and started to pick a show to watch for today.

    ¡°Mhm, up to where did I watch this show? I remember Sr Car going to an ind where they held bullfights. I think Game of Tag vs. 100 Detectives Part 3 was thest I watched?¡±

    * * *

    While refreshing himself with the ice fan, Zenjirou enjoyed watching DVDs by himself. Meanwhile, his wife Aura pursued her duties as the Queen in her office.

    Most of her duties as the leader of the country were councils and meetings.

    Since the Carpa Kingdom currently had no prime minister in charge of politics and no admiral in charge of the army, Aura was extremely pressed with work as the Queen.

    The little free time between councils and meetings psed just from looking through some submitted reports.

    Aura was going through the bundle of dragonskin parchments (made from skinned hide of raptorial dragons) helter-skelter when Secretary Fabio, standing next to her, called out to her.

    ¡°Your Highness, it is time.¡±

    Aura raised her eyes from the dragonskin parchment to the monotone voice of the middle-aged man with a slender face.

    ¡°Mh? Ahh, already time, huh. Who is next?¡±

    As there was no precise way to measure time like in modern Japan, this world was rather loose with time. Even so, official business in the pce had an urate take on time by measuring quarters of an hour, namely fifteens minutes.

    The majority of her work had to be taken care of while the sun was out, so the Queen was as busy as a politician in modern Japan during the day.

    ¡°Yes, the next meeting is with the General of the Knights, Sir Puyol Guill¨¦n.¡±

    Aura obviously grimaced upon hearing her secretary mentioning that name.

    It was the name from one of the two candidates that were deemed to be most suited to be her husband before Zenjirou was summoned.

    There was no doubt that he was apetent soldier that often distinguished himself in the previous great war at a young age, but regretfully, he was too ambitious, so Aura deemed him unfit to be her husband.

    Now what would that ambitious person have to say after his position as the ¡°Queen¡¯s Husband¡± within his reach had been snatched away by someone mysterious from a different world at thest minute?

    Just from imagining it, Aura inadvertently spilled a sigh.

    ¡°Your Highness, a soldier with the rank of a general and a civil officers with the rank of a cab member have the right to request a direct meeting with the Ruler. Sir Puyol is merely availing himself of his legitimate privilege.¡±

    Aura¡¯s irritation only grew stronger from the all tooposed words of her secretary. Even so, Secretary Fabio was making a sound argument, which Aura thoroughly understood.

    ¡°I know. Fine, bring him inside.¡±

    After a deep breath to blow away the irritation, she ordered with her usual dignified voice.

    ¡°Your Highness Aura, first of all, let me congratte you again. I wish you all the very best for your marriage.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Sir Puyol. It makes me feel better to hear this. We were not meant to be bound as a man and a woman, but I would like to keep our bond as ruler and subject important from now on, too.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes, you honour me.¡±

    The exchange between Queen Aura and General Puyol Guill¨¦n, sitting opposite one another in the office, started with obvious pleasantries.

    To put in a nutshell, the man called Puyol Guill¨¦n was a stereotypical soldier.

    He was one head taller than Aura, who was already tall for a woman, and had a keen and fearless face. His arm, appearing from the half-sleeves, were cluttered with scars and the palms of his big hands showed firm and big calluses from handling a sword.

    Most likely a hundred people out of hundred would choose Puyol when asked who between Zenjirou and Puyol was a suitable Prince Consort for Aura based on appearance.

    It even looked impressive when Aura with her red hair and light brown skin stood next to Puyol with his ck hair and brown skin. And even height-wise, Puyol was taller than the average man, so he made a good bnce to Aura, who was also taller than the average woman.

    A skilled soldier, apetentmander and the young hero of the previous war with numerous deeds of arms.

    The Hero had failed to be the Prince consort, but he faced the subject of his loyalty, the Queen and dered without beating about the bush.

    ¡°Your Highness, I believe you know already, but I have a younger sister. She inherited the royal blood, too, albeit as shallow as myself, and has high magical power. Her personality just like her education, will not embarrass her in public.

    What do you say? I suggest to make her Zenjirou-sama¡¯s concubine, to spread the royal blood of course.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Upon Mr. Ambitious sudden and frank proposal, Aura desperately suppressed her urge to facepalm right away.

    That was the very reason. Because he was so obvious ambitious, he was extremely unsuited to be the Prince Consort, no matter how capable he was as a soldier.

    Since Aura herself would never content herself with being a puppet to her husband, the Carpa Kingdom would have split into Queen and Prince Consort Factions for sure if Aura had wed Puyol, causing a national split.

    Anyway, suggesting a concubine to a wife, who had only just wed, was outrageously ruthless.

    Aura didn¡¯t break herposed expression and asked back.

    ¡°Mhm, that sounds intriguing. What is your sister¡¯s say on that matter?¡±

    ¡°? I am the head of the Guill¨¦n Family.¡±

    Puyol tilted his head puzzled on Aura¡¯s question. Practically, he was not mistaken.

    The family head decided on the marriage partner for the woman. Puyol was merely making a sensible decision ording to the tradition of this country.

    Instead, Aura was the one againstmon sense, since she had lived so far by upkeeping a stereotypical turn of mind as the Queen.

    That said, most family heads made allowance for their daughters or sisters¡¯ own will when they decided their marriage partner, but Puyol apparently wanted to marry off his sister solely for his own conveniences. And he unwavering believed that it was his legitimate right to do so.

    Aura realized that she had steered the topic in the wrong direction and strived to adjust it while keeping aposed smile.

    ¡°Certainly. However, my husband only came to this world recently and has not settled in yet, both emotionally and physically. As of now, he has his hands full with just me.¡±

    Puyol squinted his sharp eyes on Aura¡¯s clear refusal.

    ¡°¡­Has Zenjirou-sama truly expressed that himself?¡±

    The question of the subject, doubting the Queen¡¯s words, could very well be seen as disrespectful, whereat Aura threw out her chest more than necessary.

    ¡°Of course. You do not mean to say that you doubt my words?¡±

    ¡°Never. Excuse me. However, as one of the nobility, it is my honest desire to ¡®personally¡¯ greet my new lord Zenjirou-sama.

    Can I ask you to pass that on to him ¡®unaltered¡¯?¡±

    ¡°¡­Fine. I will definitely forward it to my husband, ¡®word for word¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    At the end, Puyol saluted like a knight by bringing his right fist to his left shoulder and left the Queen¡¯s office.

    Once she had confirmed that the ambitious general was no longer in range, Aura sighed deeply.

    ¡°¡­ Good grief. His own marriage failed and he tries to send of his sister next. He makes no bones about his ambitions as ever. That is so much more refreshing.¡±

    Contrary to her words, the Queen spit them out annoyed. Secretary Fabio, standing there like a carved stature so far, replied with a t voice.

    ¡°Still, since General Puyol is so extremely loyal to his ambitions, it helps us predict the actions of the nobility as a whole. Most likely, identical request wille rushing in the next few days. And when you continue to turn these down like just now, then a rumour saying ¡®Her Highness takes the freedom off her husband to preserve her own power even though she is his wife¡®, will inevitably spread.¡±

    The secretary didn¡¯t mince matters like always, whereat Aura grimaced and objected.

    ¡°My husband decided to stay in the inner pce and not leave there by none other than his own will. I have told him nothing.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am aware of that. Because he is wise, virtuous for now and extremely cooperative to you outwardly. However, if even your rtionship with him remains hidden in the inner pce, the nobility haunting the pce will not know about it.¡±

    The secretary made a valid point after another, whereas Aura could only sigh.

    ¡°In that case, I guess we will have my husband appear in the pce to some degree and have him assure that our rtionship is going well directly from his own mouth.

    I get the feeling that I am causing nothing but trouble for him.¡±

    It made her feel a bit mean to push unexpected troubles onto her Prince Consort, who showered her so honestly with love.

    She really kind of felt like a wicked woman that restrained her husband¡¯s freedom for her own good.

    But the secretary was oblivious to the Queen¡¯s mncholy and continued to speak without moving a muscle on his inexpressive face that looked like an iron mask.

    ¡°There is nothing else we can do. In fact, the suggestion by General Puyol for Zenjirou-sama to ¡®have a concubine¡¯ is more than warrantable if you consider the continuity of the royal bloodline.¡±

    ¡°Well, yes¡­¡±

    Aura had to admit the truth behind these words.

    No matter how passionately Zenjirou and Aura loved each other, there was a limit to how much children a single pair could make. Not to mention, Aura had severe duties as the Queen. She couldn¡¯t afford to back out often to give birth.

    ¡°As things stand now, what is your opinion? I guess you think I should ept General Puyol¡¯s suggestion?¡±

    Aura asked her secretary like that on a spontaneous suggestion.

    The opinion of her middle-aged secretary, stressing effectiveness above everything else, served as a valuable general guideline.

    Secretary Fabio shrugged his shoulders a bit upon Aura¡¯s question, then

    ¡°I have my personal view on the matter, but speaking it out might be interpreted as contempt towards the royal family. I find myself unfit to ascertain if it is something meant for your ears, Your Highness.¡±

    lowered his head with that.

    But Aura turned a deaf ear to it and shook her hand, then urged him to continue.¡±

    ¡°I do not mind. To begin with, hypocritical courtesy is the signature feature of nobility. Even if it angers me, there will be no punishment, so speak your mind.¡±

    With the permission from the Queen, the secretary bowed once with ¡°Understood¡± and started to talk.

    ¡°Toe right to the point, I object making General Puyo¡¯s little sister a concubine for Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°Oho?¡±

    Aura leaned forward interested upon the secretary¡¯s unexpected straight-to-the-point words.

    ¡°Making important noblewomen, who inherit the royal blood, his concubines will appear at first as the royal family grows with the next generation and secure its future, but in fact it will be a dead-end, considering what happens in the generation after that.

    After all, all of them will be siblings with Zenjirou-sama as their father, but different mothers.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I see now.¡±

    Aura nodded consenting. That was indeed true. Although a lot of children would inherit the royal blood, it would make marriages arrangements extremely difficult in the generation after them as all of them were half-siblings with the same father.

    Per se, the marriage between half-siblings with different mothers or fathers was allowed in the Carpa Kingdom, but it wasn¡¯t rmended either.

    A child would be born with disabilities when the blood-rtion was too close. They must have figured out that fact from previous cases.

    ¡°Therefore, if you simply wish for continuing the royal bloodline, it would be the best to marry General Puyol¡¯s little sister to your other previous husband candidate, Sir Raffaello from the M¨¢rguez Family.

    And at the same time, you should wee a suitable daughter of nobility, a magician with rich magical power, as Zenjirou-sama¡¯s concubine to establish a branch family with thin royal blood. Then no one would have anything toin. Zenjirou-sama¡¯s blood is strong enough that we can hope for the child with such a woman to inherit the ¡¯Space-Time Magic¡¯.

    Ah, needless to say, everything is under the basic prerequisite that you have a child with Zenjirou-sama yourself.¡±

    Aura showed Secretary Fabio a tense smile for his indifferent presentation.

    ¡°It almost sounds like the marriages between the royal family and nobility are the same as crossbreeding between ¡®raptorial dragons¡¯ for you.¡±

    The slender-faced secretary didn¡¯t even show an reaction to her cynicism.

    ¡°Hence I told you beforehand that it would be impolite. To begin with, this is merely a standpoint for spreading the ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯. Marriage always involves people¡¯s feelings and if two influential noble families like the Guill¨¦n and M¨¢rguez Family were to merge through marriage, it would bring a too influential nobility into being and implicate drawbacks for the royal family.¡±

    ¡°I know. The one to make a final decision after looking at all the facts will be me.

    ¡­At any rate, as long as my husband does not stand in the breach of the nobility for a bit, the suspicion towards me will only grow.¡±

    For a while, Aura was lost in thought with her hand on her chin, then suddenly raised her eyes and asked the secretary.

    ¡°Fabio, for how long can we keep the nobility¡¯s suspicion down when my husband stays hidden in the inner pce?¡±

    ¡°At least one month and at best one and a half, I would say. If it is any longer, we cannot avoid rumours saying ¡¯Her Highness put the words into his mouth¡¯, no matter what Zenjirou-sama might say then.¡±

    As he anticipated Aura¡¯s question, the secretary answered fluently at once.

    ¡°One month¡­ Well, guess so. Okay, got it. Fortunately, my husband already expressed the desire to learn about this world¡¯s manner andmon sense. Let us find him a private tutor.¡±

    ¡°A private tutor, you say? Though males are forbidden the entrance into the inner pce?¡±

    On the secretary¡¯s inquiry, Aura smiled profound.

    ¡°Of course we will advertise the vacancy for women only. And I want her to teach him the basics of magic as well, so a female magician above average would be best.¡±

    A female tutor with high magical power. With just that, it only sounded like Aura gave her authorisation for a concubine. However, she added premonitory.

    ¡°In case there are no ¡®appropriate candidates¡¯, call for beldam. We can only hope that no one imprudent presents itself.¡±

    Beldam was referring to the wife of the archmage Espaldion: Pascu. She was an old woman in her 70s. If anyone still rmended a young, unmarried woman as a tutor after hearing that she was a ¡°candidate for the private tutor¡±, then they were either too stupid to understand Aura¡¯s intention or were so ambitious that they prioritized their own gain over the Queen¡¯s request.

    The middle-aged secretary shrugged his shoulders troubled a bit and advised the Queen.

    ¡°Your Highness, you will lose your subjects¡¯ sympathy, if you bluntly put them to the test too often. Please be more careful.¡±

    ¡°I know. Anyway, just like you said, I cannot dismiss the idea of weing concubines for my husband and establishing a branch family when I think of the future. That being the case, we have to weed out ¡®dangerous concubine candidates¡¯ as quickly as possible.¡±

    Actually, Aura was a bit reluctant about it as she was enjoying the unique newly-wed lifestyle so far. It was only natural that she got a bit sullen.

    Political marriages were an obligation for the royal family. She realized that, but even someone from the royal family could fall in love and desire to monopolize it.

    ¡°Good grief, it would not hurt anyone to let me enjoy my newly-wed life for a bit without disturbances.¡±

    Aura shrugged her shoulders in annoyance.

    * * *

    Evening on the same day. After finishing their dinner together, Aura and Zenjirou were cuddling rxed on the couch.

    ¡°Mhm, even if there is the risk of staying up toote, the nightlife is quite worthwhile with this much illumination.¡±

    ¡°Haha, yeah. Though I¡¯m too used to it and don¡¯t appreciate it as much anymore.¡±

    Watching the six LEDmps that lightened up the room, Aura said that admiring, to which Zenjirou replied with a small smile.

    During the day, Aura had worked hard as the Queen, but after the sun set, she had rtively free time on her hands. Of course nighttime didn¡¯t equal free time as she had to attend social gatherings like a dance once or twice per week, too, but her finishing time was rather ¡°early¡± whenparing it to Zenjirou¡¯s sry man days, where he worked overtime until midnight like it was a given.

    Due to that, they could spent some quality time together without any disturbances like this.

    Still, even though it was an rxed evening for them, they couldn¡¯t avoid to touch upon political matters as the Queen and her Prince Consort.

    ¡°So, you advertised a vacancy as a tutor to teach me manners andmon sense?¡±

    As he had heard the circumstances from Aura, Zenjirou confirmed it with his wife, who wore a pious expression without any surprise.

    ¡°Yes. It will take some time until employment. In the meantime, I will teach you when I have time. Actually, I would have liked to teach you everything myself, but I just do not have the time for it. Forgive me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I understand that you¡¯re busy. Ah, but that tutor will be understanding, right? I fear I might say something inappropriate.¡±

    Worrying about using impropernguage towards the person that taught one manners andmon sense was mistaking the cause for the end, but his worry was usible.

    One would expect the person chosen to be the tutor for the Queen¡¯s Prince Consort to be someone of a certain standing. If Zenjirou conducted himself improperly, unfavourable criticism might spread about him in the pce.

    But Aura shook her head with a smile to Zenjirou¡¯s worry.

    ¡°No, you should be fine if you act like usually. I will give you a crash course in manners andmon sense until your tutor is hired.¡±

    She purposefully said that with a bright tone to wash away his worries.

    ¡°Ahaha, go easy on me.¡±

    Zenjirou replied like that with an involuntarily wry smile. At that moment, the door of the living room was knocked.

    ¡°Ah, yes?¡±

    ¡°Excuse me. The bath is prepared.¡±

    Zenjirou raised his voice out of reflex, to which the a waiting maid reported with a clearlyprehensible voice from beyond the door.

    ¡°Oh? Right, the time has alreadye. Okay, I¡¯ll be right there.¡±

    Standing up from the couch, he took the LEDntern from the shelf.

    Zenjirou had been dumbfounded how dark the bath at night was when he entered it for the first time, but now this device he had bought by going all the way to the nearby do-it-yourself store, came in handy.

    Usually it required four d-cells, but he used a battery spacer to power it with rechargeable AA cells and normal AA cells instead.

    Even as ayman, he knew that it would be lethal to run an extension cable into the soaked bathroom, so the only light there was this LEDntern.

    Nevertheless, this LEDntern with its twenty-eight miniature LED light bulbs lightened up the bathroom to a degree, where it was still dim, but passable for his senses.

    Incidentally, to quote Aura and the waiting maids on this matter: ¡°It is unbelievable bright¡±.

    ¡°Okay, good. I don¡¯t need to recharge yet.¡±

    After he confirmed that it lightened up alright by turning it on once, he headed for the door with thentern in one hand.

    ¡°Well then, let us go, Zenjirou.¡±

    Aura linked arms with his free one in an all too natural manner and embraced it close to her chest.

    ¡°Ehm, do you mean, well¡­ taking a bath together¡­?¡±

    Speaking of, they were already sharing the bed, but never went into the bath together.

    Zenjirou became nervous from his wife¡¯s bold temptation, whereas Aura smiled bewitching.

    ¡°As long as you are not against it.¡±

    ¡°No, never. Not against such a charming offer.¡±

    With a lecherous face, he headed towards the bath with light steps as if walking on clouds while closely linking arms with her.

    * * *

    After their intimate bath together, Aura and Zenjirou cooled down their heated bodies with the ice fan while each holding a ss with their respective favourite alcohol.

    For Zenjirou it was the low-malt beer he bought by the box and Aura had the rest of the white wine she had opened yesterday.

    Both were cooled nicely from the refrigerator and pleasantly refreshed their dried throats after the bath.

    ¡°Fuh, I could get addicted to this.¡±

    Aura, dressed in a light nightgown, narrowed her eyes to slits from the cold breeze of the fan through the ice and the cold white wine in the winess, raising a voice of admiration.

    Drinking cool wine while bathing in the refreshing breeze of the fan after a bath in the Carpa Kingdom with its permanent sultry nights.

    Normally, that was a luxury not even the nobility would ever get to experience.

    No matter how used Aura was to the climate here, there was no way she wouldn¡¯t feel difort from the sultry nights.

    ¡°Not good. If I do not keep a strong will, I will end up staying in the inner pce, too.¡±

    ¡°dly, is what I would like to say, but that won¡¯t do for a Queen. Well, just drop by when you find the time. You¡¯re always wee here.¡±

    Zenjirou countered Aura¡¯s joke like that.

    ¡°Sure. If possible, I will take lunch here as well from now on, so look forward to it.¡±

    Aura said so, not necessarily joking around, and dered to prolong her stays in the inner pce from now on.

    ¡°Okay. Then I¡¯ll ready some ice for lunch time.¡±

    Zenjirou assured his wife with a smile.

    Even if the refrigerator was pretty big, it couldn¡¯t supply enough ice to put in front of the fan 24/7. He had to keep some ice in stock for the right time, otherwise the important ice might be out when Aura especially came for some cooling.

    The nights aside, temperatures of over thirty-seven degree centigrade could be recorded already in the noon. When the temperature surpassed the body temperature, the fan alone would no longer be cooling as it just blew hot air around.

    Well, even without ice, a basin with water in front of the fan did the job, too, but it wouldn¡¯t be such a dramatic cold breeze as with ice.

    An air condition would be a highlight now.

    Before long, the afterglow from the bath and the drought in her throat were soothed and Aura faced Zenjirou again with a slightly stiff expression.

    ¡°It pains me to bring this up when I told you before that you do not have to do anything, but let us begin with the lecture. We will start with the general response for royalty.¡±

    ¡°E- Eh!? We¡¯re starting tonight already?¡±

    Aura replied with acent smile to Zenjirou¡¯s surprise.

    ¡°Of course. We have such wonderful illumination, so we have to make use of the night effectively.¡±

    Saying so, she peered into his eyes as he sat next to her.

    Opposite from before, Zenjirou looked up to the ceiling with a sullen face.

    ¡°Uwah, my long awaited quality time with you gets wasted with studying!¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    On his frank and forthright remark, Aura showed a bashful expression for a moment. However, before Zenjirou shifted his gaze from the ceiling back to her, she recovered her usualposed expression and answered.

    ¡°I, I am happy to hear that, but time is limited. Why, rest assured. I will not use up our bedroom time.¡±

    ¡°Well, can¡¯t be helped then. If anything, I wish I could use the daytime when you¡®re gone for studying¡­ Mh? Wait a sec.¡±

    After putting his contradictory wish into words, Zenjirou stood up from the couch as he suddenly remembered something. He headed for the corner of the room, where he kept a bunch of goods that he had brought with him from Japan.

    ¡°It should be here. It was so small that I incidentally put it onto the carpet¡­¡±

    ¡°Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°Good, found it. This is it.¡±

    Before long, Zenjirou found what he was looking for and returned to Aura on the couch with a rectangr, silver box in hand.

    ¡°Zenjirou, what is that?¡±

    Aura asked with a slightly puzzled face, to which Zenjirou

    ¡°This is a ¡®digicam¡®. A digital camera to be exact. Originally it¡¯s a device to take photos¡ª a still image, but it can also record moving images with sound.¡±

    answered like this and showed her the digital camera by holding it up.

    However, Aura tilted her head, not knowing what was going on.

    ¡°Fodos? Still imitsch? Muwing imitsch? With saunt? What is that?¡±

    Upon Aura¡¯s reply, Zenjirou mused about how to exin it for a bit, but couldn¡¯t think of anything urate. It was unexpectedly difficult to exin a device of this level with words to someone who didn¡¯t know anything about it.

    ¡°Well, what can I say. It can instantly make a really detailed picture and record voices and tape mobile pictures.¡±

    ¡°Rikort? Taip?¡±

    But even a supposedly simplified exnation only made Aura incline her head to the side in doubt. Seemingly it was impossible to exin with words.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll show you how it works. Aura, can you begin with your exnation about manners andmon sense?¡±

    After saying that to her, he directed the powered digital camera at Aura sitting on the couch.

    ¡°Muh¡­¡±

    Aura looked confused by the unfamiliar device and gibberish exnation, but in the end, she stood up from the couch and started like he had told her, as she had decided to trust him.

    ¡°¡­I am still a bit confused, but okay. I will start with exining the basic response.

    Usually, royalty rarely confronts someone of higher status than themselves on public asions. So I first want you to learn about dealing with people of lower or equal status.

    Basically, you start with approaching the lower ranking ones. Typically, they are¡­¡±

    Zenjirou kept filming Aura, who continued to exin the manners with demonstrations, with the digital camera.

    He had bought the camera one year after he started working, so he was ustomed to it by now, but at the beginning, he had only filmed something a couple of times out of curiosity.

    He was a bit anxious, but there was no reason to take it so serious. If he screwed up, so be it. Not like he would be bogged down when he recorded it wrongly.

    Casually giving it a try, since he had nothing to lose, Zenjirou continued to tape his wife exining the basics of etiquette with the camera.

    ¡°¡­That is the gist of it. For now, that should be enough. Were you listening properly, Zenjirou?¡±

    When Aura stopped her exnation for the moment, Zenjirou too stopped the recording.

    ¡°Good, thanks, Aura. Now I just have to check if it turned out alright. Sorry, it¡¯s hard to exin with words. Give me a second.¡±

    Telling her so in advance, he moved to the desk with theputer, still holding the camera.

    He started up theputer right away and took out the SD card from the camera, inserting it into theputer slot.

    ¡°Mhm, I am not sure what is going on, but this is a tool from your world, too?¡±

    Aura had appeared behind Zenjirou at some point as he was tampering with theputer, and looked at the screen over his shoulder.

    ¡°Yeah, it is. Ehm, let¡¯s see if it works before copying it to the hard-disk.¡±

    Saying so, Zenjirou opened the video file directly from the SD card.

    Several seconds after he used the mouse to click the desired file, theputer disy showed a fascinating beauty with red hair and light brown skin, standing in the middle of a familiar room while speaking and gesturing with her hands.

    ¡°Oh, what a surprise! Is that me? The words are the same what I told you just now, too. How does this work? I have never seen something like this before, not even amongst the magical tools from the Twin Kingdom!¡±

    ¡°¡­..!?¡±

    Impressed, Aura asked Zenjirou, but he was in no situation to answer.

    After all, he had received an even greater shock than Aura, who saw a video for the first time in her life.

    ¡°Usualmente, realeza rara vez se opone a alguien de estatus social superior al suyo en p¨²blico. As¨ª que primero quiero que aprendas a lidiar con gente de estatus menor o igual.

    B¨¢sicamente,ienzas acerc¨¢ndote a los de menor rango. T¨ªpicamente, ellos son¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­What the?¡±

    The words spoken by Aura on the screen only sounded like an iprehensible, foreignnguage to him.

    * * *

    He couldn¡¯t understand the speech from the recorded Aura.

    After Zenjirou confessed this shocking truth, Aura inclined her head and asked puzzled.

    ¡°In other words, this tool can pick up the sound, but not the ¡®soul of words¡¯? In fact, I do not feel any magical power from it.¡±

    ¡°Huh¡­? ¡®Soul of words¡¯?¡±

    Unable toprehend it, Zenjirou gave Aura a dumb look as she naturally threw a term at him that he had never heard before, and repeated the word he had heard for the first time like a parrot.

    Aura watched his expression bewildered for a while, but apparently noticed that they were talking past each other on a fundamental level.

    ¡°Wait, Zenjirou. Let us do this in order. First off, what are you so shocked about?¡±

    On Aura¡¯s question, Zenjirou answered in a voice that betrayed his confusion.

    ¡°Well, usually I can hear your words just fine, but I can¡¯t understand them at all on the camera¡­ Wait, now that I think about it, it¡¯s weird that I couldmunicate with Japanese just fine, even though I¡¯m in a different world.¡±

    He had never questioned that fact in the slightest up till now, even though he had been living here for nearly a month already and his first summoning dated even further back.

    ¡°Okay, that is it. That is the fundamental point, where our views differ, Zenjirou. Could it be, you cannotmunicate with someone that uses a differentnguage in your world?¡±

    What Aura said was so obvious that Zenjirou was about to reply with ¡°Of course not¡±, but refrained from doing so.

    ¡°Yeah, I thought that was normal, but seeing that you ask me that means it¡¯s different in this world?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Each country or race uses their ownnguage. On our southern continent alone, we already havepletely differentnguages for the north, south, west and east, but we do not have any troublemunicating with each other. The reason is that the ¡®soul of words¡¯ is inherent in the utterances, which a number of people perceive as the same.

    In this world, this is such amon part of general knowledge that people are not even conscious of it, so I never even felt the need to exin it until now, but you seem to require an exnation.

    Okay, this will take some time, so let us sit down first.¡±

    After she said this, Aura pushed Zenjirou towards the couch in the middle of the living room to exin the mostmon knowledge of this world: the ¡°soul of words¡±.

    Back on the couch, Zenjirou simplified Aura¡¯s lengthy exnation in his head and put it into words to confirm it with her.

    ¡°Ehm, in short, in this world, words have this so-called ¡®soul of words¡¯ and even people that use differentnguages can mutually understand each other without any problem?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Hence it is basically impossible for munication problems¡¯ to ur in this world.¡±

    Aura nodded, so Zenjirou confronted her with the next point of uncertainty right away.

    ¡°Ehm, if you have something so convenient, why even bother to learn thenguage? I mean, wouldn¡¯t the meaninge across by just randomly saying ¡®Ah¡¯ or ¡®Uh¡¯?¡±

    Zenjirou frankly spoke out his mind, but Aura shook her head to the question of her husband.

    ¡°No, it does not work like that. The soul of words is only inherent in ¡®exact utterances that everyone perceives as the same¡¯. For example, if a newborn utters ¡®Ah¡¯ with the meaning of ¡®breasts¡¯ for breastfeeding, the soul of words will not work as only the baby perceives it as such. At least a few thousand of people would need to perceive the ¡®Ah¡¯ as ¡®breasts¡¯ for it to work.¡±

    ¡°Oho. Wait? But what if a bad adult teaches his young child that a ¡®chair¡¯ is a ¡®table¡¯ and a ¡®table¡¯ a ¡®chair¡¯, would someone from a different linguistic area still only hear ¡®chair¡¯ even though the child means a table when saying ¡®chair¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The soul of words is only inherent in the ¡®exact utterance with amon perception¡¯ itself. Your own will does not affect it.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ But why couldn¡¯t I understand the recorded words just now? They are correctly reproduced, no?¡±

    Aura nodded and gave her own theory to Zenjirou¡¯s valid doubt.

    ¡°I presume it is because that tool has no magical power. All of us are not conscious of it when we usually use it, but the mutual understanding from the ¡®soul of words¡¯ consumes a bit of magical power. So the ¡®soul of words¡¯ does not work for magicless utterances, even if the utterance is reproduced ¡®exactly¡¯.¡±

    Aura¡¯s exnation was easy to understand. Zenjirou nodded firmly while still voicing another doubt for confirmation.

    ¡°I see, I see. Then I guess there are hardly any people in this world, who speak multiplenguages? You will make ends meet by remembering one of thenguages and since it gets tranted on its own, it must be difficult to learn a secondnguage.¡±

    For example, even if an American said ¡°apple¡±, it would automatically sound like ¡°ringo¡± to a Japanese. With a mechanism like that, it was close to impossible for a Japanese to learn English afterwards.

    As Zenjirou¡¯s conjecture was correct, Aura replied with a firm nod.

    ¡°Indeed. For that reason, only a small number of magicians know multiplenguages, because a skilled magician can deliberately stop the flow of magical power. Like this:¡±

    Saying so, Aura deliberately cut off the magical power and

    ¡°Te amo, mi querido.¡°

    said this short sentence. Just like in the video from the camera on theputer earlier, Zenjirou only heard a foreignnguage.

    ¡°One has to be taught by a magician from another country that can control their magical power likes this. On the other hand, when you can control the magical power yourself and cut it off, the soul of words will no longer work either, because it requires both parties, the speaker and the listener, to be endowed with magical power to invoke it.

    Also, some special ces apparently radically blockade the invocation of magical power, too. So the soul of words is not working in such ces either.¡±

    If Aura was telling the truth, then either the whole Earth was one of these special ces that blocked magical power or Earthlings were a race without any magical power.

    Either way, Zenjirou¡¯s ancestors, who came to Earth 150 years ago, must have surely gone through a lot of trouble. After all, two people, who didn¡¯t know the concept of munication problems¡±, were thrown into a world, where they couldn¡¯tmunicate with anyone.

    It was rather wondrous that they lived in peace for so long and even left offspring behind.

    ¡°Hoo. Seems it¡¯s pretty difficult to learn multiplenguages here, but there¡¯s no merit in it. But a few magicians go through all that trouble to learn it, right? Why do they go so far? Doesn¡¯t seem like they would need it.¡±

    Auraughed a bit to Zenjirou¡¯s usible suspicion and answered.

    ¡°Because they rather want to learn the ¡®writing¡¯ than the words. Writings are records of the pronunciation of words. It is difficult to learn the writing when you cannot even converse in thenguage. Since the soul of words is not inherent in the writings, you have to learn it to read texts of other countries.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right. Reminds me, I don¡¯t have seen any writings of this world yet. Hey, can you write something for me?¡±

    Jumping at the chance, Zenjirou passed Aura a ball pen and a copy paper that were ced near theputer.

    ¡°Oh, that is some rather white and thin parchment. And this quill has a strange form as well. Where is the ink?¡±

    ¡°Ah, no. This isn¡¯t made from animal skin, but from wood. And that pen is called a ball pen and you can write with it just fine when you press it down. The ink is inside of it.¡±

    At first, Aura was a bit bewildered from her first contact with the writing implements of modern Japan, but a ball pen wasn¡¯t as difficult to handle as a dip pen anyway. She got familiar with it in no time and said impressed.

    ¡°Ohh! Now that is convenient. You save a lot of time without dipping it into the ink and above all, it is so easy to write onto this thin paper without tearing it or getting stuck.¡±

    ¡°The paper aside, I bought a dozen of these ball pens, so you can have one or two if you want. I have other colours beside ck, too, like red or blue.¡±

    Aura epted Zenjirou¡¯s offer with a smile.

    ¡°Why, thank you. I will dly take them.

    Okay, I am done. These the thirty letters are in use here in the western part of the southern continent with our country at its center.¡±

    Before long, Aura had written thirty different symbols that he had never seen before, onto the copy paper and showed it to Zenjirou.

    ¡°Oho, I thought as much, but it really are phic symbols. Seeing as there are thirty, it¡¯s close to the English alphabet? Hey, Aura, try writing down ¡®a¡¯ ¡®i¡¯ ¡®u¡¯ ¡®e¡¯ ¡®o¡¯, ¡®a¡¯ ¡®ka¡¯ ¡®sa¡¯ ¡®ta¡¯ ¡®na¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Mh, what? Sorry, please repeat that.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go one by one. First one is ¡®a¡¯¡­¡±

    Luckily enough, short sybles without a meaning weren¡¯t affected by the ¡°soul of words¡± and Aura listened to Zenjirou¡¯s unaltered pronunciation.

    While she wrote it down, he confirmed that the letters of this world roughly used the same system as the alphabet from his world.

    Linguistically speaking, there was no clear distinction between vowels and consonants, but the way it made up a sound by linking up various letters was exactly the same. However, there were a lot of small differences like no distinction between R and L (there was no letter for L) and various letters for M.

    But it seemed like most of the thirty letters could be directly converted to the English alphabet.

    As for another obvious difference, there was no distinction between upper and lower case. It made it a bit inconvenient for small nuances, but the few letters might make it at least easier for learning it from scratch.

    ¡°Okay, since I only have to learn these thirty letters, it seems easy. Though the trick is to learn the sentence structure afterwards.

    But I guess it would be more useful to learn numbers first? Aura, while we¡¯re at it, can you write down the ¡®numerals¡¯ of this world, too?¡±

    After adding the reading for the thirty symbols above it in Katakana, Zenjirou casually asked Aura that.

    However, Aura¡¯s reaction was far beyond his expectation.

    ¡°¡¯Numerals¡¯? You mean writing down numbers? I would say it takes a lot of effort to learn the numbers without preparation.¡±

    Saying so, Aura carefully started to write on a new copy paper.

    ¡°This is 1, this 2 and this one 3. I believe it is better if you only learn up till 10 for now. Merchants and soldiers aside, even amongst normal nobility, there are few, who know to write the words for ¡®a hundred million¡¯ or ¡®one billion¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Zenjirou unconsciously fell silent and looked at what Aura had written. For each number, she had linked various letters into one word.

    Just like writing 1 as ¡°one¡±, 2 as ¡°two¡± and 3 as ¡°three¡± in the English alphabet.

    ¡°¡­Don¡¯t tell me this world doesn¡¯t know of ¡®numerals¡¯?¡±

    For a moment Zenjirou feared as much, but thinking about, it wasn¡¯t all that unbelievable.

    In Japan too they calcted ratherplicated with the help of Chinese numerals, sliding rules or abacuses in the past before Arabian numerals were introduced.

    They also used early simultaneous equations like the Tsurukamezan or applied the Pythagorean theorem to calcte the depth of water from the length the afloat part of an aquatic nt could be pulled to the side. When looking into the documents of merchants or supply caretakers of the feudal lords during the warring state period in Japan, one would apparently find examples of unexpected detailed calctions.

    Considering that, having no numerals didn¡¯t equal having no arithmetic. To begin with, it was unthinkable that such an imposing pce was built without some kind of higher mathematics in the architecture. Actually, it would be even more amazing if they built this pce by rule of thumb instead. That would be magic for you.

    However, having Arabic numerals or not obvious affected the ¡°lower ss¡¯¡± ability to calcte.

    To improve the ability of written calction for an ordinary person, the concept of the decimal numbers, including the zero, was indispensable.

    ¡°Numerals? You mean special characters for the numbers? Now that is intriguing. What is the advantage of having something like that?¡±

    Aura asked curious, whereat Zenjirou spontaneously exined the benefits of numerals with passion after having pulled himself together.

    ¡°Yeah, first off, it¡¯s easy to learn. With the decimal numbers, you only have to remember ten characters, the zero included, and you can write any number, be it ever so big. And when you remember the four symbols +, -, ¡Á, ¡Â, too, anyone can do the four basic arithmetic operations in two or three years¡­¡±

    ¡°Mm, Mm¡­¡±

    At some point, Zenjirou had forgotten the restraint of ¡° not contributing any noticeable influence as much as possible¡° he had set for himself beforeing to this world and passionately exined numerals.

 Chapter Volume 1 5

    A few days after the night, where Zenjirou learned about the ¡°soul of words¡±.

    The temperature in the Carpa Kingdom continued to raise day by day and entered the hottest season of the year atst.

    He didn¡¯t know the exact temperature. Ever since the day, where the maximum temperature crossed forty degree centigrade during the day already, he had turned around the thermometer, so that he could no longer read it, to keep his sanity.

    To him, it felt like the temperature was even higher than forty degree now, but he didn¡¯t have the courage to check it on the thermometer.

    In the past few days, Zenjirou had closed all the window shutters in the inner pce and lived with the light of the LEDmps in the middle of the day, even though it was ¡°unhealthy¡±.

    Still, this melting heat wasn¡¯t entirely bad for him.

    In this season, where the permanent high temperature could kill you for working normally, the pce established a three-hour break at noon.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou recently got to spend time together with Aura in the inner pce during the day, too, not just the night.

    ¡°Fuh, this cursed heat. Compared to my office, this is heaven.¡±

    Coming into the room with all the window shutters shut, Aura headed straight to the refrigerator first of all.

    ¡°Oh, Aura. Sounds tough.¡±

    Zenjirou called out to Aura, who looked into the refrigerator, while ying on a portable game console and lying on the couch.

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    Still with her back to him, Aura gave a short reply and ttering took some ice out of the icebox, then put it into the ice crusher next to the refrigerator, all in in an ustomed manner.

    ¡°L~¡±

    She spun the handle of the ice crusher with acent smile and when the container was full of shaved ice, she took the red bottle of strawberry syrup from the refrigerator and poured it generously over the ice.

    Zenjirou must have watched her out of the corner of his eyes, as he flustered called out to her in a protest.

    ¡°Hey, Aura! You¡¯re using too much!¡±

    However, Aura waspletely unperturbed.

    ¡°Do not be stingy, not like there is any harm done.¡±

    Saying so, she put the closed bottle with strawberry syrup back into the refrigerator, took the ss bowl with the shaved ice in one hand and came over to the couch, where Zenjirou was lying.

    ¡°No, there is! The harm obviously is that the bottle gets empty!¡±

    While protesting, Zenjirou closed the copsible game console and sat up his lying body on the couch, giving Aura space to sit on.

    That he specially made room for her to sit on the same couch, even though there was another couch on the other side, showed how well the couple got along.

    Aura scooped the shaved rice, bright red from the strawberry syrup, with a long, silver spoon and raised it to her mouth.

    ¡°Rest assured. I am having the cooks of the pce make something simr by boiling down fruits and brown sugar.¡±

    Aura confidently responded like that, which caught Zenjirou¡¯s interest.

    ¡°Oho, is it good?¡±

    A boiled down substances from fruits and brown sugar. Maybe it was something like jam? If that was the case, it certainly could serve as a recement for the syrup.

    Zenjirou asked in anticipation, but Aura kept her gaze on the shaved ice and avoided a direct answer.

    ¡°¡­Therefore, I will take this strawberry syrup. You can have that special fruit-sugar juice the cooks make so diligent.¡±

    ¡°Hey, does it taste good?¡±

    ¡°¡­Ahh, my brain is freezing. I cannot get enough of this cold-rush.¡±

    ¡°I bet it doesn¡¯t taste good yet¡­¡±

    As she felt guilty from her husband¡¯s reproachful eyes, the Queen confessed while averting her eyes.

    ¡°Yes¡­ The food culture of your world is just too outstanding. It seems pretty difficult to reproduce the exact same thing.¡±

    Zenjirou sighed to the Queen¡¯s honest confession. He hadn¡¯t been hoping for much anyway, but he still felt disappointed.

    ¡°Hah¡­ Then don¡¯t waste it. I only brought one bottle of each: strawberry, lemon and blue Hawaii.¡±

    ¡°Yes, leave the strawberry one to me.¡±

    ¡°No, strawberry¡¯s my favourite, too. Well, whatever.¡±

    Zenjirou shrugged his shoulders and resigned to Aura.

    The trick to keep a harmonic married life as a sponger husband, who got all necessities provided by the wife, was to yield at least this much to her.

    cing his portable game console on top of the table, he stood up and then headed over to the refrigerator.

    There he removed one of the many wet towels, which were cooled there, from it and tossed it at Aura, who had just finished eating her shaved ice.

    ¡°For your sweat, Aura.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±

    Aura was in a muck sweat all over, as she had taken in fluids so rapidly, and epted the cold towel grateful, then wiped the sweat on her face and body with it.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Time-wise it was the middle of the day, but at present, the room was illuminated by the LEDmps, since the window shutters were closed to keep the heat and sunlight out.

    Amidst this night-like atmosphere, Zenjirou¡¯s carnal desire naturally awoke when he saw his beloved wife wiping her body with the towel, even if she was still wearing clothes.

    Noticing his obvious nces, Aura showed a bewitching smile while she turned her back on him.

    ¡°Anyway, I think I can never repay you for all the benefits I receive from the things you brought with you. And even while I told you that you would have nothing to do, I am having you study manners,mon sense and magic.¡±

    From Aura¡¯s point of view, it was a legit im.

    Cold drinks and refreshment in the form of abination of ice and the fan, every day. Aura had no recollection of ever having spent the hottest season of the Carpa Kingdom, which was known for its evesting summer, in suchfort.

    The closest thing would be the one summer she spent at the royal summer resort near ake in the hignds as a child.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t worry about that.

    I brought all this stuff because I wanted to use it myself anyway and from the beginning, I was prepared to learn its culture and customs to some extent as to settle down in a country different from my birthce.¡±

    On the other hand, Zenjirou¡¯s words were genuine as well. Even if Aura had promised him that he ¡°would have nothing to do¡±, he never considered it very likely that he would actually live like an indoor pet, doing nothing but eat, y and sleep all day.

    Looking at the history of Earth, it was normal even for reclusive individuals like royal concubines to appear at official events. Taking that into ount, Zenjirou considered it inevitable that he would have to learn manners and history of the country to some extent as not to embarrass the royal family.

    Besides, business hours in this world were affected by the setting sun, so the ¡°tasks¡± here were nothingpared to his sryman days, where he considered himself ¡°lucky¡± when he was able to return home before the date changed.

    Aura, unable to imagine these circumstances, finished wiping her sweat and put the towel on the table, confirming with her humble husband.

    ¡°Hey, Zenjirou. Is there anything inconveniencing you?

    I know that you are refusing to get in contact with others because you properly understand my standpoint. And it is a fact that you are helping me with that.

    However, it pains me to continue to restrict your freedom like this and not repay you in any way.¡±

    It had been close to a month since Zenjirou married into the royal family.

    Even Aura had figured out at this point that the conduct of his husband, never causing trouble or being selfish, was a restriction he had ced on himself to cause as few problems as possible, because he perfectlyprehended the standpoints of his wife and himself.

    By the way, the attendants working in the inner pce, like the waiting maids or exclusive cooks, evaluated Zenjirou extremely favourable as of now.

    An effortless Master that wasn¡¯t selfish and overbearing. As an attendant, one couldn¡¯t wish for a better Master.

    After the instruction of the waiting maids centred around the supervisory maid, Aura had automatically told them ¡°Do not take the current situation as the norm¡±.

    Humans could get used to anything. It was surprisinglymon that attendants, used to an effortless Master, couldn¡¯t cope with their Master¡¯s sudden selfishness.

    Aura perceived her husband from a different world as someone that was too mindful of others and had the habit to stifle his own desires.

    However, even when he was told all that, Zenjirou had no particr demands.

    Sure, he felt the urge to leave the inner pce soon, but considering the troubles that came along with it, it wasn¡¯t worth to push that selfishness through and even as the Queen, Aura couldn¡¯t do anything about hisints regarding the food or heat.

    Lastly, his ¡°sympathetic side¡±. It was irritating to Aura, but since Zenjirou was brought up in the in old fashion of themon people, his values made him perceive selfishness as something ¡°unsightly¡±, nipping the discussion in the bud.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m good for now. I¡¯ll be sure to tell you if I¡¯ve anyints.¡±

    ¡°Notints, I want you to tell me your wishes. Oh well. Anyway, you do not need to show any reservation. I want to repay you for your devotion, even for a bit.¡±

    Aura said that with a gentle smile, which fuelled Zenjirou¡¯s love for her, but at the same time, his prankish nature, too.

    He made a side-nce at the digital clock. The time was three minutes past one o¡¯clock in the afternoon.

    During the intense heat, the midday break approximatelysted until half past three in the afternoon.

    Alright. There was enough time left.

    After confirming the surplus of time, Zenjirou approached Aura on the couch, called out to her jokingly and jumped at her.

    ¡°Okay, if you insist¡­ Repay me with your body!¡±

    Aura instantly figured out her husband¡¯s intention as he jokingly flung himself at her, and spread her arms to ept him.

    She properly caught him and embraced him tightly.

    ¡°Fine. ¡­Mm.¡±

    With her arms around her husband¡¯s back, she passionately locked lips with him.

    A tight embrace and passionate kiss. If that was what her husband wanted, it was rather simple. She just had to be willing.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    However, the essential reaction of her husband was different from what she had expected.

    Every night, if they hugged like this, he would assertively seek her lips and trail her body with his hands, but for some reason he was like a doll, stiff and not moving.

    ¡°¡­What is the matter, Zenjirou?¡±

    Aura doubtful asked like that after their kiss.

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    However, Zenjirou didn¡¯t answer and separated from Aura wordlessly, moving to the corner of the room and crouching down there.

    ¡°Zenjirou? Why are you poking the carpet in the corner of the room with a gloomy expression?¡±

    First a passionate embrace, then depressed a secondter. Aura couldn¡¯t follow the drastic change in her husband and called out to him bewildered.

    In response, Zenjirou curled up into a ball in his corner and answered weeping while drawing circles on the ground.

    ¡°¡­Well, it¡¯s not like I went all out. No, really, I didn¡¯t jump with all my might. But still, my wife caught me head-on so easily, even though I tried to push her down, and what¡¯s worse, she didn¡¯t even realize what I was trying to do¡­¡±

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t have a ¡°macho¡± mentality that took pride in physical toughness. However, as a man, it was a slightly sad fact that his wife could stop a body blow from him.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    Aura looked abashed on his words.

    (Oops. I knew the hug was rather enthusiastic, but he actually wanted to push me down)

    As Aura had gone through real battles for years, her body was sufficiently trained as a soldier. Due to that, she could absorb a sudden attack from Zenjirou, an amateur, like it was nothing, even though he was slightly taller than her.

    However, this world was more patriarchic than modern Japan and likewise, physical toughness was considered a virtue. Aura took the sorrow of a husband, who tried to push down his wife, but got caught instead, more serious than Zenjirou himself.

    What should she do now? The Queen had unconsciously embarrassed her husband and mused for a while. Then,

    ¡°K- Kyaah.¡±

    At her wits¡¯ end, Aura raised an affected voice and copsed on the couch by herself.

    ¡°Toote! I never made a special tackle with such a dyed effect!¡±

    ¡°¡­Kyaah¡±

    Not discouraged from his retort, Aura kept lying on the couch and continued to raise an affected shriek.

    ¡°No, like I said¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Kyaah.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    When the shrieking Aura writhed on the couch, her skirt with the deep slit rolled up and partly exposed her light brown legs and thighs.

    He was used to the sight, as he saw it every night, but it was nevertheless delicious.

    ¡°¡­Ei!¡±

    ¡°Kya!?¡±

    In the end, Zenjirou epted the dyed effect from the tackle and threw himself at the fallen Aura.

    * * *

    Approximately one hourter.

    After the workout on the couch, Zenjirou and Aura, still half-naked, threw themselves into studying.

    Zenjirou sat in front of hisputer in a pair of fashion trunks, whereas Aura, wearing small shorts and a towel around her neck, stood at an angle behind him.

    A bundle of dragonskin parchment sat next to theputer. The taxes fromst year of the Carpa Kingdom were recorded on them.

    The tax documents basically only consisted of ¡°ces¡±, ¡°names¡± and ¡°values¡±, so it was most suitable to learn the letters and pronunciation of this world, or so imed Aura.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t take her opinion at face value, but still recorded how Aura read out the words written on the dragonskin parchments aloud while pointing at them one-by-one, with the camera every day and wrote it into a spreadsheet on theputer while checking with the video.

    A few days ago, he had ¡°programmed the foreign letters¡± by drawing all thirty characters of this country with the mouse as sprites and allocated a key on the keyboard to each.

    It was extremely inefficient as he had to convert every single character on the input, but at least he could write the letters of this world on hisputer now.

    Then Zenjirou had made study materials to learn the readings of the letters by himself, by writing down the characters of this world from Aura¡¯s tax documents and adding Katakana or Arabian numerals to it.

    Seeing as Aura especially prepared tax documents fromst year, it was obvious she had some other intention too, but the official reason was for studying.

    ¡°So, Zenjirou, are you done with the papers?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, finished them yesterday. I¡¯ll print them out now.¡±

    Zenjirou sent the fruit of hisbour, the spreadsheet data to the printer. He had brought this printer with him as an extra, since it would have been a waste to throw it away.

    He had only three capsule of the valuable ink for each colour, but if he didn¡¯t use it, it would clog up with time anyway, rendering it useless.

    Therefore he wasn¡¯t particr stingy with the printouts and printed the data from yesterday¡¯s efforts in good quality.

    Aura curiously watched how the machine automatically coughed up the papers and when she confirmed that it finished before long, she took the bundle of papers in hand and looked through them.

    ¡°Okay, then let us check if your pronunciation is correct. Zenjirou, read it out aloud from the first page.¡±

    ¡°Okay, here I go. The first is the County of Albeniz. The tax yields are dragonskins: One-thousand, bags of wheat: two-thousand, lumber: ¡­.¡±

    While Aura was looking at the printouts, Zenjirou directly read from the spreadsheet on theputer disy.

    Aura, listening with nods and agreeable responses, pointed out any mistakes with pronunciations or numbers.

    ¡°Ah, this one does not read as ¡®Viscount Bonija¡¯, but ¡®Viscount Boni¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Okay, ¡®¡¯, not ¡®ja¡¯.¡±

    The ces and family names were proper names, so the ¡°soul of words¡± didn¡¯t work and he heard the correct spelling even when someone spoke it out, which might make it perfect for bing familiar with the letters. Furthermore, Zenjirou even learned about nobles esteemed enough to appear on royal tax documents, on the side.

    In that way, it wasn¡¯t necessarily wrong to learn how to read basic letters from ¡°tax documents¡±.

    For example, even an unknown text could be read somewhat when you knew a hundred or two hundred vocabries.

    Either way, this world had no optimized books for beginners to learn the letters likenguage textbooks for elementary school students in modern Japan.

    He had no choice but learn it the hard way, even if it was a bit inefficient.

    When the reading lesson with the tax documents ended before long, Aura expressed a question she suddenly thought of in the end.

    ¡°Hey, Zenjirou. Why are some numbers written in ¡®red¡¯ and some in ¡®blue¡¯?¡±

    Zenjirou answered Aura¡¯s question with a rare profound smile.

    ¡°Yeah, the different colours make it easier to understand when the calcted value from the program varies from the value on the tax documents. The red colour indicates a shortfallpared to the calction, the blue colour a surplus.¡±

    ¡°Oho¡­¡±

    Aura raised a quiet voice with an inexpressive face in response to Zenjirou¡¯s answer.

    Even if they were tax documents submitted to the royalty, there was no way all the numbers would get checked for mistakes in the pce.

    After all, they were a lot of them. It would take a ridiculous amount of dragonskin parchments and personnel expenses to recalcte everything.

    The usual procedure only consisted of skimming through them and recalcting a few random sheets after finding mistakes that could be spotted on a nce.

    And ¡°for some reason¡±, even these random checks rarely came upon influential higher nobles or nobles with good connection to the inquisitor.

    However, Zenjirou could do these kind of calctions all by himself without any problems by using the calction program. After all, he only had to make a temte and correctly input the numbers there. Anyone, who had done a bit of office work for apany, could do that.

    ¡°Zenjirou, could I borrow these for a bit?¡±

    He had perfectly anticipated her question, so he made a smile as innocent as possible and answered.

    ¡°Yeah, sure. Go easy on them, okay. Wait, I¡®m in no position to say that.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    The Queen replied to her husband, who scratched his head, with a grim tinted smile.

    * * *

    Afternoon on the same day. Aura, alone with Secretary Fabio in her office, took out the copy papers she borrowed from Zenjirou at noon.

    Keeping an inexpressive face, Secretary Fabio only raised one eyebrow.

    ¡°Your Highness, what is that?¡±

    ¡°The tax documents of important nobles fromst year. I had my husband look through them under the pretext of ¡®learning letters¡¯ to test his understanding about statecraft, but he recalcted everything in a few days and pointed out wed numbers.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oho.¡±

    The eyes of the secretary with the slender face got an rmed glint on Aura¡¯s words.

    Seeing Secretary Fabio being cautious about Zenjirou as always, she said without hiding her wry smile.

    ¡°You never let your guard down against my husband, do you? He is not so ambitious that you would need to be so cautious about him.¡±

    The secretary replied agreeing, yet obstinate to Aura.

    ¡°Yes, I fundamentally agree with you. Judging by his actions in the past month, it is quite unlikely that he has any ambitions in politics. However, I have to stress that is only unlikely at best. We cannot rule it outpletely.

    To begin with, the more I get to know about his intelligence and education, the more unbnced hisck of ambition bes. We cannot ignore the possibility that his behaviour so far is a well-performed act.¡±

    Zenjirou was an extremely unnatural being to Fabio.

    A plebeian would never concede to his own position. And a noble would neverck ambition towards power and status.

    Could there be such a convenient ¡°man¡± in this world, who more or lessprehended how his position as the Prince Consort affected others and thus behaved discrete and considerate as not to bring any harm to the Queen¡¯s political power?

    Well, the different world might actually have such a person, since it was kind of obvious that themon sense of this world didn¡¯t apply to someone from a different world.

    However, since it couldn¡¯t be ruled out that Zenjirou was just pretending to be harmless and cooperative while actually sharpening his fangs, it was necessary that at least one person stayed cautious of him.

    ¡°I presume it is for the better that you are not vignt, Your Highness. It is an extremely difficult task to keep one¡¯s innermost thoughts hidden from the person you share meals and bed with. Instead, I will keep an eye on Zenjirou-sama¡¯s actions.¡±

    ¡°Fine. Sorry to trouble you, Fabio.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it has been nothing but trouble ever since I became your secretary.¡±

    The middle-aged secretarypletely agreed to the Queen¡¯s favourable words.

    ¡°¡­Normally you would respond with ¡®No, not at all¡¯ or ¡®This is nothing in the services for my Queen¡¯ in such a situation, would you not?¡±

    Aura indicated a wry smile, whereat Fabio, still inexpressive, shrugged his shoulders a bit

    ¡°I see my job as speaking the outright truth.¡±

    and boldly said so.

    In fact, his home truths statements had helped her numerous times so far, so Aura had nothing to retort.

    She sighed, then got back on topic.

    ¡°Anyway, I had a look at the ¡®numerals¡¯ from my husband¡¯s world in thest few days, and I have to say, they are quite convenient. I believe it would be rather beneficial if we implement them in some kind of way.¡±

    At the same time Zenjirou learned the letters of this world, Aura learned how to read and use Arabic numerals from him, too.

    Needless to say, Aura mastered the Arabic numerals in no time as she only had to learn ten numbers from 0 to 9 in contrast to Zenjirou, who had to remember all letters and vocabries.

    Calcting with the Arabic numerals was still out of question, but she already understood the values from reading the written numbers.

    The convenience of Arabic numerals was very clear from looking at the tax documents she had borrowed from Zenjirou.

    To draw an analogy, it was as convenient as telling the same number apart when once written in English and once in Arabic numerals.

    ¡°2932¡± was a short number when written in Arabic numerals, but became extremely long when writing it as ¡°two thousand nine hundred and thirty-two¡± with the Latin alphabet.

    The tax documents had hundreds of such numbers. Even if it only saved a little bit of time for writing or reading it individually, it became a huge saving for bundles of hundreds or thousands.

    Introducing the reading and writing of them would improve business to no end and it was possible that the uneducated masses would turn into a ss that ¡°cannot read letters, but at least numbers¡±, like Zenjirou had said before.

    That said, it was uncertain whether the birth of amon ss that could calcte with numbers was advantageous or disadvantageous to the country or royal family.

    Secretary Fabio became a bit absorbed in thought on Aura¡¯s positive opinion, then answered.

    ¡°Indeed. I agree that numerals are beneficial, but I object to suddenly implement them all around. It will bring along great confusion at the workces and no matter how easy it is to remember them, learning something unknown from scratch is never an easy task.

    If you force them to learn it, it will definitely bring about opposition, though I do not know how much.¡±

    ¡°Mh, I see. You are right¡­¡±

    Fabio¡¯s realistic insight made Aura be lost in thought for a while with her hand on her chin.

    ¡°Okay, then we will distribute a reading table for the numerals to the workstations that deal with calctions first, add the numerals to the existing written-out numbers on all royal documents from now on and see how it goes for while. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°That would require to obligate at least the civil servants in the pce to learn the numerals, though.¡±

    Fabio articted a solely objective doubt to Aura¡¯s suggestion.

    ¡°Is that a no?¡±

    Asked back, Secretary Fabio fell silent for a while, then shook his head.

    ¡°No, that much should be okay. I will prepare for it at once.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do.¡±

    Aura nodded satisfied.

    It was regretful that it couldn¡¯t be implemented all over, but dynamic reforms like this one often ended up in a failure when rushing it. In the worst case, they might be better off to rely on ¡°the next generation to use numerals¡± by adding the Arabic numerals to the training menu of the neers.

    For the meantime, it was better not to expect any visible improvements from implementing the numerals.

    The calctions Zenjirou did with the numerals for these ¡°tax documents¡± were far more suitable for an immediate benefit than the numerals itself.

    ¡°Marquis Bervides, Baron Colunga, Feudal Knight Daviino and Feudal Knight Gamez. The discrepancy in their tax documents is especially intolerable.¡±

    While reading out the names, Aura licked over her lips with her red tongue.

    As to rebuke the Queen, who showed a smile like a predator, Secretary Fabio dered with a calm voice.

    ¡°Your Highness, even if the numbers are incorrect, it is a precedent we have overlooked so far. It could trigger an outburst when you suddenly put pressure on them.¡±

    ¡°I know. I am not so foolish as to use drastic measures like finding them guilty. We will merely use it to show them who is in control and get them topromise.¡±

    Saying so, Aura wrinkled her nose a bit irritated.

    The interesting part about humans was that they misapprehended their wrong acts as legitimate when it was left unpunished for years, even though illegal acts were statutory.

    When you suddenly tried to punish a person with such a perception ording to thews one day, he would fly into a passion with ¡°You never did anything before, why now!¡±.

    That was an emotional point of view, but if there were several of them, even the Queen would find herself in the line of a harsh retaliation when she neglected to show sympathy. The power of the Queen and royal family in the Carpa Kingdom was overwhelming, but not so overwhelming that they could ignore the influence of conspiring nobles.

    ¡°And if I may add, all of these people you mentioned, contributed greatly to the previous war.¡±

    ¡°¡­Right. We cannot deny the fact that their services in the war were part of the reason that our country emerged victorious.¡±

    Aura nodded, honestly acknowledging what Secretary Fabio had added.

    At present, most of the remaining nobles were survivors of the previous great war. Barely anyone of them was so ipetent as to falsify taxes to the Kingdom or pocket heavy taxes from the people in their fief simply for their own good.

    Most of these ipetent nobles, who only leeched off the Kingdom, couldn¡¯t protect their family during the war and perished.

    That was the reason why the remaining nobles were so troublesome.

    The nobles mentioned by Aura earlier used the evaded taxes on their private military preparations. This very military power had shouldered a part of the defence for the country in the previous war, so it technically couldn¡¯t be denied that these unpaid taxes were used for the good of the Kingdom in a roundabout manner.

    However, it was likewise a fact that these taxes could replenish the royal army better if they were collected properly.

    The royal family stipted the reinforcement of the royal army through taxes to optimize the troops and the local feudal lords couldn¡¯t drop the effort to strengthen their own troops as the royal army was useless for defending the own territory due to their inflexibility.

    Both weren¡¯t mistaken in their approaches, so it was rather natural that discord emerged between the royal family and feudal lords.

    It was clearer than crystal clear that the inner power bnce would be disturbed sooner orter when the uncovered tax evasion would be tolerated and the feudal lords strengthened their military power even further.

    In the worst case, the feudal lords could band together to revolt against the royal family, so a bnce of power, where the royal army could easily suppress such an attempt, should be preserved.

    At present, there was no one so disillusioned amongst the important feudal lords to pointlessly go against the royal family,

    but there was no guarantee that all sessors in the next or after next generation were just as capable and quick-witted.

    ¡°Still, illegal remains illegal. I will be temperate and careful not to hurt their honour and prestige, but I will have them pay a suitablepensation.¡±

    Aura dered tly, whereat Fabio mused for a while.

    ¡°¡­Then how about we notify them informally about the discovery of inconsistencies in the documents so far and ask them ¡®to cooperate of their own initiative¡®, so something like that never happens again?¡±

    Before long, the secretary settled his thoughts and suggested apromise n.

    ¡°Well, that sounds reasonable. Okay, I leave the details to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, certainly.¡±

    The matter was settled, so Aura suddenly broached a different subject.

    ¡°Come to think of it, how goes the tutor search for my husband? I would assume they are assembled for the most part?¡±

    Secretary Fabio wasn¡¯t flustered by Aura¡¯s sudden question and replied affirmative.

    ¡°Yes. Three self-applications and thirty-one rmendations. The greater majority are young, unmarried women with high magical power.¡±

    Unmarried women in a marriageable age with high magical power. Aura made a sarcasticughter to these obvious candidates for a concubine.

    ¡°God forbid! They are just ipetent if they rmended them without realizing my intention, but it is a bit troublesome if they did so while clearly knowing what I wanted. Am I being underestimated that much?¡±

    Sending in a candidate for the concubine of the Prince Consort while ignoring the Queen¡¯s real intentions. Even if it was done in the cause of preserving the lineage, it equalled picking a fight with their Master.

    ¡°Rather than underestimating you, I would say the appeal of sending in a pawn as Zenjirou-sama¡®s concubine, got the better of them despite the danger.¡±

    Aura screwed up her nose displeased.

    ¡°Hmpf, I do not think that my husband is so careless as to be manipted by the wirepuller behind a concubine.¡±

    ¡°I agree, but we can say that because we know his actual condition.¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. In that case, I guess we will have to ask beldam Pascu to be my husband¡¯s tutor after all.¡±

    Saying so, Aura stretched herself on her chair as to rx her stiff body.

    In response, Secretary Fabio opened his mouth, hesitant on a rare asion.

    ¡°Well, regarding that matter, there is one candidate that we cannot afford to ignore. Count M¨¢rguez rmended his own wife, Lady Octavia.

    As you know, they call Lady Octavia the model of a noble woman. Knowledge, education or magic skills, there is nothing to criticize about her.

    Moreover, she is already married, so she meets your requirements for the time being, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°Th- That old geezer¡­¡±

    Hearing an unexpected name, Aura squeezed out her words from the back of her throat.

    An already married woman excelling in knowledge, education and magic. Just listening to the recited characteristics, she indeed fulfilled all of Aura¡¯s conditions.

    But then, that only applied if the other facts about her were ignored. Even if she was the wife of Count M¨¢rguez, she was only his second wife. Currently in her earlier 20s, she was young, beautiful, well-behaved andpliant, so she had been called ¡°the celebrated flower of the royal court¡± until a few years ago.

    Incidentally, the son of Count M¨¢rguez, Raffaello M¨¢rguez was a former candidate for being Aura¡¯s husband and one year older than his stepmother Octavia.

    ¡°That damn geezer would not dare to instigate his own wife to adultery, would he!?¡±

    Secretary Fabio shook his head to Aura¡¯s spection.

    ¡°No. Judging by his character, I doubt he would take it that far, though that is just my personal opinion.

    As you may know, Lady Octavia is the ¡°perfect noblewoman¡± by our country¡¯smon sense. She is a woman proficient at naturalpliance, tickling a man¡¯s self-esteem and giving him a dynamic confidence.

    Maybe he wants to draw out Zenjirou-sama¡¯s assertiveness by having him be in direct contact with such a woman for some time, and thus damage your rtionship with him.¡±

    Most men would get ahead of themselves when a conservative beauty praised, ttered and gave them respectful nces. They would feel like they could do anything if they tried. And if she could incite Zenjirou¡¯s mentality into pursuing politics, Count M¨¢rguez would have a convenient direct line to royal authority in Zenjirou.

    To say it with a bit more tant words, Secretary Fabio guessed that his aim was to ¡°pull Zenjirou from under the Queen¡±.

    If his guess was correct, the problem was that Lady Octavia herself, in the middle of events, had no ill intentions even when the wirepuller Count M¨¢rguez was full of them.

    If everything Aura had heard about Lady Octavia¡¯s character so far was urate, then she was a person, who would simply pour all her energy in her job as a ¡°private tutor¡± without any ill intentions.

    On the surface, she was the perfect candidate for Zenjirou¡¯s tutor.

    ¡°What will you do, Your Highness? We could alwayse up with some kind of reason and decline her.¡±

    Even while Aura felt a bit annoyed over the blunt nce Secretary Fabio gave her as to probe her for her intentions, she shook her head and answered.

    ¡°No, it is not worth to get on the Count¡¯s bad side for this. My husband will have to appear in public to some degree anyway.

    I cannot reject everything. Count M¨¢rguez¡¯s schemes aside, there is no problem with Lady Octavia. In fact, it is a very beneficial choice for my husband. Hire her.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness. I will get everything prepared then.¡±

    On Aura¡¯s order, Secretary Fabio answered with a courteous bow.

    * * *

    One day, the inner pce was kind of restless.

    Today, an outsider would step into this secluded space for the first time as it had been exclusive to Zenjirou, Queen Aura and the waiting maids working in the inner pce, so far.

    Zenjirou was slumped into the couch in one room of the inner pce and took a deep breath for the nth time.

    (A private tutor, huh. I never thought I would have to study again at this age. Well, I had to do some studying for thepany, too, though)

    Thanks to his experience of going to see various business partners during hispany days, Zenjirou wasn¡¯t particr ufortable with meeting someone for the first time, but this time, he would be the ¡°superior¡± for the first time.

    He wasn¡¯t all that keen about showing an outsider all the electrical appliances he bought with him, so he was waiting in an average room of the inner pce right now.

    Without the grace of the ice fan, Zenjirou was sweating profoundly from the high room temperature and replenished his water bnce by drinking water mixed with adequate amounts of brown sugar and salt for a while now.

    (I can¡¯t use respective speech and I¡¯ve to wait to introduce myself until she has done so first. Lastly, I¡¯m strictly forbidden to do anything that mighte across as extremely rude. Man, this will be difficult, seriously)

    Zenjirou recalled the basic conduct Aura had taught him in his head. At that very moment.

    ¡°Excuse me. I have brought Octavia-sama. May she enter?¡±

    ¡°Mm,e in.¡±

    When the waiting maid¡¯s voice resounded from beyond the door, Zenjirou cleared his throat once, then replied in a demanding tone that he usually didn¡¯t use.

    He was about to go to meet them at the door as a habit from his sryman days, but realized his mistake as he stood up from the couch, and waited in that standing position.

    In the next moment, the door opened with a tter and a single Lady entered the room.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Zenjirou-sama.

    I am the wife of Count Manuel M¨¢rguez of the County of M¨¢rguez in the Carpa Kindgom: Octavia. I am greatly honoured to undertake the important duty as your tutor on this asion.

    I might be ignorant andcking expertise, but I will do everything in my might.¡±

    The Lady spoke in a soft voice pleasant to the ears, then bowed deeply.

    (Oho, ignorant andcking expertise, huh. So ¡°modesty¡± is a virtue in this country, too)

    Zenjirou ordered with a voice as dignified as possible while remembering that he once read something about ¡°modesty¡± not holding true in some areas even on Earth, depending on the country.

    ¡°Lift your face.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The Lady¡ª Octavia raised her head with the same fluid movement she had used to lower it.

    (I see. She¡¯s the so-called ¡°Model of a Lady¡± in this country. Yeah, she definitely deserves the title)

    Gorgeous, trim, virtuous. These words naturally popped up in his head as he looked at Octavia¡¯s face.

    She wasn¡¯t all that tall. From Zenjirou¡¯s point of view, her height was ¡°average¡±, so approximately one-hundred and sixty centimetre.

    However, she had narrow sloping shoulders, so her stature looked slender and shorter than it actually was.

    Straight ck hair that radiated beautifully. Jet ck eyes you rarely even saw in a Japanese. And light brown skin that was pale for someone of a southern country and closer to a yellowish white, standing in contrast to the colour of her eyes and hair.

    She had a prominent nose and her face as a whole was shallow, so she would easily pass as a ¡°tanned Japanese¡±.

    That said, even if you wanted to see a beauty of her level in modern Japan, you wouldn¡¯t find one unless you went to a model or celebrity agency.

    ¡°I¡¯m Zenjirou, Queen Aura¡¯s husband. I don¡¯t know how long our acquaintance willst, but I want us to be on good terms.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you honour me with your words.¡±

    When Zenjirou recited the words he had desperately thought up in his head, Octavia lowered her head creditable.

    He couldn¡¯t afford to screw up in the conversation with her, so it exhausted him mentally, even more than he had expected.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s hear about your guideline, Lady M¨¢rguez. Take a seat.¡±

    The mental fatigue must have rushed him unconsciously. Zenjirou skipped the ns he had made in his head yesterday and offered Octavia a seat.

    ¡°? Yes, pardon me.¡±

    Octavia showed a momentary surprise to his offer, but remembered what she was here for right away and obediently sat down on the couch.

    After Zenjirou made sure that Octavia had seated herself, he slowly lowered his bottom onto the couch, too.

    Sitting across Octavia on the couch with a table in-between them, Zenjirou listened to her exnation about her n and methods to study manners,mon sense and magic, from start to end.

    ¡°In short, you will principally teach me about history and magic, correcting any mistakes in manners ormon sense I show during that. Is that correct?¡±

    Zenjirou put the summary of the contents he had made in his head into words, whereupon Octavia replied with a soft smile.

    ¡°Yes. Manners andmon sense are hardly something that can be taught verbally. You already seem to have an understanding about a general conduct, so I believe this way will prove to be more efficient.¡±

    ¡°And you will have lunch together with me from now on?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Manners andmon sense apply the most at the dining table. I concluded it would be the best opportunity to teach about these two.¡±

    Indeed. She had a point there. No matter how much you heard about manners, you wouldn¡¯t adopt them that way.

    You improved and refined them by trying, failing and getting advice. It would take some time, but it might be the best avable option.

    However, it was a bit annoying, considering that a teacher would watch his manners andmon sense during meals every day from now on.

    At least it would be no longer the enjoyable and lively time that it had been with Aura in the recent days.

    That said, Zenjirou wasn¡¯t so arrogant that he would reject an efficient study chance for such a selfish reason.

    ¡°Okay. If you say that¡¯s the best way, I¡¯ve no objections. Let¡¯s do it that way.¡±

    Octavia smiled softly to Zenjirou¡¯s words and lowered her head.

    ¡°Thank you very much. Then let me get straight to the point already. Earlier when I entered the room, you greeted me after standing up from the couch, correct?¡±

    ¡°Ah!?¡±

    Zenjirou unconsciously leaked a natural voice when she pointed out a mistake at once.

    Octavia was very careful not to sound reproachful and continued.

    ¡°I am terrible honoured that you would receive me so politely, but for a man of your position, such an act is rather liable to be taken in as an ¡®underestimate¡®. In general, Her Highness Aura is the only person in the country you would have to greet standing.

    Even in a foreign country, you only need to give such a polite greeting to the King himself or the immediate sessor to the throne.

    Likewise, you offered me a seat while remaining standing yourself, but this is a wasted kindness as well. Manners andmon sense change ording to the other party and situation, so it is mpropos to predefine anything, but it is expected that royalty show a bit morefortable response.¡±

    ¡°¡­Okay. I¡¯ll be careful of that from now on.¡±

    Zenjirou nodded to keep up appearances, but mentally he felt like burying his head into his hands and plunking himself down right there.

    (Oh damn¡­ I thought I was being careful, but my sryman soul kicked in again)

    As a sryman it wasmon sense to only seat oneself once the visiting business partner had sat down. It seemed it was more difficult than expected to correct an internalized habit.

    Octavia smiledforting as she saw through his internal struggle and broached the next subject with aposed voice.

    ¡°Then allow me to begin with exining the basis of magic for today. If there is anything unclear or not understandable, please speak up and I will answer you to the best of my knowledge.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do.¡±

    ¡°¡­Zenjirou-sama, that ¡®please¡¯.¡±

    ¡°R- Right. Ehm¡­ You are allowed to begin your exnation.¡±

    Screwing up right away, Zenjirou cleared his throat to smooth it over and rephrased his sentence.

    This time it seemed to be correct as Octavia nodded curt, then started her thorough exnation with a mellifluous voice.

    ¡°I will begin my exnation about the basis of magic now. We can ssify magic into two groups. The first group is the ¡¯Four- Element Magic¡¯ that can be more or less used by everyone. The other group is the ¡¯Bloodline Magic¡¯ that only people with a unique lineage can use.¡±

    ¡°Does four elements refer to Earth, Water, Fire, Air and the bloodline to ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯?¡±

    Octavia didn¡¯t seem to be offended by Zenjirou¡¯s interjection and replied with a nod and a smile.

    ¡°Yes, that is correct. Just, when you put aside the point that the ¡®Bloodline Magic¡¯ cannot used by anyone except a person with the special lineage, it is no different from the Four-Element Magic in its foundation.

    There are three conditions necessary to activate magic: the ¡®correct intonation¡¯, the ¡®correct perception¡¯ and the ¡®correct amount of magical power¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Intonation, perception and amount of magical power?¡±

    Given that, it sounded like the magic often found in games or books, but he didn¡¯t understand anything concrete.

    The beautiful private tutor could tell from Zenjirou¡¯s expression that he didn¡¯t understand a thing and started to exin with the aid of a concrete example.

    ¡°First of all, magic has an exclusivenguage. We simply call it ¡¯Magic Language¡¯ and the magic will not activate unless you use it. Please watch me.¡±

    Saying so, Octavia put up the index finger of her right hand. And then,

    ¡®O invisible water scattered in the air, gather at my finger and form a sphere. Aspensation, I will make eighteen offerings of magical power to the water spirit.¡¯

    In the next moment after Zenjirou heard that, a transparent water sphere floated above Octavia¡¯s fingertip.

    ¡°!?¡±

    Zenjirou had no time to be surprised at that phenomena as he was speechless about something else.

    (What was that just now? Octavia-san only opened her mouth for a brief moment, but I heard a ridiculous long sentence!?)

    He could swear that Octavia hadn¡¯t opened her mouth long enough just now for saying a sentence that long.

    Zenjirou had no clue what was going on, whereupon Octavia put the water ball she had created at her finger tip just now, into her empty tea cup and deeply bowed to him.

    ¡°My deepest apologies, Zenjirou-sama. I have been thoughtless. The Magic Language is an incredible difficultnguage as the slightest variation in volume, ent or hyphenation can change its meaning, but in exchange, it is possible to pack a lot of meanings into a short sound.

    Due to that, a person, who hears the Magic Language for the first time, gets overwhelmed by the vast amount of information in the short sound. Let me apologize again for forgetting about that. Please forgive me.¡±

    Saying so, Octavia bowed down so deeply that he could see the white nape of her neck.

    Zenjirou shook his head a bit and replied.

    ¡°If that¡¯s true, it would¡¯ve happened anyway. You might be at fault for not exining it first, but you apologized, so everything¡¯s fine.

    Continue with the exnation.¡±

    Zenjirou epted her apology, whereas Octavia replied grateful.

    ¡°Thank you such much for your tolerance. I will be extra careful from now on that something like this will not happen again.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Zenjirou was bewildered about her exaggeration, but managed to reply collected without showing his bewilderment.

    Sure, Octavia had been careless, but he felt a bit sorry for her.

    To begin with, hardly anyone in this world felt something amiss with the discrepancy between the heard information and the spoken sound as the existence of spirits was amon thing. Not to mention that even less people felt shocked about it as if they had received a blow to the head. Going by that, both, Octavia and Zenjirou, had just been unlucky.

    ¡°Then I will continue now. Just now, I chanted with the ¡¯correct intonation¡¯ and ¡¯correct perception¡¯, offering the ¡¯correct amount of magical power¡¯. As a result, the magic to ¡¯create a water sphere¡¯ activated. Next I will show you what happens when I purposefully falsify these three.¡±

    After Octavia said that, she put up the index finger of her right hand again and chanted the spell.

    ¡®Urmugeo¡¯

    The short chant waspletely iprehensible to Zenjirou¡¯s ears. However, the magic didn¡¯t activate.

    ¡°Just now, I mistook the intonation for a bit on purpose. The meaning bes distorted from just that and the spell does not activate. Next I will chant the spell with the correct intonation, but with a mistaken perception.¡±

    Saying so, Octavia opened her mouth for a brief moment and uttered a short sound just like before.

    ¡®O invisible water scattered in the air, gather at my finger and form a sphere. Aspensation, I will make eighteen offerings of magical power to the water spirit.¡¯

    This time, Zenjirou heard the same long sentence like on the first sessful try, but no water sphere appeared at Octavia¡¯s finger.

    ¡°Just now, I imagined the activation of a different spell while chanting the correct spell. The result is as you can see. Thenstly, I will use the correct intonation and perception, but input the wrong amount of magical power on purpose.¡±

    ¡®O invisible water scattered in the air, gather at my finger and form a sphere. Aspensation, I will make eighteen offerings of magical power to the water spirit.¡¯

    The fourth ¡°water sphere¡± spell of today was urately heard by Zenjirou. However, there was no oue as expected.

    Octavia smiled a bit at Zenjirou, who looked at her, and exined.

    ¡°This time, I made ¡®twenty¡¯ offers of magical power even while saying that I am offering ¡®eighteen¡¯. As a result, the activation of the spell failed.¡±

    Zenjirou listened to her words, more or less convinced, but then raised a surprised voice.

    ¡°Wait a sec, too much is no good either?¡±

    Zenjirou forgot his affected tone on the spur of the moment, whereat Octavia nodded and responded to his question.

    ¡°Yes. The magic will neither activate with too less nor with too much offerings. Large magic that consumes a lot of magical power will ignore a small difference, but small magic is strict about its amount of magical power.

    Due to that, most magicians with a great magical power have difficulties with small magic like the one I chanted just now. of course there are exceptions, like the archmage Espaldion-sama.¡±

    It was understandable with that exnation.

    One did not even need to spare a thought about whether it was easier to fill a ss to the brim by pouring water from a 100ml bottle or from a 10l bottle.

    Even whileprehending Octavia¡¯s words with the rational part of his brain, Zenjirou was kind of in a daze and took no notice of her exnation.

    He was pretty excited and thrilled about the fact that he would be able to use magic himself at some point.

    However, he might not get many chances to use magic properly as he rarely ever left the inner pce and wasn¡¯t suited to small magic due to his great magical power.

    ¡°Does that mean you¡¯re not suited for learning typical magic when you¡¯ve great magical power?¡±

    ¡°Yes. In fact, I have heard that Her Highness Aura can only use arge-scale annihtion fire magic besides the Space-Time magic.

    But then, arge magic like that consumes not only a lot of magical power, it also has an extremely long chant, so it is not unusually that it takes months for one to be able to recite the intonation correctly.¡±

    The more he heard, the farther away moved the day he would be able to use magic.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be frank: How long will it take for me to activate magic when I start learning from today on?¡±

    At some point, he had forgotten the main point, his study about manners andmon sense, and asked Octavia that.

    Octavia keenly guessed what Zenjirou was after, but as his teacher, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to lie, so she shrunk her slender body, ducked her head and answered honestly.

    ¡°Well¡­ First you need to be aware of your own magical power, then learn to control it at will, so that you can urately pour the magical power into the magic. Normally, it takes two years to be aware of one¡¯s own magical power and another year of practice to control it at will.¡±

    ¡°¡­Three years.¡±

    Zenjirou uttered with a groan, whereat Octavia quickly tried to patch up things.

    ¡°Ah, but the rest is rtively simple once you have control over that, because you only have to learn the correct intonation, draw a vivid picture of it in your head and urately pour magical power into it. You can learn a simple spell within a day.¡±

    As she remembered that she had just told him that he was not suited for such simple spells, her words had lost their vigour in the middle of her sentence and she looked apologetic at Zenjirou with upturned eyes.

    That look cooled down Zenjirou¡¯s head.

    On a second thought, there was no need for him to learn magic. It was merely ¡°better to know it¡± as an etiquette for a royalty with great magical power, so there was no problem when the studysted for three to five years.

    (Either way, it doesn¡¯t seem like magic will be useful for my life, even when I learn it)

    At this point, Zenjirou was not informed about the potential of the unique ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± in his blood, so he easily discarded it like that.

    ¡°Okay. Then let¡¯s take it slowly. Teach me well, Octavia.¡±

    ¡°As youmand, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    The beautiful female tutor answered the Prince Consort, who recovered himself in no time, faithful with a soft smile.

    * * *

    Evening of the day, where he met Octavia as his private tutor and finished his first lesson without problems.

    Relieved of the hours-long stress, Zenjirou spent some quality time with his wife Aura in their room of the inner pce.

    He had a can of low-malt beer after his bath like always while Aura on the other hand held a ss with brandy in front of her face and enjoyed its ripe aroma.

    After drinking off the bottle of white wine over the past few days, she had chosen the boxed brandy next. Apparently distilled liquor wasn¡¯tmon in this world and she had chocked on its high alcoholic content at first, but after she got used to it, she enjoyed it more than the wine.

    She drunk it without anything extra as Zenjirou taught her from his faint memory that ¡°it was proper practice to drink brandy straight and unchilled¡±.

    That said, the ¡°unchilled as proper practice¡± certainly didn¡¯t take the heat in the Carpa Kingdom into consideration, so she preferred drinking it chilled from the refrigerator.

    Aura poured the contents of the ss down her throat bit by bit while appreciating the amber-coloured fluid that was sparkling from the light of the LEDmps through the ss, with her eyes.

    ¡°Hey, does it taste good?¡±

    Aura nodded satisfied to Zenjirou¡¯s question and answered.

    ¡°Yes. It has a surprisingly rich aroma and strong vour. It is quite addicting once you are used to it.¡±

    ¡°Oho, is that so?¡±

    To be honest, he couldn¡¯t even tell brandy and whiskey apart, so he couldn¡¯t acknowledge her evaluation. But the brandy Aura was drinking right now was called Hennessy XO or something like that, with a price of over ten-thousand yen per bottle. Fanciers knew their thing after all.

    As ignorant as he was to such things, Zenjirou was satisfied with cold low-malt beer.

    Aura put the brandy ss back on the table after she drunk it up and called out to her husband that sat next to her.

    ¡°So, how did it go? Tell me your impression.¡±

    Zenjirou was a bit surprised on Aura¡¯s sudden question, but he lowered his beer can and replied honestly.

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s see, to summarize it: It was ¡®more tiring than I expected¡¯. Myck of manners was pointed out numerous times. Especially during lunch. I barely remember what I ate.¡±

    ¡°Sorry for the troubles.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it. It¡¯s necessary, right? Besides, the magic lessons are fun. Well, it certainly depressed me that it¡¯ll take me three years until I can use magic, though.¡±

    Saying so, Zenjirou shook his free hand fluttering in front of Aura.

    It was a matter of fact that he had been pretty excited over seeing magic with his own eyes.

    That distinguish magic had brought him from his world into this world, too, but since he was involved in it, he regretfully didn¡¯t get to see the magic activate. Byparison, the magic of a water ball floating around one¡¯s finger that Octavia had shown him earlier was way easier toprehend.

    It was far more motivating as he witnessed it himself.

    ¡°Well, there are no shortcuts to magic after all. You can only work hard at it if you want to learn it. Or to put it differently, anyone can learn it with enough time. As long as you do not give up midway, the effort will be by no means in vain.¡±

    Aura said that, then took the arm of her husband and pressed it into her deep cleavage as to encourage him.

    ¡°Aura¡­¡±

    Then the Queen surprised her husband, who narrowed his eyes to slits from the soft sensation, by whispering into his ear with a mischievous smile.

    ¡°So, how was Octavia-dono? I guess you find her charming, too?¡±

    His wife uttered the name of another woman. Zenjirou had done nothing to feel guilty about, yet he flinched out of reflex, maybe out of a habit as a man.

    ¡°Mh? What is the matter?¡±

    Keeping a firm hold on his arm as to not let him escape, Aura pressed him on, whereat Zenjirou answered while letting his gaze drift towards the ceiling.

    ¡°Aw, yeah. She¡¯s certainly beautiful and very friendly. Yep, I can see why her type is so popr in this country.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oho.¡±

    He got the feeling that Aura¡¯s voice as she gave a short reply, was somewhat lower than usual.

    ¡°You mean, she looked desirable to you as well?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t like Auracked self-confidence, but she was aware that Octavia was the exact opposite of her, so she unconsciously ended up with a probing tone.

    Zenjirou wasn¡¯t so dense that he wouldn¡¯t notice that the mood of his wife took a turn for the worse.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s certainly in my strike zone, but more like a borderline pitch. I would have trouble hitting even a ¡®strong fastball right in the center¡¯, if I were to carelessly take a swing.¡±

    However, his promptly couched excuse waspletely iprehensible to someone of this world.

    For someone, who had no clue about ¡°baseball¡±, the terms strike zone, borderline pitch or strong fastball right in the center were all geek-speak.

    Even so, Aura must have understood Zenjirou from his tone and overall nuance.

    She showed acent smile, then asked him again in an desire for more straightforward words.

    ¡°So, what do you mean to say? Be more precise.¡±

    Even if she told him to be more explicit, Zenjirou¡¯s honest thoughts were: ¡°As if I could¡±.

    He wasn¡¯t the type of person that could ovee his shame to say something like ¡°You¡¯re the only one I love¡± or ¡°You¡¯re far more pretty¡± now.

    ¡°Mh? Come on, say it. For me.¡±

    His wife yfully tucked on his arm, but Zenjirou didn¡¯t look at her and kept his eyes on the ceiling, then gave his best answer as apromise between his shame and his wife¡¯s demand.

    ¡°Ehm, well¡­ I mean, if it had been Octavia-san, who summoned me here on the first day, instead of you, then I wouldn¡¯t be here now.¡±

    While saying so, he felt his own face turning red.

    Would Aura be satisfied with that answer? At least he hoped so. If she were to demand even ¡°straighter¡± words¡­ he would die from the embarrassment.

    Zenjirou kept facing the ceiling and nced to the side to take a peek at his wife¡¯s reaction.

    Aura¡¯s red hair fluttered in the corner of his vision.

    ¡°Fuh¡­ Fufufuh. I see, I see.¡±

    Auraughed amused.

    Apparently his answer was good enough to sway her heart.

    ¡°I, too, could not be happier that you were the one being summoned.¡±

    The Queen dered that, then Zenjirou felt her hot and wet lips pressing down on his cheek.

    * * *

    In the middle of the night. Aura slept intimately with her husband Zenjirou in the same bed as always. When she woke up past midnight, she carefully got off the bed as not to wake the soundly sleeping Zenjirou.

    Their bedroom had LED floormps, but there was no way she could turn them on while Zenjirou was still sleeping.

    Amidst the pitch darkness, she looked for her clothes by fumbling around. Before long, her hands touched a soft, thin cloth.

    Aura picked up the smooth and thin clothing¡ª the red and transparent negligee and stifled a giggle.

    Before going to bed, she had put on this suggestive nightgown for him in appreciation for the pleasant answer of her husband to her probing question. At that time, Zenjirou had been so overjoyed that he wanted to preserve it with his ¡°digicam¡± or whatever it was called.

    ¡°Ueh!?¡±

    When her husband had raised an empty shriek like that and froze on the spot, Aura hadn¡¯t been able to suppress herughter.

    Zenjirou hadn¡¯t been so na?ve to think that Aura hadn¡¯t found out about this ¡°sexy nightgown¡± (all his belongings were checked on the day of his transfer), but it had been quite an effective surprise that Aura had put it on by her own ord.

    As a result, it had be a rather queer situation, where a bright red Zenjirou fought against his shame even though it was Aura, who wore an embarrassing outfit.

    Even so, he had been stimted more than enough by seeing his wife in the bewitching negligee.

    Their coption that night had been fiercer and longer than usual.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Remembering their night together, Aura blushed while putting the transparent negligee aside and looking for the one-piece loungewear she had worn before.

    After a short while, she found what she was looking for and slowly headed for the door, still naked and the loungewear in hand.

    As not to wake up Zenjirou, she slowly took one careful step after another.

    Then she sessfully left the room without rousing her husband.

    Now in the living room, Aura turned on only one LEDmp and quickly got dressed under its light.

    Aura, wearing a blue one-piece without sleeves, sat down on the leather couch and rang the bell on the table.

    Thereupon, a single waiting maid entered the room after a while. She must have walked down the dark hallway by relying on the light of the candleholder in her hand. She narrowed her eyes a bit to slits towards the bright LEDmp as her eyes had been used to the darkness.

    The waiting maid had impressive long, blonde hair, which was rare for people in the Carpa Kingdom, and had originally been Aura¡¯s Abigail, but was now working directly for Zenjirou.

    ¡°You called, Your Highness.¡±

    The waiting maid made a respectful bow. Aura nced at her, crossed her legs on the couch and said.

    ¡°Give me your report.¡±

    The faithful attendant started to speak about what she had seen today, careful not to be subjective, upon her Master¡¯s order.

    ¡°Very well. As far as I could tell, Octavia-sama showed no suspicious behaviour. She undertook her duty as Zenjirou-sama¡¯s private tutor faithful.¡±

    The waiting maid had treaded upon the study session between Zenjirou and Octavia during the noon numerous times to bring them refreshments and towels and reported that with a firm tone.

    ¡°Good. I guess she is just scouting out things after all?¡±

    After hearing the report, Aura mumbled that to herself.

    To begin with, Octavia was an honest person unsuited to scheming. Count M¨¢rguez, too, might only want to know about the relevant nature of the ¡°Queen¡®s husband¡± through the eyes of his wife.

    She couldn¡¯t let down her guard just yet, but it seemed like she didn¡¯t have to be so sensitive about it from now.

    ¡°Okay. From now on, only report if there is anything suspicious about Octavia-dono.¡±

    ¡°As youmand.¡±

    The waiting maid lowered her head, whereat Aura nodded with ¡°Good¡± and continued.

    ¡°Now then, how does my husband spend his daystely? Did he get close to any other woman?¡±

    Aura had asked this question the waiting maids numerous times already.

    Amongst the past Kings, there were actually very few, who didn¡¯ty hands on the waiting maids of the inner pce. Not to mention, Zenjirou lived in the inner pce instead of going back and forth from it like the past Kings.

    Actually it was more unnatural not to ogle the young and beautiful waiting maids.

    However, even this time, the maid shook her head a bit troubled and gave the same reply as the ones before.

    ¡°No. Let alone touching anyone, Zenjirou-sama rarely ever looks at the women with such eyes.

    In the first ce, Zenjirou-sama tends to be against us entering the room.

    Therefore we do not enter the room unless we have business to take care of. On the other hand, Zenjirou-sama always moves into a different room when wee for cleaning.¡±

    Leaving the room, because the waiting maids clean it. That was something unbelievable, considering their Master-Attendant rtionship, but he probably couldn¡¯t escape his Japanese manners again there.

    In a way, it was like a husband being chased out by the vacuum cleaner of the wife.

    Aura nodded to the report of the waiting maid and gave her instructions.

    ¡°I see. I am repeating myself, but my husband is not good at expressing himself like wanting this or wanting that. He perceives it as a ¡®negative virtue¡¯ to express such desires. I know it may be difficult to serve him, but have regards for his feelings and try your best to meet his demands.¡±

    ¡°Very well. As youmand.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you can go. Thanks.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Excuse me.¡±

    With her report done, the waiting maid bowed once and left the room.

    After the maid closed the door behind her, Aura leaked a sigh in the living room.

    ¡°¡­I am thirsty. Guess I will have some water.¡±

    Aura suddenly felt thirsty and wanted to drink a cup of water before returning to the bedroom.

    She went over to the five-door refrigerator in the corner of the living room and took a water jug out of it.

    ¡°Fuh¡±

    Pouring the water from the jug into a ss, she emptied the ss in one go, then conversed with herself in the dimly lit room.

    ¡°I see¡­ Zenjirou does not even take notice of Octavia-dono or the waiting maids.¡±

    Aura unconsciously embraced her own body with her arms.

    Tonight again, Zenjirou had caressed this body numerous times. She still felt the touch of his fingers or lips all over her body and had first-hand experience of how passionately the man called Zenjirou sought a woman.

    Yet, that very man paid no attention to other women besides her.

    ¡°Fuh¡­ Fufufuh.¡±

    Aura involuntarily started tough. How should she name this feeling?

    She never expected that being loved by someone of the opposite sex would be so pleasant.

    An exhration different from the satisfaction of the government affairs as a royalty or the ecstasy from winning a battle as a general, was filling up her body from within.

    To say it in an offensive way, it was a ¡°sense of superiority¡±. The joy of having a particr man fawning only over herself. The pleasure of being recognized as the best woman.

    ¡°Not good. I kind of want to have him all to myself now.¡±

    If she were to give in to this emotion, she would reflexively oppose a concubine on an emotional level when it was time for Zenjirou to wee one.

    Aura couldn¡¯t conceal how bewildered she was about not having her emotions under control. And it was even more surprising that her rampant emotions were pleasant for her.

    ¡°Oh well. No need to worry about the future now.¡±

    She shook her head, then turned off the LEDmp and fumbled for the door to the bedroom.

    Back in the bedroom, she undressed and nestled her voluptuous, naked brown body up to the back of the soundly sleeping Zenjirou.

    ¡°Fufufu¡±

    Aura clung to Zenjirou¡¯s back so that her naked breasts pressed onto it.

    ¡°¡­Mm.¡±

    Zenjirou¡¯s back wasn¡¯t especially broad for a man¡¯s, but Aura felt a strangefort from it. It gave her a calm feeling of ¡°having returned home¡±.

    In fact, it didn¡¯t take long for Aura to fall asleep with that peace of mind while she clung to Zenjirou¡¯s back like that.

    * * *

    A few days after Zenjirou started to take lessons from Octavia.

    After he had sent off his beloved wife leaving for her job just now, Zenjirou used the spare time until his lesson with Octavia efficiently on theputer.

    The video ying on theputer showed a lecture about manners and education that Zenjirou created with the help of Aura for himself.

    It was problem how the ¡°soul of words¡± didn¡¯t work on voices recorded with the digital camera, but thinking about it, it was extremely simple to resolve.

    He just had to slowly repeat Aura¡¯s exnation in Japanese then and there.

    ¡°Cuando te inviten a un baile, elpa?ero para el primer y ¨²ltimo baile¡­¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, when invited to a dance party, the partner for the first andst dance¡­¡±

    He could hear his own voice speaking in Japanese a bit dyed after Aura¡¯s voice speaking in the localnguage from the video ying on theputer.

    It was irksome to hear his recorded voice, but it was quite beneficial without a doubt. He simply had to ignore the difort.

    When he studied manners and education on theputer like that, there was a knock on the door.

    ¡°Excuse me, Zenjirou-sama. Octavia-sama has arrived.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be right there.¡±

    On the waiting maid¡¯s promation, Zenjirou turned off theputer and stood up.

    He had various urate timepieces in hisputer, wristwatch or cell phone, but there was no point in being punctual as he was the only one aware of a minutely time.

    ¡°Okay, time to go.¡±

    Zenjirou opened the door and went out into the hallway. There, the acquainted waiting maid with the blonde hair lowered her head politely.

    At first he had been bewildered by the attendants¡¯s courteous behaviour, but now he had somewhat gotten used to it.

    ¡°Well done. You can clean the room now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, certainly.¡±

    As the waiting maids were considerate to Zenjirou and avoided to enter the room as much as possible, he regarded them as ¡°staff from a hotel¡± and kept an appropriate distance.

    His way of speaking and behaviour was a bit awkward as a royalty, but the mental burden was too much for him to keep up an affected conduct in the inner pce, which was supposed to be his ¡°home¡±.

    Luckily, the attendants in the inner pce were strictly selected by Aura and could be trusted to keep their mouth shut, so it was no problem when he rxed his behaviour a bit.

    (I reviewed the stuff from yesterday, so I would like to finish the lesson about manners andmon sense in the morning. Then I¡¯ve got the whole afternoon for magic lessons. Right, and since we¡¯ve got more than three hours of midday break, I¡¯ll review and prepare the magic lessons if Auraes over, then I should make some progress in lessons in the afternoon, too)

    While efficiently scheduling his day like that, Zenjirou walked down the hallway in the inner pce.

    Using his spare time to review as to speed up his lessons. And he aimed for even more efficiency by preparing for his magic lesson in the afternoon during the midday break.

    The values he had cultivated in the past twenty-four years made ¡°diligence¡± and ¡°studiousness¡± a virtue and weren¡¯t so easy to override at this point.

    Zenjirou thoroughly made ns to ¡°aplish his given task as efficiently as possible¡± as if he had forgotten that he had volunteered to be a sponger.

    While Zenjirou was receiving lessons from Octavia, the waiting maids cleaned the living room and bedroom.

    As attendants in the pce, they were highly skilled as not to bring about any shame, but cleaning these rooms was somewhat different from the other rooms.

    ¡°Listen up. As a general rule, only dust off Zenjirou-sama¡¯s private belongings. Do not use water.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    An elegant middle-aged woman, apparently in charge of all the cleaning maids, gave orders, to which the young waiting maids replied vigorous.

    It was impossible to teach all the cleaning maids how to handle the electronic appliances in detail. Realizing that, Zenjirou had told the waiting maids ¡°Dusting it off will suffice. Don¡¯t use water¡± in advance.

    Actually damp wiping was only dangerous for a part of his belongings, the electronic appliances, but he concluded that it would be faster to do it himself instead of pointing out every single appliance to the waiting maids.

    The middle-aged maid watched over the entire activities while working herself, too. She gave a group of three young waiting maids, who seemed to clean briskly, a re and called out to them in a loud voice.

    ¡°Hey! How many of you does it take to clean just in front of the table!? One of you is enough. Otherwise we will never finish here!¡±

    The three waiting maids, who were carefully cleaning the table with theputer, winced on the scolding from the middle-aged maid.

    It was the ce, where had Zenjirou sat earlier. In other words, the spot with the turned-on fan and remaining block of ice.

    A new block was already in the making in a metal basin inside the freezerpartment. It would be ready when Zenjirou returned for the midday break.

    Due to that, Zenjirou allowed the waiting maids to do whatever they wanted with the leftover ice.

    Additionally, he also allowed them to use the chilled towels in the refrigerator as long as they as kept it in moderation.

    The reason the waiting maids frequently wiped their sweat was to keep a hygienic environment for Zenjirou, too.

    ¡°Although Zenjirou-sama has yielded the remaining ice to us, that only applies to when we have properly finished our job. It is inexcusable to refresh yourself during work with the tools of your Master.¡±

    The middle-aged maid said that, then merciless opened the window shutter of the room.

    At once, a hot wind entered the room through the window.

    ¡°Kya!?¡±

    ¡°No, just a bit longer.¡±

    ¡°Aww, the ice~ My ice is melting¡­¡±

    The three waiting maids, who had fully enjoying the cold breeze by pretending to clean just now, grieved and moaned in an exaggerated manner.

    Even while the morning was rtivelyfortable, it still were temperatures over thirty degree.

    The middle-aged maid pressed her hands into her hips, which had put on an appropriate weight for her age, and red up at the three moaning waiting maids.

    ¡°Stop messing around. You cannot see if it is dirty without the sunlight. Turn off the floormps. You know how, right?¡±

    The young waiting maids gloomily resumed their work as the middle-aged maid¡¯s words left no room for discussion.

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    ¡°Then I will go clean the floor over there.¡±

    ¡°Auh~ The ice~ My dear ice¡­¡±

    Watching the three troublemakers returning to work, the middle-aged maid made a sigh.

    ¡°Good grief, these girls. You take your eyes of them for a second and they ck off.¡±

    When they were told to work in the inner pce, the maids had been stiff from nervousness at first, paying careful attention as not to invoke the wrath of their Master from a different world.

    However, once they met him, the husband of the Queen turned out to be a Master so effortless that it was disappointing.

    He wasn¡¯t selfish and forgave most mistakes with a smile. To begin with, he rarely even called upon the waiting maids. Due to that, the young waiting maids became like this in less than a month.

    Amongst them, the earlier three were especially x¡±, but the same worry could be extended to all the maids.

    ¡°How regrettable. To think this are waiting maids working in the honourable inner pce.¡±

    The middle-aged maid grumbled to herself while skilfully wiping the leather couch with a cloth.

    Once the cleaning in the living room was done, the bedroom came next.

    ¡°Uwah¡­¡±

    ¡°Today again, huh¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha. Her Highness and Zenjirou-sama get along so well.¡±

    Entering the bedroom, the waiting maids showed a twitching smirk on the daily-urring smell from the bed.

    The smell from the bed sheets and from yesterday¡¯s nightclothes and underwear in the basket next to the bed, told the all too intimate tale how the Queen and her husband got along in this room yesterday as well.

    ¡°It is a good thing. At this rate, we can expect a heir in the near future.¡±

    On the other hand, the middle-aged maid nodded satisfied while saying that.

    It certainly was something to be happy about as a citizen of the Kingdom when the Queen and her husband got along well, but to the young waiting maids, who were kind of proud about their own beauty, it was a somewhatplicated feeling.

    The maid clothes of the Carpa Kingdom they were wearing right now, were rtively skimpypared to the ones of the northern continent from where they originated.

    The bright blue skirt only extended to above their knees and the arms werepletely sleeveless. The clothes weren¡¯t made so sensual that it clearly exposed their busts or waistlines, but on the young waiting maids they looked quite charming nevertheless.

    Despite that, the Master of these maids had notid a single finger on them so far.

    It would be one thing if he were indifferent to women, but every morning there was ¡°evidence¡± in the bedroom that he spent passionate nights second to none with the Queen.

    They didn¡¯t desire to be a ¡°mistress¡± to the husband of the Queen in particr, but their pride as a woman was hurt when he didn¡¯t show any interest in them like that.

    ¡°Come on, we do not have much time. Let us finish this quickly. Change the sheets, get the dirty clothes to theundry and sort and put away the cleaned clothes into the clothing box.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    ¡°Fuh, the bedroom is a bit cooler¡­¡±

    The bedroom was smaller than the living room and there were less things to do. Even includingundry and changing the sheets, the cleaning of the bedroom didn¡¯t even took half of the time of the living room.

    The waiting maids carried out their own task in an ustomed manner.

    * * *

    Afternoon of the same day.

    After finishing his mon sense and manner lesson¡± as well as lunch with Lady Octavia today again, Zenjirou rxed together with Aura in the living room of the inner pce, which had been cleaned neatly in the morning.

    It was still midday, so their sses weren¡¯t filled with alcohol, but with a squeezed juice of fruits with ice.

    To relieve the fatigue from his lesson or her government duties, Zenjirou and Aura were cuddled together on the couch and watched television.

    The sound from the TV was obviously Japanese and since the soul of words didn¡¯t work, Aura had no way to understand it, but the sound wasn¡¯t relevant for what they were watching right now.

    After looking at the screen in silence for a while, it was actually Aura, who raised a voice with ¡°Oh, I know it!¡±.

    ¡°No way, again? Don¡¯t say anything. Don¡¯t you dare to spoil it!¡±

    Beaten to the punch, Zenjirou raised a surprised voice in frustration, then he stared at the scenery picture on the screen with devouring eyes.

    A part of the picture should be altered for a bit somewhere. The point of this game was to find that alteration at a set time, but so far, Aura won far more often than Zenjirou, who brought the game over, even though she yed it for the first time.

    Must be their difference in observation and concentration skills.

    ¡°Okay, I will not tell you. ¡­¡­..The pink flower in the right corner sure is pretty.¡±

    ¡°WAAH! Aura, you meanie!¡±

    Both of them assumed a rxed expression, which they wouldn¡¯t show in public, while enjoying the game.

    A littleter. The TV and game had been turned off and the living room had be silent. Aura called out to Zenjirou next to her while holding a ss with ice water.

    ¡°So, how are your lessons progressing? Last night, you told me that you would soon get a passing grade for basic manners andmon sense, right?¡±

    Zenjirou nodded satisfied to Aura¡¯s question and replied.

    ¡°Yeah, for the time being, I got a passing this morning. Though it¡¯s only the bare minimum for not embarrassing myself in public.¡±

    ¡°Oho, d to hear. Then the afternoon lesson will be only about magic.¡±

    While Aura replied with a smile, she thought to herself.

    Her husband was as diligent as ever. He himself didn¡¯t seem to be aware of it, but he took it for granted to achieve the best result within his power for a task given to him.

    Aura had a few subordinators like that, too, but it was actually quite difficult to handle such people. They were pretty useful as they didn¡¯tck in effort, but they were bad at expressingints, so they had the bad habit to work themselves to death on their own unless their superior allocated the work properly.

    Zenjirou had no clue about his wife¡¯s inner struggle and answered with a smile.

    ¡°Yeah, right. So could you teach me a bit about magic while we¡¯ve got the time? I think the greatest downside of magic was that it is extremely short-lived, right? I heard that the ¡¯Bestowal Magic¡¯ from the Twin Kingdom and our ¡¯Space-Time Magic¡¯ were the first to ovee that weakness, but does that mean that the Space-Time Magic, just like the name implies, can affect time, too, not just space?¡±

    Her husband plunged right into preparing for his afternoon lesson, whereat Aura responded without hiding her wry smile.

    ¡°Hold your horses. Save the questions for your lesson. You are not with your teacher Octavia right now, but with your wife.¡±

    That Zenjirou received a passing grade for a bare minimum of manners andmon sense meant that he could finally appear at official businesses or important social gatherings. He would be even busier from now on, but he wouldn¡¯tst for long if he continued to work that hard.

    (Seems my hunch was right)

    It was necessary that she kept an eye on her husband from now on when entrusting a task to him, so that he wouldn¡¯t ¡°overexert himself on his own¡±.

    That was what Aura told herself to do.

    ¡°Ah, right. Yeah, you¡¯re absolutely right.¡±

    Of course all the matters about magic he had wanted to confirm during midday break slipped his mind as he narrowed his eyes to slits from the soft body of his beloved wife that pressed onto his right arm.

    Sitting side by side, Aura snuggled her head onto his right shoulder and Zenjirou put his arm around her shoulder from behind, pulling her into an embrace.

    The warmth they felt from embracing each other in thin clothes was quite pleasant. At some point, the royal couple fell silent, closed their eyes and immersed themselves in thefortable embrace.

    ¡°SNORE¡­¡±

    Before long, Zenjirou was making peaceful sleeping sounds.

    ¡°Oh, he fell asleep¡­¡±

    The Queen noticed that he had fallen asleep, put her arm around the waist of her husband, who was sleeping soundly with a smile, and closed her eyes as well.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    And then, both of them started to make sleeping sounds in an intimate embrace as to make good for theirck of sleep during the night.

    Only a few days until the husband of the Queen, Zenjirou would make his debut into higher society. For now, he was still spending a peaceful time.

 Chapter Volume 1 6

    There were three waiting maids in the inner pce of the Carpa Kingdom, who were known by a slightly shameful nickname: ¡°The three troublemakers¡±.

    Of course they were proper maids of the inner pce, even when they were called troublemakers. It didn¡¯t change the fact that they made it through a strict selection.

    There were no problems with their loyalty towards royalty, their skills as maids or appearance.

    Butpared to the other waiting maids, they were just a little bit more honest to their own desires, got just a little bit more ahead of themselves and were just a little bit more spaced out and missed their superior¡¯s instructions.

    The supervisory maid Amanda raised her eyebrows to frown on every asion, but they weren¡¯tmitting mistakes as grave as to warrant ayoff and their Master Zenjioru wasn¡¯t bothered by it at all, so it was tolerated so far.

    In a way, the three waiting maids might be the ones, who enjoyed a stress-free life in the current inner pce most of all.

    However, even they weren¡¯tpletely good-for-nothings. They had just a little bit more wits and were just a little bit more undaunted than the average waiting maid.

    And even with their dauntlessness and wits, they now encountered a situation, where they couldn¡¯t help but turn pale in the face.

    ¡°UWAAH!? What do I do? What do I do? I¡¯ve gone and done it now!¡±

    A short waiting maid with ck hair suddenly raised a piteous voice.

    The present time was the long break issued only during the period of intense heat. Just when she had returned to her own room as to spend the break time there, she screamed that.

    The rooms of the waiting maids in the inner pce were basically for three people and that trio usually worked together.

    To make it easier to understand: These groups of three were roommates and close co-workers.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the matter, Fay? Don¡¯te in screaming all of the sudden.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Fay-chan?¡±

    The short waiting maid¡ª Fay, breaking out a cold sweat on her dark brown face, slowly took out ¡°that¡± from the pocket of her apron while her two roommates watched her.

    ¡°¡­What do I do with this? I ended taking it with me by mistake¡­¡±

    Fay said. The thing she had taken out was a ¡°t, rectangle ck object¡±.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    For a while, the small room of the waiting maids was ruled by silence.

    The first to break the silence was the taller one of her two roommates.

    ¡°W- Wa- Wait. That belongs to Zenjirou-sama, doesn¡¯t it? The one he warned us about not to damp wipe or drop. W- Wh- What are you doing with it, Fay?¡±

    It was understandable that the waiting maids were flurried.

    The object in Fay¡¯s hand was a so-called ¡°portable game console¡±. Needless to say, it belonged to Zenjirou. The waiting maids weren¡¯t so clueless that they wouldn¡¯t know how grave it was to bring that into their own room.

    ¡°What now, Dolores¡­¡±

    Tears dwelled up in Fay¡¯s big, ck eyes and she beseeched her tall friend.

    Even Fay, usually the most ted amongst the ¡°three troublemakers¡±, couldn¡¯t help but cry in this situation.

    However, she had an excuse if she was allowed to speak up for herself.

    Zenjirou always took lessons in manners andmon sense from Lady Octavia until past noon, but for some reason, the lesson ended two hours earlier today and he had returned to the living room.

    Apparently Lady Octavia been considerate of him due to the intense heat, iming that he would have difficulties to concentrate anyway, but Fay didn¡¯t know the actual matter of things.

    Either way, for Fay and the other cleaning maids it meant that their time limit for their job was cut short by two hours.

    It was reasonable that they would unconsciously let out a scream.

    Even so, they did everything in their might and somehow finished to clean the living room and bedroom before Zenjirou returned. With a sigh of relief, the waiting maids had then returned to their own rooms, where Fay had finally noticed it.

    Thinking back on it, she certainly remembered ¡°temporarily¡± putting that rectangle ck thing in the pocket of her apron as she was wiping the table on which it hadid.

    Nheless, the tall waiting maid¡ª Dolores didn¡¯t have a good idea either, no matter how much Fay beseeched her.

    ¡°Even if you ask me¡­ Your only choice is to return it before it gets out of hand.¡±

    Dolores had almond eyes, which were rtively rare for someone in the Carpa Kingdom, and these eyes were coloured with bewilderment and agitation while she answered with a faltering tone.

    She made a sound argument without doubt.

    During cleaning, Fay had taken a belonging of her Master to her room by mistake.

    For a normal Master, that act would obviously be ¡°theft¡± and reason for strict punishment. Just as Dolores had said, the longer she postponed to return it, the more of a problem it would be.

    However, Fay remained teary and shook her head to that sound argument.

    ¡°Can¡¯t do. Right now, Zenjirou-sama is taking dinner together with her Highness in their room. I can¡¯t afford to disturb them now¡­¡±

    Since Zenjirou always took his lunch in the same room in which he received lessons from Lady Octavia, it had been a while since he shared lunch with Aura.

    He rarely ever issued any orders, but he had especially informed them ¡°not toe into the room unless absolutely necessary¡±, so it was a precious period for him.

    If she were to go to apologize now, she might actually anger her Master instead. To begin with, she couldn¡¯t decide whether ¡°returning her Master¡¯s belonging that she had taken with her by mistake¡± was an urgent business or not.

    ¡°Oh, I see. So that¡¯s going on. Well, then you can¡¯t do anything, I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Aw, what should I do if Zenjirou-sama notices that it¡¯s gone during the break¡­¡±

    By this world¡¯s standards, Zenjirou was abnormally generous. Going by that, he wouldn¡¯t punish her without hearing her exnation first, but one often tended to imagine things worse than they actually were at such times.

    Fay vividly pictured herself getting punished for theft¡ª having the tendon of her dominant hand cut¡ª and getting thrown out of the inner pce.

    ¡°Hiii¡­!¡±

    The other roommate called out to Fay, who was struck by her own vivid fantasy, consoling.

    ¡°Hey, Fay-chan, why don¡¯t you ask Ines-sama for advice then?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Ines-sama?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, right. That sounds good.¡±

    Fay looked up and Dolores looked down to the owner of that somewhat slow-paced voice.

    Just like their actions implied, the height of the third girl, Rethe, ranged between Fay¡¯s and Dolores¡¯.

    Compared to the short Fay or the tall Dolores, Rethe¡¯s height didn¡¯t stand out, but instead her chest stood out.

    She had huge breasts. In cup-size, she might be even one size bigger than Queen Aura.

    Fay was at a loss for words to the suggestion of the girl with these huge breasts and drooping eyes.

    ¡°Uh, th- that¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, doing as Rethe suggested is your safest choice.¡±

    Dolores on the other hand agreed with the big-breasted girl¡ª with Rethe even while she made a grim face.

    They finally found a solution, but Fay¡¯s expression didn¡¯t brighten up.

    ¡°Yes, but, if I do that, Ines-sama will¡­!¡±

    ¡°Well, you will get a lecture for sure.¡±

    ¡°Good luck, Fay-chan.¡±

    Fay trembled her short body, whereat Dolores shrugged the shoulders of her tall body and cold-heartedly pointed out the truth, whereas Rethe clenched her fist in front of her huge breasts and gave her encouraging words.

    ¡°Doloreees, Retheee¡­¡±

    Both Dolores and Rethe averted her eyes from the pleading look of her co-worker.

    It definitely was the best choice, albeit a slightly cruel one.

    In charge of the cleaning department, Ines was a strict superior faithful to her job, but she deeply cared for her subordinators as well.

    If Fay confessed and apologize quickly, Ines would definitely stand up for her, even when Zenjirou should use Fay of ¡°theft¡±.

    However, Fay definitely needed to be prepared for a long sermon before that.

    ¡°Auh¡­¡±

    She must have realized that, too.

    ¡°¡­Okay. I¡¯ll go over to Ines-sama for a bit¡­¡±

    Making a brave, but tragic resolve, Fay wiped the tears that were about to spill out from her big, ck eyes and trotted over to the door.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Dolores and Rethe looked at each other wordlessly as they watched that small back leaving.

    If some strangermitted a mistake it was ¡°somebody else¡¯s problem¡±, but a friend they shared a room with and worked with, wasn¡¯t ¡°somebody else¡±.

    ¡°Fiine. We¡¯ll go with you, so buck up a bit!¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, Fay-chan, cover for me as well when I ever make a mistake.¡±

    Dolores and Rethe went after Fay, who was advancing by herself in a her tragic resolve, with quick steps.

    * * *

    As it turned out, their spection about Ines¡¯ reaction was spot on, right down to thest detail.

    After the sermon that roughlysted for an hour, they were dismissed by Ines as she promised to put in a good word for Fay to Zenjirou and the three troublemakers returned to their own room while a relief ate its way through their tired expressions.

    ¡°Fuhiii¡­! That was so scary~!¡±

    Fay had been lectured by Ines for nearly an hour, so she now leaked a long sigh of relief and dived into her bed.

    ¡°Well, you had a close shave. Now all you have to do is to return it to Zenjirou-sama once the break is over and apologize.

    Ines-sama said she would smooth things over for you, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. All¡¯s well, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡±

    Sitting on a simple wooden chair the wrong way round, Dolores held the back of the chair between her long legs and was rocking back and forth.

    That feast was only possible because she had long arms and legs. If Fay were to sit on the chair like that, her legs definitely wouldn¡¯t reach the floor.

    Well, even when Dolores¡¯ legs reached the floor, it didn¡¯t change the fact that sitting like that was bad manners.

    Fray replied with a stifled voice as she had her face still plunged into her pillow, which was filled with wheat hulks.

    ¡°Yeah. It was scary, but I¡¯m d¡­! Now I can sleep in peace.¡±

    ¡°Heaven forbid, this girl¡­¡±

    As Fray was already getting ready to take a midday nap on the bed, Dolores raised a slightly weary voice.

    ¡°Oh, but maybe I should take a nap, too. I¡¯m somewhat exhausted today.¡±

    But then she said that as she suddenly thought of it and threw a nce at her own bed.

    The long break issued during this period wasn¡¯t just for show. During the day it was so hot that they sweated from every pore on their body, even if they just sat still in their room like this.

    Taking a nap like Fray was the best method to preserve their physical strength.

    ¡°Rethe, what about you? Will you take a nap, too?¡±

    Dolores turned her heard towards her other roommate. At that very moment.

    An unfamiliar sound suddenly resounded loudly in the room.

    ¡°Hey, Rethe!? Wh- What¡¯re you doing!?¡±

    Dolores shouted angrily and red-faced.

    ¡°Fueh? What was that sound?¡±

    Fay woke up from the unknown and strange noise and only lifted her face from the bed.

    ¡°Eh? Huh?¡±

    Both of them looked at Rethe, who tilted her head puzzled as she held the copsible portable game console opened in her hands.

    ¡°H- He- Hey, Rethe! What¡¯re you doing there!¡±

    ¡°Retheee! I just got that long lecture over with, so don¡¯t cause more problems¡­!¡±

    The screams of Dolores and Fay resounded in the small shared room of the three waiting maids.

    ¡°Ah, hahaha¡­¡±

    On the other hand, the person in question, Rethe,ughed kind of easygoing, as she didn¡¯t realize the severeness of her action.

    The ck game console in Rethe¡¯s hands disyed a colourful image on the two-part disy and yed a tuneful music unknown to the different world.

    ¡°Somehow, it seems to have started working when I opened it¡­ Ehe~¡±

    ¡°W- Wh- What now!¡±

    ¡°Hiii, we¡¯re done for! There¡¯ll be no mercy this time!¡±

    Dolores and Fay were greatly perplexed, but Rethe actually hadn¡¯t done something so dramatic.

    She had merely opened the copsible game console.

    A game console of that type automatically went into a ¡°sleep mode¡± when you copsed it during the game.

    Most likely, its owner, Zenjirou, hadn¡¯t bothered to turn it off and merely put it into that sleep mode.

    As Dolores and Fay didn¡¯t know that, it only appeared like Rethe had started up the tool wilfully.

    Giving her two panicking roommates a sidelong nce, Rethe, the cause for their panic, noticed that a paper had been plucked inside the game console and tilted her head.

    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s this? Dragonskin parchment?¡±

    It was a copy paper that had been folded four times.

    ¡°Hey, Rethe. Don¡¯t carelessly touch it any more¡­!¡±

    ¡°I know nothing! I¡¯m no longer responsible! I¡¯m shifting the me to Rethe! I¡¯m just in the wrong ce at the wrong time! Just a henchman!¡±

    Rethe seemed topletely ignore the ruckus from Dolores and Fay, spreading the folded paper and looking at it.

    Even if she made a nk facial expression, Rethe was still a waiting maid of the inner pce, so she had no trouble with reading and writing.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t Her Highness¡¯ handwriting. Could it be from Zenjirou-sama? Let¡¯s see¡­ Instructions for use¡­ Gamey?¡±

    ¡°Eh, what?¡±

    ¡°Gamey? What does that mean?¡±

    As their curiosity temporarily prevailed over their dismay, Fay and Dolores peeked onto the paper in Rethe¡¯s hand from at an angle behind her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t quite get it, but it says how to use this? No, how to y it, I think.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oho.¡±

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama wrote this? So he already learned ournguage.¡±

    To begin with, they had a x¡± personality,belled as the ¡°three troublemakers¡± by their superior.

    Shortly after, the three waiting maids were reading the ¡°gamey¡± for the portable game console in silence.

    * * *

    One hourter.

    ¡°Fay-chan, on the right. There¡¯s a red one on the right, delete it!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t do it, Fay. You won¡¯t get a chain that way. Put that red one on the top at the side!¡±

    ¡°Aw, shut up! I¡¯m ying right now, so stop butting in!¡±

    The three maids were totally hooked on the game console.

    The three of them sat next to each other on the simple wooden bed while Dolores and Rethe noisily called upon Fay, who sat in the middle with the game console, from the left and right.

    Currently they were ying a game of the so-called ¡°drop down¡± style.

    It was a rtively simple puzzle game, where the yer had to navigate blocks, jewels or slime-like creatures that were falling downwards from the top of the long, vertical screen, into a specified order to erase them.

    One of the reasons Fay and the others got ¡°hooked¡±, too, was that the game console contained this ¡°drop down¡± game.

    If it had been a RPG (Role-ying game) or SLG (Simtion game), where they couldn¡¯t read the disyed words, their game adventure would have ended with just enjoying some pretty pictures and strange music.

    Either way, this was an incredible synergy of coincidences.

    If Fay hadn¡¯t taken the game console with her by mistake.

    If Rethe hadn¡¯t been so curious to open the game console.

    If Zenjirou hadn¡¯t put in the ¡°manual¡± he had been asked to write in the localnguage a few days ago by Aura.

    The current situation wouldn¡¯t have urred when one of these ¡°ifs¡± had not been applicable.

    ¡°Yay~ Killed the skeleton!¡±

    ¡°Kyaah, you¡¯re good, Fay-chan.¡±

    ¡°Oh please, Fay. You only defeated it now? I already beat it twice. Fufu.¡±

    ¡°Ah, what¡¯re you boasting for, Dolores!? Fine, just watch. I¡¯ll surpass you in no time!¡±

    The three waiting maids, who had gotten their hands on the game console and instruction manual in a series of coincidences,pletely immersed themselves in the unknown pleasure of games, true to their nickname ¡°the three troublemakers¡±.

    The midday break of the following day.

    Just like yesterday, the three troublemakers had gotten their hands on the ck game console while they rxed in their room.

    One difference to yesterday, though, was that there was a tag saying ¡°free to borrow¡± stuck on top of that portable game console.

    Furthermore, a reading table for the Arabic numerals and the names of the three troublemakers in the Latin alphabet were written on the copy paper with the instruction manual.

    Lastly, the high score listed the name ¡°Zenjirou¡±, as he apparently yed it himselfst night. It was an obvious ¡°challenge¡± towards the troublemaker group.

    ¡°Fufufu, how amusing. Very well, I will ept the challenge from Zenjirou-sama!¡±

    Fay spun her arm around andughed belligerent.

    ¡°Hey¡­ Aren¡¯t you being a bit disrespectful towards Zenjirou-sama by saying that? Well, I agree, though, since it seems interesting.¡±

    Even while Dolores retorted to Fay with an astonished tone, her face showed the same kind of smile like Fay¡¯s.

    ¡°Ufufu, it¡¯s going to be fun. Let¡¯s me in, too.¡±

    And then, Rethe pped her hands together excitedly and threw out her huge chest while keeping a easygoing smile on her face.

    Thus, three novice gamers emerged in the different world.

    * * *

    A few dayster.

    The game tournament of the three troublemakers had continued during each break without fail.

    In the morning, they did their jobs and shortly before the break, they took the game console with the ¡°free to borrow¡± tag and gathered in their room.

    During the break then, they went crazy on the game and after the break, they returned the game console to the living room.

    A certain day after numerous such cycles.

    ¡°Yay! I did it! I finally did it!¡±

    Usually, Dolores was the calmest amongst the three, but she now lifted up her tightly clenched fist numerous times and shouted triumphant.

    ¡°Aww! Dolores beat me to it!¡±

    ¡°Wah, congrats. You¡¯re great, Dolores-chan.¡±

    Fay pped her arms and legs on the bed in frustration, whereas Rethe congratted Dolores on her sess with an apuse.

    Dolores showy pointed the game console, where she had just set a new high score, at her different reacting roommates, puffed up a bit with pride.

    As tall as Dolores was, Fay and Rethe had no way to see the screen when she held it up like that, but she seemed so excited that she forgot such a simple fact.

    ¡°Fufu, look. I¡¯ve done it. I finally did it!¡±

    Dolores¡¯ name twinkled brilliant in the high score ranking.

    The name ¡°Zenjirou¡±, which they hadn¡¯t been able to overtake so far, had dropped below it.

    It could be considered rather ¡°quick¡± that she overtook the score of the owner in a few days, but to Dolores it felt like an ¡°at longst¡±.

    ¡°Hand it over, Dolores! I¡¯m next!¡±

    Fay seized Dolores, who still held up the game console proudly, at the waist and shook her violently while puffing up her small cheeks.

    ¡°I get it, I get it, so get off me, Fay. Just do your best if you think you can overtake me, fufu. I¡¯ll take on anyone, anytime.¡±

    ¡°Uwah, the giant¡¯s bing arrogant¡­ Damn it, I¡¯ll have thestugh over you!¡±

    Fay red at Dolores, who sat on the edge of the bed and crossed her legs affected, with half-closed eyes and challenged the game belligerent while exposing her healthy, pure-white teeth.

    ¡°Ugg! This.can¡¯t.be!¡±

    ¡°Oh well, too bad, Fay-chan.¡±

    ¡°Well, as expected, I guess. That¡¯s just the difference between you and me.¡±

    In the end however, Dolores was the only one, who managed to overtake Zenjirou¡¯s score on that day.

    * * *

    The following day.

    Fay had been fired up since morning.

    ¡°Hmp! I¡¯ll definitely show you what I¡¯m made of!¡±

    She moved around restlessly like a waltzing mouse and emitted a fighting spirit that gave you the illusion that her short, ck hair bristled up, squaring her small shoulders to the limit.

    ¡°Fay. It¡¯s all fine that you¡¯re motivated, but ites to nothing when it obstructs your work. If you skimp on it, you¡¯ll spend your break time training instead.¡±

    The head of the cleaning department, Ines, warned her subordinator for her abnormal high spirit with a sigh.

    ¡°Yes, I understand!¡±

    But even these threatening words couldn¡¯t affect the motivated, short girl

    ¡°Good grief, this girl¡­¡±

    Ines stopped her hands from working and made an exaggerated sigh.

    Of course, Ines, too, had noticed that the ¡°three troublemakers¡± had taken Zenjirou¡¯s game from the living room with them and be absorbed in it on a daily basis.

    Since Zenjirou had personally given his consent for borrowing it, Ines had no intention to criticize them, but she would show no mercy if that ¡°game¡± were to interfere with their duties.

    Still, for now it seemed that the enthusiasm for that ¡°game¡± had a positive influence on them.

    If they could finish their work faster, their break time would get ordingly longer. It was a trivial merit as this worldcked an urate measuring of time.

    As there were no clocks in this world, one usually wouldn¡¯t even notice when the break time was extended by five or ten minutes, but for Fay and the others it was different, since they were currently hooked on the game.

    Five or ten minutes were enough to y one more round of the drop down game.

    ¡°Okay, done wiping the couch! Next is the table!¡±

    Fay¡¯s motivation was the same as the one from a grad schooler, who was told ¡°You can y games until dinner once you¡¯ve finished your homework¡± by their mother.

    It was in Zenjirou¡¯s interest as well when they got hooked on this so much.

    Fay washed the dirty dust cloth in the water bucket and searched for the so beloved ¡°portable game console¡± that should be on the table before wiping it.

    Ever since Fay had taken it with her by mistake, Zenjirou had always ced it visible on this table.

    And just as she had hoped, the ck consoley on top of the thick table today as well.

    But it was a bit different today.

    Next to the usual ck game console was a small case she had never seen before.

    ¡°Mhh? What¡¯s this?¡±

    Different from cloth or dragonskin, the small case was smooth and shiny.

    This small case with colourful polka dots on a white background, undoubtedly belonged to Zenjirou.

    It goes without saying that such an object, made out of unknown material, was one of the things that Zenjirou had brought with him.

    The case was so small that it perfectly fit into Fay¡¯s small hands and when she picked it up, it made ttering sounds.

    Judging by the sensation of it, she spected that the case was filled with a lot of small, hard objects like dried beans.

    Needless to say, she simply would have put it back into ce with care as it was the private property of Zenjirou, ced there by pure chance.

    The problem was that the case had the same yellow tag as the game console.

    ¡°Prize for setting a new high score¡±

    That was written on the tag with a neat, yet somewhat awkward handwriting.

    * * *

    ¡°So, you brought this along, too.¡±

    ¡°Yep. Here, you set the new high score. I officially handed it over now.¡±

    ¡°Mm, good job. You have my thanks.¡±

    ¡°Uwah¡­ Again so arrogant, you giant¡­¡±

    Midday break of the same day.

    Fay had brought over the mysterious ¡°prize¡± from the living room along with the game console and obediently handed over that prize to the rightful winner, Dolores, even while she wore a sour look that disyed her displeasure on her whole face.

    ¡°Oho, I wonder what is it? Hey, Dolores-chan, open it!¡±

    ¡°I get it, so back off, Rethe. C¡¯mon, get away. I¡¯ll open it now.¡±

    Dolores sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to open the unknown case in a cautious manner while Rethe and Fay watched her.

    However, it was unclear to someone from the different world how to open thepletely sealed cased.

    ¡°Ehm, huh? How do I open this?¡±

    ¡°What? You can¡¯t open it? Show it to me.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t open, Dolores-chan? Should I go fetch a knife?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ No, it¡¯s okay. It seems to open on this end.¡±

    The cased opened by vertically detaching a part on one end from Dolores careful handling. She then slowly poured the contents onto a handkerchief.

    Red, blue, yellow, green. ¡°Smarties¡± in all kind of colours rolled over the white handkerchief.

    ¡°Okay, what¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Food, I think? It smells kind of sweet.¡±

    ¡°Hard and sweet food¡­ Candies?¡±

    The three waiting maids put their heads together and spected.

    The Carpa Kingdom produced brown sugar inrge quantities, so candies were a rtivelymon semiluxury food.

    From what they knew, the smarties looked like candies to them.

    Dolores kept an eye on the smarties on top of the white handkerchief and mused for a while.

    The ¡°prize¡± was given to her by her Master. There was no way that eating them would harm her. However, she certainly was a bit hesitant to put somethingpletely unknown into her mouth unwarily.

    ¡°Well, it might be my prize, but it wouldn¡¯t be very mature to hog it all to myself. Here.¡±

    Dolores handed Fay and Rethe each three smarties under such a pretext.

    ¡°Fufufu, how rare for you to be so considerate, Dolores.¡±

    ¡°Yay, thanks, Dolores-chan!¡±

    The simple-minded Fay and the innocent Rethe epted Dolores¡¯ ¡°good-will¡± without any doubt.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s eat the first one together on the count of three. 1¡­ 2¡­ 3!¡±

    ¡°Nom!¡±

    ¡°Mm¡±

    (Okay, seems safe)

    Dolores confirmed with a side-nce to Fay and Rethe as they threw the smarties into their mouths that they weren¡¯t screwing up their faces pained, then quickly ate her own smartie.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Mm, it¡¯s sweet.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s candy after all.¡±

    As they were under the prejudice that it was ¡°candy¡±, the three of them were fiddling with the smarties in their mouths without scrunching them. But even with candies, some people sucked them until the very end, whereas others quickly scrunched them.

    Dolores and Rethe belonged to the former while Fay was a ssic example for thetter.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Mm! Mh!?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Fay?¡±

    ¡°Fay-chan?¡±

    Fay had big eyes to begin with, but she suddenly widened them even more, looking like they would pop out of her head. Dolores and Rethe called out to her while still sucking on their smarties.

    ¡°¡­These aren¡¯t candies! It breaks so easily and inside is apletely different sweet! It¡¯s so sweet¡­ Yeah, so good!¡±

    Finishing the smartie off before the others, Fay pped her small hands and described that unknown vour with words.

    ¡°Oh, not? Let¡¯s see¡­ Mm?¡±

    ¡°¡­You¡¯re right. This is really good.¡±

    After Fay, Dolores and Rethe scrunched the smarties in their mouths, too.

    As the outside was a kind of sugar-coated sweet, the girls were already familiar with that taste, but the filling of chocte was an unknown vour in the Carpa Kingdom.

    ¡°It¡­ tastes a bit bitter. But it gives it an highlight all the more.¡±

    Fay and Rethe tilted their heads to Dolores¡¯ impressed evaluation.

    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s sweet!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sweet. You sure your tongue is alright?¡±

    ¡°Aw, geez. It was foolish of me to try to discuss fine vours with you.¡±

    Their opinions shed, but all of them seemed to agree that the unknown sweet had a captivating vour.

    Fay in particr sparkled her big, ck eyes after she ate up her three pieces in no time, and directed a poor coaxing voice at her tall roommate.

    ¡°Hey, Dolores? I would like to ask you something~¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not giving you any more.¡±

    Dolores discerned the intention of her short roommate right away, quickly wrapped up the handkerchief with the smarties and hid it behind her back.

    ¡°Dolorees~ Don¡¯t be a meanie, okay?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Pretty.please.with.sugar.on.top.¡±

    ¡°No means no.¡±

    ¡°¡­Argh, what a pain! Then I¡¯ll take them by force!¡±

    ¡°Laughable! You think I would flinch from someone like you!¡±

    Fay lost her temper as her begging didn¡¯t work at all and she attacked with her agile and cat-like body, but Dolores countered by giving her a front kick while remaining seated on the bed.

    ¡°UGH!?¡±

    Receiving a good kick to the chin, Fay tumbled to the floor.

    Her reflexes and agility weren¡¯t to be scoffed at, but her shorter reach simply made it impossible.

    As they were wearing miniskirts, the scuffle between them slipped their clothes out of position, not fit to show it to any man.

    But it was nothing but a trifle to them right now.

    Fay straightened herself on the floor and raised a hissing voice like a cat while she was still on all fours. Dolores, too, got into a battle position by dangling her legs from the bed, ready tounch a kick at any time.

    ¡°HISS!¡±

    ¡°Have a go at it!¡±

    When Fay intimidated her from the floor, Dolores got ready to counter attack from the bed.

    But luckily enough, the situation didn¡¯t escte any further.

    ¡°Fay-chan, Dolores-chan, Ines-sama will hear you if you make too much ruckus here.¡±

    Rethe¡¯s words extinguished their fighting spirit as if pouring cold water over them.

    Her tone was as easygoing as ever and her words sharply pointed out reality.

    The present time was the midday break. Fay and her roommates weren¡¯t the only ones taking a rest in their room. The head of the cleaning department, Ines, should be napping in her own room, too.

    Contrary to her usual nit-picking, Ines was surprisingly soft on her subordinators, but even that tolerance had its limit.

    Although they were in their own room, their superior would give them a good old sermon with furious eyes if they were to make a ruckus so loud that it could be heard in the hallway.

    Fay wanted to avoid that, so she reluctantly pulled back.

    ¡°O- Okay, fine. Since you stubbornly insist on it, I¡¯ll be so kind as to let you have it out of consideration for Rethe.¡±

    ¡°Let me have it? Don¡¯t make meugh! This is mine! It belongs to me! Why are you ying the indulgent one!¡±

    Dolores expressed her justified anger from atop the bed, but Fay was lost in greed, so it didn¡¯t get through to her at all.

    ¡°Hmpf, forget it. I don¡¯t need any pity from someone as stingy as you. I¡¯ll soon set a new high score, too, and get something from Zenjirou-sama!¡±

    Zenjirou hadn¡¯t said anything about ¡°giving a prize every time a new high score was set¡±, but Fay interpreted in her own favour and her target apparently shifted from the ¡°smarties in Dolores¡¯ hands¡± to the ¡°stock of smarties near Zenjirou¡±.

    Snatching away the game console right away, Fay sat down on her bed and turned the console on with a serious expression she never showed during work.

    ¡°Fufu, just you wait! I¡®m changing my ways from today on!¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. So far, you always deleted the dropping ones right away.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Fay! You¡¯re obviously aiming for chains!! Didn¡¯t you say that you wouldn¡¯t resort to such cheap tricks!?¡±

    ¡°Pft, who said something so stupid? I¡¯ll do everything in my might to win! That¡¯s my justice!¡±

    ¡°It was you! These words came from none other than you! Your attitudepletely changes when things are at stake!¡±

    ¡°Fay-chan, Dolores-chan, you¡¯re being too loud. Ine-sama will get angry!¡±

    Sometimes morous, sometimes harmonic. Amidst this noisy, but heart-warming tumult, Fay dered the end of her first game round.

    ¡°Great, a new personal record! That¡¯s a good omen.¡±

    It must have been a satisfying result in itself, as Fay showed a bright smile.

    However, her smile froze as soon as the high score ranking was shown.

    ¡°¡­What¡¯s this?¡±

    Yesterday, Dolores had definitely beaten Zenjirou¡¯s record, albeit by just a bit.

    Yet, the name at the top read ¡°Zenjirou¡± again now.

    Needless to say, she wasn¡¯t seeing an illusion. As proof of it, Dolores¡¯ record from yesterday was listed on the second row, with another ¡°Zenjirou¡± below it.

    In other words, Zenjirou had yed itst night and taken over Dolores¡¯ high score. Moreover,

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s more than twice the score from Dolores¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, let me get this right. That means we won¡¯t get a ¡®prize¡¯ unless we overtake this new high score from Zenjirou-sama?¡±

    ¡°Seems that way¡­yeah.¡±

    As the waiting maidsprehended the circumstances, a silence spread between them for a while. However, it didn¡¯tst for long.

    ¡°So mean of Zenjirou-sama! How could he! So childish!¡±

    Fay screamed in critique.

    ¡°Well, if you think about it, it IS his game. He must have held back on the previous score.¡±

    Dolores made a wise sigh.

    ¡°Phew, now that¡®s a mind-blowing score¡­¡±

    And Rethe gave an easy-going opinion with an ellipsis ending.

    The room soon was overflowing with mour that even drove out the intense heat of this season.

 Chapter Volume 2 Prologue

    A few days after Zenjirou¡¯s debut into high society was decided. Octavia returned to the M¨¢rguez Residence in the capital quite near the pce after a long time.

    The building was built abundantly with white marble and a lot of arches, where even an amateur could tell on a nce that it was built in the same age as the pce.

    The main residence was located extremely close to the pce and existed just as long as the pce. Of course it didn¡¯t belong to any average noble.

    It could be said that this very residence directly represented the standing of the M¨¢rguez Family within the kingdom.

    ¡°Please halt the carriage here. I wish to walk for a bit.¡±

    Octavia had passed through the residence¡¯s gate in a two-horse carriage and called out to the attendants on the driver seats from within.

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    The middle-aged driver, also her guard, replied curt with that, then quietly stopped the carriage in an ustomed manner.

    ¡°Please watch your steps, Octavia-sama.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. You be careful as well.¡±

    Octavia got off the carriage by taking the hand of a young waiting maid.

    Currently it was the hottest season of the year. Octavia unconsciously squinnied from the assaulting sunlight, but the temperature inside the gate was five degree lower than outside.

    Artificial ponds were situated all over the garden and the trees were nted so that a breeze would blow over the water surface towards the residence.

    A resident of modern Japan aside, the heat wasn¡¯t unbearable for Octavia, who had been born and raised in the Carpa Kingdom.

    She took it for granted that she was surrounded on all sides by guards with short spears and apanied by a waiting maid while she quietly walked the short path from the gate to the main entrance of the residence.

    The path was made out of red-brownish paving stone as to reflect the light, nked on both sides by trees from the southern countries with brightly coloured blossoms. The big blossoms were yellow and red, giving the impressions of a hibiscus.

    The Carpa Kingdom had a manifold of brilliant colours, not just limited to the nature.

    The clothes Octavia was wearing right now, were of a brilliant and bright blue, too. This traditional wardrobe of the Carpa Kingdom had a quiet design, barely revealing any bodylines, but in modern Japan this colour hue would surely be considered as ¡°magnificent¡±. At least no married Japanese woman in her twenties like Octavia would wear these on a daily basis.

    Before long, Octavia reached the front entrance of the residence and therge double door swung open inwards.

    An elegant man in his forties stood beyond the door, which was pushed open by two muscr men.

    ¡°Wee home, Octavia-sama.¡±

    The aged butler greeted her with a calm voice as always, whereat the young wife of the Count replied with a smile.

    ¡°Good to be home, Serlio. My usual room?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and the master is awaiting you on the second floor.¡±

    The faithful butler respectfully nodded to the mistress¡¯ words.

    ¡°I see. Then please tell him that I wille as soon as I have changed.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Octavia smiled softly as to thank him for his respectful bow, then disappeared into the residence with light steps and her waiting maid in tow.

    Approximately half an hourter. Octavia met face-to-face with her husband, Count Manuel M¨¢rguez, in a room of the residence for the first time in half a month.

    ¡°Wee back, Octavia.¡±

    Count M¨¢rguez stood up from the couch, which showed traces of aging, spread his arms and greeted his second wife that was more than thirty years younger than him.

    He was a middle-aged noble with a stout physique.

    Probably in his fifties?

    As he wasn¡¯t one of the tallest, there would barely be any difference between him and Zenjirou, who was 1,72m tall, if they were to standd next to each other. His stomach had plumped out appropriate for his age, but since his short-cropped head hair and well-kept beard sustained a glossy ck colour, he looked a few years younger than his actual age.

    ¡°It has been a while, Dear.¡±

    Octavia showed her husband an austere smile and then epted his embrace.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    After the corpulent husband and the slender wife embraced each other for a while, they sat down opposite of each other on the seats in the corner of the room.

    The suning in from the windows was as hot as ever, but water ditches were built under the windows, so the breezeing into the room was surprisingly refreshing.

    Count M¨¢rguez flushed the cold tea served by a waiting maid down his throat, then began to talk with a slightly serious face.

    ¡°You¡¯ve done well, Octavia. Sorry to have pushed that sudden request onto you.¡±

    ¡°No, it is quite the honour for me to serve such a respectable person as a teacher.¡±

    ¡°Right. You¡¯ve always been like that.¡±

    Count M¨¢rguez couldn¡¯t keep himself from making a wry smile to his wife¡¯s response, which had not a single shred of ill intent as always.

    Generally, women in higher society were quite proficient at obscuring their expressions and words, even in this world, but his young second wife was one of the few exceptions.

    The Count would surely get a serious distrust of women if the entire conduct she was showing were to be an act.

    ¡°So, what¡¯s Zenjirou-sama like? Let me hear your honest opinion.¡±

    Lady Octavia frankly replied to the question of her husband with an eloquent tone.

    ¡°Yes, he seems to be a very likeable person with a strong desire to learn. I believe that he can be trusted.¡±

    ¡°Mhm, I see.¡±

    Count M¨¢rguez kept nodding while listening to his wife speaking about the Prince Consort for a while.

    Apart from evaluating them ¡°too kindly¡°, her judgement of people could be trusted most of the time. When he exaggerated the bad points tenfold and deducted the good points to a tenth based on what she told him, then he could imagine the person¡¯s character more or less.

    So Count M¨¢rguez made his own interpretation of Octavia¡¯s words, which portrayed the man called Zenjirou as ¡°naively lenient to those under him¡± and ¡°wise enough to understand his own position¡± with ¡°no manly virtues such as ambition or aspiration¡±.

    To be honest, not really the kind of convenient person for gaining a foothold into the royal family.

    It was difficult to involve a conservative and rational person with no ambition, in a conspiracy.

    That said, Zenjirou was actually the only male in the royal family. An existence far too precious to ignore just because it was difficult to meddle with him.

    After musing for some time, Count M¨¢rguez frankly asked for the opinion of his wife.

    ¡°Octavia, what kind of woman would you choose if you had to assign a concubine to Zenjirou-sama?¡±

    Octavia, too, was a born high-ss noble. However, the young Lady widened her eyes once in surprised as she wasn¡¯t used to this kind of topic, then showed a bit of a wry smile and shook her head.

    ¡°I¡­ would not assign anyone for a little while longer. While I only saw Her Highness and Zenjirou-sama together a handful of times, it does seem that the two of them are rather intimate from what I have heard from the waiting maids working in the inner pce or from Zenjirou-sama¡¯s daily conduct itself.

    Even if a concubine were toe up to the inner pce now, she most likely would feel out of ce.¡±

    Needless to say, an ordinary concubine had an overwhelming lower standing than the legal wife. And even much less in the current pairing of ¡°Queen¡±, ¡°Prince Consort¡± and ¡°Concubine¡± instead of ¡°King¡±, ¡°Queen Consort¡± and ¡°Concubine¡±.

    The difference in social standings between the legal wife and a concubine was alreadyrge to begin with, but a ¡°Concubine¡± would never be a match for a ¡°Queen¡±.

    Normally, a concubine was often of poorer birth and lower standing than the legal wife, so the affection of the King was the only point in which she could win against the legal wife.

    And in regards to that affection, an assigned concubine would only suffer a cruel fate if the rtionship between Zenjirou and Queen Aura was really that insurmountable.

    ¡°Hmm, is that so¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Count M¨¢rguez tilted his head in contemtion as he still couldn¡¯t assent with the frank words of his wife.

    He was by no means stupid or obstinate, but as a man from the Carpa Kingdom, he only had a very stereotypical view on things.

    Inpliance with his values, he found it somewhat hard to imagine that there was a man, who could love that ¡°Queen Aura¡± to such an extent.

    The ideal woman for a man of the Carpa Kingdom was more or less a woman like his second wife sitting in front of him.

    Namely a woman, who silently followed her man respectfully without speaking out of line. That was the criterion for a ¡°good woman¡±.

    ¡°Wisdom¡± was desired, but not ¡°intelligence¡±. ¡°Hardworking¡± was considered as a virtue, but ¡°assertiveness¡± as an immorality.

    In Count M¨¢rguez¡¯s eyes, the human called Aura Carpa was a ¡°virago too good to be a woman¡± as a Ruler, but not very attractive as a single woman. Of course that impression acknowledged that Aura was a beauty with a morous body.

    Count M¨¢rguez asked again as if to make sure.

    ¡°Are you saying that Zenjirou-sama loves Her Highness Aura with all of his heart?¡±

    Lady Octavia¡¯s opinion didn¡¯t waver on her husband¡¯s reconfirmation and she replied distinctly.

    ¡°Yes, without a doubt.

    Seeing as hecks ambition and the desire for power, I would go as far as to say that the only reason that he abandoned his own world toe here, was his love for Her Highness.¡±

    To be precise, Zenjirou had two reasons to ept the marriage with Aura. One was his love for her, the other was his urge to quit thepany that kind of exploited him. But only Zenjirou himself knew this.

    Anyway, Count M¨¢rguez could only ept that he miscalcted a bit when Queen Aura¡¯s type was to Zenjirou¡¯s liking.

    The Carpa Kingdom was arge country that ruled over the western part of the southern continent, but Aura was the only one of her kind. Or at least, the Count didn¡¯t know of anyone else. Thus it was impossible for him to curry favour with Zenjirou through the most typical approach of sending a woman of his liking to the inner pce.

    He became absorbed in thought with a serious face for a while.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ In that case, it would be better to take the approach of supporting their rtionship for now.¡±

    The conclusion he finally reached was a rather defensive one.

    The M¨¢rguez Family was already a distinguished family with plenty of influence in the current politics. It was a kind of instinct for high ss nobles to make intrigues as to erge their sphere of influence or family prosperity, but his position wasn¡¯t one, where he needed to make any risky bets.

    If the rtionship between the Queen and her husband was that good, it might be better for him to constantly gain the Queen¡¯s favour by supporting their intimate rtionship for the time being.

    As a matter of fact, the birth of a child between the Queen and her husband took priority over spreading the royal blood by the means of concubines for the husband, from the viewpoint of an important figure supporting the kingdom.

    ¡°Yes, I believe that to be the best choice as well.¡±

    Octavia smiled happily from the bottom of her heart and nodded to the deduction of her husband.

    She knew, too, that marriages of nobles/royalty prioritized the preservation of the bloodline or bonds between the families over the love of the involved parties.

    But on an emotional level, she wanted a loving couple to build a happy family without any obstacles, even in light of such a reality.

    Count M¨¢rguez could perfectly read his beloved wife¡¯s thought from her bright smile, showed a bit of a wry smile and muttered.

    ¡°Still, I just don¡¯t get Zenjirou-sama¡¯s taste in women¡­¡±

    That utterance could have been lese majesty if Aura had heard it, but that statement came from the bottom of his heart.

    * * *

    Around the same time, Queen Aura visited the training ground of the royal army outside the capital in a long time.

    The vegetation in the western part of the southern continent was famous for their abnormal fast growth and weeds overran the fields right after they had been tended to, but thousands of armed people and hundreds of raptorial dragons were running around on this training ground on a daily basis.

    Nothing of the sorts of clearing of weeds was done here, yet a scenery of in, red earth stretched as far as you could see.

    Today, the ¡°Dragonback Archery Knights¡±, said to be the elite unit amongst the army, were upying the training ground.

    A kind of giant reptile called the raptorial dragon was the most popr animal to ride here in on the southern continent.

    Compared to the ¡°horses¡± used on the northern continent, the raptorial dragon was slower, but it was twice as big and its power and stamina were beyondpare. Their power was even three to fivefold when you made aparison between them and therge horses that were used in the armies of the various countries on the northern continent.

    As poikilotherms, they had the fatal weakness of bing less active as soon as the temperature dropped below a certain point, but that weakness rarely was an issue here in on the southern continent.

    Apanied by General Puyol Guill¨¦n, Aura let her eyes wander over the knight mustered before her.

    She currently wore a military uniform. Her attire was primarily red, the colour representing the royal family, and had golden patterns embroidered on the sleeves and cor, but it principally promoted mobility and resilience.

    But even this ¡°unfashionable¡± uniform gave off a whole different impression when Aura wore it.

    Aura¡¯s voluminous breasts and ample bottom couldn¡¯t even be hidden by the thick fabric of the uniform. Not to mention her waist, which was tightened by a thick belt, a necessity for the sword at her side.

    Her rtively straitened waist ended up emphasizing the volume of her breasts and bottom.

    If Zenjirou were here, he would surely be happy about this ¡°feast for the eyes¡±.

    Needless to say, the knights of the kingdom would never leer at the Queen during a manoeuvre.

    A hushed silence ovey the training ground.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    That very silence told of the high discipline of the knights. It would be one thing for just humans, but every knight before her was mounted on a raptorial dragon.

    It was no simple matter to assemble over a hundred raptorial dragon in one ce, keep them from neighing excitedly and have not a single one break the formation.

    As she was satisfied with the result, Aura nodded once, then softly cracked the short whip in her right hand into her left hand and gave an order.

    ¡°Begin.¡±

    ¡°Aye-aye. Begin the manoeuvre!¡±

    General Puyol, standing next to Aura, forwarded her order to the knights with a loud voice matching his imposing stature.

    ¡°HOO!¡±

    The knights raised a voice like a bellow, then spurred their raptorial dragons with their whips, ready to show of the results of their daily training.

    Then they vigorously disyed the fruit of their practice in front of the Queen and General.

    Some charged ahead with a long spear in hand. Some skilfully rushed through an obstacle road with mud and fallen over trees on their raptorial dragons. Some shot arrows at distant targets while still mounted on the raptorial dragon, showing off the prominent dragonback archery.

    Aura was not the slightest bit concerned about her face or hair getting dirty from stirred dust and called out to General Puyol beside her.

    ¡°Quite formidable. I am impressed you trained them so well.¡±

    The ambitious general lowered his head faithfully on the Queen¡¯s appraisal.

    ¡°Yes, thank you. At present, we finally surpassed the 80% mark of the required force. This year, or noter than next year, we will have the proposed count assembled.¡±

    ¡°Replenished up to 80% in five years, huh. Well done, General.¡±

    Aura openly praised General Puyol on a rare asion. In fact, his achievements were quite admirable.

    It had been the knights, the main pir of the army, who took the most damage in the previous great war.

    An immense amount of money and time was needed to replenish the knight troops. They had to raise and train the raptorial dragons while at the same time, their riders had to be brought up, too.

    It was indeed a meritorious deed to replenish the original count within five to six years. That said, the replenished troops only consisted of young knights without any real battle experiences. Even if the troops wereplete again, they didn¡¯t evene near the fighting capacity prior to the war.

    General Puyol kept his grim expression even while the Queen praised him, and replied with a shake of the head.

    ¡°Please direct these words at the breeders of the dragon stables. This achievement is mainly thanks to them.¡±

    Puyol Guill¨¦n, known for his ambition in the royal court, was a goodmander, who cared for his men on the battlefield or training ground and correctly reported their achievements.

    ¡°You are right. I will do so.¡±

    Aura honestly consented to General Puyol¡¯s sound argument.

    The raptorial dragons were raised as riding animals and their greatest inferiority to horses were their lifespan.

    A horse had an average lifespan of twenty to thirty years. Inparison, the lifespan of a raptorial dragon was around fifty years. A long life prolonged the deployment in battle, but at the same time, it also prolonged the time a raptorial dragon needed to be ready for battle after birth.

    While a horse could technically be used as a warhorse four or five years after its birth, the raptorial dragon needed at least ten years.

    In other words, the raptorial dragons assigned to the army in thest five years had already been around the age of five to ten at the end of the war. Or to put it yet another way, they all had ¡°hatched from their eggs during the war¡±.

    It had been an extraordinary effort on the breeders¡¯ part as they managed to raise and feed the dragons, which ate even more than horses, during the ongoing war, where the budget had been cut drastically, without any casualties.

    Anyway, the replenishment of the knight troops, the backbone of the army, was very good news to Aura.

    ¡°Come to think of it, it seems like we will be able to increase the military budget for a bit next year. I will let you know the exact numberter, so make ns how to use it.¡±

    The extra budget for the military was not by chance. Zenjirou had disclosed the tax evasion from the feudal lords with his recalction.

    As a result of a full discussion with the feudal lords over the past few days, Aura managed to increase the national budgeting to a reasonable extent and decreed that the majority of it was to be contributed to the military budget.

    Originally, the feudal lords had set aside that money for their own military. It would simply result in a decline of national military strength if that kind of money were to be used for something else than the military budget.

    Right now they maintained a reconciliatory stance with the bordering countries, but the situation wasn¡¯t so peaceful that they could turn towards disarmament.

    General Puyol smiled for the first time today from hearing Aura¡¯s words.

    ¡°Oho, is that so? Very well. As soon as the numbers are clear, I shall get in contact with the important figures and outline the military requests.¡±

    ¡°Yes, do that.¡±

    Aura kept her gaze on the manoeuvre of the knights and replied with a nod.

    ¡°Understood. Luckily, most of the prominent military brass will be in the capital for the banquet in two days. I presume it will not take all too much time for me to hand in a report.¡±

    ¡°?¡±

    General Puyol¡¯s utterance made Aura twitch her right hand holding the whip.

    The banquet in two days was obviously referring to Zenjirou¡¯s debut into higher society.

    She had anticipated it of course, but this ambitious general actively sought a connection to the Prince Consort.

    (Oh, I wonder how this will turn out)

    Her husband had not the slightest bit of ambition while the general was practically a mass of it. On a nce they appeared ipatible like water and oil, but the interesting part about humans was that people like them could be best friends forever.

    (I would not want this ambitious man to give him a bad influence, but as his ¡°wife¡± it is not my ce to interfere with his male friendships)

    Aura could only stand on the sidelines, but the fact that she wasn¡¯t all too worried about it, showed how she had started to trust Zenjirou.

    ¡°My little sister is looking forward to it as well. I would very much wee it if Zenjirou-sama could spare some time for her.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then I will tell my husband ordingly.¡±

    General Puyol disyed his ambition as open as ever, whereat Aura responded with these word in a calm tone without any agitation.

 Chapter Volume 2 1

    A night banquet arranged by the royal pce.

    This event was a periodical social gathering for the upper ss, but at the same time the perfect chance to show off the authority of royalty to the kingdom.

    On a bit tactless note, it took a tremendous amount of money as it was held at night.

    Countless chandeliers in all sizes hung down from the high ceiling to illuminate therge banquet hall, but the candles burning on them were not cheap, even by the noble standards.

    ¡°Beeswax¡± was fabricated in the Carpa Kingdom, too, but they hadn¡¯t seeded in cultivating honeybees like on Earth, so the harvest of the raw materials wasmissioned and importing ¡°nt wax¡± from countries in the east added transport costs, thus it became fairly expensive at any rate.

    Additionally, the chandeliers itself were super luxury items in this world, too. After all, ss manufacture didn¡¯t exist here. The chandeliers were all made out of silver and natural crystals. Even one of the smaller kind was worth a little fortune.

    Moreover, the red carpet covering the entire room was an unique item, woven by experts over three generations. And the tall tables, well-stocked with food and drinks, were extravagance pieces, each carved from a single trunk by a skilled carpenter.

    All in all, it was a dazzling space that fascinated even lower ss nobles, let alone themon people.

    In fact, the nobles of the lower ss would be excited for the whole next day, just from having ¡°participated in the party in therge banquet hall of the pcest night¡±.

    Zenjirou was setting foot into this kind of banquet hall for the first time ever and he desperately dealt with the greeting flood from the nobles with an affected smile under the light of the chandeliers.

    ¡°Let me introduce him to you, Zenjirou. This man is Baron Pantoja. In the previous war, he served as amander for the knights and now he is providing his services as a feudal lord.¡±

    Aura had her left arm linked with Zenjirou¡¯s right arm and introduced the middle-aged man standing in front of them with these words.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Zenjirou-sama. Her Highness was too good to me in granting me the title of a Baron. My name is Thomas Pantoja.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you for your greeting, Baron.¡±

    ¡°My pleasure.¡±

    Zenjirou made a generous nod, whereat the middle-aged man, introduced as Baron Pantoja, raised his lowered head.

    Aura, wearing an orange dress without sleeves, corrected the big flower arrangement on the left side of her chest while Baron Pantoja retreated from in front of the Queen and her husband.

    Zenjirou watched the Baron leave and made a soft sigh, careful that no one nearby noticed it.

    (This is tiring¡­)

    Keeping a correct posture, not forgetting to smile and never adopting the wrong tone. That was all he had to do, yet he felt an unbelievable fatigue because of the unfamiliar clothes and the pressuring nces on him from all sides.

    Fortunately, the nobles of this country weren¡¯t so shameless as to greet him continuously without letting him catch his breath, so he somehow managed for now, but if he were to pace himself wrongly, he could end up making a fatal mistake.

    His current attire was the formal wardrobe for royalty in the Carpa Kingdom. Wide trousers in white and a type of tunic that was ovepping at the front like Japanese clothes, decorated with a many cords. Over it, he wore a red vest without sleeves.

    Appropriate for the Carpa Kingdom, a southern country, the formal wardrobe wasn¡¯t all too stifling hot, but the decorative bronze sword at his waist was heavy and the perfumed oil steadying his hair was not only smelly, but itchy, too.

    He had already experienced the sword and oil once during the marriage ceremony, but getting used to them wasn¡¯t all that easy. To Zenjirou, they only were a bother that added to his agony over time.

    During the regardful breathing pause, he memorized the appearance and demeanour of the just introduced person in the corner of his brain.

    (Man of medium build in his forties with ck hair. Name is Baron Pantoja. An obviously ttering look. If anything, he gave a bad impression¡­ Aw, I wished they would at least give me a business card)

    His expression was maintaining a smile while he eximed that in his thoughts.

    Zenjirou knew the ropes of remembering the faces and names of his business partners from his sryman days, but it had never been more than five people at once.

    Inparison, today a dozen of nobles would get introduced to him. Moreover, there was no custom of ¡°exchanging business cards¡± like in modern Japan.

    A small constion was that the nobles of the Carpa Kingdom often wore characteristic clothes unlike a sryman in a suit, thus it was a bit easier to keep them apart.

    The fashion culture in the Carpa Kingdom could generally be divided into two groups. The ¡°traditional native dress¡± that was passed down in the Carpa Kingdom from time immemorial and something like ¡°western clothes¡± that had swept over from the northern continent in the recent years.

    Over time, these two kind of clothing influenced each other and mixed together, so even when it was called a ¡°formal wardrobe¡±, there was a great variety in dresses at rtively ck gatherings like this banquet.

    Likewise appropriate for a southern country, the colours were often colourful ones close to the primary colours for both men and women.

    Due to that, extremely rude keywords like ¡°fat guy wearing a flower-pattern shirt¡± or ¡°olddy looking like a purple fir¡± were floating around in Zenjirou¡¯s head.

    Judging by Aura¡¯s behaviour as she stood next to him, Zenjirou seemed to act without any problems so far. To begin with, a banquet like this required no specific techniques like a dance party, nor did he have to follow a great number of rules like during a public event.

    In that way, it was not a bad choice for Mr. superficial-royalty to make his debut into higher society here. In exchange, he was closer to the average noble and besieged with interactions, but that was still a permissible demerit.

    While such thoughts crossed his minds, Aura quietly left his side, took a silver goblet from the table and returned to him.

    ¡°Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks, Aura.¡±

    Zenjirou took the offered goblet from Aura and realized that he had been rather thirsty.

    The goblet was filled with a local wine. It had a low alcohol content, a harsh taste and above all, it was lukewarm, which wasn¡¯t really to Zenjirou¡¯s liking, but it was enough to refresh his throat that was dry from the sweltering atmosphere.

    ¡°Allow me to take care of it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thanks.¡±

    Aura signalized a nearby waiting maid, who was working as a waitress, with her eyes when she saw how Zenjirou had emptied his goblet. The waitress swiftly approached them, took the empty goblet from Zenjirou and left.

    As Aura had waited for this moment, where a bit of his nervousness was washed away by the refreshment, she called out to the nobles, who stood at a fair distance.

    It was a pair of a man and a woman.

    Zenjirou was already familiar with the woman. There was only one woman besides his wife Aura and the waiting maids of the inner pce, whom he got acquainted with, since he had shut himself into the inner pce the whole time aftering into this world.

    It was Octavia, the wife of Count M¨¢rguez. She wore a modest traditional attire and stood out all the more, since a lot of the present women wore a dress-like wardrobe from the northern continent like Aura, seemingly in fashion right now.

    In that case, the plump middle-aged man next to her must be Count Manuel M¨¢rguez.

    A prominent nobleman of the Carpa Kingdom and the father of Raffaello M¨¢rguez, a former candidate for bing Aura¡¯s husband.

    Zenjirou observed him, as careful as possible that his gaze wasn¡¯t noticed.

    (Uwah, I¡¯ve heard about it before, but their age difference really is like father and daughter. It¡¯s a dream of every man to have a beautiful second wife)

    Aura suddenly squeezed his right arm stronger when his thoughts wandered into an insolent territory.

    Zenjirou flinched for a second, thinking she had read his mind, but recalled right away that it was the sign they had agreed upon beforehand. Namely a signal for ¡°important people, whom she wanted him to remember the face, name and first impression of as best as possible¡±.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to see you again, Your Highness Aura. And I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much for the invitation today, Your Highnesses.¡±

    The couple with the age gap politely lowered their heads, whereat Aura responded with her usual appealing smile and introduced the two of them to Zenjirou.

    ¡°Thanks foring, Count M¨¢rguez, Lady Octavia. Let me acquaint you with them, Zenjirou. This is Count Manual M¨¢rguez, an important figure in our kingdom. I do not have to introduce Lady Octavia to you, I take it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard only good things about you, Count M¨¢rguez. Your wife has taken good care of me.¡±

    Zenjirou answered by deliberately throwing out his chest, to which the M¨¢rguez couple lowered their heads once more.

    ¡°It ddens me that my wife is serving you so well.¡±

    ¡°You honour me, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    At some point, the nearby other nobles had be interested, too, and were looking their way.

    The closest one was still ten metre away, so their conversation surely couldn¡¯t be overheard, but Zenjirou needed to be prepared to be the center of attention already.

    Aura had no intention to embarrass her husband in the public eye as he wasn¡¯t used to such asions, so she took the lead while still linking arms with him.

    ¡°Do not be so modest, Count. Your wife is as intelligent and beautiful as they say. I would very much like for you two to continue to aid our country with your skills.¡±

    ¡°We are hardly worth of your generous words. Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°dly, Your Highness. As long as my meagre abilities can be of use, I will devote myself to it in the future as well.¡±

    Zenjirou generally relinquished the conversation to Aura and only gave agreeable responses like ¡°Oho, I see.¡± or ¡°Yes, indeed.¡± when the attention shifted towards him.

    Rather avoid leaving a bad impression instead of making a good one was the name of the game. Or even better, he shouldn¡¯t leave an impression at all, considering his difficult standing as the Prince Consort.

    Thus Zenjirou¡¯s debut into higher society made a good start.

    However, there was no guarantee that everything would end well even if the banquet got off a good start.

    To begin with, the main goal today was to show off how well Aura and Zenjirou got along to the public.

    For that reason, she couldn¡¯t keep covering for him with a hold on his arm forever.

    If she were to continue it, it would start to substantiate the rumour that ¡°Aura was restricting the freedom of her husband¡±.

    Therefore they had agreed upon beforehand that they would go their separate ways for a while after they were done with the greetings.

    ¡°¡­Fuh¡±

    Separated from Aura, Zenjirou slowly walked around the hall. Many people gave him curious gazes, but no one dared to approach the royal man.

    It was basically considered ¡°impolite¡± for someone of lower standing to call out to someone of higher standing in this country. And although a bit of discourtesy was put up with at rtively ck gatherings like a banquet, only a few people were allowed to call out to a direct royalty like Zenjirou.

    Feudal lords, cab ministers or generals were about the only ones that could approach him without impinging the etiquette. But as these people shouldered heavy responsibilities, they excelled atmon sense and reading the atmosphere, so almost no one risked to approach a royalty ¡°on their own ord¡±.

    For better or worse, it would take a general or feudal lord either bold and despising manners/customs or ambitious to no end and greedily aiming even higher despite his already high standing, to venture it.

    (Oh well, guess I¡¯ll have to talk to someone)

    As a sryman for a smallerpany, Zenjirou had originally not only done office work, but had also negotiated with otherpanies at home and abroad. He had no problem with initiating contact with someone unknown.

    In search for a person he could safely call out to as a royalty, he let his gaze slowly wander around the hall. At that time.

    ¡°Excuse me, Zenjirou-sama. May I have a bit of your time?¡±

    A well-built man in the prime of his life came up to him from the side and called out to him like that while kneeling down on one knee.

    (Eh¡­ EHH? No way, someone approached me? Who¡¯s this guy!?)

    Zenjirou encountered a situation said to be ¡°technically impossible¡± in his manner lessons and fell into an inward panic. Even so, he reflexively tensed up his expression and slowly turned to the kneeing man.

    ¡°Yes¡­?¡±

    Upon turning around, there kneeled a man down on one knee on top of the carpet.

    The man had a well-trained build so huge that Zenjirou could tell on a nce that he was ¡°tall¡± even when he was kneeling. His body was d in boorish, ck clothes decorated with golden threads, which was kind of inappropriate for a banquet. Zenjirou somehow recalled from the depth of his memories that it was the official uniform for a high ranking officer in the military of the Carpa Kingdom.

    Judging by the numerous tassels on his left arm, this giant seemed to upy a top-ranking position in the current military.

    He truly looked like a ¡°knight¡± as he kneeled on the red carpet under the light of the chandeliers.

    And not the kind of ¡°knight¡± that appeared in a fairytale as a fledgling prince, but the kind of ¡°knight¡± that fiercely protected his country and found his raison d¡¯¨ºtre in braveries on the battlefield while knowing a bare minimum of manners.

    Zenjirou frantically put the information in his head into order while he looked down on the kneeling ¡°knight¡°.

    The only ones, who were barely allowed to call out to him, were important feudal lords, pce authorities like cab ministers or military officers with the rank of a general.

    And even if someone were to approach him, it would be a bold man that more or less paid no attention to etiquette.

    Or otherwise an overly ambitious man, who assertively sought a connection to the Prince Consort even on the risk of falling into disgrace with him.

    Military officer, bold, ambitious. These three keywords engaged with each other and formted the name of a man, whom Aura had warned him about in advance, inside Zenjirou¡¯s head.

    ¡°Oh, Sir Puyol. What is it?¡±

    Zenjirou cleared his throat once, then spoke out the name of the man.

    General Puyol Guill¨¦n.

    He had heard this name numerous times before.

    There was no way, he wouldn¡¯t be aware of the man, who had been the other candidate for bing Aura¡¯s husband apart from Sir Raffaello M¨¢rguez. Aura, too, had often described him as a ¡°dangerous character¡±.

    ¡°Yes, I have this small gift that I would very much like to offer to you, Zenjirou-sama. For that very reason, I have called out to you, fully aware it was against etiquette. It is but a humble present, but it would be a great honour for me if you were to ept it.¡±

    General Puyol Guill¨¦n, themander of the dragonback archery knights of the Carpa Kingdom, looked straight up to the Prince Consort standing in front of him as he said that while still kneeling on top of the red carpet.

    A prominent general of the country kneeled before the Prince Consort and directly talked to him.

    Of course this scene would attract the attention of the others. At some point, the nobles had stopped their chit-chatting and sent curious gazes their way. Zenjirou noticed that and inwardly broke out in a cold sweat, thinking ¡°how troublesome¡±, then cleared his throat once with an affected cough.

    (Aw, damn it. I didn¡¯t expect this. I¡¯ve to improvise everything now? Give me a break¡­)

    Zenjirou was the type of man, who dealt with negotiations or presentations during his sryman days by preparing as best as he could and writing up a sheet with anticipated questions in advance.

    People like that were often somewhat weak to ¡°unexpected¡± situations like this one, where they had to improvise everything.

    Even so, he franticallypared his superficial knowledge with his current situation in his head and tried to derive the best course of action.

    (Ehm, this a banquet, so it¡®s somewhatx, I think? And I¡¯m royalty while this guy¡¯s a general¡­)

    He unconsciously called General Puyol ¡°this guy¡± in his thoughts.

    Although Zenjirou knew that it wasn¡¯t admirable to think bad of someone he met for the first time, he wasn¡¯t so honourable that he could be neutral to the former husband candidate of his beloved wife.

    Hiding his feelings behind a mask, Zenjirou broke the ice with harmless words.

    ¡°General, there¡¯s no need to kneel in such a ce.¡±

    ¡°Aye-aye. Excuse me.¡±

    General Puyol smoothly stood up on Zenjirou¡¯s words.

    Zenjirou quelled his urge to back off as the general stood dignified in front of him.

    He was huge. One head taller than Zenjirou, who was 1,72m tall, so his height must actually surpass 1,80m. It was most likely somewhere around 1,85m or at worse, something close to 2m.

    His body weight seemed to surpass a hundred kilogram, too. And of course not from fat, but muscles. The giant body was perfectly trained for battle.

    ¡°Then go ahead. You said something about a present?¡±

    Zenjirou looked the one-head taller General Puyol straight into the eyes and organized the information inside his head.

    He was taught in advance about the possibility that someonees up with a present to him in this ce. It seemed that this world shared the moral concept of gaining someone¡¯s favour through presents.

    (As I recall, I can¡¯t turn it down without a good reason. The prickly question is how to ept it)

    If he were to look too overjoyed, the other party would expect apensation concurrent with that ¡°joy¡± and if he were to look disappointed, he would embarrass the other party in public.

    Zenjirou again felt the enormous pressure of his current standing, where his mere words or expression for epting something could affect the fate of those around him.

    General Puyol was ignorant to Zenjirou¡¯s inner turmoil and lowered his head once more with ¡°Yes¡±, then signalized a young knight, apparently his subordinate, behind him with his eyes.

    At the receiving end of that look, the young knight came forward to the side of the general with small steps, carrying a long and narrow object wrapped in a white cloth in both hands, and handed over that wrapped item to General Puyol obediently.

    Seeing that, Zenjirou forgot his affected and inexpressive look and widened his eyes a bit.

    (Eh!? He brought the actual item with him, not just a certificate?)

    Zenjirou had been told that the usual procedure of giving something to someone in such a ce was to first hand over a certificate here and then send the actual item to the residence at ater date. After all, it concerned presents from nobility or royalty. It was not all that unusual to give away a well-bred ¡°raptorial dragon¡± or a summer residence.

    Of course it wasn¡¯t out of question to directly hand over items of hand-held size like jewellery or treasured swords, but it was rarely practiced.

    Because it saved one the embarrassment if the brought item was rejected on the spot.

    ¡°Please take a look, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    While Zenjirou¡¯s eyes were still widened in surprise, General Puyol unwrapped the cloth in an ustomed manner and revealed the object under it.

    (What¡¯s that? A¡­ bow?)

    Zenjirou was puzzled upon seeing the object. It was a rustic stick that was curved borately. To him, it only looked like a practical ¡°bow¡± without any ornaments.

    As to confirm his impression, General Puyol said proudly.

    ¡°This is a ¡®dragon bow¡¯, made by a prominent craftsman in our country.¡±

    The nearby nobles, who had been watching the scene so far, let out surprised ¡°Ohh¡± sounds upon these words.

    Apparently this so-called ¡°dragon bow¡± was something so impressive that even the nobles raised admired voices.

    Zenjirou took another close look at the ¡°dragon bow¡± in Puyol¡¯s hand, but it still didn¡¯t look like anything wonderous.

    As it was to be brought into the pce, the holes at each end for the bowstring were filled with something like ochroid y onto which the royal emblem was engraved and its entirety was only half asrge as a Japanese bow for archery. In the eyes of an amateur, it appeared extremely undependable.

    General Puyo must have realized that Zenjirou understood nothing about the ¡°dragon bow¡± from his weak reaction.

    He eloquently started to exin with a low voice.

    ¡°The ¡®dragon bow¡¯ is put together from a thin wood nk as the basis, the unbent tendon and scraped rib from a ¡®raptorial dragon¡¯.

    As you can see, it has only half the size of the longbow for the archery troops, but it exceeds the longbow in both power and range.

    It also is easier to wield due to its smaller size and in the hands of a skilled man, it bes a rather quick and precise weapon. It would be no exaggeration to say that it is the strongest weapon for a rider.¡±

    A bow made bybining not-run-of-the-mill materials. The kind that wasmonly known as aposite bow.

    Something simr had existed in the history of Earth, too, and had certainly proved itself in battle.

    ¡°However, only a small handful of knight can call a dragon bow their own. The reason is that only the flexible tendons and bones from still growing, young ¡®raptorial dragons¡¯ can be used for the bow, so the materials are extremely valuable. Likewise, it takes a lot of time and effort to manufacture a single one.¡±

    Generally, only young raptorial dragons at the age from five to seven were considered to supply the materials for the ¡°dragon bow¡±, because the bones of a full-grown raptorial dragon became hard and solid, losing their flexibility. The tendons, too, suffered the same harmful influence, albeit not as bad as the bones.

    Zenjirou was enlightened about the ¡°dragon bow¡± through General Puyol¡¯s exnation and his cheeks twitched.

    The ¡°dragon bow¡± had been unknown to him, but he had already received an exnation about how precious the ¡°raptorial dragon¡± was in this country.

    And also about that fact that breeders at the stables were still going to great lengths every day as to replenish the required count of raptorial dragons, which had greatly declined in the previous war, for the military.

    These precious ¡°raptorial dragons¡± were killed at a young age and salvaged for materials for weapons. Even if five ¡°dragon bows¡± could be gained from the death of a single, young ¡°raptorial dragon¡±, these five bows had to produce equal results as one mature ¡°raptorial dragon¡± or it wouldn¡¯t be worth it the costs.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t know the exact number of bows that could be made from a single dragon, but it couldn¡¯t be all that many, considering the nuance in General Puyol¡¯s words.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama?¡±

    General Puyol called his name wondering, as he noticed that he behaved strangely, whereat Zenjirou asked with a voice as t as possible.

    ¡°One question, General. Can anyone use this ¡®dragon bow¡¯ with ease?¡±

    General Puyol answered honestly without perceiving the intention of his question.

    ¡°No. As it has a considerable range and power for its small frame, it is not umon that even an average soldier has trouble drawing it satisfactory.¡±

    Zenjirou was about to sigh towards the expected answer, but withheld it.

    Its power was authentic, but it was hard to handle and materials for it were rather valuable, so it was a rare weapon. Zenjirou wouldn¡¯t expect that it was alright to have even one of them lying around unused in his room.

    However, it seemed to be have an appropriate ¡°status¡± for offering it to a royalty, judging by the reaction of the others. How could he turn it down while keeping amotion to a minimum?

    Zenjirou mustered all of his wits and answered while carefully wracking his brain.

    ¡°I really appreciate your thoughtfulness in offering me something so valuable, General. However, as an experienced general it should strike you that I¡¯m a powerless man, who wouldn¡¯t even add to the fighting strength on the battlefield.¡±

    He spread his arms left and right, then said that as to show off his body as proof.

    His body was d in the unceremonious native attire and an experienced soldier should at least be able to tell that he was no soldier-material from a nce at his small hands or neck that shoot out of the cuffs.

    ¡°Yes, but¡­¡±

    General Puyol tried to say something, but Zenjirou interrupted him as he continued.

    ¡°Thus it would be a waste for me to ept this bow.

    General Puyol, I presume you¡¯ve some knights under you, who have yet to obtain a ¡®dragon bow¡¯. So could you pass that ¡®dragon bow¡¯ to your knight, who is the most able with the bow and the most loyal to the royal family amongst them?

    That way, the bow will find a satisfying purpose for me.¡±

    For a while, a hushed silence hung over the hall.

    ¡°¡­..Very well. I promise you that the bow will definitely be granted to someone worth of your regard, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    After a long silence, General Puyol deeply bowed his head while still holding the ¡°dragon bow¡± with both hands.

    Queen Aura had watched the fuss from a distance and made a sigh of relief in response to the neat resolving of the situation.

    (Good. He somehow managed to turn it down)

    If he had epted the bow right there, it would have be extremely troublesome.

    It wouldn¡¯t have posed a problem when it were a prestigious weapon like a treasure sword or decorative spear, but if he had epted a practical weapon, it would imply that he was ready to use it, too.

    And then it would be extremely difficult to turn down an invitation from General Puyol for practice or a hunting outing next time.

    By dering that ¡°he had no intention of using the bow¡± himself, Zenjirou¡¯s reputation certainly had been lowered, but he hadn¡¯t rejected it curtly and rather spared the general from an embarrassment, too, as he ¡°lent the bow to a worthy knight after asserting the right of ownership¡±.

    Although it made him a slight disappointment as a man, the situation was resolved without embarrassing or offending anyone.

    In Aura¡¯s eyes, it was a nearly perfect result.

    In the worst case, she had been prepared to step in by herself and salvage the situation imperious. Doing so would have undoubtedly promoted the rumour that ¡°the Queen was henpecking her husband¡± instead.

    ¡°He handled that quite promising, Your Highness.¡±

    Standing next to her, Count M¨¢rguez called out to her smiling.

    ¡°Indeed. Forgive me, Count, we were in the middle of a conversation.¡±

    Aura corrected the flower decoration on the left side of her chest with her hand and faced Count M¨¢rguez, who wouldn¡¯t leave her side for a while now, again.

    The plump Count smiled happily and narrowed his eyes.

    ¡°No worries. You are newlywed, so it is only natural that your eyes unintentionally chase Zenjirou-sama. I am d to see that you are two are happy together.¡±

    He shook his head and said so a bit yful.

    ¡°Thank you for your kind words.¡±

    Aura showed a wry smile to the words of the Count, which sounded a bit sarcastic, and wrinkled her nose a bit.

    She returned her gaze to Zenjirou and General Puyol right away.

    General Puyol entrusted the ¡°dragon bow¡± to his subordinate and continued to speak with Zenjirou, not the least discouraged after this.

    They seemed to have a rtively harmless conversation from then on as Zenjirou, too, talked with a calm expression and without problems.

    Nheless, General Puyol wouldn¡¯t be called the ¡°Insatiable Wolf¡± if he could learn a lesson from one or two failures in his ambitions.

    Aura pricked up her ears to the General¡¯s words from afar.

    ¡°¡­Indeed, your role is to make sure to leave offspring behind, so there is no need to expose yourself to danger on the battlefield. Please leave that front to us.

    And while we are on the subject, in the event of conceiving a child with Her Highness Aura that inherits the royal blood, you would need a ¡®concubine¡¯ next to give birth to a heir for your very own name, in my humble opinion.¡±

    After the offensive with the present, General Puyolunched an arranged marriage offensive, whereat Aura, listening in on them from a distance, contorted her face for a moment.

    General Puyol couldn¡¯t even see Aura and openly sharpened his offensive towards Zenjirou with a dignified bearing.

    ¡°To change the topic a bit, the Guill¨¦n Family has inherited the noble blood of the royal family, albeit to a small extent, as you may know.

    Today, I have brought my little sister with me and on this asion, I would very much like to introduce her to you, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    The topic hadn¡¯t changed at all.

    His promotion was so straight to the point that one might say that even the selling of a prostitute had more introductory remarks.

    Aura watched the scene from a distance and sensed an impending crisis. She should definitely interfere in this.

    This wasn¡¯t good. Her husband was far more familiar with the social intercourse than she had anticipated, but she didn¡¯t think that Zenjirou, who only just made his debut into higher society, could go against General Puyol¡¯s direct attack that bordered on a breach of rules.

    (I have to do something¡­!)

    The determined Aura was about to step forward when Count M¨¢rguez, who had watched the whole scene with a smile, called out to her with a calm voice from the side.

    ¡°Oh,e to think of it, I have yet to exchange greetings with General Puyol today. Your Highness, I know we are in the middle of a conversation, but may I excuse myself?¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Aura stopped from the count¡¯s affected words and turned around.

    She didn¡¯t know what the count was after, but his offer was a real lifesaver for her.

    If she were to say ¡°Then let me apany you¡± now, she could interfere with the marriage offensive from the insatiable wolf without being interpreted as ¡°forcing her way into the conversation of her husband¡±.

    (What are you scheming, Count? Are you trying to gain favour with me?)

    As she couldn¡¯t discern the count¡¯s intention, she was a bit worried, but even more so, she couldn¡¯t stand to sit back and watch the conversation between Zenjirou and General Puyol any longer.

    She had no time to waste.

    ¡°In that case, let me apany you.¡±

    Making a prompt decision, Aura epted the helping hand from Count M¨¢rguez without argument.

    The higher society parties often held in the pce were called a ¡°battlefield without swords¡±, but that was a slightly exaggerated expression.

    For most nobles, these parties were nothing but a rxing ce, where they simply could meet up with other nobles and enjoy some gossip. Eating delicious food, drinking good wine and respectively rejoicing at the sight of dressed-updies or gentlemen.

    This graceful yground for the nobles was primarily a party and very few of all the nobles perceived it as a ¡°battlefield without swords¡±.

    However, this fact was hardly anyfort for Zenjirou.

    At present, General Puyol Guill¨¦n, who had boldly called out to him, and his little sister Fatima stood in front of him.

    And Count Manual M¨¢rgeuz and his wife Octavia had taken up position catty-corner from him and joined the conversation as they hade to greet General Puyol.

    Lastly, Queen Aura stood besides Zenjirou with her hand on his arm as she hade over under the pretext of apanying Count M¨¢rguez for the greeting.

    The people that had gathered around him were all of the rare kind that treated this social gathering as a ¡°battlefield without swords¡±.

    ¡°Well then, let me introduce her. This is my little sister Fatima.¡±

    ¡°My name is Fatima Guill¨¦n. It is a great honour to be granted an audience with you, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    On General Puyol¡¯s introduction, the young girl with her long, ck hair tied in a ponytail lowered her head in perfect line with etiquette.

    Like the majority of the people in the Carpa Kingdom, her skin colour had a brown tone and her somewhat almond-shaped eyes and hair shared the same jet ck colour.

    (Oh, what a beauty)

    Zenjirou thought so to himself while he ¡°looked up¡± to Fatima as she raised her head. Yes, he had to look up to her.

    From his position, Fatima¡¯s head was above his. Not by the result of her overbearingly standing on higher grounds, but simply from the fact that she was taller than Zenjirou.

    Well, her brother, General Puyol, had a height close to two metre, so it might be natural that his sister Fatima, born from the same parents, had a tall figure as well.

    Her height easily surpassed 1,80m with long legs thatprised nearly half of that height. The volume of her breasts and bottom was meagre, but her waist was even tighter. In Zenjirou¡¯s world, her figure and features would pass her as a fashion model.

    ¡°Oho, so you¡¯re his sister. You certainly resemble him.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am often told that.¡±

    Being told ¡°you resemble your brother¡± by Zenjirou made her nervousness go away and she smiled happily. If that expression of hers wasn¡¯t feigned, then ¡°resembling her brother¡± was a pleasant evaluation for her.

    (Does that mean these siblings get along well? Guess I¡¯ll ask Aurater on)

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, speaking of the youngdy of the Guill¨¦n Family, Lady Fatima is known throughout the country for her beauty and intelligence. Come to think of it, it feels like it has been a while since I met you face-to-face, Fatima-dono, even though I frequently attend social gatherings. You have be even more beautiful.¡±

    It was Count M¨¢rguez, who interjected like that after he had intruded upon Zenjirou and General Puyol earlier.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Count M¨¢rguez. The reason for that is that I learned good manners by serving at the residence of Marquis Pernia until recently.¡±

    He joined the conversation by the means of apliment, whereat the young Fatima reacted with a spirited smile head-on.

    As Fatima wanted to appeal to Zenjirou now, Count M¨¢rguez was nothing but a ¡°hindrance¡± to her, no matter how much he showered her with praise. Her originally almond-shaped eyes smoothly assumed a stern look.

    On the other hand, General Puyol, far older than his little sister, was well aware that it was foolish to make an enemy out of the cunning count here.

    ¡°Haha, Fatima, do not make a face like that. The Count is not the type of man, who would make a pass at you. After all, he already has the perfect wife at his side.¡±

    He didn¡¯t ignore the precipitous attitude of his sister and rather dared to make it the topic of a joke, tapping her delicate shoulder with his globr, huge hand.

    ¡°D- Dear Brother¡­!¡±

    Fatima attempted to fight back for a moment, but when he red at her at close range, she immediately unsaid her previous remark with a stiff expression.

    ¡°I- Indeed. Next to Octavia-sama, even I feel like losing confidence.¡±

    ¡°By no means¡­ I am not the youngest anymore. You are much prettier, Fatima-sama.¡±

    Fatima yed along with her brother¡¯s joke and said that while showing a forced smile, whereas Octavia blushed her cheeks a little bit.

    Octavia was twenty-four years old and married. Going by that, her reaction would normally earn her some criticism in form of ¡°Think of your age!¡±, but one reason for her poprity with the great majority of the opposite sex was that this gesture still looked bing even now. Likewise, it must be the reason why she earned the loathing from some few of the same sex.

    As one of these few, Fatima kept her impression of her, namely ¡°Geh, this granny is ying the good girl¡±, to herself

    ¡°You are too modest, Octavia-sama.¡±

    and only replied with that and a smile.

    Sarcasm didn¡¯t work on the beautiful woman with an eternal innocence. On the other hand, if Fatima were to make a harsher verbal attack, she would appear as the bad guy, so Octavia was an invincible existence in higher society. Even as the pr opposite of sweet temper, Fatima knew better to pick a fight with the invincibledy.

    General Puyol had smoothed over his sister¡¯s reckless attitude as a funny story and thus continued to promote her undaunted.

    ¡°Well, my sister certainlycks behind Octavia-sama, but she definitely shows some promise. Her singing and dancing is not all that bad and she has experience in serving, so she can at least fulfil the duties of a waiting maid.¡±

    His words were obviously directed at Zenjirou, but the one replying to them at once wasn¡¯t him, but the brave and reliable woman at his side, ever since she had regrouped with him earlier.

    ¡°Oho, it is a rare, but admirable urrence that someone from a prestigious family like the Guill¨¦n Family would serve under another noble to learn good manners. In the future, she mighte to serve as my chambermaid.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes, please regard her with favour then, Your Highness Aura.¡±

    As Aura intercepted his advance, the general faltered for a moment, then replied with these words.

    It wasn¡¯t all that profitable even when his sister served as Aura¡¯s chambermaid. Serving under Zenjirou¡¯s was worth it, since there was a high chance of developing an intimate rtionship.

    But ¡°serving under the Queen¡± had more prestige than ¡°serving under the Prince Consort¡±. Aura took the wind out of the general¡¯s sails by saying that.

    Zenjirou listened to the exchange between Aura and General Puyol from the sidelines and sighed inwardly for the nth times.

    (Seriously, just gimme a break here¡­)

    He could somehow catch his breath thanks to Auraing to his aid, but a cold sweat that wasn¡¯t due to the sultry night was spreading extensively under this formal dress.

    Although General Puyol didn¡¯t directly say ¡°take my sister for a concubine¡±, the obvious and non-stop promotion of his sister was terrific.

    Zenjirou might have let slip some kind of promise by now to bring this situation to an end if Aura hadn¡¯te to his help midway.

    ¡°Well, to change the topic a bit, what kind of woman is your type, Zenjirou-sama? Needless to say, Her Highness is your number one, but perhaps you have a number two or three?¡±

    Contrary to his words, the topic didn¡¯t change at all again. General Puyol attacked head-on. Only his approach had changed, but the topic itself hadn¡¯t changed a bit.

    He had quite the guts to ask about his preference in women when his wife Aura stood right next to him. Of course the royalty in this kingdom wasn¡¯t monogamous, so themon sense from modern Japan didn¡¯t apply here, but even so, jealousy amongst a couple must bemon in this world, too?

    Zenjirou barely resisted the urge to check for Aura¡¯s reaction. If he were to look at her now, it would spread rumours that ¡°Zenjirou-sama was consulting Her Highness Aura about how to answer¡±.

    Still, what was he supposed to answer here then? On an emotional level, he would say ¡°Nope, there aren¡¯t any. I¡¯m finally getting along with my beautiful wife, so don¡¯t wreck it now.¡±, but he knew that this wasn¡¯t a ce, where he could answer honestly like that.

    ¡°Mm, I never spared it a thought so far.¡±

    Zenjirou couldn¡¯t afford to remain silent for too long, so he muttered that for now to smooth it over. It was then Count M¨¢rguez, who opened his mouth to his careless slip of tongue even before General Puyol.

    ¡°Hahaha. My wife had already told me about the close rtionship between Her Highness and Zenjirou-sama, but it seems that the rumours were an understatement, rather than an exaggeration. Zenjirou-sama is quite delighted with Her Highness and does not even pay attention to any other woman.¡±

    Saved by the bell. Zenjirou felt so relieved that he was about to inadvertently sink down on the spot, and responded to Count M¨¢rguez kind of reflexive.

    ¡°Stop bantering with me, Count. Well, I can¡¯t deny it, though.¡±

    Count M¨¢rguez widened his eyes affected upon Zenjirou¡¯s words andughed.

    ¡°Dear me! I guess the Carpa bloodline is secured then. Now that is wonderful.¡±

    He burst out into an affectedughter.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    With such an obvious attitude, even General Puyol noticed that Count M¨¢rguez was supporting Zenjirou with all his might.

    Aura stood reserved next to her husband and remained quiet for now, but she, too, would surely go on the counterattack for her husband if the advances on him got too fierce. In other words, General Puyol was on his own here.

    He didn¡¯t know where and when it went wrong, but the results he could expect now wouldn¡¯t correspond with the risk they shouldered, even if he were to push on. In the worst case, he might end up earning the wrath of Aura or Count M¨¢rguez if he were to continue his advances recklessly here.

    When word got around that ¡°General Puyol was at loggerheads with Queen Aura and Count M¨¢rguez¡±, it was likely that foreign countries would start plotting something.

    His ambition was to attain power in the ¡°flourishing¡± Carpa Kingdom, not to rule a ¡°ruined¡± Carpa Kingdom.

    It was time to pull back now. A quick judgement, namely knowing when to stop, saved one¡¯s life. That held true for both the battlefield and the royal court.

    ¡°Indeed, that is wonderful above all else. Her Highness found a greatpanion.¡±

    General Puyol pped his sister twice on the back, a sign for ¡°appeal time over¡±, and adopted the new topic from Count M¨¢rguez by agreeing to it.

    ¡°Yeah, he is the best husband I could ever ask for. I am blessed with capable retainers like you and found a wonderful husband in Zenjirou. I dare to say that I am the most fortunate ruler in the western region, no, on the whole southern continent.¡±

    Aura sensed from General Puyol¡¯s attitude that he wasying down the arms for now, andughed like that with a slightly mellow voice.

    ¡°Hahaha. The most fortunate on the continent, you say? It makes me a bit ufortable when you tter us this much.¡±

    ¡°No, Count. You better not get too conceited. I am afraid that the ¡®fortune¡¯ Her Highness speaks of is mainly referring to Zenjirou-sama. Our strength is insignificant to it.¡±

    ¡°I see! Our loyalty, too, might only pale into insignificance inparison with the perfect Prince Consort that Zenjirou-sama is.¡±

    Afterwards they fired bitter remarks at each other and spent a rtively peaceful time together without anyone going on the offence or defence.

    * * *

    ¡°It¡¯s over¡­!¡±

    Zenjirou returnedte at night from the banquet, uttered this words filled with amingling of emotions and flopped himself in the ck leather couch.

    The living room was illuminated by the LED floormps like always. Matching with his return, the waiting maids had prepared the ice fan and its breeze cooled down his hot body. He really felt ¡°at home¡± by sitting on the familiar couch.

    In other words, he had adapted himself so good in this one month here that he perceived the inner pce as his ¡°home¡±. His adaptive capacity was surprisingly good.

    ¡°Sorry to have put you through all that trouble, Zenjirou. But it was worth it.

    You presented yourself in public and surely dulled the rumours about discord between us or me taking away your freedom. Though, we will probably never be able toplete get rid of such rumours.¡±

    Responding like that, Aura, too, sat down on the couch somewhat exhausted while still wearing her orange dress.

    As a born royalty, she ought to be far more used to such asions than Zenjirou, but it naturally tired her as well.

    Unlike Zenjirou, who had his hands full with himself, Aura had been vignt from beginning to end as to support her husband in one situation after another. It was a though role that wouldn¡¯t evenpare to Zenjirou¡¯s.

    Aura, sitting on the couch, turned her head numerous times, so it dishevelled her red hair that shone glossy from the perfumed oil, and eased the stiffness in her neck.

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s good. Then I can leisurely shut myself in again for some time. At any rate¡­ my eyes still feel weird.¡±

    Along with a sigh of relief, Zenjirou revealed this and repeatedly batted his eyshes a few times while both his arms rested on the back of the couch. For a while now, his eyes had been aching and feeling bad.

    Most likely, his eyes had been hurt from the unfamiliar light of the chandeliers.

    No matter how much chandeliers they had, the light from it was nothing more than the me of candles. The brightness from the mes was limited and a little breeze easily rocked them already. Quite a shoring.

    Acking amount of light, numerous rocking light sources and furthermore, reflectors out of silver hanging down from the chandeliers to spread out the sparse light even a bit. Of course all this had a bad influence on the eyes.

    That said, only Zenjirou seemed to suffer from that. Aura rxed in front of him and it didn¡¯t look like she had any problems with her eyes. His difort must originate from his adaptation to the culture of modern Japan after all.

    ¡°Argh, my vision¡¯s still kind of blurry.¡±

    While grumbling like that, Zenjirou took off his shoes without standing up from the couch.

    Since the Carpa Kingdom had a climate of high temperatures and humidity that exceeded modern Japan, their culture allowed for being barefooted indoors, but banquets or dance parties were self-evidently a different matter.

    Taking off the indoor linen-shoes and long socks, he let his feet get some fresh air for the first time in a few hours and unconsciously made a sigh of relief.

    ¡°So refreshing¡­¡±

    Thinking back on it now, ever since his actual transfer to this world, he had never worn any other shoes besides his slippers until today, apart from the marriage ceremony. After such a long time, he realized the full-scale of his shut-in life.

    Although the climate was different, it astonished him that his legs were worn out just from walking around the pce for a few hours in linen-shoes, even though he had worn solid shoes and business socks for more than fifteen hours a day during his sryman days a mere month ago.

    (I guess I¡¯ve to reassess my lifestyle. I¡¯m no princess, so I don¡¯t want to get weak feet, which won¡¯t allow me to walk well, at my age)

    While such thoughts crossed his mind, the barefooted Zenjirou next cast off his vest and opened up his ovepping shirt.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    The cold breeze from the ice fan blew onto his liberated chest and he closed his eyes pleased.

    He had some experience in verbal disputes from negotiations during his sryman days, but his current fatigue didn¡¯t evene close to the one from back then. The strong pressure from upying a position of influence like ¡°royalty¡± couldn¡¯t bepared to that of a low sryman and must have weighted heavily on him.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll get in the bath soon anyway¡­¡±

    Making such an excuse to himself, he unravelled the sash-like strap around his waist and shed the ovepping shirt right here, too. Although he knew it was unbing, he couldn¡¯t resist the temptation to free his tired body from the clothes.

    ¡°Mm, let me getfortable as well.¡±

    Following her husband¡¯s example as he had slovenly undressed up to his pants, Aura, too, stood up from the couch, seized behind her head with both hands and undid the knot of her dress. The orange dress slipped down her skin with a small rustling from just that.

    As it was royal custom, she had previously been helped by waiting maids to change her clothes, but ever since she shared her bedroom with Zenjirou, she often refrained from having the waiting maids help her take off her clothes in the light of Zenjirou¡¯s dislike about others entering the room.

    The couple respectively got half-naked. Their rtionship wasn¡¯t so fresh that they would get embarrassed about it now, but it wasn¡¯t so dried up that they would ignore it either.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    Zenjirou had thrown himselfpletely exhausted on the couch earlier, but now he sat up abruptly and gave his half-naked wife a lecherous gaze.

    Aura showed a small smile of satisfaction as her self-respect was stimted by her husband¡¯s look, and confidently walked through the living room to the refrigerator in the corner, still half-naked.

    ¡°Zenjirou.¡±

    In a perfectly ustomed manner, she took two chilled towel from the refrigerator and threw one at Zenjirou.

    ¡°Mm, thanks.¡±

    Sweat and dirt aside, a steaming hot towel would have been better to wipe the perfumed oil in their hair or around their neck than a chilled towel, but they couldn¡¯t stand for wiping their current hot bodies with a steaming towel.

    Aura returned and stood beside the couch. While she wiped the sweat and perfumed oil on her body with the chilled towel, she called out to Zenjirou, who was likewise wiping his face with the chilled towel.

    ¡°Well then, I know you are tired, but let me ask you while your memories is still fresh. So, did anyone of the nobles you met at the banquet leave a particr impression on you?¡±

    Zenjirou removed the towel from his face and brooded for a while in response to the somewhat sudden question of his wife.

    ¡°Left an impression on me¡­ Hmm, I think there were some, but the Guill¨¦n siblings took the spotlight in the end. To be honest, I don¡¯t really remember anyone but them.¡±

    Aura must have anticipated that answer to some extent. She showed a smile and sat down next to Zenjirou.

    ¡°I figured as much. These siblings certainly are imposing. Then let me hear about the brother, General Puyol first. What was your first impression of that man?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­. Mhm, General Puyol, hmm¡­¡±

    As his wife looked at him from the side, Zenjirou averted his gaze with an awkward expression.

    He had excepted to be asked that question, but at the same time, he had feared to be asked that question.

    Nheless, it didn¡¯t appear like he could bluff it out, seeing how his wife kept her gaze fixated on him.

    After resolutely making a big sigh, he honestly confessed while still avoiding to meet her gaze.

    ¡°Ah¡­ Uhm¡­ Well, what can I say, I¡¯m a man, too, so in all honesty, I can¡¯t deny that I hold some prejudice against him and Raffaello M¨¢rguez. I haven¡¯t even met Raffaello M¨¢rgeuz yet, but I already don¡¯t have a favourable impression of him¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Aura unconsciously widened her eyes on the words of her husband that were a repentance in a way.

    ¡°I see, these two are a special case to you¡­ Fufu.¡±

    She stifled her emerging smile of happiness from his confession.

    Puyol Guill¨¦n and Raffaello M¨¢rguez were the names of the former candidates for Aura¡¯s husband.

    Aura felt her husband¡¯s jealousy in his words of ¡°holding a prejudice¡± against these two and realized that a not so tasteful ¡°emotion of delight¡± emerged from inside her chest.

    In the eyes of the wife, the jealousy of her husband towards ¡°men that had a rtion to her¡± was a sign of affection and to be honest, she was rather pleased about it.

    For a moment, Aura was driven by the urge to embrace her husband, but she remembered that he rather dislike the smell of the ¡°perfumed oil¡± and gave up at thest second.

    It was wiser to wait with their usual intimate physical contact until after the bath, as she didn¡¯t want to offend her husband by something so trivial.

    Aura kept an appropriate distance, smiled at Zenjirou sitting next to her and pressed for a continuation of the topic.

    ¡°It is alright. I am not so thoughtless as to blindly ept your opinion. So just speak your mind.¡±

    Apparently he really couldn¡¯t avoid it. Zenjirou resigned himself to it, turned to Aura sitting next to him and started to speak slightly beside the purpose.

    ¡°Aw, geez, fine. Then I¡¯ll be honest. Let¡¯s see, my first impression of General Puyol was that he¡¯s the ¡®type to only have either enemies or allies¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, only enemies or allies, huh.¡±

    She somewhat understood what he wanted to say, but his words werecking a concreteness, so she coloured her eyes in curiosity and asked again.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Well, you know, I mean, he was frigging overwhelming and zestful and made not the slightest attempt to hide it. On top of that, he spoke his desires out so openly that it surprised me.

    How should I say? He¡¯s not afraid to make enemies as long as it achieves his goals. But he seems quite charismatic, so he should¡¯ve a lot of allies, too.

    So I think that all the people rted to him are either friendly or hostile towards him. In the end, very few people close to him will remain neutral. He strikes me as that type of person.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ I understand what you are getting at.¡±

    Aura nodded curt on his exnation.

    It was a bit rude to her husband, but his evaluation was more spot-on than she had expected.

    And in fact, General Puyol, a man frank about his ambition, had a lot of devotees starting with the military, but in exchange, a lot of people hated him, too.

    However, the evaluation of ¡°not afraid to make enemies¡± was kind of undue. General Puyol was a soldier and at the same time, a noble from a prestigious family. He wasn¡¯t so heedless as to recklessly make enemies at the royal court.

    In front of people, whom he shouldn¡¯t make an enemy out of, he was at least able to put on an insincere smile.

    Zenjirou¡¯s ¡°prejudice¡± must havee into y here. He unconsciously perceived the man, who had formerly been a candidate for bing his wife¡¯s husband, as a rival, searched for a weakness in him and exaggerated his story.

    As he had said himself before, it was by no means an admirable attitude. However, he was aware of that himself and his prudence was good enough that he could loathe himself for it, so it wasn¡¯t an issue worth mentioning.

    As his wife, Aura would¡¯ve just to warn him if he stretched a point.

    To begin with, it was absolutely natural as a human to harbour dark emotions towards a person that was deeply involved with his lover.

    ¡°Then what do you think of Fatima Guill¨¦n, the little sister? Let me hear your honest opinion. Were my eyes ying a trick on me or were you a bit fascinated by her, mh?¡±

    In Aura¡¯s eyes certainly shed a bit of a gloomy emotion as she asked that.

    ¡°Eh? W- Wait a sec. Aura?¡±

    Zenjirou sensed the jealousy hidden behind his wife¡¯s roguish smile and unconsciously backed off on the couch in a timid manner.

 Chapter Volume 2 2

    A few months had passed since Zenjirou made his debut into higher society at the banquet without any problems.

    Even in Carpa Kingdom, a southern country, the days with temperatures of over forty degrees during the day and over thirty-five degrees during the night didn¡¯tst forever.

    Recently the highest temperature during the day was a bit over thirty degrees and during the night, the average temperature dropped down to around twenty-five degrees. It were pleasant times.

    With temperatures like that, the fan was good enough during the day even without ice and the nights weren¡¯t stifling even without countermeasures against the heat.

    The Carpa Kingdom didn¡¯t have easily distinguishable ¡°four seasons¡± like Japan, but various changes could be spotted from a look out of the window of the inner pce.

    When Zenjirou had just transferred into this world, the flower bed had been filled with big-bloomed yellow or red flowers, but now flowers with small blue or purple petals were blooming on it and the shadows from the sunlight had grown a bit longer, too. Likewise, the gnats he had fought off with the bug repellent on the window ledge a few months ago were spotted fewer times now and the kind of birds, chirping during the evening, changed as well.

    There was not enough change to warrant an assignment of ¡°four season¡±, but one may roughly call this a ¡°change of season¡±.

    Anyway, it was certain that it had be remarkable morefortablepared to his arrival.

    However, Zenjirou currently was in no state to fully enjoy this calm season.

    He slept, curled up in a ball on the bed like a foetus, in the dark bedroom with all the wooden shutters of the windows closed since noon.

    ¡°Hah, Hah, Hah¡­¡±

    His breathing was rough and his exhtion hot. His cheeks were flushed and a constant sweat oozed from his forehead and neck. Even when it had gotten colder, the temperature should still be around thirty degrees during the day, yet his body was covered by a down-filled quilt up to his chin and still shivered from an unbearable coldness even in this situation.

    Before long, an electronic sound unknown to this world quietly beeped under the quilt.

    ¡°Uhh¡­¡±

    Zenjirou barely caught that sound and rummaged about under the nket, then took out the thermometer pinched under his armpit and held it up to his face.

    [38.3 ¡ãC]

    The number disyed on the digital thermometer was two degrees above his average body temperature.

    * * *

    Zenjirou was down with a fever.

    The first actions Aura took after she received these news shortly before lunch, was to prohibit the waiting maids working in the inner pce from leaving the inner pce and to check her own constitution.

    Of course she was worried about her sick husband, but she was a Queen. Her own well-being took priority over nursing the Prince Consort.

    Aura had suspended her duties for now and returned to her own chamber in the pce. There she immediately called for the royal court physician to get herself examined.

    Aura sat in a chair woven from vines with her mouth opened widely to show her throat. The old physician told her ¡°Yes, thank you¡± and she closed her mouth.

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, everything is alright. Or at least, you are showing no symptoms at this point, Your Highness.¡±

    The old physician showed a soft smile and answered Aura¡¯s simple question.

    ¡°I see. Well done.¡±

    Aura kept her stern and daunting expression upon the physician¡¯s answer, but inwardly she made a sigh of relief.

    Good. The medical treatment wasn¡¯t all that advanced in this world, so the physician¡¯s assurance gave no definite peace of mind, but judging by his tone, she wouldn¡¯t have to worry for now.

    Now that her own well-being had been confirmed, Aura could speak as a wife instead of a Queen.

    ¡°Then check on my ill husband in the inner pce next.¡±

    Males were forbidden in the inner pce, but the medical staff was one of the few exceptions. As the Carpa Kingdom was a patriarch society, a ¡°female physician¡± was unheard-of. Due to that, the physicians had to be made an exception to the ban of males or otherwise the residents of the inner pce wouldn¡¯t be able to get any treatment when they fell sick.

    ¡°Yes. I will do everything in my might.¡±

    The aged physicianplied with a soft smile and left with the Queen¡¯s permission.

    In exchange for him, Aura¡¯s personal secretary Fabio Debache entered the room.

    ¡°Excuse me, Your Highness. How did it turn out?¡±

    Aura smiled a bit at the middle-aged secretary with the slender face and nodded once.

    ¡°Good, everything is alright with me. I sent Doctor Michelle on the way to examine my husband. Depending on his illness, I am thinking of using the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯, but let me hear your opinion about it.¡±

    ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡±. Secretary Fabio raised one eyebrow upon hearing that term, but nodded right away and stated his opinion.

    ¡°Very well. I cannot say anything definite without hearing Doctor Michelle¡¯s diagnosis, but if Zenjirou-sama should suffer from a serious illness, there is only one course of action we can take then. Our country cannot afford to lose him at the present time.¡±

    The ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± was a magical tool made in the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, located in the central area of the southern continent.

    The royal lineage of Sharrow had their ¡°bestowal magic¡± while the pope lineage of Jilbell had ¡°healing magic¡±. The ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± could be considered the fruit of joining together their two magic techniques, and had a tremendous effect.

    Of course, it couldn¡¯t re-grow a limp you had been bereaved of or recover any of the five senses you may have lost, but only a handful of sick people ever passed away after using the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡±.

    In this world, where the medical treatment was only on the level of the medieval Arab world, it was an ¡°omnipotent medicine¡± that even surpassed thetest medical science of the twenty-first century. Furthermore, only ten or so people in this world could produce it, so it went without saying that each ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± had a price that could bankrupt a small country.

    The Carpa Kingdom was an eminent andrge kingdom that dominated the western part of the southern continent and was on fairly good terms with the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, but even so, they only possessed three ¡°Imbued Stones of Cure¡± at present.

    The price was ridiculous high for one, but the item was so valuable that there was no guarantee that you could purchase one, even if you readied all that money. That was the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡±.

    ¡°I see. It makes it easier for me to hear that.¡±

    Aura¡¯s expression revealed a peace of mind on Secretary Fabio¡¯s answer.

    Aura herself had immediately considered to use the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± in the moment she heard that Zenjirou had fallen ill, but she found herself unable to tell if that judgment had been done by her emotions as a wife or by her reasoning as a Queen.

    With a calm mind, any noble would be able to tell that Zenjirou¡¯s death would be a fatal blow to the country when Aura still hadn¡¯t give birth to a child.

    In other words, Aura was agitated so much that she couldn¡¯t make such an ¡°obvious decision¡± anymore.

    It was alright to use the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± when the necessity arose. Aura regained her usualposure thanks to that conclusion and rested her right elbow on the armrest of her chair with her chin on its hand.

    ¡°At any rate, my husband still looked fine this morning when I woke up. I wonder what kind of illness got him.¡±

    ¡°Judging by the fact that you were not infected although you are sharing the bed with him, I believe it is quite likely that it is the kind of illness you only catch once, one you already caught it in the past.¡±

    Aura mused about Secretary Fabio¡¯s word with her chin still on her hand.

    An illness you didn¡¯t catch again after suffering from it once.

    Aura, too, have had a few illnesses like that in the past.

    ¡°One day I caught an illness you suffer only once from in your life. I had been all well in the morning, but just before noon, I got sick¡­ Maybe he caught that?¡±

    The condition of ¡°suddenly taking a turn for the worse, even though everything was fine in the morning¡± added to Secretary Fabio¡¯s idea, narrowed the illnesses Aura could think of down to one.

    As Secretary Fabio was moreposed than Aura, he must have concluded the name of the illness long ago.

    ¡°Just as you assume, I dare to say.¡±

    The secretary answered with a monotone voice and an inexpressive look as always.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Aura felt the power drain from her body upon hearing his words.

    If Zenjirou¡¯s illness was really ¡°that one¡±, all her worries so far woulde to nothing. ¡°That one¡± wasn¡¯t a lethal illness. If anything, it was actually a good thing that he caught ¡°that one¡±.

    Aura¡¯s assumption was then backed up by the words of Doctor Michelle when he returned from the inner pce before long.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama has caught the ¡®Blessing of the Forest¡¯.¡±

    The name of an illness with a mortality rate close to zero left the physician¡¯s mouth. Hearing it, Aura refrained from looking up to the ceiling from the overwhelming exhaustion and told Doctor Michelle ¡°Good, well done¡± with an austere expression.

    In the back, Secretary Fabio showed a sly smile with one corner of his mouth raised as he easily saw through the consternation of the Queen.

    * * *

    ¡°Aura, what¡¯s the ¡®Blessing of the Forest¡¯?¡±

    Aura had ended her duties in the pce earlier to visit her husband, who was down with a fever, and went to the inner pce. There Zenjirou stillid dead tired on the big bed and asked with a weak voice, only directing his eyes at her.

    It was still evening, but since the window shutters were closed as not to let the open air in, there was no way to tell the situation outside.

    Only one LED floormp was spending light as to make it morefortable for Zenjirou to sleep. And even that was dimmed by a thick cloth over thempshade.

    Amidst this dim room, Aura sat in the chair that stood besides the bed and intently wiped the sweat from Zenjirou¡¯s forehead or neck with the towel she had brought over from the refrigerator while answering his question.

    ¡°Simply put, it is a local disease that has spread here since forever. It is hardly virulent and rarely anyone dies from it unless maybe an infant or old person.

    Moreover, you never catch it again after having it once and strangely enough, a lot of people, who had it, show weaker symptoms on other illnessester on, so it is called the ¡®Blessing of the Forest¡¯.¡±

    Zenjirou somehowprehended Aura¡¯s words even though his head was spinning from the fever, and unconsciously spoke out his impression.

    ¡°Uwah¡­ If I were to bring my body, infected with the virus and full of antibodies, back to Earth, I would get a Nobel prize¡­?¡±

    Even on Earth, there were illnesses like measles or chicken pox, which you generally didn¡¯t catch again after having it once, but it was truly fantasy-like that antibodies, which dramatically worked against other illnesses, too, were created as a result.

    That aside, it were truly great news that this illness was ¡°rarely lethal¡±. Zenjirou had been crippled by the fear over an illness in the different world, but now he forgot the pain in the joints of his body for a moment and smiled faintly.

    ¡°I see. So I¡¯ll get better with just some sleep. ¡­About how long will it take?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, three days at the earliest and seven days at thetest.¡±

    In short, it would take him about five days to recover. He could get up if he really wanted to, but it sure was kind of tedious to have this physical conditionst for five days.

    As the joints in his body were aching, it was ufortable even when he wasying down and due to the high fever, he was sweating non-stop, yet when he was drinking water, his throat smarted as it was swollen.

    He would feel better after some sleep, but he wasn¡¯t the least bit sleepy due to the difort and pain in his joints. The symptoms resembled a bad cold.

    (Still, you¡¯re gonna feel like shit for a week at worst, but does really ¡®no one die from it¡¯? Seeing their level of civilisation, I would think they drop like flies)

    Zenjirou¡¯s feverish brain suddenly came up with this doubt.

    Surviving a few days in bed with a fever of over thirty-eight degrees was feasible for an average household in modern Japan, since it had doctors, medicine and a bnced nutrition.

    For example, Zenjirou considered his current condition life-threatening enough for the lower ss with poor nutrition.

    And he wasn¡¯t wrong about that.

    The reason this illness was nonchntly called ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡± was that the symptoms were far weaker when you caught it while still young. The body temperature would raise to about thirty-seven degrees at the most.

    For that reason, parents with young children deliberately got them infected with the ¡°blessing¡± when someone caught the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡± in town.

    Of course, some boys and girls lost against the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡± and died, but one had no choice but to ept that. If the child couldn¡¯t even ovee the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡±, it wouldn¡¯t reach adulthood anyway. The parents deceived their own hearts by telling themselves that.

    Anyway, these circumstances of the lower ss had hardly any rtion to Zenjirou.

    ¡°Reminds me, the waiting maids were being troubled. Would you at least allow them entry until you have recovered? That would ease my mind as well.¡±

    Aura phrased a question she had suddenly recalled, whereat Zenjirou turned on top of the bed and showed an unpleasant expression on a rare asion.

    ¡°Aw, if possible, I would rather not have that. To be honest, I don¡¯t feel like getting better when people scurry around me¡­¡±

    On the other hand, Aura, too, showed a bewildered expression on a rare asion and persuaded her wilful husband.

    ¡°However, in your condition you cannot even eat or relieve yourself on your own. You need someone nursing you.¡±

    Right now, Aura had specially taken some time off to attend to him like this, but as the Queen, she was originally in no position to do work like this. Looking after royalty was the job of the attendants, not the family.

    ¡°Uh, well¡­¡±

    As his throat hurt considerable, he could only reply with a feeble voice, but he rather stubbornly refused to ept Aura¡¯s suggestion.

    ¡°Zenjirou¡­?¡±

    Aura called out to him again, so he strained his aching throat and confessed by squeezing out a small voice.

    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve rather frayed nerves when sick. With a bit of carelessness, I start venting my displeasure on others or getting wilful.

    I don¡¯t want to do that¡­ so I prefer to be alone¡­¡±

    It wasn¡¯t all that umon that a person got a sensibility different from usual when sick in bed.

    Their body was weakened by the illness and it affected their mentality, too. So a lot of people got abnormally timid or felt lonely for no reason.

    In Zenjirou¡¯s case, it manifested as aggression.

    The soup was too hot, the towel for wiping his body was lukewarm and so on. He started to curse every little thing. To begin with, the fact itself that others were healthy, even though he was going through such a hard time, was hateful.

    As a child, he had always caused his parents trouble when he caught a fever.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou was now a grown-up man at a good age. Even when he was weakened in mind and body, his mentality wasn¡¯t so weak that he would propagate an absurd aggression to his usual milieu. He didn¡¯t propagate it, but it was tiring to suppress that urge.

    So it was better to be alone, even if it was a bit inconvenient. He didn¡¯t even want Aura to be by his side right now. Or rather, he didn¡¯t want her of all people to be here right now. If he were to act like a selfish kid in front of his good wife¡­ it would take him a long time to recover on an emotional level after recovering from his illness.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay¡­ I can change my clothes by myself and I¡¯ll ring the bell for the toilet¡­¡±

    ¡°Mm, but¡­¡±

    Zenjirou rejected it outright with a feeble voice, whereat Aura raised a voice, still not convinced.

    She considered it part of the job of a waiting maid or butler to be yelled at unreasonably by their master. However, Aura had gotten a good grasp on Zenjirou¡¯s values in the past few months.

    The man called Zenjirou considered it a sacrilege to cause others unreasonable trouble. Moreover, the status of the other party didn¡¯t matter in doing so. That applied to royalty and nobility, of course, but likewise to the waiting maids, who were nothing more than mere attendants.

    Considering these values of him, she could easily predict that he would be in anguishter on if he ended up venting his displeasure on the waiting maids.

    ¡°¡­Fine. I will tell them to keeping here to a minimum.¡±

    After a moment of musing, Aura gave in.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Thanks.¡±

    Then Aura spoke out her next words kind of unconscious.

    ¡°It is nearly time for dinner. Is there anything you would like to eat?¡±

    A nonchnt question. She surely only said it out of kindness.

    The weakened Zenjirou reflexively revealed his wish upon her words.

    ¡°Porridge¡­ I want porridge with either dried plums or an egg and soy sauce.¡±

    Porridge for the sick.

    It was an all too natural association for a Japanese. However, the typical Japanese food for sick people was nothing but an unknown dish in this world.

    ¡°Porritch? What is that? Dryte plums? I know of eggs, but what is soi sauce?¡±

    Aura tilted her head in puzzlement. Even with his thoughts dulled by the fever, Zenjirou could easily catch her reaction. His words just now didn¡¯t get through to her at all. Judging by the fact that the automatic trantion of the soul of words didn¡¯t work either, there must be no equivalent for ¡°dried plums¡± and ¡°soy sauce¡± in theirnguage.

    He replied to Aura with a faint smile.

    ¡°Mm, I don¡¯t have the energy to exin it now¡­ Later then, okay. And anything¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll eat everything.¡±

    Zenjirou remembered that the homemade dried plums of his aunt were in the refrigerator, but dried plums alone wouldn¡¯t make a difference. The Carpa Kingdom did cultivate wheat, but there was apparently no custom of turning it into porridge. Even if he had them prepare a special wheat porridge for him and added dried plums to it, there was no guarantee it would taste good.

    He ought to save the development of new dishes for when he had a bit more energy.

    (Guess I¡¯ll deal with it a bit more serious when I feel better¡­)

    While such thoughts crossed his mind, Aura stood up from the chair with a smooth movement and said.

    ¡°¡­Okay. I will tell the kitchen to prepare you a special meal.¡±

    ¡°Mm, can¡¯t wait¡­¡±

    Aura wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel once more before leaving the room, whereat Zenjirou responded like that with a weak and forced smile.

    When Aura left and closed the door behind her with a tter, Zenjirou was all alone in the dim bedroom.

    ¡°Uhh¡­¡±

    He fumbled his way to the table next to the bed with his hand, took the 500ml PET bottle, which was filled with boiled water that had cooled down, from it, opened the lid and raised it to his mouth.

    ¡°Guh¡­¡±

    His throat stung just from swallowing the lukewarm water. Still, he knew how dangerous it was when he didn¡¯t take in some water after his body sweated so much, so he endured the pain and drank the water.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    After emptying the bottle halfway through, Zenjirou close it again and put it back onto the bed table.

    This PET bottle stemmed from the mineral water he had packed into his backpack along with the survival tools and emergency provision for his second summoning.

    Back in Japan it would just be recyble garbage, but in this world, the small container, too, was a valuable item.

    It was light, didn¡¯t break when dropped and didn¡¯t spill anything when closed. An extremely convenient utensil. Zenjirou would¡¯ve a lot more trouble drinking water without it.

    A repetitive use invoked a hygienic uncertainty, even if washed carefully, so it couldn¡¯t be utilized for long, but it was pure gold in an emergency like this.

    Zenjirou had refreshed his dry throat in exchange for a stinging pain, then he plunged his face into his pillow and writhed while aware that he sweated all over his body.

    (Aww, what came over me!? Wanting porridge in a different world¡­ Am I an snotty brat or what!?)

    Thankfully Aura was an understanding person, who could read the mood. If she had stayed, he might have demanded ¡°canned peaches¡± next.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t evaluate himself all too highly to begin with, but he had never thought that he wouldck so much self-control as to reveal such a stupid selfishness. His self-loathing reached a fatal level, in all seriousness.

    (Aw, damn. I¡¯ve to get better quickly or my mind will break¡­)

    Still plunged into his pillow, he kept regretting his verbal slip in anguish.

    However, that, too, was a blessing in disguise. After a while of engulfing himself in a self-loathing so strong that he forgot the drowsiness of the fever and even the pain in his joints, Zenjirou let his consciousness sink into the abyss of sleep without him knowing about it.

    ¡°¡­Good grief. Have I really been paying attention to my husband until now?¡±

    Around the same time in the living room of the inner pce, Aura, too, engulfed herself in a self-loathing that was in no way inferior to Zenjirou¡¯s, after leaving the bedroom, then reflected on herself.

    Aura sat down in the couch of the living room with a thump, showing unsightly wrinkles around her nose.

    ¡°¡­Hah.¡±

    As a bit of her irritation had subdued from sitting down, Aura cast her eyes down with a calm expression now and grumbled.

    ¡°Porritch, dryte plums and soi sauce, was it? Since the soul of words is not working, letting someone look for it will¡­ already be impossible, I bet.¡±

    Her sick husband had automatically voiced his desired food and she couldn¡¯t even prepare that for him. Not just that, she didn¡¯t even know his preferences in food, so her self-loathing became even worse.

    ¡°An unknownnd, unfamiliar clothes and obscure food¡­¡±

    Aura imagined Zenjirou¡¯s situation anew and felt gloomy.

    In the previous war, she herself hadmanded the expeditionary troops for a long time far away from the Carpa Kingdom, so she could empathize with how bad it was for the mind and body to be unable to eat the ustomed food for a long time.

    That tendency became quite apparent in wounded soldiers with a weakened spirit. Any military officer knew that the second most frequentst words from a dying soldier in the expeditionary troops were about their ¡°hometown food¡±, only exceeded by their ¡°family¡±.

    ¡°¡­In the end, I am nothing butpelling inconveniences on him.¡±

    A dejected voice unconsciously left Aura¡¯s mouth when her reflecting ended.

    She knew that wasn¡¯t the case.

    Aura had no recollections of forcing him intoing to this world and in fact, Zenjirou had made the decision toe here all by himself.

    When she thought back on it with a calmer mind, she couldn¡¯t recall that Zenjirou had ever showed any signs of regretting his own choice ormenting about any inconveniences as he lived in the inner pce.

    As far as Aura was aware, he was always having fun. Especially during the nights, where they had physical contact, he was making a happy face that was overflowing with euphoria and satisfaction. She could im at least that much with confidence.

    To shake off her mncholy, Aura stretched herself on the couch.

    ¡°Right. My husband is by no means unhappy. I am just a tad too negative. Still¡­¡±

    She then mused once more about her actions so far from a different rational point of view than before.

    ¡°Still, I believe it is alright to grant my husband¡¯s request to a reasonable extent. It would be a problem if he were to ask to be send back to his world because of homesickness, since it would not only throw the royal family into disarray, but also the whole Kingdom.¡±

    Aura neatlybined her emotions as a wife with the sense of duty as a Queen, and told herself that.

    * * *

    The South Continent knew of an animal called ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡±.

    Like its name implied, it was a rather small dragon amongst the winged dragons (the kind of dragon that flies through the sky), and was as big as a crow at most. From the four kind of dragons that human seeded in turning into livestock, it was the only winged type.

    Incidentally, the other three kinds were the ¡°raptorial dragon¡±, the ¡°Hulking Dragon¡± and the ¡°Meat Dragon¡±. All of them were important and indispensable livestock, each sustaining the human lifestyle.

    To be more specific, the ¡°Raptorial Dragon¡± was used in battle and as a means of transport. The ¡°Hulking Dragon¡± was used forbour and the ¡°Meat Dragon¡± had the role to provide meat for consumption.

    In terms of the livestock on Earth, the ¡°Raptorial Dragon¡± equalled a ¡°horse¡±, the ¡°Hulking Dragon¡± a ¡°cattle¡± and the ¡°Meat Dragon¡± a ¡°pig¡±.

    Then, what was the ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡± good for? It was a ¡°means ofmunication¡±.

    Basically, it fulfilled the same role as ¡°carrier pigeons¡± on Earth in old times.

    Compared to the general means ofmunication, namely a messenger delivering a letter directly on a ¡°Raptorial Dragon¡±, itcked reliability since there was a high possibility that the letter wasn¡¯t delivered due to some unforeseen ident, but its speed was overwhelming.

    The ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡± didn¡¯t even take half a day for a distance for which a couple of mounted messengers needed five days without rest in a ry team.

    Such a ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡± arrived from the eastern border station at the pce with a letter at noon that day.

    ¡°A message from the eastern border, you say?¡±

    In the afternoon of the same day, Aura was working on her duties in her office when she received the news from Secretary Fabio and tilted her head puzzled.

    ¡°Yes. A ¡®Small Flying Dragon¡¯ from the border station in the east just arrived with this letter.¡±

    Saying so, the middle-aged secretary with a slender face put three wooden cylinder, each the size of the little finger, onto the table.

    The letters inside were most likely all the same. The ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡± was in danger of getting lost or being preyed on by arger flying dragon, so it was customary that various of them were entrusted with delivering the same message.

    Aura took one of them and opened it, retrieving the thin dragon-skin parchment from within. Themander of the border station went out of his way to send precious ¡°Small Flying Dragons¡±, so something rtively urgent must have happened.

    After she read through the parchment with a bad feeling, Aura made a small sigh.

    ¡°Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    On her secretary¡¯s call, Aura wordlessly held out the small dragon-skin parchment to him. It was typical that the information was hardly confidential, even if it was urgent, because a ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡± could be intercepted by the enemy despite its overwhelming speed.

    So it wasn¡¯t all that strange that Secretary Fabio, a retainer of Aura, was allowed to read it.

    ¡°Excuse me.¡±

    Taking the dragon-skin parchment, Secretary Fabio read the small scrap and let the corner of his mouth twitch.

    ¡°Earlier this morning, Her Highness Princess Isabelle from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell has arrived at the eastern fort together with her personal guards of three-hundred men. She requested entry into the country, so ording to the treaty, I allowed it under the condition of disarming in the urban areas. Furthermore, three-hundred of the cavalry from the fort will apany Her Highness Isabelle as guards, too.¡±

    After that text followed the date on which the letter had been written and the sign of themander in charge of the eastern fort.

    While Secretary Fabio read the first parchment, Aura confirmed the contents of the remaining two wooden cylinders just in case and as expected, they contained the exact same message as the first.

    Secretary Fabio read the short letter a few times as not to miss anything and then spoke with a t voice.

    ¡°A visit by Her Highness Isabelle, mhm. Does it mean that amongst the royalty or nobility in the bordering countries, someone is so sick that he requires the power of Her Highness itself?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I would say so. A lot of money must have flown for Princess Isabelle herself to make an appearance.¡±

    Aura gave her consent to the words of the secretary, which had been phrased as a question.

    Isabelle Jilbell.

    Just like her name revealed, she was the Princess of the pope lineage of Jilbell, one of the two royal families in the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell located in the central area of the South Continent.

    As the current pope, older than sixty years, was her father, she herself also had passed her 40s, even if she was called a princess. She was already a mother of three children, but it should be emphasized that she was one of the handful of people amongst the royalty that could use ¡°healing magic¡±.

    A lot of people visited the Twin Kingdom to receive the grace of the ¡°healing magic¡± from the pope lineage of Jilbell. However, it went without saying that hardly anyone, who was at the point of death from an injury or illness, could make his way from his homnd to the capital of the Twin Kingdom.

    Then what was a person, who was so sick that he couldn¡¯t leave his sickbed, supposed to do? It was quite in. He summoned someone from the pope lineage. With the kind of sum that would make a minister of finance go pale in the face.

    ¡°Three-hundred as an escort, huh. Judging by that small number, they must carry quite the number of ¡®magic tools¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Yes, without doubt. I do not know which country is involved, but they genuinely seem to be on the watch.¡±

    ¡°Investigate it at once. In some cases, a coup might ur in a bordering country.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    When someone from the Jilbell lineage headed to a patient in a different country, an abnormal number of guards usually apanied that person.

    The number went up or down a bit depending on the distance to the destination and friendly rtionships with that country, but approximately a thousand elite knights were considered to be the minimum. The reason why people from the pope lineage took a number of guards, which appeared excessive on a nce, with them, could be understood right away with a bit of thinking.

    The people from the pope lineage were the only ones in the world, who could use ¡°healing magic¡±. It was more than obvious that royalty or nobility ¡°wouldn¡¯t want to let go¡± of the existence that had saved them from the clutches of death.

    In fact, there had been various cases in the past, where a visiting person of the pope lineage had been confined, announcing that ¡°he (or she) wished to migrate to said country¡±.

    Having learned from that past, the Jilbell family now had made it an absolute condition that an usually armed escort was always allowed to apany the person from the Jilbell pope lineage into the country when they travelled to a different country. That escort was strong enough to deal no insufficient damage to the visiting country if they should make any shady moves.

    (Needless to say, the country in question had to shoulder the travel/lodging expenses for these guards.)

    However, the bigger the troops, the slower they moved. In some cases, sick people, who could originally been saved, died because the delegation of around a thousand people took too long.

    The trump card dispatched for such cases was the knights with ¡°magic tools¡± that Aura had mentioned just now.

    These knights matched a thousand people as they were armed with ¡°magic tool¡± that were created by the other royal family in the Twin Kingdom: the Sharrow lineage. It was possible to cut back on the number of escorts a lot by dispatching them and as a result, the troops moved faster.

    In other words, you could conclude from the small number of escorts that the patient was in such a critical condition.

    ¡°Either way, the treatment must already be over and they are on their way home, seeing as they are heading our way. Shall I arrange your schedule, so that you have time to use the ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes, do that.¡±

    The secretary bowed down a bit to the sighing words of the Queen.

    The reason why Princess Isabelle visited the Carpa Kingdom was obvious. She must have wanted Aura to send her back to the capital of the Twin Kingdom with the ¡°teleportation¡± magic.

    The movement through ¡°teleportation¡± ignored any detours, thus saved time and stilled the fears of a travel.

    The ¡°teleportation¡± magic was arge magic that required a great amount of magical power and a long chant, so it couldn¡¯t be used all that easily, but Aura could hardly refuse a request from the Princess of the pope lineage of Jilbell.

    It was a good asion to have a master of the ¡°healing magic¡± owe her one. If anything, Aura would dly wee her as a guest under normal circumstances.

    ¡°The problem is my husband.¡±

    After she said that, she ced one hand against her chin and became absorbed in thought.

    Zenjirou had caught the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡± yesterday and currently was the very picture of a sick person.

    ¡°Considering the distance to the eastern fort, I guess Princess Isabelle will arrive here in five days?¡±

    ¡°Yes, more or less. Zenjirou-sama might not have recovered from the ¡®Blessing of the Forest¡¯ by then if it drags on.¡±

    Recovering from the symptoms of the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡± took at least three days and seven at worst. As Zenjirou¡¯s symptoms were more serious, it was quite likely that he would still be bed-stricken when Princess Isabelle arrived.

    Aura contorted her face a bit.

    ¡°¡­How troublesome. I am not all that keen to let a foreign person into the room of my husband. I guess we should prepare an extra bedroom for the worst case and have my husband stay there during Princess Isabelle¡¯s visit.¡±

    The room Zenjirou normally lived in was filled with the electronic appliances he had brought along. If possible, she didn¡¯t want to spread its information, even if she didn¡¯t think that anyone could do anything with it right away after knowing about it.

    The simplest solution to this was to have Zenjirou live in a different room for a little while. The inner pce was originally built to house several women, but at present, Zenjirou was the only one living there, so there were enough empty rooms.

    ¡°That would be ying it safe. After all, we can hardly afford to refuse Her Highness Isabelle to pay him a sick visit.¡±

    Secretary Fabio expressed a genuine consent to Aura¡¯s suggestion.

    The ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡± was certainly not lethal and it strengthened your body against other illnesses, so it was wiser not to cure it with ¡°healing magic¡±.

    However, there were in spells like ¡°stamina recovery¡± or ¡°mental calming¡± amongst the ¡°healing magic¡± that eased the patient¡¯s pain without curing the illness itself.

    There was no reason to refuse Princess Isabelle if she were to express the desire to pay him a sick visit.

    ¡°If ites to that, my husband will have to meet with Princess Isabelle in his feverish condition.¡±

    Zenjirou became a bit snappy when sick, just like he had said himself. Usually his reasoning and self-control were working admirable well, but for the moment, they tended to break down a bit.

    Princess Isabelle might look like a somewhat clean-limbed and refineddy in her middle years, but at heart, she was a ¡°healer¡± with nearly thirty years of experience and a trueborn member of the Jilbell royal lineage.

    She was big-hearted enough to forgive the rude attitude of a sick person, but likewise, she was formidable enough to try to squeeze out any information from that attitude.

    ¡°I just hope that no trouble arises¡­¡±

    Aura herself was kind of aware that the possibility of actually nothing happening was rather low while she mumbled that.

    * * *

    Six dayster.

    Aura had showed Princess Isabelle in her private chamber in the pce and made some private conversation in form of a pleasant talk with her.

    The delegation of Princess Isabelle had arrived at the Royal Carpa Pce yesterday evening. The official greeting had been dealt with in the audience room this morning, but they couldn¡¯t talk freely to each other at a public location.

    Thus, the first words of Princess Isabelle had been like this:

    ¡°It has been a while, Your Highness Aura. First of all, let me congratte you on your marriage.¡±

    The middle-aged woman with a bit of plumpness said so while sitting on the leather couch, then lowered her head a bit in a refined gesture.

    In the audience room, the two women had been d in tight formal attires, but now they had changed into dresses with few ornaments.

    Aura wore a dark red long-dress without sleeves while Isabelle had chosen a white dress with half sleeves that was rtively loose.

    In the Carpa Kingdom, wearing a white dress was a special privilege for youngdies or brides, sodies at a certain age refrained from wearing one, but in the Twin Kingdom, the white colour represented the Jilbell royal lineage, so the people from the pope lineage wore clothes based around the colour white under normal circumstances.

    The design of her dress, just like the colour, was quite different from the fashion of the Carpa Kingdom as well. A long-dress with slits or a long wrap skirt were typical in the Carpa Kingdom, but Isabelle¡¯s dress had a miniscule opening around the chest and concluded in a red skirt.

    Quite the contrast to a Carpa Kingdom dress, which was so revealing around the neck that the cleavage could be seen.

    ¡°Yes, thank you. The ceremony took ce without problems. I am grateful about the generous wedding gift from the Twin Kingdom.¡±

    Aura answered like that without lowering head, throwing out her chest instead. Age-wise, Princess Isabelle was more than ten years older than her, but Aura¡¯s status as the head of the country made her the overwhelming social superior. Princess Isabelle was nothing more than one of the countless royalty.

    She smiled elegantly by putting one hand in front of her mouth a bit.

    This gesture made her appear more as a madam from a mercantile house than a member of a royal family.

    ¡°I am d that it was to your liking, Your Highness. Originally, etiquette dictates that I myself should have participated in the celebration, but an urgent matter had upied me¡­ I will definitely make it up to you at ater point.¡±

    ¡°I take it that I cannot make you tell me about that ¡®urgent matter¡¯ as a way ofpensation?¡±

    Princess Isabelle showed not the slightest agitation towards Aura¡¯s slightly provocative words and hedged it.

    ¡°Yes. It involved my credibility as a ¡®healer¡¯, so even if it is a request by Your Highness, I ask for your pardon on this matter.¡±

    She used a meek smile and meek tone to make a firm refusal.

    Well, obviously.

    Who suffered which illness at what point.

    Royalty or nobility of other countries would surely not ask the Jilbell lineage for treatment, if such information was spread flippantly. After all, there was no royalty or nobility that didn¡¯t love to behave secretively.

    The Jilbell lineage possessed a morale that was close to the ¡°medical confidentiality¡±, to vaguely put it in the words of modern society.

    Aura had known from the beginning that there was no way that Isabelle would agree and abandoned the topic at once.

    ¡°I see, too bad. That reminds me, there is something I would like you to take a look at, Princess.¡±

    Aura then said with an expression as if she had suddenly thought of it and rang the bell on the table.

    The door opened at once and Secretary Fabio appeared as he had probably stood outside the whole time to await orders.

    ¡°You called?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Bring me the ¡®rings¡¯ of my husband and I, as well as the ¡®certain items¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    ¡°Rings?¡±

    Princess Isabelle tilted her head puzzled, whereat Aura smiled meaningful.

    ¡°Indeed. The country of my husband apparently has a custom, where the man presents the woman a pair ring. On this asion, I would like to make these rings into some kind of ¡®magic tool¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Oh my, how wonderful. In that case, I will personally attend to the matter. When I forward your request to the Sharrow Family, I will put in a good word for you.¡±

    ¡°Please do.¡±

    While they were having such a conversation, the door was knocked and Secretary Fabio returned with a silver tray in his right hand.

    ¡°Excuse me. I have brought them.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Put them there.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Secretary Fabio put the silver tray onto the table between Aura and Isabelle and retreated after a bow.

    The tray had two rings and two pouches on it.

    Princess Isabelle made a slightly dubious look when she saw the pouches, but her eyes obviously widened in surprise in the next moment when she let her gaze wander to the rings.

    ¡°This¡­!¡±

    ¡°You may take them in hand. Let me hear your honest opinion.¡±

    Aura prompted her with a broad grin, whereupon Isabelle took one of the rings and held it up against the sunlighting in from the window.

    The diamonds and gold on the ring from the different world sparkled in the sunlight.

    The wedding ring that Zenjirou had given Aura was a wide ring with diamonds embedded into it.

    Three small colourless and brilliant diamonds were embedded next to each other into a yellow-golden socket.

    At first, Zenjirou had considered to choose pink diamonds to match Aura¡¯s eyes and hair ording to the rmendation of the jeweller clerk, but vibrant pink diamonds were shockingly expensive. He could have afforded some other types with a reddish tint with his budget, but instead ofpromising on the colour, he had chosen the standard colourless diamonds in the end.

    ¡°How beautiful¡­ Are these gems crystals?¡±

    ¡°No, they are diamonds.¡±

    ¡°Diamonds!? In such a shape?¡±

    Unbing for ady, Princess Isabelle raised a surprised voice. But it was understandable.

    The gem called diamond existed in this world, too, but there were nomon techniques to polish them. All the diamonds currently in existence had been cut with magic by an ancient earth archmage.

    Even if the archmage from olden times were to be resurrected into the present time, it would be impossible for him to cut it into a polyhedron that emitted the most vibrant and beautiful radiance ording to calctions of incident and reflective light.

    The cutting techniques for gems advanced along with the development of precise machines. It was absolutely impossible to reproduce it in this world, even with the help of the irregr power called magic.

    The same could be said for the golden socket.

    ¡°I wonder how these well-matched lines were carved so detailed¡­¡±

    The fashionable wedding ring had simple, but systematic lines like the shading in a manga, engraved on the surface. Princess Isabelle¡¯s home country, the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell was the leading power on the continent in regards to gems, but despite that, no one there would be able to reproduce something like this.

    The jeweller crafts of this world were in no way inferior in a broad artistic sense, rather, the reproduction was impossible due to the simple problem of technology.

    It was the same as telling the world¡¯s best calligrapher to write tidier characters than on aputer.

    Aura inwardly made a sigh of relief as Princess Isabelle¡¯s reaction told her that her conjecture hadn¡¯t been wrong.

    (I knew it. It fascinates someone with an eye for it)

    When Aura had looked at the ring Zenjirou gave her in their wedding night again under the morning sun the next day, she also had eximed a surprise not much different from Princess Isabelle¡¯s just now.

    The workmanship was just too detailed. The three gems emitted a bright radiance from every angle.

    Aura exined herself at once to Zenjirou when he woke up and smile at her happily, and convinced him not to wear the rings ordinarily.

    Its radiance was just too bright. If Aura were to wear this ring, the vignt nobles would notice it right away and question her about the origins of the ring.

    This development would have undoubtedly drawn attention to the donor of the ring, namely Zenjirou. Back then, the unwanted attention might have then preponed his debut into higher society.

    At that time, Aura had wondered if she was overthinking it, but her worry seemed to have been spot-on, judging by Princess Isabelle¡¯s reaction.

    Before long, Princess Isabelle noticed that Aura was looking at her with a smile, so sheughed it off with an affected ¡°Ohoho¡± and put the ring back onto the tray.

    ¡°Oh¡­ I beg your pardon, Your Highness. I was so fascinated by it.¡±

    ¡°Quite alright. An impressive sight, is it not? If possible, I would like to turn it into a ¡®magic tool¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I believe the Sharrow Family will put in their utmost effort for such an exquisite item.¡±

    Jewellery was a typical object for a magic tool, only second to weapons. Due to that, the people of the Sharrow lineage, employing the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡±, inevitable had a good eye for jewellery.

    It was almost a given that the other members would be even more surprised than Princess Isabelle.

    ¡°Good. I have not decided on a magic for it yet. Perhaps you have any ideas?¡±

    As Aura asked for a suggestion, Princess Isabelle put her hand against her full chin and mused for a while. Then,

    ¡°Hmm, it may be exquisite, but is a tiny jewellery after all, so I believe it would be better to refrain from putting in arge magic. Maybe something rudimental like ¡¯Ignition¡¯, ¡¯Fireproof¡¯ or ¡¯Spring of Water¡®?¡±

    she replied with a sensible remark.

    ¡°I will not be so unreasonable as to ask for ¡®cure¡¯, but maybe ¡®stamina recovery¡¯?¡±

    ¡°It is possible as long as you are alright with the fact that the ring turns into ash after around five uses.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    The women then continued to discuss it for a while longer, but couldn¡¯t reallye up with a fitting magic. Isabelle was going to stay in the Carpa Pce for a while longer anyway, so there was no need to find an answer right now.

    As they concluded the matter for now and she had put the ring back onto the tray, Princess Isabelle suddenly looked at the two pouches on the tray.

    ¡°Come to think of it, what is inside these pouches, Your Highness?¡±

    Aura picked up the bigger of the two pouches and replied with a delightful smile to Isabelle¡¯s question.

    ¡°Right, these belong to my husband as well. I would like to hear your professional opinion on this asion, so I had them brought here. You are an expert on jewellery, correct?¡±

    ¡°Well, I belong to the royal family of the Twin Kingdom after all, so I am more knowledgeable about them than the average, but I rank behind the people of the Sharrow lineage.¡±

    While Isabelle said that, she also shot a curious nce at the pouch in Aura¡¯s hand.

    Judging by Aura¡¯s words, the pouch must contain some kind of jewellery. Moreover, it belonged to the same person, who brought these extravagant rings into this world.

    Her anticipation rose all the more.

    Aura opened the pouch while feeling Isabelle¡¯s nce on her fingers, put her fingers into it and took out one piece. With a CLACK, she put the ¡°certain object¡±, held between her middle finger and thumb, onto the tray.

    It was a marble.

    The traditional marble had the simplest design of stained ss encased by a transparent, colourless ss sphere and rolled about on the silver tray.

    ¡°!?¡±

    As Princess Isabelle witnessed its radiance, she widened her eyes even more than when she had taken the ring in hand.

    Assuming her surprise at the ring had been ¡°revealed intentionally¡±, then the surprise she was showing right now ought to be one that ¡°she failed to conceal¡±.

    Princess Isabelle showed an expression that said ¡°Oops¡± for a moment, then assumed her usual calm expression again.

    ¡°¡­Pardon me. That took me entirely by surprise. What exactly would that be?¡±

    Keeping her eyes on the rolling marble on the silver tray, she spoke with an extremely surprised tone.

    The ¡°surprise¡± this time was affected and not an impulsive feeling like the initial surprise when she caught sight of the marble.

    Aura was dubious of Isabelle¡¯s exaggerated reaction, but hid it behind a smile and replied.

    ¡°Astonishing, is it not? It belongs to my husband as well. It is neither crystal, much less a diamond. They call it ss. I was told that it is far more fragile than crystals and thus breaks easily.¡±

    Princess Isabelle was reaching out for the marble mindfully, but on the word ¡°fragile¡±, she stopped her hand with a flinch.

    Aura smiled to herself a bit, then

    ¡°Although I say fragile, I mean that it breaks when you drop it from a height onto a solid surface. It will not be damaged when you hold it normally and we have a carpet on the floor here, so even when you should drop it, it will not cause it to break.¡±

    she added that.

    ¡°In that case, may I hold it in hand then?¡±

    ¡°Yes, take a good look.¡±

    With Aura¡¯s permission, Princess Isabelle picked up the marble with three fingers and held it up against the light like with the ring before, leaking a soft sigh of admiration.

    ¡°Wonderful¡­¡±

    ¡°Let me be frank with you, Princess Isabelle. What price would you attach to a single piece of it if it were kept for sale?¡±

    Aura made a surprisingly frank question with some kind of intention, whereat Isabelle faced forward again and replied after clearing her throat once with an affected cough.

    ¡°That is to say, you intend to sell these gems, Your Highness?¡±

    Isabelle looked rather serious, whereupon Aura smiled at her a bit.

    ¡°Not quite. They originally belong to my husband after all. I cannot sell them all on my own ord. However, as this article does not exist natively in our world, I am allowed to part with a few of them to measure their value.¡±

    Then she said with a shake of her head.

    ¡°Why certainly.¡±

    Isabelle nodded apparently convinced by Aura¡¯s exnation.

    Non-essential things without a value for the military such as jewellery, had no set value, even if it would seem that way. Much less an item like a ss marble, which was unknown to this world up till now.

    Although Aura and Zenjirou may consider them as ¡°valuable¡± from a subjective side, the true value could only be measured through a general assessment from the public.

    As such, it wasn¡¯t all that odd that Aura hit upon the idea of spreading one or two to the public to establish its value. Likewise, it was neither a poor choice to ask Princess Isabelle for her opinion on it.

    However, Princess Isabelle said something with a serious expression that made Aura doubt her ears.

    ¡°Hmm, supposing I would be able to buy this gem¡­ I would offer thirty gold coins for it.¡±

    Thirty cold coins.

    Aura was at a loss for words from the unexpected amount offered, but somehow managed not to show it on her face and replied shortly.

    ¡°¡­Are you being serious?¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    After a short silence, Princess Isabelle shrugged her shoulders resignedly and answered.

    ¡°¡­Very well. Fifty gold coins then. I do not believe that anyone would offer any more than this.¡±

    She spoke as if she was having a business discussion here all of a sudden instead of a hypothetical one, and proposed an addition of whole twenty gold coins at once.

    Aura made no bones about her surprise this time.

    She had checked with her, asking ¡°are you being serious?¡±, because she already considered thirty gold coins ¡°exorbitant¡±, so she never expected the offer to raise even further instead.

    Maybe she misunderstood Aura¡¯s words as ¡°you seriously want to buy it at such a cheap price?¡±?

    With that in mind, Aura gave Princess Isabelle a probing nce, but Princess Isabelle was looking at her with a gentle smile on her plump, but graceful face.

    Aura was convinced by seeing that smile.

    (No, that is not it. I find it hard to believe that Princess Isabelle would misread such an obvious implied doubt. She raised it deliberately, huh. But why would she put such an exorbitant price on a single gem?)

    The sum of fifty gold coins was off the wall.

    To make it easier to understand: You could buy the cheapest ¡°Raptorial Dragon¡± for three gold coins and for ten gold coins you even got a superb ¡°Raptorial Dragon for knights¡± that was trained forbat.

    Moreover, the residence of a lower ss noble without an ownndholding went for a price of fifty to hundred gold coins. So it should be obvious how extraordinary the price of fifty gold coins for a single marble was, no matter how rare and exquisite it was.

    Needless to say, such a sum wasn¡¯t umon for jewellery and some goods were even traded for one more digit. However, this marble wasn¡¯t worth that much in Aura¡¯s opinion.

    Something was strange.

    Sensing that, Aura took the other pouch and put a few beads from it onto the silver tray as to attain more information.

    ¡°Well then, how about these? I find them rather intriguing as well.¡±

    Red, blue and green. The clear and transparent beads in various colours were rather eye-catching, but Princess Isabelle¡¯s reaction remained down-to-earth.

    ¡°Oh my, they are fantastic, too. Not only are the grains equal, there is also a small hole in the middle. That promises a diverse and interesting utilization.¡±

    Neither her praising words, nor her fascinated look seemed to be feigned, but she didn¡¯t show any surprise, either, when she caught sight of the beads.

    ¡°Beautiful, would you not agree? And quite intriguing. You could make a ne if you just pull a string through the hole. What would you say is an appropriate price for these?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, you can tell their quality on a nce, but considering the size¡­ I would estimate ten silver coins per grain.¡±

    Princess Isabelle put her hand against her full chin and suggested a price, which wasn¡¯t all that different from Aura¡¯s expectation.

    Incidentally, one gold coins was worth a hundred silver coins, albeit for a small variance in its age or region.

    Fifty gold coins for one marble. In silver coins, it would be five-thousand. On the other hand, one bead was worth ten silver coins.

    In other words, Princess Isabelle had estimated one marble worth five-hundred times the value of a bead.

    That difference was certainly warrantable due to their variation in weight, but Aura considered the price for a marble somewhat excessive.

    The abnormal value of the marble stood out all the more as the price for the beads was just as she had expected.

    (Still, does such a tant price mean that she wants to show that she hasid her cards on the table? ¡­I shall test her for a bit)

    ¡°Oh, I see. It was most helpful. Let me grant you one piece for your troubles. Pick whichever you like.¡±

    Saying so, Aura picked up the pouch with the marbles in an affected manner and poured the contents onto the silver tray.

    A dozen marbles rolled about on the silver tray.

    ¡°Oh my!¡±

    Princess Isabelle uttered a remark of surprise with one hand in front of her mouth, whereat Aura kept track of what she was looking at while calling out to her with a soft smile.

    ¡°No need for restraint now. You may choose whichever you like after you checked them thoroughly.¡±

    All kind of marbles spread on the tray. From the standard type with coloured ss inside to marbles with a bleared surface to ones with a beautiful marble pattern. There was even a globe marble amongst them that had a simple world map drawn on it.

    As all of them were disyed on a single tray, they looked quite impressive worth to be called ¡°jewels¡±.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Princess Isabelle must have sensed that Aura was watching her behaviour. She shrugged her shoulders once, then picked up one marble from the tray.

    ¡°Then I will you take up on your kind offer and receive this.¡±

    The marble she had picked was a rather transparent and colourless one without any patterns.

    ¡°As for the remaining ones¡­¡±

    ¡°Say no more. It solely depends on my husband, but if he should be willing to part with them, I will definitely speak to you first, Princess.¡±

    ¡°Much appreciated.¡±

    Aura¡¯s assurance was seemingly satisfying for Princess Isabelle as she smiled softly and politely lowered her head.

    She then cast a nce at the shadow from the sunlight shining in from the window, and said as if she had suddenly thought of it.

    ¡°Oh, whatever happened to my manners? I ended up getting lost in the conversation. Your Highness, as a kind of repayment for the gem, may I have your permission to pay your sick husband a visit? I will be able to give a helping hand for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Of course. You are dly wee to do so. No one on this continent would dare to refuse a sick bed visit from someone of the Jilbell lineage. As soon as the preparations are done, I will guide you to the inner pce. Take the room next door to rest until then.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Excuse me then.¡±

    Princess Isabelle concluded the conversation with a smile at the end and stood up with a genteel movement, making a small bow and leaving the room.

    * * *

    ¡°¡­And thus, Princess Isabelle estimated the big, round gems to be worth fifty gold coins and the small grains with the hole to be worth ten silver coins. Let me hear your honest opinion.¡±

    In exchange for Princess Isabelle, who had left for the room next door, Secretary Fabio had entered the room. Aura had filled him in on the details of the earlier conversation and now sought the opinion of her private secretary.

    ¡°Fifty gold coins, you say? I get the feeling that this price is a little bit over the top.¡±

    The secretary said that with raised eyebrows, whereat Aura hit him with a voice that made no pretence of her disgust.

    ¡°Fabio, watch your vocabry. Or are you seriously saying that fifty gold coins is just ¡®a little bit¡¯ excessive?¡±

    ¡°¡­My apologies. Let me correct myself. It is a price that exceeded our expectations by far.¡±

    Without flinching from the displeased utterance by his master, Secretary Fabio apologized and rephrased it with a curt bow.

    Aura herself had no intention to fuss over such a trivial expression in length either. She regained herposure right away and continued the conversation while looking up to the mask-like expression of her secretary as he stood in front of the couch.

    ¡°It is strange, would you not agree? Let alone the fact that she showed a far greater reaction to the gems than to the rings.¡±

    The weddings rings of Aura and Zenjirou.

    The meticulous processed golden socket had jewels called diamonds embedded in it, which were polished with a technique unknown to this world. The beauty of this jewellery was obvious to anyone. Even a person without any knowledge about jewellery would normally valuate the rings over the marbles.

    ¡°Certainly. Above all, it baffles me that Her Highness Isabelle has taken such an obvious attitude.¡±

    Saying so, Secretary Fabio expressed his agreement to the opinion of his master.

    If anything, Princess Isabelle was known for having a good personality, but nevertheless, she had survived the higher society as a member of the royal family from a major power for more than forty years.

    The other party would take advantage of her if she were to express her desires too obvious. She ought to have internalized suchmon sense.

    Despite that, she had dared to propose the ridiculous sum of fifty gold coins.

    ¡°I do not recall that Princess Isabelle ever had a soft spot for new things, nor that she tends to be profligately. Then the sum of fifty gold coins must be an appropriate price for her.¡±

    ¡°Her Highness Isabelle could possibly be anticipating a rivalry. If she happens to know of someone that would pay an equal or even greater amount once the gems get known, her enigmatic behaviour would make sense.¡±

    ¡°In any event, she does not consider it as mere jewellery.¡±

    The slender-faced secretary resolutely affirmed Aura¡¯s emphasis.

    ¡°Yes, that much is for sure. I cannot imagine anything concrete, but I would say it is safe to believe that she discerned some kind of great utility value in the gems.¡±

    ¡°Mhm¡­¡±

    Aura crossed her arms on top of the couch and recalled Princess Isabelle¡¯s reactions.

    When Aura had scattered all of the marbles on the tray, Princess Isabelle had her eyes on the transparent and colourless marble from the very beginning. As long as that was no coincidence or an intentional misleading from her, there might be some kind of value in the colour or transparency of the marbles. However, crystals could easily be used as a recement in that case.

    ¡°I cannot make sense of it. I know too little as to make little more than guesses. Seems I will have to ask the old geezer for his opinionter on.¡±

    ¡°That sounds reasonable. Espaldion-sama might know something we two are unaware of.¡±

    The royal archmage Espaldion was the best magician in the Carpa Kingdom, but at the same time, also a wise man with a multifarious knowledge. The aged magician might know something that would provide some kind of indication.

    ¡°Indeed. Tell him that I would like to borrow his wisdom, if possible tonight already.¡±

    ¡°As youmand.¡±

    Secretary Fabio replied with that and politely lowered his head.

    ¡°Anyway, fifty gold coins for one, eh? If they all have the same value, my husband will be able to gain a fortune of around two-thousand and five-hundred gold coins from just that.¡±

    You could build a small fortress with that amount.

    It was arge amount of money, even for royalty.

    ¡°Yes. It would be precarious to sell the gems without exactly knowing what kind of value Her Highness Isabelle saw in them, but I would say it is alright to let Zenjirou-sama do as he wants with them, given that they cause us no harm.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I would really like to secure the Twin Kingdom as a business partner. After all, they always pay with newly coined gold coins.¡±

    ¡°I know it might be rude of me to say this, but I would wee it when Zenjirou-sama exchanges the gained cold coins with ourrge silver coins from the coffers of the state then.¡±

    ¡°Now you are being too frank.¡±

    Aura unconsciously showed a wry smile towards the words of the middle-aged secretary.

    At present, only two countries were minting gold coins on the southern continent. The Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell was one of them while unfortunately the Carpa Kingdom wasn¡¯t the other one.

    There were no gold veins in the territory of the Carpa Kingdom and they could only prospect small amounts of gold from rivers. The found amount wasn¡¯t enough to allow a regr minting of gold coins every year.

    Instead, they got the most and best silver mines on the South Continent, so they traded with foreign countries by means of rge silver coins¡±, which had a high purity and were thus worth twenty-five times the value of normal silver coins. But even so, the value of theirrge silver coins was only a quarter of the gold coins from the Twin Kingdom.

    Due to that, it was still an unresolved matter that the most valuable currency used inside the country wasn¡¯t their own.

    So the least they could do was to amass the gold coins of the Twin Kingdom in the coffers of the state for emergencies, but the Carpa Kingdom had only just won a long war. The coffers looked rather deste.

    In the worst case, they would have to seriously consider ¡°buying gold coins¡± from the Twin Kingdom with silver coins. Even two-thousand gold coins were already a rather attractive sum.

    However, things wouldn¡¯t proceed without a consultation.

    ¡°Okay, we will put this matter on hold until I talked with the old geezer tonight. I cannot afford to make Princess Isabelle wait any longer. I will show her to the inner pce. I take the preparations for it are done?¡±

    ¡°Yes, whenever youmand.¡±

    Aura nodded with ¡°Good¡± upon Secretary Fabio¡¯s instant reply, then stood up from the couch.

    Princess Isabelle was a privileged guest and her visit of Zenjirou on his sick bed was officially considered an ¡°act of good will¡±. It would be too rude to make her wait for too long.

    ¡°Then let us waste no time.¡±

    Aura knocked on the door of the room next door as to guide Princess Isabelle to the inner pce herself.

    * * *

    Today was the sixth day since Zenjirou had caught the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡±.

    He was snuggled in a bed of a room in the inner pce into which he was moved in a hurry yesterday, and sweating in his sleep.

    His fever had already gone down to around thirty-seven degrees, the swelling in his throat started to abate and he had regained his appetite.

    Until two days ago, he could barely slurp the soup with minced chicken and vegetables, but this morning, he managed to eat a cuisine that resembled mashed potatoes with sweet-sour <em>red bean jam</em>. For Zenjirou it had tasted like something simr to potatoes, but it had actually been a dish, where steamed bananas got mashed. It was more of a home cooking than a pce cuisine, but it was rtively easy to digest and had a high nutritional value, so it was perfect for a sick person.

    ording to the physician, he wouldpletely recover within the next couple of days.

    Zenjirou himself certainly felt better now, but he had grown ustomed to his true bedroom in thest few month, so he was restless about sleeping all alone on a brand-new bed in a different room without his electrical appliances.

    His tired body demanded sleep nevertheless as it fought against the illness. Although his condition had improved, Zenjirou was dozing off at temperatures of over thirty degrees during the day. His drowsy consciousness was aroused from sleep by the soft sensation of a palm on his forehead and an unfamiliar voice of a woman.

    ¡°It seems his fever has ckened a lot. I would say he will be back to normal in a day or two.¡±

    ¡°¡­Mmh?¡±

    Zenjirou opened his eyes slightly and his gaze settled on an elegant looking woman in her middle years, who showed a soft smile and had her hand ced on his forehead.

    ¡°¡­Who?¡±

    Not fully awake, he whispered absent-mindedly.

    Straight, long hair in a pale chestnut-colour. Dark brown eyes puckered gracefully and darkened skin, not a natural tinge, but tanned from the sun.

    The people from the Carpa Kingdom, like Aura, looked like a mixed race of a Latin and ck person, whereat this middle-aged woman looked more like an European with her features and tinge.

    She was obviously from a difference race than the people of the Carpa Kingdom. Zenjirou wasn¡¯t all that confident in his memory, but he would definitely remember someone with such characteristics if he had seen her before.

    The foreigndy¡ª Princess Isabelle removed her hand from his forehead, stood up from her chair and made an elegant curtsy while holding the hem of her dress.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Zenjirou-sama. My name is Isabelle. I am the third child of Johann IV, the eighteen Pope from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell.¡±

    ¡°Th- Thank you for your polite greeting. I am¡­¡±

    Zenjirou tried to sit up on the bed in a hurry due to facing a state guest in the form of a Princess from a major power, but Princess Isabelle gently stopped him in an ustomed manner.

    ¡°Please remain as you are. Your body has not recovered yet.¡±

    She urged him toy down again by saying that.

    Zenjirou noticed something from her remark.

    ¡°Eh? Oh? But I¡¯m feeling awfully well¡­¡±

    As he had beenying down the whole time, his entire body still felt somewhat ufortable, because he couldn¡¯t muster much strength, but the sharp headache that had addled him, or the exhaustion and drowsiness that had eaten into every nook of his body before his nap, had vanishedpletely. He felt like he could get up without any problems now.

    Princess Isabelle, still showing him a gentle smile, put one hand on Zenjirou¡¯s shoulder as he had tried to get up, and pushed him back onto the bed.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, you have to keep lying down. You feel better now because I have cast ¡®stamina recovery¡¯ and ¡®relief of mental fatigue¡¯ on you just a moment ago. I could have used ¡®cure-all¡®, but it is a matter of the ¡®Blessing of the Forest¡¯. You will not receive the blessing unless you ovee it by yourself, so I dared to leave it untouched.¡±

    ¡°O- Okay¡­ I see.¡±

    Now that she mentioned it, his body still felt hot even if his stamina was back. He seemingly hadn¡¯t fully recovered from the illness yet.

    (Oh, reminds me,st night, Aura said that I¡¯ve to switch rooms, because the Princess from the Twin Kingdom wille to pay me a visit)

    Zenjirou had been more or less informed about the circumstances beforehand, but he have had a fever of over thirty-eight degrees until yesterday after all. Naturally, he didn¡¯t remember any details.

    (Ehm, from what I remember, my social position is higher, but it shouldn¡¯t cause any problems when I humble myself, because I¡®m on the receiving end of her ¡°cure¡° this time¡­?)

    Wracking his dulled brain to the max, Zenjirou recalled the etiquette for dealing with foreign royalty that he had learned in his lessons.

    Laying on the bed, he viewed his surroundings and noticed that his beloved wife was looking at him from behind the sitting Princess Isabelle.

    When Aura met his eyes, she made a curt nod without saying anything.

    (Does that mean I don¡¯t have to worry about etiquette all that much?)

    Zenjirou calmed down a bit as he somehow guessed her intention, leaned his head against the headboard and turned his head towards Princess Isabelle in a position, where only his upper body was sitting up for a bit.

    ¡°You have my gratitude, Princess Isabelle. I feel a lot better thanks to you.¡±

    ¡°Do not mention it. Now you only need rest and nourishing food, then you will be up again tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Yes, understood¡­ Mmg.¡±

    As he had gotten up and continued to speak despite still having a slight fever, his voice cracked at the end of his sentence and he coughed shortly.

    ¡°Zenjirou, drink some water.¡±

    Aura, standing at the back, took a small feeding cup in hand without a moment¡¯s dy and brought it to his mouth as he wasying on the bed.

    ¡°Ah, thanks.¡±

    Zenjirou had be used to Aura taking care of him in thest few days, so he drank from the feeding cup in her hand without showing any embarrassment.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    ¡°Better now?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, much better. Thanks.¡±

    Princess Isabelle witnessed the natural harmonious couple andughed a bit with her right hand in front of her mouth.

    ¡°I have heard the rumours, but you two really get along.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ I beg your pardon.¡±

    ¡°Well, better than the other way around.¡±

    In contrast to Zenjirou, who got a bit bashful from being watched by an outsider, Aura smiled broadly and dered proudly.

    The Queen was well-known as ady of character while her husband was aplete nobody. Aura was somewhat convinced that diverse and ignominious rumours were spreading in foreign countries. It would be a pity to miss the opportunity to propagate how extremely well she got along with her husband.

    ¡°Indeed, I can only concur with that.¡±

    Princess Isabelle agreed with Aura and chuckled.

    The public tended to misunderstand, but ¡°happy couples¡± were not rare in the world of royalty and nobility. Of course it was an undeniable fact that their marriages were made more in favour of family connections or bnce of power instead of the feelings of the involved, but for that reason, the married couple then strived for a harmonious rtionship afterwards.

    Both parties shouldered responsibilities of a family or country. It was by no means impossible that they fell in love some time after their marriage when they were ready to approach one another without a fatal sh of interest.

    Still, it was definitely an extremely rare case that a couple showed a harmonic sympathy like Aura and Zenjirou, not even half a year after their marriage.

    (I assume they must be a really good match?)

    Princess Isabelle hid her observant eyes behind a gentle smile and watched over Aura and Zenjirou¡¯s behaviour.

    ¡°Come to think of it, Zenjirou-sama, you came from a different world to marry Her Highness Aura. True love knows no bounds, so to speak?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Ah, yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    For a moment, Zenjirou was surprised about Princess Isabelle mentioning ¡°himing from a different world¡±, but he calmed down right away when he gave it some thought.

    It was a wide-spread fact that the bloodline magic of the Carpa Royalty was ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±. Royalty and titled nobility from every country were bound to keep a close eye on the marriage of Aura, the Queen from the Carpa Kingdom andst member of its royalty.

    By that logic, it would be strange instead if nothing about Zenjirou¡¯s background was known as he suddenly became the Prince Consort.

    He must havee to such a conclusion. Or maybe his reasoning was still not up to par due to the fever?

    ¡°150 years ago, my ancestors eloped into my world for love and I, their descendant, have now returned to marry. If you think about it like that, it is quite moving.¡±

    Zenjirou unintentionally revealed delicate information to royalty from a foreign country.

    Standing on the site, Aura contorted her face as if to say ¡°Oh no!¡±, but it was toote.

    ¡°Oho¡­ Something like that happened in the past¡­¡±

    Princess Isabelle gave an agreeable response in an admiring tone, but her soft expression turned vignt for just a second.

    ¡°¡­It is a rumour at best. Although it is the truth that a direct descent of the royal family was erased from the records 150 years ago, there is not a single proof that he eloped into a different world, much less that Zenjirou is a descendent of him.¡±

    Aura¡¯s tone was calm as she said that, but it outright denied the credibility of the information Zenjirou had revealed carelessly.

    Zenjirou aside as he wasn¡¯t himself from the fever, it was unthinkable that Princess Isabelle, experienced in diplomatic negotiations, would misunderstand what Aura was trying to say.

    ¡°¡­Yes, certainly. Forgive me. Despite my age, I be overly excited about romantic love stories, so I ended up making an indiscreet remark.

    To begin with, it is hardlymendable to involve a sick person into a long conversation, even if he is on the road to recovery.

    Zenjirou-sama, Your Highness Aura, I will excuse myself now.¡±

    Princess Isabelle discerned the meaning behind Aura¡¯s words and raised from her chair while saying that tactfully.

    ¡°Yes, alright. Let me express my gratitude to you for helping my husband. Thank you, Princess Isabelle.¡±

    ¡°You are more than wee, Your Highness Aura.¡±

    Aura herself walked the departing Princess Isabelle out of the provisory bedroom.

    That neither of them showed even a shred of their tension proved that they were ¡°born royalty¡±.

    ¡°You have my thanks, Princess Isabelle. I feel a lot better now.¡±

    Only Zenjirou was unable to read the mood and thoughtlessly expressed his gratitude from behind the leaving Princess and Queen, stillying on his bed like he had been instructed to.

    * * *

    The night of the same day.

    Aura had called Secretary Fabio and Archmage Espaldion into her private chamber in the royal pce and chaired a secret meeting.

    This room, one of the smaller ones in the pce, was illuminated by the mes of the candles burning on the candle stands.

    Bathed in the red light of the mes, Aura crossed her legs on top of a chair with an borated design and address Secretary Fabio, who stood diagonally to the left in front of her.

    ¡°Well then, let me hear your report.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The middle-aged secretary took one step forward when his master called out to him, and started to speak with his usual monotone voice.

    ¡°We identified the ¡®client¡¯ of Princess Isabelle. It was the former king from the Kobrag Kingdom: Luis II.¡±

    The Queen inclined her head with an unsatisfied expression upon the secretary¡¯s report.

    ¡°The former king from the Kobrag Kingdom? How odd. To say nothing of the current king, I cannot believe that the Kobrag Kingdom can afford to call Princess Isabelle for their former king.¡±

    The Kobrag Kingdom was a neighbouring country with a shared border to the Carpa Kingdom, but their territory as well as their poption only amounted to a fifth of the Carpa Kingdom. Needless to say, their assets were ordingly lower, too.

    It survived the previous war only by chance due to its strategic location and it made no sense that such a small country called Princess Isabelle for the sake of an old man that already abdicated the throne.

    ¡°Prince Robert, Prince Thomas or at best, the younger brother of the pope, Matteo would be more appropriate for the wallet of the Kobrag Kingdom, would you not agree?¡±

    Aura mentioned the names of members of the pope lineage of Jilbell. All of them were ¡°healers¡± one or two level inferior to Princess Isabelle, but their treatment was ordingly cheaper.

    The secretary in his middle years objected Aura¡¯s sound argument without showing as much as a fissure in his inexpressive mask.

    ¡°However, all of the aforementioned are males. They would be unable to enter the inner pce.¡±

    Aura kept her head tilted in puzzlement from the increasingly cryptic answer, and asked back.

    ¡°Why does the inner pce matter? The patient was former king Luis, was he not?¡±

    ¡°Yes. So it does not concern the inner pce of the Kobrag Kingdom, but rather the inner pce of our Carpa Kingdom.¡±

    Aura finally discerned the intention of her secretary from his supplementation and wriggled about on her chair.

    ¡°! In other words, you mean that Princess Isabelle nned toe here from the very beginning?¡±

    As the Queen disyed her anger, her secretary confirmed it bluntly.

    ¡°Yes. It is still under investigation, but it appears that the Kobrag Kingdom requested the dispatch of Prince Robert, just as you have conjectured, Your Highness. The truth of the affair seems to be that the Twin Kingdom then imposed ¡®sending Princess Isabelle instead of Prince Robert for the same price¡¯ on them.¡±

    ¡°Are you implying that that the Twin Kingdom even picked up on my husband catching the ¡¯Blessing of the Forest¡¯?¡±

    This time, the middle-age secretary shook his head to her question.

    ¡°No, I would say that was a coincidence. On the contrary, if they had known that Zenjirou-sama was sick in bed, it would not have been necessary to dispatch Her Highness Isabelle.¡±

    The ¡°healers¡± from the Jilbell lineage were an existence more extraordinary than physicians. Under the justification of examining a patient, even males were allowed to step into the inner pce, ignoring the gender barrier.

    If they had known beforehand that Zenjirou was a ¡°patient¡±, it ought to be unnecessary that they specially dispatch a female member.

    ¡°I see. Quite indeed. In that case, the Twin Kingdom dispatched Princess Isabelle for a cheaper price just to catch a glimpse on my husband.¡±

    ¡°A Prince Consort suddenly appeared in our Carpa Kingdom. It would hardly be an unnatural approach to learn of his nature.¡±

    ¡°Mhm¡­¡±

    Still crossing her legs on top of the chair, Aura ced her hand against her chin and became absorbed in thought.

    Secretary Fabio was indeed making a sound argument. Zenjirou absolutely sympathized with Aura¡¯s objective and took a backseat without voicing a selfishness, but in the eyes of foreign people, who weren¡¯t aware of that, it only appeared like the Carpa Kingdom gained another helmsman.

    The odds were that the southern continent would be once again thrown into turmoil by the Carpa Kingdom if the Prince Consort happened to be extraordinarily ambitious.

    By that logic, it might certainly be important enough to dispatch someone of Princess Isabelle¡¯s calibre to ¡°learn of Zenjirou¡¯s nature¡±.

    ¡°His debut in our country is only just over, but one for the foreign countries follows right away, eh?¡±

    ¡°The previous banquet had excluded foreign guests as to keep any damage to a minimum if he were to be caught tripping, so it was inevitable.¡±

    Aura looked up to the dark ceiling and sighed, whereat Secretary Fabio said that with a serene tone.

    Zenjirou¡¯s will of ¡°not interfering in politics with all his might¡± was only acknowledged to a certain extent within the Carpa Kingdom itself. It would still require a lot of time and effort to spread the correct insight to the people of foreign countries.

    In addition, this kind of information had the quirk of being easily distorted the further and longer it travelled. From the beginning, it might be wiser to give up on trying to spread the correct insight to a hundred percent.

    ¡°¡­Okay, good. Enough about that for the time being.¡±

    Aura shook her head once, then again and brought the matter to a closure.

    After that, she shifted her gaze from Secretary Fabio towards the old man, who stood diagonally on the right side in front of her, d in a purple robe.

    ¡°Next up, are you in the picture, old geezer?¡±

    The attention suddenly turned towards the old man in the purple robe¡ª The royal Archmage Espaldion spoke leisurely.

    ¡°Mhm, the personal belonging of Zenjirou-sama, namely his gems, right? Fifty gold coins for a single one of them is certainly unusual.¡±

    The topic changed from Princess Isabelle to the marbles, which she had estimated to be worth an unreasonable high amount.

    As even Espaldion, just like Secretary Fabio, agreed with her, Aura nodded satisfied for now and pressed him on.

    ¡°I find it hard to believe that Princess Isabelle would give such an abnormal estimate without reason. Old geezer, can you think of anything?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­.Hmm.¡±

    The country¡¯s best magician stroked his long beard upon the Queen¡¯s question and fell silent for a while, then opened his mouth with a prelude of ¡°This is to be taken with a pinch of salt¡±.

    ¡°Your Highness, how much do you know about the ¡®Staff of the Storm Wall¡¯ from the Gupta Kingdom?¡±

    Being asked that all of a sudden, Aura frowned puzzled while she answered truthfully.

    ¡°You mean that ¡®miracle of the Barang Mountain Pass¡¯, right? Where a single magic tool stalled an enemy army of fifty-thousand for half a year.¡±

    Espaldion assented with Aura¡¯s answer.

    ¡°Correct. The battle between the Gupta Kingdom and the allied forces of the Kushal Kingdom and the Waltana Kingdom, which took ce in the early phase of the previous war.¡±

    To put it simply: The Gupta Kingdom was attacked in a pincer movement by two bordering countries, and during this life-threatening crisis, they protected one border with the magic tool called ¡®Staff of the Storm Wall¡¯ while the other invading country was warded off with their own troops, thus sessfully defending the country.

    It was most likely one of the most powerful magic tools on the South Continent. ¡°Lightning¡± was the bloodline magic of the Gupta Royal Family.

    In other words, the ¡®Staff of the Storm Wall¡¯ was a magic tool created by thebined effort of the Gupta lineage with their ¡°lightning¡± and the Sharrow lineage with their ¡°bestowal¡±.

    The Gupta Kingdom was on good terms with the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, much like a vassal state, so it was not all that unusual that their royalties worked together to make a magic tool.

    However, Espaldion spoke up.

    ¡°The problem is the time needed for creating the staff. I will spare you of the details now, but the staff was made in the capital of the Twin Kingdom without a doubt.¡±

    ¡°Well, I would imagine so. Unlike the Jilbell lineage, the people of the Sharrow lineage do not leave the capital unless it is something important.¡±

    Aura expressed her consent with a curt nod, whereat Espaldion inclined his head deeply and continued.

    ¡°That would mean that a person of the Gupta lineage went to the capital of the Twin Kingdom and spent a long time there to create the staff, then returned home with the staff. However, the timeframe is too short for that.¡±

    Secretary Fabio, standing on the side, seemed to recall something from hearing Espaldion¡¯s story and interjected.

    ¡°Oh, I have heard about that matter, too. I think that even if you calcte the round trip with the fastest raptorial dragon, the person from the Gupta Family would had less than ten days for his stay in the capital of the Twin Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Nine days to be precise. And that, too, is under the assumption that everything went well during the travel. It is said that a realistic calction would give the person of the Gupta Family nearly three days for his stay in the capital.¡±

    While listening to her two trusted retainers, Aura went through her own memory.

    In the first phase of the previous war, Aura had not been born yet. So it was not weird that she had no recollection of it.

    But she did understand the odd part about the story. It was said that even the simplest disposable ¡°magic tool¡± created by the Sharrow royal lineage usually took at least one month to manufacture. Not to mention that it wasmon knowledge that arge magic tool like the ¡°Staff of the Storm Wall¡± required years.

    Aura remembered that her ¡°Barrier Carpet¡±, currently lent to Zenjirou, had required a member of the Carpa Royal Family to remain in the capital of the Twin Kingdom for two years when it was made.

    One month for a simple tool. Two years for a tool on the level of a national treasure. Compared to that, the three day period for the ¡°Staff of the Storm Wall¡± was obviously abnormal.

    Although she trusted the old geezer, Aura couldn¡¯t take his words at face value and replied doubtfully.

    ¡°Would it not be the simple solution that the person from the Gupta lineage secretly went to the capital of the Twin Kingdom already well before and they started to work on it in secret?¡±

    The Queen questioned his opinion, but the aged magician wasn¡¯t offended and answered while inclining his head deeply.

    ¡°Yes. Both sides officially im that to be the case. Others, too, ept that theory as the most usible. However, a different theory is still irrefutable these days, too.

    Namely, that the Sharrow lineage has a ¡®secret technique¡¯ for drastically shortening the required time for creating a magic tool when the necessity arises.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I see.¡±

    Aura felt that they finally got to the real issue at hand and made a small sigh as if snorting.

    Such rumours of ¡°hidden magics or secret techniques from royal families¡± existed in all ages.

    The ¡°Mind Search Magic¡± from the Harkonen Royal Family was rumoured to be a skill to permanently turn people into puppets. The ¡°Gardening Magic¡± from the Bernhard Royal Family was rumoured to have gone out of control and created the desert on the South Continent as a result. The ¡°Creation Magic¡± of the Makarov Royal Family was rumoured to have grown thisnd. Etc, etc.

    In fact, there was even a rumour regarding the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± of the Carpa Royal Family, to which Aura could only smile wryly with ¡°spare me¡±.

    It imed that the ultimate secret technique of the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± could ¡°resurrect the dead¡± by turning back the clock.

    As Aura knew the truth, she couldn¡¯t resist to give a snigger.

    (If such a magic were to exist, I would have revived one of my brothers instead of disturbing the peaceful life of my husband in a different world)

    No matter how ridiculous it was, Aura was unable to break out in an unreservedughter, because she knew that there was a germ of truth in that rumour.

    (Resurrect the dead, eh? Well, it is not impossible for the ¡°dead¡± of the likes of bugs and shellfishes)

    Truth be told, there really existed a spell amongst the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± that could turn back time to a limited extent.

    That said, it had strict conditions like ¡°cannot be cast on targets with magical power¡± or ¡°the practitioner must have touched the object with his hands and seen it with his eyes in the time line he wanted to return it to¡°, so it was hardly practicable.

    All living beings in this world, except for lower animals like bugs or shellfishes, had more or less magical power.

    Due to that, ¡°resurrecting the dead¡± with ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± was impossible in reality. It was also impossible to repair magic tools.

    It was possible to repair stuff without magical power like a broken sword or cooking utensils that had be impractical, but it was way more efficient to just buy these things anew instead of using the secret royal magic for it.

    Anyway, it was the truth that the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± could resurrect the dead, even if it was something boring like ¡°only bringing bugs back to life¡±.

    Considering that fact, the rumours about the royal families of the other countries might contain some truth as well.

    Aura licked over her upper lip and posed a question.

    ¡°So, what kind of rumours regarding the ¡®secret technique¡¯ do you know about, old geezer?¡±

    ¡°Very well. One says that the Sharrow Royal Family can drastically shorten the time for creating a magic tool by the means of spending their life-force. And in fact, one member of the royal family died of illness almost directly after the ¡®Staff of the Storm Wall¡¯ was made.¡±

    Aura dismissed the first rumour Espaldion mentioned.

    ¡°Impossible. Sure, the Gupta Kingdom is a precious ally to the Twin Kingdom and they protect the important north, but considering their temperament, it is unthinkable that the Sharrow lineage would sacrifice one of their kin for them.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I am of the same mind. So I regard it merely as a coincidence. But there is one more prominent rumour.

    It ims that the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ can be cut short on time and effort considerably when an object with certain conditions is prepared.¡±

    Aura felt like she had finally heard the answered to her first question after a long detour.

    She kept silent for a while, then asked slowly with a low voice.

    ¡°¡­So, what does the ¡®Staff of Storm Wall¡¯ look like?¡±

    ¡°As it is the best-protected magic tool of the royal family, it is nothing but a rumour from hearsay, but I learned that apparently it is a straight wooden staff decorated with a rge, transparent and round crystal¡¯ at its tip.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oho. That is quite the intriguing ¡®rumour¡¯.¡±

    Aura¡¯s face, illuminated by the light of the candles, showed a broad grin. That smile resembled the expression of a feline carnivore as it bared its fangs.

 Chapter Volume 2 3

    ¡°Uhh, Kuh!¡±

    Zenjirou stretched his whole body to the limit, easing its stiffness, amidst the morning sun shining through the open windows after he had changed from the pyjamas into a T-shirt and trousers for the first time in eight days.

    The morning sun was still touched with red and the refreshing breeze, blowing in from the window, gently brushed over his body.

    ¡°Hah¡­Themon saying ¡®health is the greatest good¡¯ sure proves to be true.¡±

    Bathed in the morning sun, Zenjirou craned his neck and muttered emotional.

    He had been sick in bed from the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡± for seven days. The physician had diagnosed his full recovery yesterday. As the exanimation had beente in the day, he had only taken a bath, a real one for the first time in seven days,st night and then went to sleep prudently.

    Due to that, Zenjirou himself felt that he was ¡°fit and well from today on¡±.

    ¡°Come to think of, today¡¯s temperature¡­ Oh, just around twenty degrees. It¡¯s gone down quite a bit. No wonder it¡¯s so refreshing.¡±

    Looking at the thermometer on the wall, he checked the scale with the red fluid and raised a slightly surprised voice.

    Although it was always chillier at dawn, it certainly was morefortable when the temperatures dropped down to twenty degrees.

    At this rate, it might be eptable to spend the whole day without using ice or the fan today.

    It was necessary after all that he got used to the climate of this country and it was easier done when the highest temperature stopped at around thirty degrees, since he couldn¡¯t stand the days, where the temperature surpassed his body temperature.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell how long the fan or refrigerator willst after all.¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to call it to mind, but the lifespan of the electrical appliances was way shorter than a human¡¯s. Since he had no recements, the day, where he had to part with the electrical appliances, drew unavoidably closer.

    And even before the appliances stopped working, it was quite likely that he would have to leave the inner pce again, like during the previous banquet, and expose himself to the scorching heat of the Carpa Kingdom. Or alternatively, he would have to hide the electrical appliances when a guest visited him like during the sick bed visit from Princess Isabelle.

    In view of the future, it would be by no means pointless to get himself ustomed to the climate here while he still had the electrical leeway.

    ¡°Aw, I feel so weak. Though that¡¯s only natural. Maybe I¡¯ll do some toning or ball juggling exercises.

    I think I brought an air pump and my old ser ball along.¡±

    Zenjirou mumbled to himself as he touched his body over his T-shirt and trousers.

    It wasn¡¯t unusual that the body started to weaken beyond a mere weariness when you stayed in bed for a whole week.

    It would be dangerous in various ways to return to his shut-in lifestyle like this. Zenjirou could pass up on having a constitution, where he was out of breath just from getting up or walking around, at his young age, so he felt the need to impose some training on himself.

    ¡°It should be fine if I just get out into the garden, where the generator is located. I really need to move around for a bit.¡±

    After fishing the white-ck ser ball out of the corner of the room, Zenjirou let it bounce on the carpet to check if it had enough air and said that.

    So far, he had carelessly enjoyed his shut-in lifestyle to the fullest, albeit thinking ¡°my body¡¯s withering away¡±, but now that he had fallen sick once, he fully realized how important it was to preserve his physical strength.

    The physical fitness could make the difference between life or death. It was worth falling sick just to realize that.

    ¡°Whoops. It¡¯s a bit dangerous to juggle the ball here.¡±

    After juggling the ball a few times with the instep of his left foot, Zenjirou caught a slightly missed kick in his hands and stopped the juggling for now, looking around the room.

    This room, used as a living room by him, was ¡°ridiculousrge¡±pared to themon standard in Japan, but the power cords from all the electrical appliances stretched through the room in all directions, starting from the control unit of the generator standing near the wall, as if they were owning the ce.

    He had set them along the walls as much as possible as not to trip over them, but considering the position of the appliances and the length of the cables, some of them had to cross straight through the room here and there.

    It would be a disaster if he were to get entangled in them by mischance.

    ¡°The best bet would be to convert an empty room into an exercise room. Many of them are unused anyway.¡±

    Just in the moment he muttered that,

    ¡°Excuse me, Zenjirou-sama. I am here with your requested goods.¡±

    the entrance door was knocked and then a voice could be heard, to which Zenjirou replied at once.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ming.¡±

    Answering like that, he put the ser ball under his arm on the couch and headed for the door.

    Opening the door was the job of the waiting maid, but Zenjirou suspected that her hands were upied from her words ¡°with your requested goods¡±, so he opened the door from his end.

    And like he had expected, the waiting maid with unusual blonde hair for the Carpa Kingdom, held a wooden te with both her hands, her back straightened up.

    ¡°The kitchen staff has made it ording to your instructions.¡±

    Saying so, the waiting maid served him thinly sliced bananas fried in oil. Sea salt was sprinkled over them as the only seasoning.

    The snack called ¡°banana chips¡± was known in modern Japan, too, but he had them made these as a recement for potato chips.

    The mashed banana dish he had eaten when he was sick, was close to potatoes in taste, so he had arranged that the cooking ntain were prepared just like potato chips as an experiment.

    ¡°Oh, let me try one.¡±

    Zenjirou took one banana chip from the te the waiting maid presented him, and threw it into his mouth. Then he masticated the still warm chip with a crunching sound.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    The in taste of salt and high-ss vegetable oil spread in his mouth. As the fundamental intergradient was different, it was hardly anything like the original potato chips, but the taste was good enough for a substitute.

    ¡°How is it, Zenjirou-sama?¡±

    ¡°Yes, good. But they¡¯re a tad too thick. I wish you would cut them a bit more thinner next time.¡±

    ¡°Very well. I will pass it on ordingly.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Zenjirou took the wooden te from the waiting maid as she lowered her head curtly, and closed the door with these words.

    Back in the room, Zenjirou put the te on the low table and sat down on the couch.

    ¡°Hmm, they¡¯re a bit hard, but a good alternative to potato chips. They aren¡¯t sweet like a banana dessert either.¡±

    The taste was more nostalgic than delicious.

    It had been a few month since Zenjirou came into this world. He considered it to be too early to miss Japan yet, but it was an undeniable fact that he had recalled the Japanese food numerous times when he was sick in bed until yesterday.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t fancy himself as a person that made a fuss over food and in fact, he hadn¡¯t anything toin about regarding the food in this world so far. However, he had realized during his illness that it was a different matter altogether when he was weakened in mind and body.

    He didn¡¯t intend to be wilful or self-indulgent, but it might not be all that bad to reproduce the Japanese cuisine here within the limits of feasibility by asking the kitchen staff of the inner pce (speaking of, Aura had told him ¡°Do as you please¡± with a beaming smile in response to it).

    Zenjirou had more or less stopped eating snacks once he became a working adult, but now that he had tasted the ¡°deliciousness¡± of pseudo-potato chips, he could no longer ignore a nostalgia due to his pte.

    ¡°I¡¯m d that sugar is nothing unusual in this country. Maybe I¡¯ll experiment a bit on the sweet front? Ah, but while eggs are viable, I think it¡¯s nearly impossible to get any milk products. So it must be sweets without milk or butter¡­ Hmm, did I bring any recipes like that?¡±

    The livestock in the Carpa Kingdom, whose climate was close to the tropical forest, was generally ¡°dragons¡±¡ª meaning reptiles. Needless to say, reptiles didn¡¯t produce milk. And although they didy eggs, the eggs of reptiles were rather different from the eggs of birds.

    That said, it wasn¡¯t fundamentally impossible to raise mammals here, since he knew that even countries with strict environments in Indian or Equatorial Africa, sharing the same heat as the Carpa Kingdom, managed to raise cows or pigs without problems.

    For instance, some ces like the pce managed to raise a bird that resembled a chicken as a livestock.

    The reason that mammals generally weren¡¯t raised as livestock on the South Continent was more due to the ecosystem on the continent and cultural customs up to this point rather than the problematic climate.

    ¡°If I could somehow obtain some milk, I could make them build a manual centrifuge and try to make some butter or fresh cream. Ah, but, I didn¡¯t bring a microwave oven, so it would be difficult to make sweets myself, even if I¡¯ve the ingredients.¡±

    Although he had lived by himself for seven years during his university and sryman days, his cooking skills didn¡¯t amount to much.

    His cooking repertoire only consisted of ¡°curry¡±, ¡°stew¡±, ¡°hashed meat with rice¡± or simple fried stuff from a single fry-pan like fried rice with vegetables.

    To begin with, it wouldn¡¯t be all too admirable when Zenjirou, a royalty, stood in the kitchen. Considering the waiting maids¡¯ responsibilities, it was better to assume that the option of ¡°cooking by himself¡± didn¡¯t exist.

    ¡°In that case, I can only teach the recipe to the kitchen staff once I thought of a feasible dish after taking a look at the avable ingredients.¡±

    Sitting on the couch and picking at the banana chips, Zenjirou muttered that while preparing a DVD to watch as a pastime.

    * * *

    At night of the same day, Aura and Zenjirou finally had some quality time again in their room of the inner pce after dinner and a bath.

    ¡°In short, you want to exercise a bit to keep in shape?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the gist of it. What do you say? May I turn the courtyard or a room in the inner pce into my practice room?¡±

    Aura and Zenjirou sat intimately snuggled together with their shoulders touching on the same couch and talked.

    They discussed Zenjirou¡¯s idea from this morning: ¡°exercise to stay healthy¡±.

    Originally, Zenjirou was the master of the inner pce, so he didn¡¯t need to get the permission from anyone to use a random room of the inner pce for juggling or to dribble in the courtyard, but that he asked Aura for every little thing showed how much hecked self-awareness as the ¡°master of the inner pce¡±.

    ¡°Mhm, I do not know what kind of exercise this so called ser is, but if you want to keep yourself in shape, why not try your hand at martial arts? It does not hurt to learn the ¡®ten arts¡¯.¡±

    Aura put a banana chip from the wooden te on the table into her mouth after saying that.

    ¡°Ten arts?¡±

    Zenjirou repeated the unfamiliar term like a parrot, whereat Aura exined the ten arts to him in detail.

    ¡°Right. It refers to the ten martial arts that a soldier is supposed to learn in the Carpa Kingdom: Running, Spearmanship, Archery, Riding on Dragons, Tree Climbing, Swimming, Camping Outside, Stone Throwing, Swordsmanship and Barehanded Fighting.

    Nevertheless, only a handful of knights have mastered all of them. Only three of them, namely running, spearmanship and archery are essential. Knights-in-training have to learn riding on dragons on top of that. One or two more of the rest are refined as special skills.¡±

    ¡°Oho¡­¡±

    Zenjirou raised a voice of admiration. Was it simr to the ¡°Eighteen Arms of Wushu¡± carried over to old Japan? Now in his twenties, he didn¡¯t think he could properly learn one thiste in the game, but his interest was piqued. However, he replied after musing for a bit.

    ¡°Sounds interesting, but who would teach them to me?¡±

    ¡°Mh? Of course I would select a capable instructor from the royal army for you.¡±

    Aura replied while picking up a banana chip, whereupon Zenjirou showed an expression that seemed to say ¡°figured as much¡±. Then he shook his head distinctly.

    ¡°That won¡¯t be any good. It would be a man, right? That means, I would¡¯ve to leave the inner pce to attend lessons. And that probablyplicates matters to no end. Besides, having a ¡®master-pupil rtionship¡¯, even if it¡¯s limited to martial arts, seems troubling in various ways.¡±

    Zenjirou answered like that while recalling the faces of the club advisers from the ser clubs in middle and high school.

    They had been simple advisers for the clubs, but still deserved to be called ¡°teachers¡±, so when he ran into them on the streets, he had reflexively stood at attention. And it would surely have an even greater effect on him if it was his instructor for lethal martial arts.

    It went without saying that a person would try to approach Zenjirou in some kind of way due to the chance of being his ¡°instructor¡±.

    Being involved with one such troublesome person, namely his magic teacher Octavia, was enough for him.

    Aura couldn¡¯t hide her wry smile as she replied to him after swallowing the banana chip.

    ¡°Zenjirou, you do not need to be so considerate. You may conduct yourself a bit more as you please. I am prepared to make it happen to a permissible amount.¡±

    Zenjirou scratched his head upon his wife¡¯s answer

    ¡°Well, of course I don¡¯t want to cause you any trouble, but if anything, this is more about my own conveniences. Simply put, I¡¯m interested in martial arts, but not so much as to raise trouble for myself.¡±

    and replied with that.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Aura kept silent for a while, then looked into the eyes of her husband sitting next to her.

    In the end, she nodded with ¡°fine¡±, as she realised that Zenjirou was telling the truth.

    ¡°Then I will not press you any further. Still, when you say that you want to learn martial arts without being tied to aplicated person and without leaving the inner pce, then shall I teach you when I have time?¡±

    Zenjirou inadvertently widened his eyes towards Aura¡¯s surprising proposal.

    ¡°Eh? You?¡±

    As her husband asked back, Aura threw a couple of banana chips at one go into her mouth and replied affirmative while chewing.

    ¡°Yes. Although I only have mastered the basic three skills plus riding and swordsmanship.¡±

    Come to think of it, Aura had survived in a world of war. It was nothing unusual to know a military skill or two. Zenjirou said to his wife convinced with sparkling eyes.

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing. Then I¡¯ll take you up on it whenever you¡¯re free.¡±

    ¡°Good, you can count on me.¡±

    Aura nodded satisfied upon his reply and picked up a couple more banana chips from the wooden te.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The crunching sound of Aura eating the banana chips resounded through the room of the inner pce for a little while longer.

    In no time, the heap of banana chips had decreased so much that the bottom of the wooden te became visible. Incidentally, Zenjirou had only eaten a handful.

    When Aura reached out for the te one more time after she swallowed the chips in her mouth, Zenjirou spoke up as he could no longer stand on the sidelines.

    ¡°Hey, my dear wife.¡±

    ¡°Mh? What is it, my dear husband?¡±

    His wife only turned her head towards him while still holding onto the banana chips with her right hand. Zenjirou faltered for a moment, then opened his mouth without hesitation.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you like the sweets from my hometown, but I think you better stop now. It might not look like it, but they use quite a bit of oil. I¡¯m a bit worried about my wife¡¯s health.¡±

    Therge te had been full to the brim with banana chips. Way too much for a little snack and overcharged with calories.

    ¡°Mh? Now that you mention it. Guess it was too much.¡±

    Aura finally stopped reaching out for the banana chips upon her husband¡¯s words. Zenjirou stood up from the couch, took a chilled towel form the refrigerator and gave it to Aura.

    ¡°Here, wipe the oil from your hands.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s because you didn¡®t finish your dinner? But you shouldn¡¯t fill your stomach with this junk food.¡±

    The extremely unusual rebuke of her husband made Aura shrug her shoulders rightfully as she wiped her hands, sitting on the couch.

    ¡°Mhm, I have nothing to say back. But the fish dish tonight was just crude.¡±

    The Carpa Kingdom spanned wide enough to have a coastline, but the capital with the pce was located in the deepest interior of the country. Therefore all fish dishes in the pce were made from river fishes without exception.

    Generally, river fishes often tasted cruder than saltwater fishes.

    However, Zenjirou tilted his head puzzled upon Aura¡¯s excuse.

    ¡°Eh, really? I wouldn¡¯t say that the fish tasted crude in particr today.¡±

    Zenjirou himself had only ever eaten saltwater fishes in Japan, so he disliked river fishes a bit. Wouldn¡¯t he notice it first when the fish tasted noticeable crude, since Aura was used to river fishes instead?

    That was what he thought, but the sense of taste or smell were affected by your physical condition after all.

    His own senses must have been dulled as he had been ill not long ago. Zenjirou concluded that all by himself and didn¡¯t pursue the matter any further.

    ¡°I usually do not like vourful dishes that do not skimp on oil like fried stuff in the first ce. But for some reason, I could not help myself today.¡±

    After Aura diligently wiped the oil from the banana chips off her right hand with the towel, she made an excuse like that, but Zenjirou naturally didn¡¯t buy it.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s hardly convincing to say that after you nearly emptied the whole te.¡±

    Her husband sat down next to her again with these words, whereat Aura pursed her mouth up displeased and made more excuses.

    ¡°Well, I agree, but it is the truth. If I have to choose, I would say that I am not fond of vourful oil dishes. It does not go as far as disgust, but I would never crave for them¡­ Normally, I mean.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure, sure. Let¡¯s save the rest for tomorrow, okay.¡±

    Back on the couch, Zenjirou brushed it off by saying that and put a cover over the te with the banana chips.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Aura wanted to object, but realized that she was currently at a disadvantage, so she changed the topic while refraining from protesting any further.

    ¡°Oh, reminds me, I handed over our ¡®wedding rings¡¯ to Princess Isabelle to have them made into magic tools. Also, I presented her one of these ¡®marbles¡¯, since she estimated them for me. Forgive me for not consulting you as you were sick in bed.¡±

    She made a pretty obvious topic change on a rare asion, but Zenjirou had no interest in teasing his wife excessively, so he obediently epted the new topic.

    ¡°Ah, no problem. They were only a backup for when the summoning fails anyway. I already told you that I¡¯m leaving the decision about what to do with them to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you did. Then I will dly do so. However, the marbles have gotten a higher price than I expected, so I would like to talk about it with you, since they belong to you.¡±

    Aura assumed a slightly serious expression again and sat back down on the couch, starting to exin swiftly.

    ¡°Hmm, fifty gold coins for a single marble, huh.¡±

    After Zenjirou heard out Aura¡¯s whole story, he didn¡¯t quite get the point of it.

    ¡°If I remembered correctly, one gold coins is more or less worth a hundred silver coins? But I¡¯ve no clue about the prices in this world, so just saying fifty gold coins doesn¡¯t tell me anything.¡±

    After all, he came from a different world. Moreover, he had never bought anything, nor paid for food, because he had shut himself into the inner pce ever since he came here.

    Since he had written the tax yields of every region into hisputer, he knew at least the general currencies, but to be honest, it didn¡¯t feel real to him.

    ¡°With fifty gold coins, a lower ss noble can buy a house that barely allows him to keep face. As the price for a single jewellery, it is exorbitant.¡±

    ¡°A whole house? That¡¯s certainly amazing.¡±

    Zenjirouprehended a bit of its amazing magnitude from the example.

    (In Japanese yen, a whole house would cost several millions. Ah, but the prices for a property or the house itself might not be as high as in modern Japan)

    For now, it should suffice when he simply internalized that the price surpassed his own estimate by far. Zenjirou told himself that and brought the matter to end for now.

    ¡°A different world means different prices. I anticipated that, but I¡¯m still a bit surprised.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like these so-called marbles had a rather trivial price in your world?¡±

    Zenjirou casually replied to the curious Aura.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s cheap stuff. Simply said, they¡¯re toys for children. One is worth ten yen, thirty if it¡¯s an expensive one.

    Oh, by ¡®yen¡¯ I mean the general currency of my country. The prices here are different, so you can¡¯t covert them one-to-one, but know that a new-build house would cost at least ten million yen at the cheapest.¡±

    Aura swiftly calcted in her head upon his words and said groaning.

    ¡°Considering these numbers, it would mean that two marbles could be bought with one silver coin.¡±

    In fact, the calction would vary every time depending on whether you extrapted it tobour wages, to the price of staple food like wheat or rice, or to the cost of a single average meal. Therefore, a single silver coin couldn¡¯t be equalled with twenty yen, but it sufficed for a rough calction.

    One marble was originally worth around ten yen, but here it was worth fifty gold coins. That was roughly a million times the value.

    ¡°Yeah, so I was certainly a bit surprised. If we were to mass-produce marbles here, I¡¯ll be a billionaire in no time? Ah, no. It¡¯s so valuable, because it¡¯s so rare. If we were to flood the market with them, the price would plummet and all would be in vain.¡±

    Zenjirou kept on talking about ideas and discarding them, but Aura stopped listening to them midway.

    The all too shocking word she had heard in the middle of the sentence kind of stopped her train of thought and she grabbed the arm of her husband in that state.

    ¡°Aura?¡±

    ¡°¡­Wait a moment. What did you just say? Did you say ¡®produce¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yeah. I did, why¡­?¡±

    Zenjirou, overwhelmed by his wife, who looked at him with ring eyes and held his arm, answered like that while bending back.

    He was obviously retreating from her, but in her current state, Aura had no leeway to concern herself with that.

    She drew closer to him with a serious expression.

    ¡°Does that mean it is no mineral? I thought it was mined out of nature like crystals or agate¡­¡±

    ¡°N- No. Marbles are ss. They¡¯re manmade frompounding stuff like sand and lime.¡±

    ¡°Sand and lime¡­ Do you know how to produce it?¡±

    Even Zenjirou knew what Aura hoped for after asking this much.

    He repositioned himself on top of the couch and showed a wry smile, then shook his head.

    ¡°Nope. No way. ss manufacture exists since before themon era, so I guess it wouldn¡¯t be impossible to reproduce it in this world, too, but it requires some specialized knowledge and techniques. It¡¯s not something an amateur like me can learn by imitating.¡±

    Aura burst out inughter right after hearing his answer.

    ¡°¡­I see. Guess it does not turn out that convenient after all.¡±

    Still holding his right arm with both her hands, Aura hung her head dejected on top of the couch.

    Zenjirou felt a needless guilt from seeing his wifepletely disappointed and utteredforting words out of reflex.

    ¡°Ah, but one of episodes on the DVDs I brought along should be about trying to make ss. I doubt we¡¯ll be able to copy it from just watching it, but want to take a look anyway?¡±

    Aura¡¯s reaction to his words was once again dramatic.

    ¡°I do!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get it ready.¡±

    Zenjirou gently loosened his wife¡¯s tight grip on his right arm and stood up to get the DVD.

    * * *

    A couple of minutester, Zenjirou and Aura faced the television, sitting intimately shoulder-to-shoulder on the couch.

    The TV showed a certain show, paused by Zenjirou. The show revolved around a male idol group building a vige from scratch and even trying their hand at agriculture. The chosen and yed episode dealt with the attempt to make ss.

    Next to Aura, who intensely red at the screen with a serious expression, Zenjirou tranted and exined the words of the characters or narrator while temporarily pausing the show numerous times with the remote control.

    After all, the ¡°soul of words¡± didn¡¯t work on words transmitted through a machine. Without his interpretation, Aura couldn¡¯t understand a single word that she heard from the screen.

    ¡°Ehm, temperatures over 1300 degree are needed to melt ss. So you first build a furnace out of ¡®firebricks¡¯ that can endure such heat.¡±

    ¡°Oho, I see. These so-called ¡®firebricks¡¯ alone seem to be quite worthwhile already. Incidentally, how hot is a temperature of 1300 degree?¡±

    ¡°Ehm¡­ I think they said the melting temperature for cast iron was 1200 during the previous episode where they stroke the iron, so it¡¯s a temperature hundred degrees higher than the one for melting the unclean and hard iron.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Even higher than for melting iron? There are no furnaces on the South Continent that can liquefy iron.¡±

    ¡°That means somewhere else there are?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the North Continent is the leading power in regards to iron manufacture. I heard that they have the techniques to melt and mint iron. In our country all iron is forged. We can mint copper and tin at best.¡±

    ¡°Oho, so a technological gap exists in this world, too.¡±

    Aura had tracked the screen with a serious expression, but with Zenjirou¡¯s exnation, her face gradually turned grimmer.

    ¡°Wait, what did they say just now?¡±

    ¡°That you won¡¯t get ¡®firebricks¡¯ from just kneading normal y. So they made them by mixing the y with the grinded powder from broken ¡®firebricks¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­Then, how do you make them when you do not have any broken ¡®firebricks¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Good question.¡±

    The DVD yed on with Aura¡¯s mood slightly sour.

    She then listened to Zenjirou¡¯s exnation again and raised a sharp voice.

    ¡°Wait. What did that mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, quite a high temperature is needed to burn the ¡®firebricks¡¯, so they built a special hearth for it.¡±

    ¡°And how did they build that hearth?¡±

    ¡°With ¡®firebricks¡¯ that they got from some other ce.¡±

    ¡°¡­Then, where do you burn the firebricks when there is no ce to get them from?¡±

    ¡°Good question.¡±

    Zenjirou continued his exnation while trembling a bit in fear next to his wife, whose mood became even more sour.

    It really was no use to get angry at him like that. This show was nothing but an entertainment program he had recorded and not a genuine manual for manufacturing ss. The technique to make ss wasn¡¯t so simple that it could be learned just from watching this clip. He thought that he had told Aura that beforehand, but it seemed that it didn¡¯t quite reach her.

    Her hope for a possible manufacture of ss must have been too high.

    Well, he could certainly sympathize with her dissatisfaction.

    Even Zenjirou would go nuts for a bit when he was told that the moulds of y, mixed with grinded ¡°firebricks¡±, had to slowly burn in a hearth built with ¡°firebricks¡± in the process of making ¡°firebricks¡±.

    It would be no different than writing ¡°firebricks¡± into the list of required items in the manual for ¡°making firebricks¡±. It certainly was a bit unreasonable.

    ¡°I mean, the first ¡®firebricks¡¯ were made without ¡®firebricks¡¯, correct? Do you know of that method?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­¡±

    Aura showed her full dissatisfaction on a rare asion, so Zenjirou patted her back with his free hand.

    ¡°Calm down, my dear wife.¡±

    ¡°Impossible, my dear husband.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, whoa.¡±

    ¡°NEIGH, NEIGH.¡±

    Seeing as Aura yed along with Zenjirou¡¯s jokes, her dissatisfaction must not be from the bottom of her heart.

    ¡°So, what now? It won¡¯t be useful anyway, so want to stop here?¡±

    Zenjirou confirmed the time with a side-nce to the clock and suggested that, but Aura mused for a bit, then shook her head.

    ¡°¡­No, we started it, so we might as well finish it. Who knows, there might actually be some kind of finding.¡±

    ¡°I doubt it.¡±

    Zenjirou said it in a small voice like a whisper, so it didn¡¯t seem to reach the Aura¡¯s ears as she sat next to him.

    At the time disyed on the clock, he would normally already be getting intimate with her in the bedroom.

    As Zenjirou had slept thest seven days all alone due to his sickness, he had looked forward to tonight quite a bit, but he might have to ¡°hold it in¡± for yet another night.

    (Well, what choice do I have? Not like my wife will leave me)

    ¡°Then let¡¯s continue, my dear wife.¡±

    ¡°¡­Okay, my dear husband.¡±

    Zenjirou showed a wry smile in her bind spot, so that she couldn¡¯t see it, and twined the hand he had on the back of his beloved wife around her shoulders, then continued to interpret and exin the show while he pulled her body into an embrace.

    * * *

    The early afternoon on the next day.

    Queen Aura sat in front of the royal physician, Doctor Michelle, and quietly exposed her voluminous chest to a great extent.

    ¡°Excuse me, Your Highness. Do you feel anything when I press here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it feels a bit strained.¡±

    ¡°And here?¡±

    ¡°No, nothing in particr.¡±

    A voluptuous woman exposed her breasts and an older man felt up her body. On a nce, it looked rather lewd, but Aura was way too unashamed for it to be erotic and Doctor Michelle was simply focussed on his job.

    Before long, Doctor Michelle finished his exanimation of Aura, nodded once and told her.

    ¡°Okay, Your Highness, you may cover up your front now.¡±

    ¡°Good. So, Doctor Michelle, did you discover anything?¡±

    Aura asked that while she retied the shoulder straps of her dress, whereat Doctor Michelle mused for a while with a wrinkle between his greyed eyebrows, then answered her question.

    ¡°Your Highness, please let me confirm onest thing. You said that at first your body felt weak like due to a small fever when you woke up, right?

    ¡°Indeed. Also, when I stand up from a chair, my vision gets blurry.¡±

    ¡°Have you experienced any change in your senses of smell or taste in thest few days?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The fish tasted rather crude and I excessively ate a vourful food that I am usually not fond of.¡±

    ¡°And what is more, you feel some strain in your abdomen.¡±

    ¡°Yes, though I was not aware of it until your exanimation.¡±

    ¡°Moreover, your ¡®menstruation¡¯ is already two monthte.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but my ¡®menstruation¡¯ has always been irregr. During the war, it even had beente for half a year once.¡±

    Aura¡¯s eyes, looking at Doctor Michelle, were filled with a certain hope as she answered.

    At first, she had suspected that she was under the weather and called for Doctor Michelle, but considering his question, she could more or less guess what he was going to say.

    Pregnant.

    This aged physician considered that the reason for Aura¡¯s qualm.

    And thinking about it, it was more than reasonable. It had been a couple of month since Aura shared the bed with Zenjirou. It would be by no means strange for her to show symptoms of a pregnancy.

    As thest survivor of the royal family, Aura had the obligation to bear a child to continue her bloodline, but it had been her wish in equal measure, too.

    ¡°So, how is it, Doctor Michelle?¡±

    Aura leaned forward on the chair and waited for the old physician¡¯s words.

    Doctor Michelle cleared his throat with a cough, then presented his conclusion.

    ¡°I cannot be all too sure just yet, but as far as I see it, it is quite likely that you are pregnant. Still, when you are indeed pregnant, please be careful from now on as you are getting into the period with the highest chance of a miscarriage.¡±

    It was difficult to specify a pregnancy in this world without a pregnancy test, unless the stomach stood out. Especially for women like Aura, who had an irregr menstruation.

    The aged physician didn¡¯t assert it, but his words had some conviction in them, so Aura showed a bright smile.

    ¡°Oho, I see! But to think that the change in my sense of taste sprang from the pregnancy. I had thought for sure that one would crave for fruits during a pregnancy.¡±

    ¡°That is only the mostmon manifestation. In reality, it varies for each person. In your case, Your Highness, you crave for some vourful food while others may have a desire for sweet things.

    In the worst case, one may even be thirsting for alcohol and the most unmanageable type ¡®does not want to eat anything¡¯,bined with the morning sickness thatester.¡±

    ¡°Then I take it that I should refrain from alcohol during the pregnancy?¡±

    Aura loved alcohol, even without an exceptional appetite, so she inquired while slightly twisting the mouth.

    Doctor Michelle distorted his gentle face upon her words and opened his mouth.

    ¡°That goes without saying. There are a lot of other things you have to take heed of, too. In the first ce, the amount of alcohol you usually imbibe is a bit¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. It is for my child, so I will not talk back. Just say the word.¡±

    Aura showed the frowning physician a wry smile and raised both her arms in defeat.

    * * *

    ¡°Eh, pregnant!? Really?¡±

    At night of the same day, Zenjirou heard the news about his wife¡¯s pregnancy from her and reacted with surprise.

    He literally jumped up from the couch, rushed towards Aura, who still stood at the entrance of the room, and inspected her stomach from a short distance.

    Still smiling happily, Aura caressed her own stomach with her right hand while slowly heading towards the couch.

    ¡°Well, it is not certain yet. Just the probability for it is high. My ¡®menstruation¡¯ is rather irregr, so not even Doctor Michelle could make a definite statement. Naturally, I will act with the assumption from now on that there is a child in my stomach, seeing as the probability is high. I believe it will cause you some inconveniences as well, but I ask for your help.¡±

    ¡°O- Of course. Yeah, I¡¯ll do anything I can.¡±

    Zenjirou answered Aura as she sat down on the couch, but like most males in this situation, it still didn¡¯t feel real to him that he would be a father and he moved about in confusion.

    Normally he would sit down next to Aura with a nonchnt face, but now he sat down on the opposite couch with a meek expression.

    Until yesterday, he had embraced her shoulders and pushed her down on the bed like it was nothing, but suddenly the body of his wife seemed like a fragile object.

    Aura smiled a bit upon the obvious agitation her husband showed, but didn¡¯t urge him to sit beside her like usually.

    When all is said and done, it was a first experience for Aura, too. Their individual feelings might not beparable, but she was possibly more nervous than him.

    ¡°Well, to be honest, I have no idea what we are supposed to do, so I cannot tell you to do anything at this point.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, okay. Mhm, a baby, huh.¡±

    He had been prepared. To begin with, the main reason Aura summoned him from a different world to take him as her husband was to ¡°preserve the bloodline¡±, so it would have been weird instead if he hadn¡¯t been prepared. Still, now that it hade to it, he was stricken with a shock that was difficult to put into words.

    It was an overwhelming feeling like the joy and worry weighted on him like a pressure. A tension that made him want to run away, even though there was no way that he wasn¡¯t happy about it.

    Zenjirou tightly joined his hands together on hisp and noticed that his fingertips had gonepletely cold and stiff from the tension.

    He rubbed the palms of his hands together as to warm up his tensed fingertips while he asked a relevant question to disguise his tension.

    ¡°But in that case, I guess it would be bad to sleep together from tonight on. Of course we¡¯ll have to postpone the night activities, but before that, I don¡¯t have such a good sleeping posture.¡±

    The bed they usually slept in was ridiculous huge with a size bigger than a one-room mansion in downtown, but they slept in the middle of it while embracing each other.

    He had already found his arms or legs on Aura¡¯s body on several asions when he woke up in the morning. A leg/arm or two on top of her wouldn¡¯t increase the likeliness of a miscarriage so easily, but even if there was only a one percent chance, he ought to avoid it.

    Aura had kept smiling the whole time, but on Zenjirou¡¯s argument her face twitched.

    The smile vanished form her face and a serious expression took its ce. She correct her posture and slowly opened her mouth.

    ¡°Right. Doctor Michelle also said it would certainly pose a remote danger to share the bed now that I am under the suspicion of being pregnant.¡±

    Aura¡¯s tone as she said that, showed a slight hint of sounding out her husband¡¯s attitude, but it was just too weak for Zenjirou to notice it as he was currently out of it due to tension and surprise.

    ¡°Then we can¡¯t afford to sleep together. Tonight we¡¯ve no other choice but to sleep in separate rooms and tomorrow, we¡¯ll have them add another bed to our bedroom during the day. Then I¡¯ll sleep on that one from tomorrow on.¡±

    The husband proposed a rearrangement of their bedroom, so that he could sleep in the same room as his wife now that it was likely that she was pregnant and they couldn¡¯t copte anymore.

    The suggestion sounded very attractive to the wife, but Aura was a Queen before a wife, so she couldn¡¯t agree to it right away.

    ¡°Are you really fine with that?¡±

    She asked him while keeping her serious expression.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Zenjirou couldn¡¯tprehend the meaning behind her question and made a dumbfounded utterance.

    Aura observed the face of her husband, which was bathed in the white light of the LED floormps, with sharp attention to see through any lie and asked with more direct words this time.

    ¡°When you still let me into the bedroom while I am pregnant, it would mean that you cannot invite ¡®other women¡¯ into the bedroom, you know?¡±

    Even Zenjirou¡¯s brain, which wasn¡¯t fully working right now, could understand such clear words.

    In short, Aura implied the possibility that Zenjirou wouldy hands on other women while she was pregnant.

    (Oh, right. I¡¯m technically royalty, so it normally wouldn¡¯t be strange for me to have other wives besides Aura, I guess)

    He had learned in thest few months that very few males amongst royalty have had only one wife.

    So far, no one had disturbed their happy married life, since the absolute duty to have a ¡°legitimate heir of royal blood¡± with Aura was pending, but when the crucial factor, namely Aura, was already pregnant and he couldn¡¯t sleep with her anymore, then other women would definitely make a move¡ª or more precisely, influential nobles would send out women.

    Zenjirou, realising his own situation, openly frowned, then replied with a tone that sounded like he would click his tongue any moment.

    ¡°I¡¯m not such a good-for-nothing that I would run off to another woman as soon as my own wife is pregnant with my child. Actually, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have the time to think about anything but you and the child until you¡¯ve safely given birth.¡±

    His statement was slightly exaggerated, but true to eighty percent. Right now might be one thing, but it certainly was going too far to say that he would worry about Aura¡¯s well-being the whole long time until she gave birth, but in the unlikely event that he epted a concubine, Aura¡¯s face would definitely pop up in his head if he were to share the bed with the concubine.

    At this point, this was nothing but a spection, but one he would vouch for.

    His words sounded a bit like a passionate confession of love, so Aura stopped her cheeks from blushing with her willpower and replied while still keeping a serious expression.

    ¡°However, the problem at hand is that the important nobles will definitely make a move as soon as my pregnancy is confirmed and announced publicly. It is more reasonable for them to do so than for you to refuse in this case.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess¡­ but Aura, you told me to be a bit more selfish, right? Will you ept it as my selfishness when I say that ¡®I don¡¯t want that¡¯?¡±

    Her husband had always considered her standpoint and never been selfish to an extent, where it was irritating, but he named his first selfishness now. Aura would¡¯ve never anticipated that it would be in regards to ¡°denying a concubine¡±.

    She felt a joy that heated up her body to the bone and didn¡¯t even hide her surprise.

    ¡°To think you would go so far. Are you that against it?¡±

    Zenjirou sat down on the ck leather couch again, then looked straight into Aura¡¯s eyes and nodded.

    ¡°Yes. If I had to choose between like and dislike, I would say dislike. And If I had to choose between like, dislike or neither, I would still say dislike.

    Well, I¡¯m aware that I¡¯ve to fulfil my role as royalty once I married you, so I¡¯ll do my best to somehow ept one if it puts you or the country at a disadvantage when I refuse, but¡­ to be honest, I¡¯m not confident that I can pull it off.¡±

    ¡°Mhm, I never knew you were this upright.¡±

    Zenjirou showed a wry smile on Aura¡¯s evaluation and denied it with a wave of his hand in front of his face.

    ¡°Nah, it got nothing to do with being upright. For example, I once had a girlfriend for roughly a year. If you had summoned me for marriage during that time, I would¡¯ve probably dumped her for you without a second thought.

    I might have even resorted to adultery if it were possible to freely move between our worlds. So I¡¯m not really upright. Just like I said before, it¡¯s just my selfishness.

    I would just hate it when the long-awaited rtionship with my lovely wife turns awkward because an outsider makes a woman I don¡¯t love barge in between.¡±

    ¡°Hardly probable that it will be awkward. I certainly will not be pleased when you sleep with another woman, but I know my ce as royalty enough as not to express it.¡±

    Aura unexpectedly objected like that, whereat Zenjirou replied with a sullen face.

    ¡°It would be awkward for me. I¡¯m not so impudent as to have an affair at night and ask my pregnant wife ¡®how¡¯s our child?¡¯ during the day.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Aura was at a loss for words.

    His strong opposition was beyond her expectation. Or rather, she didn¡¯t expect him to oppose the idea to begin with. Rejecting a concubine under normal circumstances was already arguable, but to do the same while the legal wife was pregnant made you quite an oddball amongst direct royalty.

    (Oh¡­ Before I knew it, I expected my husband, amoner from a different world, to have the same values as nobles in our world)

    As that thought crossed her mind, Aura realized once again now that her husband was not from a typical lineage.

    In a way, she had been ¡°spoilt¡° by him.

    She had unconsciously reckoned that her husbandprehends her position and epts her suggestions without needing any detailed exnations or persuasions, so she couldn¡¯t deny it if she were to be called ¡°spoilt¡±.

    (Not good. I told him to be more selfish, but in my mind, I took it for ¡°granted¡± that he would not be selfish¡­)

    Aura closed her eyes in self-reflection and made a small sigh.

    It came in an unexpected way, but her husband mentioned his first selfishness. She wanted toply with it, if possible. Moreover, it concerned the ¡°refusal of a concubine¡±, so naturally, Aura dly wanted to grant that ¡°selfishness¡± on an emotional level, too.

    However, what did reality look like? Was pushing aside a concubine here still considered a permitted selfishness, rationally considering the current rtionship between the royal family and the important nobility?

    In the worst case, it would be misunderstood as Aura¡¯s selfishness instead of Zenjirou¡¯s.

    And the likeliness of that was rather high. In view of their respective positions, it was more natural that Aura was the one rejecting the concubine.

    The criticism wouldn¡¯t be fatal, if others weree to the wrong conclusion that Aura ignored her husband¡¯s will and rejected the concubine, but quite painful nevertheless.

    Before long, Aura opened her eyes and dered with a calm tone.

    ¡°Fine. I will try my best to have it settled in ordance with your will. I promise you. However, I am the Queen. Although it is a familial promise, I will have to break it if brings about arge disadvantage to my country that I cannot ignore.

    Be prepared for that¡­ and forgive me.¡±

    Aura lowered her head a bit with a serious face, whereupon Zenjirou showed her his usual gentle smile for the first time today.

    ¡°¡­I get it. You don¡¯t have to take it so serious. I¡¯m well aware of my own position. And you know, it might affect the child if you¡¯re feeling down.¡±

    Aura raised her head as he spoke and rxed her expression on his words.

    ¡°Yes, you are right. Well then, we are pressed for time, so shall we call it a day now?¡±

    Saying so, she stood up from the couch.

    Zenjirou tilted his head puzzled for a moment, but then realized right away what Aura was getting at. They had decided not to sleep in the same bed. As it was toote now to prepare another bed in the bedroom, there was no other way but to sleep in a different room than Aura tonight.

    The words ¡°one more night in the same bed wouldn¡¯t hurt¡± were on the tip of his tongue, but Zenjirou forcibly swallowed them down and stood up.

    Zenjirou was given only one great responsibility, namely to let Aura bear a healthy child. By no means could he afford to spoil that of all things.

    ¡°Okay. Be careful. Try to keep your stomach warm.¡±

    ¡°I know. Doctor Michelle gave me a long speech already, too. No alcohol, no long baths, never bathing alone and watching out for my sleeping posture. If it turns out that I am not pregnant after all these restrictions, I will not able to stand for a while because I feel so drained.¡±

    ¡°Ahaha. It just shows how important you and that baby are.¡±

    While exchanging words like that, Aura moved to in front of the exit of the room, being seen off by Zenjirou.

    The six LED floormps were ced around the main living area, namely the center of the room, so the space, where she was standing, was gloomy.

    ¡°Well then.¡±

    Amidst this gloominess, Aura faced her husband one more time before grabbing the door knob and twined her arms around his neck.

    ¡°Yeah, good night.¡±

    Zenjirou epted the embrace without protest and put his hands on his wife¡¯s back and waist, then pulled her voluptuous brown body closer and kissed her lightly.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Mmm¡­ Good night.¡±

    After they exchange a kiss and an embrace to feel each other¡¯s warmth, Aura left the room with a regretful smile.

    * * *

    After wishing her husband a good night, the Queen headed not to a different bedroom, but to a room in the pce.

    ¡°Wee back, Your Highness. How did it go?¡±

    The middle-aged man with a slender face, standing in the dark room, asked and bowed respectfully.

    ¡°So dark here. Make some more light.¡±

    Aura said with a casual tone, then lowered her bottom onto the chair made of vines as energetic as always, but stopped midday as she suddenly came to a realisation and sat down with care.

    ¡°Yes, please give me a moment.¡±

    Secretary Fabio used the fire of an oil pan to lit the candles on the candle stands while Aura leaned back and started to talk with her eyes still upturned.

    ¡°For now, I told my husband about my possible pregnancy and the implicated matter of a concuber on. But he mentioned an unexpected ¡®selfishness¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Oho? How rare. What did he say?¡±

    ¡°Well, it is nothingplicated. To get to the point, my husband does not want to take a concubine if possible. His reason is¡­¡±

    Aura then let her secretary, who warily narrowed his eyes to slits, in on the earlier conversation with her husband with a carefree tone.

    ¡°I see now. In other words, he would rather share the bedroom with Your Highness, whom he cannot sleep with, than to sleep with a concubine. Oh my, you sure are loved, Your Highness.¡±

    After her secretary had heard the story from beginning to end, he directed slightly teasing words at his master.

    ¡°Yes. Thanks to that, I am blessed with the happiest married life ever. Still, for that very reason, I have to reflect on myself now. It appears that I took my ¡®sympathetic husband¡¯ for far too granted.¡±

    ¡°Certainly. I should never have imagined it possible that Zenjirou-sama¡¯s ¡®selfishness¡¯ would take such a shape. In fact, I, too, have started to be ustomed to his understanding personality.¡±

    The secretary assumed a poker face and assented to Aura¡¯s words with a small nod.

    ¡°But to think a man would love you so much that he unquestioningly sees a concubine only as a hindrance.¡±

    ¡°Fabio, if you have something to say, say it outright.¡±

    Then Queen red up to him from her chair with half-opened eyes, whereat her secretary shrugged his shoulders curtly while still standing attention, and answered.

    ¡°No, I was just thinking ¡®every man to his taste¡¯, but without any malice.¡±

    ¡°¡­That could hardly be any worse. You are definitely being rude there, Fabio.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Then do you consider yourself to be the right stuff that men love?¡±

    ¡°Grr¡­¡±

    Aura showed a fierce expression of anger to her secretary¡¯s affected question, but had troubles to object.

    The Carpa Kingdom was a patriarchic society that strongly tended to androcentrism, so a pushy woman like Aura wasn¡¯t all that liked, no matter how beautiful and well-proportioned.

    Aura herself was aware of that. Of course she wasn¡¯t dissatisfied with her appearance or character, but when shepared herself to an ideal ¡°woman loved by men¡± like Lady Octavia, she started to have some doubts.

    Aura sensed that she was at a disadvantage, so she cleared her throat with a cough and got back on topic.

    ¡°Well, anyway, this incident was a real eye-opener to me because it seems that I have overvalued my husband a bit, too.

    As he has said himself, he is ofmon birth. His knowledge and perception allow him to understand the values and lifestyle of royalty and nobility. Furthermore, he possess a reasoning and tolerance that lets him adapt to these values. Due to that, I unconsciously ended up misunderstanding him, but the values rooted in his personality greatly differ from ours.¡±

    ¡°So it seems. Though royalty and nobility, respectively have to ept something like a concubine as ¡®ordinary¡¯.¡±

    To begin with, perceiving the fact that a direct royalty took a concubine, as an ¡°affair¡± was fundamentally out of ce. A concubine was a respectable secondary ¡°wife¡±. Nobody in his senses would call the rtionship with his wife an affair.

    ¡°It would be pretentious to expect that from my husband. He is already so very sympathetic and fully understands my position. We never expected a husband that would wholly conduct himself ording to our wishes from the beginning, did we?¡±

    Her secretaryplied with her.

    ¡°Indeed. However, the refusal of a concubine will note across as a selfishness from Zenjirou-sama at this point. It will be understood as your selfishness, saying that the Queen keeps other women away from Zenjirou-sama out of jealousy at best.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ know that.¡±

    Secretary Fabio had struck a nerve, so Aura pressed onto her temples with the thumb and middle finger of her right hand and made a big sigh.

    The bad reputation of ¡°not respecting one¡¯s husband¡± was so harmful in the Carpa Kingdom that it couldn¡¯t be ignored. As the Queen, Aura had to prevent that from happening at all costs.

    ¡°If you want to grant his selfishness no matter what, then it is necessary that Zenjirou-sama puts himself on the line to a certain extent and actively takes the me for it.¡±

    In other words, he imed that Zenjirou ought to appear more in the higher society from now on and dere from his own mouth how madly in love he was with Aura and how he had no interest in other women.

    It was the same as telling Zenjirou to ruin his reputation to protect Aura¡¯s.

    ¡°¡­So in the end, it will cause troubles for my husband.¡±

    Aura grimaced, whereat her secretary replied with cold words while remaining inexpressive.

    ¡°We are hogtied. Rumours about your pregnancy are already spreading within the pce. When you turn down all of the requested audiences from the important nobles right now, ites with an adequate price.¡±

    Aura clicked her tongue in reaction to Secretary Fabio¡¯s words.

    ¡°It has already spread that far?¡±

    She had been prepared for it, but that was quick.

    It surely showed how much attention everyone had giving the Queen¡¯s pregnancy. When a legitimate heir was guaranteed, there was no longer a need to hesitate about sending in a concubine.

    While Aura sighed yet again, Secretary Fabio broached a different topic as he suddenly thought of it.

    ¡°Oh, speaking of audiences, the royal knight Otario Maldonado requested a meeting with Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    Aura raised the volume of her voice a bit surprised upon his words.

    ¡°Otario? I have not heard that name before. What does he want? My husband will not leave the inner pce, you know. I cannot allow a man to meet him unless it is something quite important.¡±

    ¡°It seems he wants to directly express his gratitude for receiving the ¡®dragon bow¡¯ from Zenjirou-sama and pledge his loyalty anew on this asion.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. The one from the banquet.¡±

    Aura recalled the circumstances and was convinced by its inevitableness.

    General Puyol had tried to present Zenjirou a tribute in form of the ¡°dragon bow¡±. Zenjirou had brought the matter to a quick close with the words ¡°pass that ¡®dragon bow¡¯ to your knight, who is the most able with the bow and the most loyal to the royal family¡±.

    The general must have passed on the ¡°dragon bow¡± to a promising knight like he was told.

    Five ¡°dragon bows¡± were worth as much as a single battle raptorial dragon and it was only natural that the knight wanted to thank Zenjirou for receiving one of it.

    ¡°So, is that knight called Ontario a problematic one? Zenjirou ordered for it to be handed to the one with the greatest ¡®loyalty to the royal family¡¯, you know.¡±

    If his ¡°loyalty¡± wasn¡¯t directed at the royal family, but General Puyol instead, she would never allow a meeting.

    Her secretary denied the question she had asked with strained shoulders.

    ¡°No, General Puyol must have born that in mind, too. Knight Otario is from the Maldonado Family, which has a low status, but is known for their long loyalty towards the royal family. He himself is a person of extreme good conduct and there are no problems with him.

    Well, it seems he is in favour with General Puyol, seeing as he received the ¡®dragon bow¡¯ from him, but I doubt he is swayed that easily.¡±

    ¡°Still, that sounds like there is more to it? Although Knight Otario himself is not problematic, someone around him is?¡±

    The secretary consented unaffected to her words.

    ¡°Yes. Very perceptive of you. Knight Otario has a little sister in a marriageable age. Her name is Kate. There are no problems with her personality either. She is quite beautiful, wise and just as loyal to the royal family as her brother. However, the problem with her is that she serves Zenjirou-sama in the inner pce.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Even Aura was at her wits¡¯ end on that answer.

    The secretary nonchntly gave his master, who showed an expression like suppressing a sour face, the final blow.

    ¡°I have heard that Zenjirou-sama interacts rather friendly with the waiting maids in the inner pce. So the little sister will surly convey the gratitude for the ¡®dragon bow¡¯ of her brother. I just hope they do not get too close to each other.¡±

    General Puyol¡¯s aim was as transparent as ever.

    A royal knight extremely loyal to the royal family and his little sister, likewise extremely loyal to the royal family and working in the inner pce. When he brought over the knight to his side and seeded in getting the sister closer to Zenjirou, he would¡¯ve established a connection to the royal family, albeit in a roundabout way.

    ¡°¡­Where is Knight Otario stationed?¡±

    ¡°Previously he served in the guard troops of the capital, but his transfer to the Dragonback Archery Knights under the directmand of General Puyal has been determined.¡±

    The words from her secretary were exactly what Aura had expected. The knight with the borrowed ¡°dragon bow¡± was transferred to the elite unit ¡°Dragonback Archery Knights¡±. At least on the surface, it embodied no problem at all.

    Needless to say, in the shadow lurked General Puyol¡¯s obvious intention to win Otario over for his faction.

    ¡°That means he gave up on his ambition to make his little sister a concubine for my husband?¡±

    ¡°No, the General himself wishes an audience with you, so I believe it is unlikely he has given up. My guess is that he intents to pursue two ns at the same time.¡±

    ¡°The man is as transparent as ever¡­¡±

    In thest few months, he had worriedly spoken to Aura about the reorganisation of the royal army and the armies of the feudal lords quite often, so she had thought that he settled down, but the ambitions of the ¡°Insatiable Wolf¡± were as strong as ever.

    ¡°Good grief, what a pain.¡±

    ¡°My sincerest condolences.¡±

    The secretary said that to the sighing Queen with a tone void of any feelings, then bowed courteous.

 Chapter Volume 2 4

    One monthter. Aura¡¯s pregnancy turned out to be proper.

    Her stomach still didn¡¯t stand out yet, but she suddenly showed the unique symptoms for the initial stage of a pregnancy and her menstruation was more than three monthste, so Doctor Michelle had verified the pregnancy with conviction.

    The Queen was pregnant. Naturally, these big news stirred the Carpa Pce up.

    Some people already requested an audience with the Queen to give presents to mark the asion of the pregnancy. Others indirectly put in a good word for a concubine candidate for Zenjirou on the same asion.

    Moreover, influential nobles made a list of people from their own faction, who were currently breastfeeding a baby or had a big belly and were close to give birth, so they could be appointed as the wet nurse for the child of the Queen.

    The ¡°wet nurse¡±, who, as the name implied, breastfeed instead of the Queen, and the ¡°nanny¡±, who was responsible for the upbringing after the breastfeeding period, were often different people, so a decision at this point was nothing definitive, but the influence of a wet nurse or foster sibling on the growing next ruler wasn¡¯t to be underestimated.

    The inner pce was a shielded space and normally it was rarely influenced by the outside, but the news this time originated from it, so it couldn¡¯t stay out of it. Due to that, Zenjirou, too, had no piece of mind in thest month and spent hectic days.

    ¡°Aw, there really is no useful information. What a flop.¡±

    The sunlight recently had gotten gentler bit by bit and now shone through the opened windows into the room of the inner pce, where Zenjirou had faced hisputer the whole time and now leaked a dejected sigh after stretching his body and craning his neck once.

    Ever since Aura told him about her possible pregnancy, he had looked through his whole data storage numerous times, so he knew that he wouldn¡¯t find anything new now, but he couldn¡¯t help checking again when he had free time. That was how much he regretted his insufficient preparation back in the days.

    ¡°Aw, damn. Why did I only consider the time after birth back then?¡±

    No use crying over spilt milk. Although he did understand it in his head, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from grumbling.

    Zenjirou came to this world with the original duty to make a child. And he had believed that he had prepared adequately for that.

    Baby bottles, freezer Tupperware for breast milk and a few packs of milk powder just in case. Additionally, he also prepared a few sets of cute baby clothes and bought some books on child-rearing with titles such as ¡°Papa¡¯s guide to raising a child¡± or ¡°What a father can do¡± at the bookstore.

    However, all these items or information served the purpose after the baby was born safely and werepletely useless to help his wife during her pregnancy.

    ¡°Raising the child aside, I unconsciously considered the birth not my business.¡±

    Zenjirou hung his head dejected in front of theputer as he said that self-reprimanding.

    Or more precisely, he actuallycked an awareness for possible dangers for the mother and child instead of considering the pregnancy or birth ¡°none of his business¡±.

    That was nothing umon for a young, unmarried Japanese male.

    Nowadays, cases, where the mother¡¯s life was in danger at birth, were rapidly decreasing in Japan.

    The mortality rate for a mother during a pregnancy or delivery was around 0,005 percent in modern Japan. That meant only five women out of a hundred thousand. An even lower rate than for being run over by a truck in Tokyo.

    However, even on modern Earth were developing countries without proper facilities or hygienic environments, where the mortality rate for mothers was still close to five percent. In other words, one out of twenty mothers died.

    Fortunately, the hygiene and medical skills in the Carpa Kingdom weren¡¯t that backward, but even so, it wasn¡¯t all that unusual that a mother ofmonalty couldn¡¯t endure the delivery and lost her life.

    Needless to say, Aura had the best physicians in the country around her as the Queen and she herself was quite healthy and full of vitality and stamina. Doctor Michelle had assured that it was ¡°extremely unlikely¡±, but Zenjirou still ended up imagining the worst case.

    ¡°It could all be settled at once if we were to call someone of the Jilbell family from the Twin Kingdom, though.¡±

    The medical technology in this world was several stages behind the one in modern Japan, but the ¡°healing magic¡± from the Jilbell lineage was an exception.

    The Jilbell family could heal wounds, restore stamina or ease mental fatigue with the supernatural power called magic and with one of them by your side, there was nothing to be afraid of. A safe delivery would be even more guaranteed than in modern Japan.

    However, even as the major power ruling over the western part of the South Continent, the Carpa Kingdom had hardly any chance to keep a person from the Jilbell lineage around for the whole time of the pregnancy.

    The delivery was still more than half a year away. The Jilbell Family would never sign such a long-term contract, where they diligently watched over the royalty¡¯s well-being and the danger of a miscarriage.

    Then he wanted at least to immediately call over someone from the pope lineage when Aura¡¯s condition took a sudden turn for the worse. That was wishful thinking, since the fastest method of transport in this world was a raptorial dragon, but the Carpa Kingdom actually had an exceptional way to make that wishful thinking reality.

    ¡°If only someone beside Aura could use the teleportation magic, then we would be out of the woods.¡±

    Zenjirou grumbled for the nth time.

    For the royalty of Carpa, the obstacle of distance originally meant nothing as they could use ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±. With the teleportation magic, they could travel to everywhere on the continent in an instant.

    However, Aura was currently the only one left, who could use the space-time magic.

    The summoned healer would be for Aura, when her condition precipitated, so she would be in no state to perform arge magic like the teleportation.

    ¡°So it¡¯s technically my role. I¡¯ve to learn the space-time magic.¡±

    Apparently, Zenjirou had enough disposition to be able to use space-time magic, albeit atent one at best.

    However, he had only started to learn magic for a few month. It usually required an average of three years of training to be able to use magic.

    Although Lady Octavia, his magic teacher, had said that this number of three years could change drastically based on individual talent, environment or more training hours per day, it obviously didn¡¯t mean that he could cut the three years short to one or half a year because of it.

    It barely referred to reducing it to two years and ten months or two and a half years in very capable cases. With all due respect, it was impossible that Zenjirou would learn to use the space-time magic until Aura gave birth.

    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I can neglect my magic studies. To begin with, it isn¡¯t necessarily her only pregnancy.¡±

    Turning off theputer with a click on the mouse, Zenjirou lightly pped his cheeks to refresh his mood and stood up from the chair fitfully.

    ¡°I would like to take more magic lessons, but it definitely would raise suspicion when I meet more often with Octavia-san while Aura¡¯s pregnant. Maybe I should get an old woman as a teacher to avoid rumours or in the worst case, leave the inner pce in search for a male teacher.¡±

    So far, Zenjirou had enjoyed a shut-in lifestyle under the nominal cover of preserving Aura¡¯s power, but if it was to protect the lives of Aura and their child, he was prepared to ept a few inconveniences and leave the inner pce.

    Speaking of, he was supposed to leave the inner pce for a short period to meet the knight, whom he had borrowed the ¡°dragon bow¡± to, currently postponed due to the turmoil of Aura¡¯s pregnancy.

    He might be able to get a slight idea about what troubles await him when he leaves the inner pce.

    ¡°Perhaps I should take Aura¡¯s ce for public events, which don¡¯t require difficult decisions, until she reached the stable period?¡±

    As Zenjirou mused about the future in front of theputer, he suddenly put a thought into words.

    In the patriarchal Carpa Kingdom, Aura¡¯s authority would be undermined when Zenjirou substituted for her. That was an undeniable fact, but it would be mistaking the cause for the end when Aura endangered herself and the child by forcing herself to attend such events.

    The point is, Zenjirou would just have to be careful and behave like a well-mannered doll.

    ¡°I should put some serious thought into it.¡±

    Determined at heart in various ways, Zenjirou arranged the things he could and must do, in his head until it was time for his lesson with Octavia.

    * * *

    ¡°¡­This is certainly not a pleasant feeling.¡±

    Around the same time. Aura had interrupted her duties as a nausea had suddenly gotten the better of her and she breathed words that were close a whimper on a rare asion.

    She showed a symptom from the early stage of her pregnancy, namely ¡°morning sickness¡±. When the words of Doctor Michelle could be trusted, the worst stage of the morning sickness would soon be over, but she could hardly wait for that day to arrive.

    ¡°And here I thought I learned to suppress the urge to vomit on the battlefield¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess it means that the fleeting impulse to throw up from a mental stimtion cannot be grouped together with the ongoing sick feeling from morning sickness.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I was painfully made aware of that¡­ Though I am able to live without that kind of information.¡±

    Still sitting on her chair, Aura raised her head from the vat, then red up to Secretary Fabio, standing next to her, and replied with that.

    Normally she brushed off the blunt way of speaking from her secretary without problems, but now she felt like snapping at each and every remark of his. She now could understand Zenjirou¡¯s sentiment of wanting to be alone when sick. It was quite an ordeal to hide her heightened aggressivity, originating from her bad condition, from others.

    In that way, Secretary Fabio¡¯s existence was a godsend to her.

    The middle-aged secretary was generous and loyal enough to simply endure some abusivenguage from her and usually didn¡¯t mince his words either, so she would¡¯ve enough reason toin about him instead if she wanted to.

    After she had safely given birth, she ought to somehow express her gratitude and make amends to him, but for now it should be alright to presume upon his loyalty for a bit.

    ¡°¡­..Fuh.¡±

    She rinsed her mouth with water from a silver goblet, then spat it into the vat andfortably leaned back into her chair in a somewhat calmer state.

    ¡°So, what is the next matter?¡±

    The Queen refocused on her duties, whereat her secretary resumed the conversation without giving her any considerate words like ¡°are you sure you do not want to rest a bit longer?¡±.

    ¡°Very well. The letter from the envoy from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that one.¡±

    Aura tightly shut her eyes and shook her head a few times to get a clear head when her secretary answered.

    Originally it wouldn¡¯t be strange for Aura to wee an official envoy from the Twin Kingdom in the audience chamber herself, but as she was currently in poor physical health due to the pregnancy, she avoided public appearances as much as possible.

    ¡°I presume it is about the request to turn the rings I handed to Princess Isabelle, into magic tools. I shall read it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, here.¡±

    With these words, Aura held out her hand, into which her secretary smoothly put the letter he pulled out of his pocket.

    ¡°Mh? This crest belongs to the Sharrow Royal Family?¡±

    The crest on the envelope wasn¡¯t from Princess Isabelle¡¯s Jilbell Royal Family, but from the Sharrow Royal Family. Aura showed a slightly bewildered expression upon noticing that and tilted her head puzzled.

    However, it wasn¡¯t unusual that the letter came directly from the Sharrow Royal Family, considering that they would actually process the rings, even if she had told her request to Princess Isabelle from the Jilbell Family.

    Convinced by that, Aura took a in bronze dagger out of the drawer of her desk and opened the seal on the letter with it.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    She calmly read through it, as the content at the beginning was just like she had expected, but suddenly widened her eyes when she reached a certain point of the letter.

    ¡°!?¡±

    ¡°Your Highness?¡±

    Aura had been on the point of jumping up from her chair, so her secretary, surprised on a rare asion, swiftly acted to support her.

    ¡°¡­It is okay. Nothing serious.¡±

    Aura replied with that to Secretary Fabio, but contrary to her words, the blood had drained from her face and herplexion now looked bluish ck.

    ¡°Hah.¡±

    She clearly wasn¡¯t okay, but the secretary obediently retreated as he decided to observe his master¡¯s attitude for now.

    Before long, Aura finished reading the letter and took three deep breaths.

    Herplexion was still kind of bluish, but judging by her expression, she seemed to have calm down a bit.

    As Secretary Fabio had waited for the right time, he now called out to the Queen cautiously.

    ¡°Your Highness, may I ask about the content of the letter?¡±

    Unlike domestic ¡°messages from small flying dragons¡±, this letter was a diplomatic document from one royalty to another. Fabio was nothing but a simple secretary, so he had no right to read such a document.

    After Aura took another deep breath upon her secretary¡¯s question, she slowly began to talk with an expression that suppressed some kind of fury.

    ¡°It mainly contains what I already expected: Princess Isabelle¡¯s gratitude about sending her off with my magic and the notification that my request for turning the rings into magic tool has been epted.¡±

    The faithful secretary silently listened to Aura¡¯s words, signifying her to continue.

    The content had agitated Queen Aura to such an extent. Even Fabio, whose trade mark was his iron mask-like poker face, started to sweat on the hands, which he had unconsciously squeezed into fists.

    ¡°The problem is the ¡®gossip¡¯ that is embedded into it like small talk. You see, the rumour is about one princess born into the Sharrow Family.¡±

    ¡°A princess from the Sharrow Family? Including the branch family, there is quite a number of them, but I think the fifty-years old Princess Caroline is the oldest one from the direct descendants.¡±

    ¡°No, not in the world today. It is about the princess that was erased from the official records roughly a hundred and fifty years ago.¡±

    ¡°A hundred and fifty years ago¡­¡±

    The iron mask of Secretary Fabio twitched upon her words.

    One hundred and fifty years ago. The erased existence of royalty. On top of that, a woman.

    At this point, Secretary Fabio had an exact idea about whom that story was about and to ¡°whom¡± it connected. He licked once over his dry lips and waited for Aura to continue.

    ¡°Since it haspletely been erased from the official records, this seems to be a rumour at best, but apparently the Princess, a direct descendent of the Sharrow Family, fell in love with a man she would never be allowed to marry in reality.

    Some say the man of her affection was a meremoner, others say he was from the ¡®royalty of hostile country at that time¡¯.

    And as love sprouted between two people, who were never allowed to marry, they turned towards elopement before long. In the end, it says, they travelled to a ¡¯newnd, where no one would ever find them¡¯.¡±

    Aura finished the tale by nearly spitting out thest bit with raping talking as if she had became desperate.

    The secretary took a few deep breaths like Aura before. Indeed, this were certainly extremely bad news, which warranted an agitation.

    Even so, Secretary Fabio had more of hisposure left than Aura, as he himself wasn¡¯t rted to it, and uttered his considered opinion without a crack in his voice.

    ¡°So the partner for the ¡®prince, who eloped into a different world one hundred and fifty years ago¡¯ in the myth of our Carpa Kingdom, was the Princess from the Sharrow Family. In other words, Zenjirou-sama has inherited both the Carpa bloodline and the Sharrow bloodline, I wonder?¡±

    Aura shook her pale head wearily to the words of her secretary.

    ¡°Maybe? Maybe not? No one knows the truth. But it seems that the sender of this letter considers it to be true.¡±

    Aura wrinkled her nose displeased and wildly threw the letter in her hand onto the table. The content was extremely unsettling, but she perfectly understood the importance of it nevertheless.

    In this world, being royalty equalled having a unique magic in its bloodline.

    Due to that, cases, where royalty of one country married into royalty of a different country just like in mediaeval Europe on Earth, practically never happened. The Carpa Kingdom, for example, had clearly written down a prohibition to marry foreigners for people, who had a rtive of the first or second degree that could use ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±.

    The royalty with their bloodline magic belonged to its country and amounted to its military strength if necessary. Now considering that it would fall into the hands of foreign royalty, it was understandable to lose your cool.

    ¡°But does that letter really state the truth? What is the chance that they took advantage of a myth from us and sent the letter with the aim to stir up our country?¡±

    Aura shook her head amused in response to her secretary¡¯s prudent argument.

    ¡°I cannot deny that possibility, but the messenger arrived toote for that. A whole month has passed, you know. Most likely, the messenger carefully delivered the letter with his own hands without relying on small flying dragons. If they had wanted to stir us up, it would have been more natural to use a small flying dragon.¡±

    With small flying dragons, the same message was sent a bunch of times and only one of them had to reach the destination. The downside was thus that the information could easily leak to an outsider. So when the aim was to stir things up through a rumour, there was no reason not to use the small flying dragons.

    ¡°I see. Then why do we not persist in denying all knowledge of that matter?¡±

    Upon the secretary¡¯s bold suggestion, Aura awkwardly averted her gaze and answered.

    ¡°Impossible. My husband already ended up confessing it in front of Princess Isabelle during her sick bed visit that he is the descendant of the Carpa royalty, who eloped into a different world one hundred and fifty years ago.¡±

    On a rare asion, her secretary was at a loss for words to her confession.

    ¡°That¡­ was careless.¡±

    ¡°It is all very well for you to talk. Back then, no one could have foreseen how precious that information is. Moreover, my husband had been sick at that point.¡±

    ¡°I am aware of that, but it does not change the fact that it was careless.¡±

    Aura immediately defended Zenjirou, whereat her secretary coldly dismissed it with a sound argument. And after a bit of musing, he put the extremely unfavourable current state into words.

    ¡°In that case, the ¡®rumour¡¯ has a high credibility, much to our regret. Your Highness, Zenjirou-sama has inherited the Carpa blood without a doubt, correct?¡±

    The secretary confirmed it now after all this time, whereupon Aura nodded while leaning against the backrest of her chair.

    ¡°Yes, that is for sure, because I added such a condition to the summoning spell. In addition, my husband has not all that much magic power as a royalty. He would not be able to use the ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯ and ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ at the same time, not even by ident.¡±

    There was no precedent of a royalty having inherited two bloodline, so it couldn¡¯t be said with certainty, but an established theory at the present time didn¡¯t rule out the possibility that one person theoretically could use two bloodline magic. However, it required an amount of magic power twice as much as a royalty generally had, to make it possible.

    ¡°Then the Sharrow Family must fear thetent power in Zenjirou-sama¡¯s blood, namely the existence of this child.¡±

    Aura felt the gaze of her secretary on her stomach and unconsciously stroke it with the palm of right hand, answering him.

    ¡°Yes. But I doubt that my child will pose any danger to begin with. Even when we assume that my husband has inherited both the Carpa and the Sharrow blood, once it mixed with my strong Carpa blood, the Sharrow blood was surely suppressed anyway.¡±

    Unless their child became an abnormality that was born with an exceptional magic power and could use both ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± and ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± without any problems, it would never cause any troubles. And even the Twin Kingdom surely didn¡¯t anticipate such an unrealistic event.

    Secretary Fabio expressed his consent to her words.

    ¡°Yes, I am of the same mind. However, it is a different matter altogether when Zenjirou-sama has a child with a concubine. The odds are that this child will manifest the blood of ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ instead of the blood of ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Certainly. I presume that is it what the Sharrow Family fears.¡±

    The bloodline magic of royalty was a country¡¯s best kept secret and if that were to leak to a different country, it was only natural that the members of the Sharrow Family would feel threatened. All the more in their case, since their bloodline magic was closely connected to their country¡¯s defence and finances. If they were to lose their monopoly on magic tools, the Twin Kingdom¡¯s earnings would plummet greatly, to put it charitably.

    With one wrong step, the Twin Kingdom might resolve itself for a ¡°next great war¡±.

    ¡°For now, we can only soothe the Twin Kingdom by hinting at them that my husband will not take any concubines.¡±

    ¡°Will that really appease them?¡±

    Aura sighed in response to her secretary¡¯s doubt and shook her head.

    ¡°I doubt it. I am sure they cannot rid themselves of the doubt that we will raise a user of ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ by having my husband secretly impregnate a woman and bring it up as someone else¡¯s child even while we publicly announce that he takes no concubines.¡±

    In fact, Aura herself might have resorted to that, if they weren¡®t keeping track of Zenjirou. She knew how dangerous it was to anger the major power of the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, but the prospect of having the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± in the own country was so attractive that she wanted to grasp at it against her better judgement.

    ¡°Anyway, I think we should consider ourselves lucky that we avoided the worst timing here.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. If it hade to light before your pregnancy or after Zenjirou-sama had taken a concubine¡­ To be honest, I do not even want to imagine it.¡±

    Secretary Fabio answered her like that and shook his head with a stiff expression.

    If these news hade to light before Aura was pregnant with Zenjirou¡¯s child, the Twin Kingdom might have demanded more forcefully that Zenjirou was to be handed over to them.

    On the other hand, if he already would have had a concubine, it was even possible that they suddenly started a war at once. Considering that, the current situation was far away from having the worst timing.

    ¡°Good grief. I would have never known about my husband¡¯s lineage if not for this letter. If they are that afraid of fire, they should not have lit one in the first ce.¡±

    Aura glumly gave vent to her displeasure, whereat her secretary answered with a voice that had regained its fullposure at some point.

    ¡°Most likely, they ¡®did not know that we do not know the truth¡¯. Or more precisely, they ¡®had no concrete proof that we do not know it¡¯. Maybe they came to the conclusion that it would be toote to act if we should ever stumble over the fact by chance and all they did was watch from the sidelines?¡±

    ¡°I guess that is the gist of it. Either way, I have to talk with my husband first. I am pregnant and the circumstances are a bitplicated after all. It would be better to assume that this will not work out peacefully while we keep it a secret from him.¡±

    For a moment, Secretary Fabio looked like he wanted to say something, but didn¡¯t put it into words in the end.

    ¡°¡­Very well. Although it is a very important matter, it ultimately concerns Your Highness and Zenjirou-sama. I will entrust it to you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, good.¡±

    Aura nodded firm and had all forgotten about her morning sickness at some point.

    * * *

    At night of the same day.

    ¡°¡­Due to that, the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, or rather the Sharrow Family cannot ignore your existence as you have inherited the bloodline of the Bestowal Magic. Forgive me for taking back my previous words, but I can no longer allow you to take a concubine because of this.

    I am sorry. It will be boisterous around you for a while, but I want to ask for your assistance.¡±

    After dinner and bath, Aura sat across Zenjirou in the room of the inner pce and exined in detail what the letter from this noon said, what information they gathered from it and how they would cope with it.

    One hundred and fifty years ago, the prince of the Carpa Kingdom eloped with a woman into a different world and the chance was high that this woman was a princess from the Sharrow Royal Family.

    It seemed that Zenjirou did not only inherit the Carpa blood, but the Sharrow blood as well, as their descendant.

    Therefore, it was possible that his children would have an aptitude for the Bestowal Magic, although Zenjirou himself showed an obvious aptitude for the Space-Time Magic.

    Due to that, Zenjirou couldn¡¯t officially take any concubines for the time being, as not to provoke the Sharrow Family unnecessarily.

    (Still, the Carpa blood of my child with Aura will apparently suppress the Sharrow blood, since her blood¡¯s stronger than mine, so it won¡¯t pose a problem)

    Zenjirou put the information he had heard just now in order in his head without having a real grasp on it, then took the ss filled with water mixed with sugar and fruit sap, from the table while he was still slumped into the couch, and brought it to his mouth.

    The moment he tilted the ss, the ice inside bounced around with a tter and a water drops sprang from it onto his face.

    ¡°Uwah!?¡±

    Zenjirou would usually never make such a childish blunder. Hearing about the secret of his birth must have agitated him more than he had thought.

    ¡°Are you okay, Zenjirou? It will hurt like hell when it gets into your eyes.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. It was only my face.¡±

    On her outcall, Zenjirou took a white, gauze handkerchief out of the pocket of his trousers and wiped his face with an embarrassed expression.

    Then he asked what weighted on his mind the most, what he wanted to know before anything else.

    ¡°But honestly, my existence can possibly be disadvantageous to the country then?¡±

    The wife showed a reassuring smile on the frank question of her husband, and shook her head decisively.

    ¡°No. Your lineage may be a bit of a problem, but considering the situation in our country, it would be far more problematic if you leave. So there is no need to worry.¡±

    Zenjirou smiled bashful as he felt from her words that he made his wife be considerate to him unnecessarily.

    ¡°Yeah, okay. No worry, I wouldn¡¯t think about backing out or anything the like. I¡¯m not such a self-sacrificing type.

    It¡¯s just that I was thinking that some nobles would take all kind of actions if my existences ever brings a drawback to the country from an objective point of view.¡±

    Answering like that, Zenjirou shivered his body as his own imagination struck terror in his heart.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    As his answer was a bit unexpected, Aura closed her mouth temporarily.

    She mused a while over the thought process of her husband, which was more rational and severe than she had expected, then slowly opened her mouth.

    ¡°No, I would say you do not have to worry about that. For starters, the news that you have inherited the Sharrow blood is a ssified information, only known to their and our royal family so far. But even if it should go public, the nobility in our country would hardly go head over heels to harm you.

    Right now, I may be carrying a heir in my stomach, but you are one of the very few people from the Carpa lineage. That fact will not change. The drawbacks you might cause with your presence pale inparison to the drawbacks of losing you.¡±

    In her mind she added: So realistically speaking, it is not the nobility of our Carpa Kingdom we need to worry about, but the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell.

    At present, Zenjirou was undoubtedly a ¡°hindrance¡± to the Sharrow Royal Family. The only one, who would profit from his disappearance, was none other than the Sharrow Family.

    Therefore it was necessary to negotiate behind closed doors and convince the Sharrow Family that ¡°Zenjirou wasn¡¯t such a hindrance that warranted to wage war to get rid of him¡±.

    Of course it was possible that some people in both the Carpa Kingdom and Twin Kingdom would take no ount of such a logical argument and hurried to get rid of Zenjirou, but nothing would get started if even that had to be considered. These kind of dangers, difficult to anticipate, could only be dealt with makeshift.

    After saying all that, Aura frowned a bit and continued.

    ¡°Anyhow, the fact that you have inherited the Sharrow blood is a ssified information, just like I told you earlier. In other words, you must not mentioned anything about it when you turn down a concubine. Do you understand?¡±

    Zenjirou faced the ceiling and mulled over Aura¡¯s question, then answered unconfident.

    ¡°Ehm, basically¡­ I need a nominal ¡®excuse¡¯, different from the truth, to reject a concubine?¡±

    Aura nodded curt once as his answer had apparently be correct.

    ¡°Indeed. But just like I told you before, it is rather unnatural for you to turn down a concubine in a political sense right now. To be honest, it will be quite difficult toe up with a reason that the nobles will ept.

    So please forgive me for this, but can we say that the reason for turning down a concubine is your own selfishness?¡±

    ¡°My selfishness? What do you mean?¡±

    Zenjirou tilted his head puzzled, whereat Aura averted her eyes a bit as her shyness won over her reasoning, and answered vaguely.

    ¡°You just have to proim the opinion you voiced when I told you about the concubine before, as it is. So, well¡­ Like you do not want anyone to disturb our time alone. Or like you have your head full with the baby and cannot think about anything else¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ AHH! G- Got it, yep.¡±

    Zenjirou couldn¡¯t hide his agitation either after hearing that. While he felt his own face getting hot, he replied flustered. Thinking back on it now, he said some really embarrassing stuff back then.

    Not one word had been a lie, but the truth didn¡¯t make it any less embarrassing.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    An uneasy silence hung over the married couple even now that had made a child.

    Aura continued to talk with an affected loud voice as she couldn¡¯t stand the uneasiness of that silence.

    ¡°G- Good. Since we cannot reveal your lineage, there is no logical excuse the nobles will ept. In that case, the easiest way is to forcefully push through an argument based on your emotions.

    ¡­Forgive me. In the end, I am making you take the me. Hereafter you will surely bebelled as a ¡¯fool that underrates political decisions because he lost his head over a single woman¡¯.¡±

    His wife lined up her knees and lowered her head a bit on top of the couch, whereupon Zenjirou stood up from the other couch wordlessly and sat down next to her on the same couch.

    ¡°Zenjirou?¡±

    Now sitting next to her, Zenjirou took Aura¡¯s left hand, which was folded in herp, and said to her while peeking at her face from the side.

    ¡°But that¡¯s the best way, right? Then I don¡¯t mind. A bad reputation of that level has no real harm and actually wards off any weird worshippers instead, so isn¡¯t it all good?

    Besides¡­ That hearsay is, in fact, theplete truth.¡±

    ¡°Zenjirou¡­¡±

    Aura smiled softly while Zenjirou still held her left hand, and reached out her right hand for his face. Then,

    ¡°Your face is all red.¡±

    she pointed that out.

    The husband had endured the embarrassment tofort his wife. He revealed his emotions on a very rare asion and raised a loud voice.

    ¡°H- Hush! And here I tried my best to endure the shame and confessed¡­!¡±

    The Queen entirely regained her smile from seeing her bright red husband, lovingly caressed his cheek with her right hand and apologized with a chuckle.

    ¡°Sorry, my bad. I was just too happy about your devoted words, so I unconsciously ended up teasing you. Thank you. I will definitely repay you.¡±

    While pleasantly feeling the fingers of his wife on his blushed cheek, Zenjirou replied with a lowered tone.

    ¡°Nah, no need to. It¡¯s me, who getspletely taken care of all the time anyway. When I think of it as an effort to preserve my current lifestyle, it isn¡¯t worth mentioning.¡±

    In response to his words, Aura, too, answered honestly without reservation this time.

    ¡°Right. I am the Queen, so I cannot afford to have a bad reputation. I can make use of notorieties in regards to my cool-headedness in diplomacy or my sternness on the battlefield, but not so much about a bad reputation concerning love affairs.¡±

    If the rumour spread that the Prince Consort was ¡°refusing concubines because he was head over heels for the Queen¡±, it wouldbel him as a ¡°fool not interested in politics¡± at worst, but if the rumour spread that the Queen ¡°denied him any concubines because she was head over heels for him¡±, then voices would be raised at once, saying ¡°I am worried with such a Queen on the throne¡±.

    If either Zenjirou or Aura had to end up with the stigma of being ¡°lost in love¡±, it was inevitable that it would be Zenjirou.

    For a while, Zenjirou held Aura¡¯s hand and let her caress his cheek, then he let go of the hand of his beloved wife and started to talk with a serious expression again.

    ¡°Now I actually have a request myself, too. Forgive me as well for taking back by previous statement, but I would like to attend a bit more activity outside the inner pce. Would that be alright?¡±

    Aura¡¯s rxed expression froze for a moment upon his words.

    He wanted to leave the inner pce. In itself that wasn¡¯t anything unusual, but as his wish was all too different from his behaviour so far, Aura unintentionally assumed a caustic tone.

    ¡°You want to? Why?¡±

    Zenjirou picked out the Queen¡¯s biting tone quite well, but didn¡¯t flinch from it and answered while keeping a soft tone.

    ¡°Yeah. The burden on you in thest month was quite huge, wasn¡¯t it? So I thought I would substitute for you in suitable events that don¡¯t requireplicated decisions.

    Of course I¡¯m aware that by doing so, brings the danger of nobles approaching me, but right now, I¡¯m more worried about your health.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Aura didn¡¯t respond to the sincere words of her worried husband for a while.

    It certainly was a fact that her work had became more difficult in the month since her pregnancy had been confirmed. Although her duties as the Queen were few, she had thought that she was tending to thews and personnel enough to keep the country going, but it was likewise a fact that it would be so much easier when there was a royalty, who could take her ce.

    ¡°Mhm, I am happy about your offer, but it will bring you a lot of trouble, you know?¡±

    Zenjirou nodded with a smile when Aura called attention to it.

    ¡°I¡¯m prepared for that. Or so I say, actually it might be worse than I imagine.¡±

    ¡°It will definitely far worse than what you imagine. Once you start getting active outside of the inner pce, the ambitious nobles are not the only ones that will pester you. Even my loyal retainers will treat you with suspicion.¡±

    The Prince Consort would actively leave the inner pce. While it was a great chance for the ambitious people in the country, it seemed like a threat to the loyal retainers of Aura on the other hand.

    Aura¡¯s right-hand man, Secretary Fabio and others would surely track Zenjirou¡¯s every single move with doubtful eyes.

    Zenjirou made a slightly troubled face upon her answer and replied.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll refrain from doing so if it causes you troubles¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Aura mused for a moment. At the beginning, she certainly had wanted a ¡°husband that didn¡¯t meddle with politics at all¡±, but a ¡°husband that helped her through thankless tasks with deliberation as not to rattle at her authority¡± was even more wee than a ¡°husband that did absolutely nothing¡±.

    However, even though she came to know through their rtionship until today that he had no evil intentions like stealing a march on her and taking power, it remained questionable if he had the necessary skills for conversations and negotiations to survive against the sly nobles without making any promises.

    (Still, it is certain that my current condition will greatly affect my governmentter on. I never thought that a pregnancy would restrain me so much in my conduct)

    In her initial n, Aura had intended to keep giving birth to children in ¡°consecutive years¡±, but that option was quite unrealistic, learning from the current situation.

    The period from the pregnancy until deliverymonlysted ¡°ten month and ten days¡±. A year had twelve months, thirteen when there was an intercry month. If she were to give birth to a child every year, she would spend five sixths of each year pregnant.

    It undoubtedly would interfere with her duties.

    (I guess it is too much of a burden after all to be a ¡°mother¡± and a ¡°Queen¡± at the same time)

    At least it would be unrealistic to rule directly without a Marshal and a Prime Minister as she had done until now. However, Aura¡¯s authority and influence would weaken in ordance with her diminishing burden when she appointed a Marshal and Prime Minister.

    From now on, she would have to be even more mindful about the power bnce to the influential nobles than right now.

    (Taking that into ount, it would be meaningful to have an ally, whose personality I can trust, even if I cannot rely on his abilities)

    Aura faced Zenjirou.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Zenjirou looked her directly into the eyes and silently waited for her decision.

    They gazed at each other at a close range for a while in silence. Before long, Aura then rxed her expression and dered.

    ¡°Fine. The burden would certainly be too much for me like this. I am happy to receive your help. However¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know. When ¡®you decide¡¯ that I¡¯m causing trouble instead, then I¡¯ll shut myself into the inner pce by ¡®my own will¡¯ again.¡±

    Without letting Aura finish her sentence, Zenjirou assured her with a smile.

    Even if she was the Queen, she would end up ruining her reputation when she, as the wife, interfered with her husband¡¯s free will. Zenjirou was thoroughly taught about the values of this country in regards to that.

    Yeah, her husband was sympathetic to the core. Aura¡¯s expression was about to crumble for a moment from her husband¡¯s profound affection, but she braced herself right away and responded.

    ¡°Yes, sorry for all the trouble. I am counting on you. Come to think of it, you are scheduled to meet Knight Otario Maldonado outside of the inner pce to ept his vow of loyalty. I shall have my loyal retainer Fabio apany you on that asion.¡±

    Secretary Fabio would surely give him some precise advices. And even if she didn¡¯t want to consider it, he would immediately sense it when Zenjirou awoke to ambitions by chance, and undoubtedly ¡°deal with it urately¡±.

    ¡°Well then, it is about time I retreat to the bedroom. It may be a bit earlier, but I have to increase my sleeping time, since I wake up in the middle of the night.¡±

    Aura said that, then slowly raised from the couch.

    Recently, she woke up in the middle of the night due to feeling sick, albeit not every night. But even without that, Doctor Michelle had told her to get as much sleep as possible.

    To begin with, it had be quite the habit to stay active during the night, too, due to the LED floormps Zenjirou had brought with him. During her previous daily routine, she had been already asleep by now.

    ¡°Huh? Already thiste?¡±

    Zenjirou looked at the digital clock on top of the shelf when she said that, and stood up from the couch as to follow her, softly taking her hand.

    ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go to sleep.¡±

    ¡°You do not really have to go along with my early bedtime, you know?¡±

    Aura informed him like that while docilely letting her husband lead her by the hand.

    ¡°Nah, I wouldn¡¯t be able to rx here anyway, since the waiting maids are going to be on standby in the living room.¡±

    Zenjirou replied with that to her words.

    The waiting maids of the inner pce were on night watch to cope with any unusual phenomena with Aura in the current phase of her pregnancy, where she showed symptoms of pregnancy diforts. After Aura had gone to bed, the waiting maids took up station in the only room adjoining to the bedroom, namely this living room.

    Zenjirou usually hated it when they imposed onto his private space, but he couldn¡¯t voice such a petty selfishness when it concerned the safety of his beloved wife.

    Due to that, ittely stopped bothering him so much when the waiting maids were present in the room next door. That said, not so much that he could rx in the same room as them.

    ¡°I see. Then we are going to bed together, I guess.¡±

    Aura said, then linked her arm with Zenjirou¡¯s.

    ¡°Yeah, we are.¡±

    Their current bedroom had two beds. Husband and wife, heading for their shared bedroom with separate beds, slowly opened the door to the bedroom while their arms were still linked as if they had a hard time letting go.

 Chapter Volume 2 5

    A few dayster at noon.

    ¡°Knight Otario, I hereby appoint you as my personal knight. I expect much of your bravery and loyalty.¡±

    In a room deep inside the pce, Zenjirou stood in front of the kneeling young knight and called out to him with a voice as dignified as possible.

    Otario Maldonado.

    The name of the knight that was kneeling before Zenjirou.

    He was probably in his mid-twenties, close in age to Zenjirou. Dark brown hair, grey eyes and brown skin. The man had the typical colour hues of the Carpa Kingdom and was on his knee with a faithful expression.

    His braced features gave the impression that he was honest and serious, but hardly anyone would be brave enough to rx his features during an oath ceremony in front of a direct royalty. It would be dangerous to judge his character from the first impression alone.

    Zenjirou smoothly drew the sword he had taken from Otario out of its scabbard.

    The well-forged iron de reflected the sunlight shining in from the windows, and sparkled.

    The de was about fifty to sixty centimetre long. It seemed to be a one-hand sword, judging by the length of the hilt, but he didn¡¯t think that one could swing its heavy weight with one hand so easily.

    Zenjirou patted the shoulders of the kneeing Otario one after another with the t surface of the drawn sword, then slowly sheathed it again.

    Next up, Otario respectfully took the sheathed sword offered to him by Zenjirou, with both hands while still kneeling on the floor on one knee, and answered.

    ¡°I hereby swear to be yours tomand, to put my life on the line, to never defy your orders, to never stray from the righteous path and to never be afraid of a distress.¡±

    Thus, the oath ceremony of Knight Otario ended without a hitch.

    After Knight Otario left the room of the pce, Zenjirou made a sigh of relief, so small that no one near could hear it. He somehow managed to get over it withoutmitting any mistakes.

    ¡°Thank you for your hard work, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    Zenjirou shivered his body reflexively when the middle-aged man with a slender face¡ª Secretary Fabio, standing in attendance behind him, called out to him.

    Based on their social standings, the middle-aged man was a subordinate lent to him from Aura, but if Zenjirou¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t ying a trick on him, then the secretary showed not the slightest bit of such an acknowledgment in his eyes directed at him.

    For Zenjirou, they rather seemed to show something on the lines of ¡°I¡¯m keeping a close watch on every single movement of the stallion, who came out unwanted, so he doesn¡¯t do anything stupid¡±.

    (He wouldn¡¯t use something like ¡°thank you for your hard work¡± to begin with, if he acknowledged my superiority¡­. Wait, not good. That¡¯s not quite right. The words are tranted smoothly thanks to the ¡°soul of words¡±, so I forgot about it, but this is a different world after all)

    From their first meeting until now, the middle-aged man had only taken an attitude that could never be misunderstood as favourable, so Zenjirou, too, unconsciously ended up harbouring negative feelings more than necessary.

    Words of appreciation were directed from a superior to an subordinate and the opposite was considered to be rude. At least that wasmon sense in the Japanese society. It certainly went too far to suspect a spite behind the words ¡°thank you for your hard work¡±.

    Zenjirou opened his mouth while he recalled the proper response as a royalty that he had learned in his lessons with Octavia, in his mind.

    ¡°No, it was nothing. I did it alright, didn¡¯t I?¡±

    He turned about and asked that, whereat Secretary Fabio asserted while keeping his stony mask as always.

    ¡°Yes. From now on, Knight Otario will be a direct henchman to you, Zenjirou-sama, while at the same time he serves for the Dragonback Archery Knights. The sry for a royal henchman ounts for twentyrge silver coins per year, so it surely will be a great asset for the Maldonado Family.

    Her Highness Aura will actually be paying him, but nominally you are doing the payments, so please keep it in mind.¡±

    ¡°Oh, he gets an extra sry?¡±

    Zenjirou raised a slightly surprised voice, whereupon Secretary Fabio affirmed it without so much as twitching a muscle on his face.

    ¡°Yes. A knight¡¯s loyalty is bought with money after all.¡±

    These dreamless and uninspiring words didn¡¯t match the idea of a different world in a fantasy setting.

    Zenjirou tilted his a bit puzzled and inquired further.

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Of course it does note from money alone. The words of the master strengthen the loyalty and the actions of the master maintain it. However, the foundation is kept up through money to the bitter end. Loyalty will not be established without the base of money.¡±

    The frank words of Secretary Fabio were extremely pragmatic, but easily understandable for Zenjirou because of that.

    It was disillusioning, but the knights without an own piece ofnd, only lived from the sry they received from the country. Bravery and loyalty were literally for sale and needed to fetch a price as high as possible.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    With his inexpressive mask, Secretary Fabio watched Zenjirou as he nod convinced, and called out to him with a verbal expression of suddenly recalling something.

    ¡°Oh, that reminds me, do you have any ns to take a peerage or domain, Zenjirou-sama?¡±

    Zenjirou shivered inside again upon the sudden topic chance while he replied without letting it show on his face or in his tone.

    ¡°Peerage or domain? What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Our Carpa Kingdom has scatteredndholdings under the direct control of the royalty, besides the capital and its outskirts. The lord of thesends is Her Highness Aura at the present time and governors are installed there, but as royalty, you have the right to take them over, Zenjirou-sama. Though your ession of them would onlyst for your lifetime.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t all that unusual that the king or royalty owned another peerage andnd of their own besides the crown or right of session to the throne. On the contrary, kings without a domain of their own were a minority. There were even someplicated cases, where the king of one country owned a peerage of a different country.

    ¡°It will be redundant when you stay inside the inner pce like you have so far, but when you increase your activities outside from now on, you would certainly need your own title and a capital you can spent freely. Not to mention, an independent source of funds will be essential should you desire to add more henchman like Knight Otario.¡±

    Secretary Fabio brought his exnation to a finish like that.

    Zenjirou was immersed in his thoughts.

    (I see now. He got a point there, but¡­)

    Considering that he was the ¡°loyal retainer of the Queen¡±, it was obviously weird, even if he had a point.

    When Zenjirou, the husband of the Queen, gained a title or domain, even if only nominal, and obtained an independent ie, it meant that Aura would lose the control over him. To begin with, sharing even a part of the earnings from the scatteredndholdings currently unified under Aura, simply meant that she had less money to spent freely, too.

    The Prince Consort had a status and ie of his own, levying an army of his own with that ie.

    That was obviously not something the close adviser of the Queen would suggest.

    (Is he suspicious of me? No, it¡¯s too obvious, even if that¡¯s the case. If anything, he¡¯s giving me a warning, I guess, in a roundabout manner)

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    While he pondered like that, the secretary stood at attention and suspiciously watched his every movement with his strict eyes.

    This man would definitely not miss an suspicious attitude from Zenjirou.

    As he had sworn loyalty to Aura, he was trustworthy, but when he gave him a cold re of suspicion like this, Zenjirou felt ufortable and fearful.

    When Zenjirou was on Aura¡¯s side, the answer to this offer could only be ¡°no¡±.

    Zenjirou knew at least that this wasn¡¯t the ce to be obstinate and give an uncooperative answer, so he cleared his throat once with an affected cough, then honestly denied it.

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. The centralization of finances and power is essential for the restoration of the ¡®royal family¡¯.¡±

    ¡°However, I thought you had made up your mind to leave the inner pce to be of use to Her Highness Aura? Excuse me for saying this, but even when you are Her Highness¡¯s consort and acknowledged as a direct royalty, your repertoire of what you can aplish is rather limited without a title.¡±

    Provoking words from an inexpressive face with a t tone. Zenjirou let his inner irritation boil up, temporarily softened his fear and wariness towards the man standing in front of him through anger and replied somewhat emotional.

    ¡°¡­Even if that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s a problem to be discussed between my wife and I. You¡¯ve no right to propose it to me over her head.¡±

    After he said that, Zenjirou immediately regretted it with ¡°damn, I went too far¡±, but it was toote. However, surprisingly enough, the biting words and irritation uncloaked in his answer were satisfying for Secretary Fabio.

    ¡°¡­Yes, please forgive me for speaking out of line.¡±

    His inexpressive mask crumbled for a tiny bit and revealed a smile as he deeply lowered his head towards Zenjirou.

    * * *

    A few hourster. The sunlight, shining in from the windows, started to get a sunset tinge, when Secretary Fabio visited Aura, who was attending to her duties in her office.

    ¡°Your Highness, I have returned.¡±

    Aura only nced at him as he bowed curtly while remaining seated at her desk.

    ¡°Well done, Fabio. You have done well, too, Alejandro. You may leave now.¡±

    The young and serious-looking man standing behind her¡ª her second secretary Alejandro handed Secretary Fabio the pack of dragonskin parchments he was holding, upon his master¡¯s words.

    ¡°Fabio-sama, these are the documents for today.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I will take over from here on.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do.¡±

    After handing the dragonskin parchments to the middle-aged first secretary, the second secretary sincerely bowed once, then left.

    While hearing the door shut with a tter behind him, Secretary Fabio headed over to the desk and called out to the writing Queen.

    ¡°Did you fare with Alejandro well, Your Highness?¡±

    Aura stopped her hand that was leading the ball pen upon his question and raised her eyes from the paper at her hands to the slender face of her secretary standing in front of her.

    ¡°Quite so. His conduct is rather adorable, unlike yours. Still, he is not all that ¡®quick on the uptake¡¯ for his job yet. If I were to be feeling well, it would be alright to have him around to let him get ustomed to it, but right now he can fulfil a substitute role at best.¡±

    The Queen gave a harsh evaluation, whereat Secretary Fabio answered with a light shrug of his shoulders.

    ¡°Understood. I will do my utmost from now on to teach him, so that he will meet your standards.¡±

    As the first secretary, teaching the young secretaries was one of Fabio¡¯s duties as well.

    Aura had known Fabio for a long time, so she subtly sensed his burning passion for teaching the younger generation behind his stony mask, and pitied the young secretaries a bit.

    Nevertheless, it was a fact that the skills of the young secretary were stillcking.

    ¡°Do that. By the way, how did it go?¡±

    Not panicking on the sudden topic change, the middle-aged secretary was ¡°quick on the uptake¡± and responded.

    ¡°Very well. The oath ceremony of Knight Otario finished without a hitch. Zenjirou-sama has already returned into the inner pce.¡±

    Aura spilled a sigh of relief for now from the everything-is-fine report of her secretary.

    ¡°I see. d to hear. So, let me hear your opinion. How did my husbande across to you?¡±

    It had already been to half a year since Zenjirou hade into this world. At this point, it certainly was a bitte to ask this now, but since Zenjirou had shut himself into the inner pce, where entrance was forbidding to other males, Secretary Fabio had no real chance to strike a genuine conversation with him until now.

    However, now that Zenjirou had made up his mind to be more active outside of the inner pce to a reasonable degree, it was necessary to inquire what kind of impression her loyal retainer with the stony mask had of him.

    The middle-aged secretary replied at once, as he already had prepared an answer to the Queen¡¯s question.

    ¡°Very well. It appears that he is somewhat ustomed to keep up appearances from the outset. Due to that, I believe that he will notmit any fatal mistakes if we were to entrust official matters to him.

    His etiquette gets a passing mark as well. There is much I would like to point out, but everything still is within a permissible scope. I would dare to say that it is unlikely that he will cause a problem due to being unaware of the etiquette outside.¡±

    The secretary talked swiftly in a fluent speech, then temporarily stopped and added some more at the end after a short shrug of his shoulders.

    ¡°Also, I tried to tempt him into epting a peerage andnd from the holdings of the crown, but he rejected it.¡±

    Aura showed a sullen face and buried her head in her hands when her secretary said so tantly.

    ¡°There you go again with your provocations¡­ Still, a peerage andnd, huh. It certainly is worth considering in prospect of my husband¡¯s future activities.¡±

    The Queen took her hands off her face and supported her chin with them, immersing herself in her thoughts with a serious expression. In reaction, Secretary Fabio twisted the corners of his mouth into a faint smile and said bantering.

    ¡°Please talk about that in plenty between the two of you. Because it apparently is not a matter a mere secretary as myself can poke his noise into ¡®over your head¡¯.¡±

    Aura discerned from his tone that Zenjirou must have said that and replied with a small smile.

    ¡°How typical of my prudent husband. I have it so much easier thanks to it. It might be better to prepare him only a peerage first of all for now, to gain some prestige.¡±

    She gave him a favourable impression like that, but in fact, Zenjirou hadn¡¯t really acted with prudence in mind. He simply was aware of the fact that Aura and him may be on equal terms in private, but had a distinct distribution of roles, namely superior and inferior, in public.

    From his experiences as a working adult for roughly three years, he had internalized how easily an organisation could go astray when they didn¡¯t share urate information and had no coherent chain ofmand.

    ¡°Would it not be alright to let him seed the title ¡®Duke of Valentia¡¯, considering his position as your husband?¡±

    Aura answered the provoking words of her secretary with a low tone as if to threaten him while she kept her smile.

    ¡°Fabio, refrain from testing me. Do not worry, I have no intention to grant my husband that much power. At least while I sit on the throne, the dukedom of ¡®Valentia¡¯ and the county of ¡®Potosi¡¯ will remain under my control. I will not pass them on to anyone.¡±

    ¡°A wise decision.¡±

    Being scolded by the Queen, the secretary shrugged his shoulders lightly without showing any sign of repentance, and evaluated her decision like that.

    ¡°Valentia¡± was the most flourishing seaport within the kingdom and ¡°Potoshi¡± had the greatest silver mines in the whole kingdom.

    The independent royal ie from them exceedingly strengthened Aura¡¯s power in this feudal state. It would be nothing but a foolish move to entrust one of these two major sources of revenue to someone else besides her, even her husband.

    ¡°However, you currently cannot ¡®leap¡¯ to the locations, since you are pregnant. And leaving it all up to the governors is dangerous in itself.¡±

    Aura frowned when her secretary pointed that out, but she was sane enough to just nod to it.

    ¡°Yeah, I know. Giving him the title may be out of the question, but I would really like him to act as an administrator for it, when he learns to use ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯.¡±

    Detachednds originally tended to be an good breeding ground for corruption or revolts, but the reason why it functioned exceptionally well without problems in the Carpa Kingdom was the ¡°teleportation¡± spell amongst the magic that the members of the royal family could use.

    It required some guts and wits for people to scheme revolts or corruption when they didn¡¯t know when a sudden inspection would take ce.

    But at the present time, the Queen aka Aura was the only person in the Carpa Kingdom, who could use ¡°teleportation¡±. In that sense, it was desirable, too, that Zenjirou learned magic and many children with a direct bloodline were born.

    ¡°Indeed. Such an appointment would be worthwhile. That said, his greatest appointment remains to make a child with you.¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. Fortunately, that matter is progressing well. And I did not feel sick even once today either. ording to Doctor Michelle, I already have the toughest phase of the morning sickness behind me.¡±

    Aura showed her brightest expression of today, whereat Secretary Fabio

    ¡°d to hear that. Come to think of it, you personally met the envoy from the Twin Kingdom today, did you not? What did he say?¡±

    changed the topic and asked her.

    The diplomatic differences with the Twin Kingdom. To find a point ofpromise over what to do with thetent power of the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± that Zenjirou had, they had held a secret meeting today.

    Aura lightly shrugged her shoulders on his question and answered.

    ¡°First of all, my initial impression was that they do not intend to restraint our child. But they seem to be ready to intervene if my husband were to make a child with someone else than me.¡±

    After she said that, she leaned her full body weight against the backrest of her chair and craned her neck once to ease the stiffness.

    That reaction was what he had anticipated from the beginning. Convinced, Secretary Fabio inquired further.

    ¡°However, the child between Zenjirou-sama and yourself will definitely have inherited some remains of the ¡®Sharrow Royal Family¡¯ blood. Will the Twin Kingdom really be appeased just by not letting Zenjirou-sama take any concubines?¡±

    Aura shrugged her shoulders once more and honestly shook her head.

    ¡°I doubt it. In fact, they hinted at tying the knot between my husband and a Princess of a branch family of the Sharrow Family. With the premise of taking the child between them to the Twin Kingdom, naturally.

    This is nothing definite, but my gut feeling tells me that they are more focussed on winning over the ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯ bloodline for their own country rather than trying to prevent that our country keeps the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ bloodline.¡±

    In that case, a royalty with mixed blood of the Carpa Family would be born into the Sharrow Family just like their child was going to born with mixed blood of the Sharrow Family. Probably something along the lines of: We¡¯re even with you.

    Of course, that was only an excuse from their side, while Aura had her own excuses.

    The information that Zenjirou hadtently inherited the Sharrow blood wasn¡¯t verified, so if they were to ept their excuse as it is, then it could very well result in the simple theft of their ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± bloodline.

    To begin with, Zenjirou hadn¡¯t intentionally stolen their bloodline or anything, so they had no reason toply any further. Logically speaking, the Twin Kingdom had sent Aura and Zenjirou their ¡°blessings¡± when they had married, so they had no right toin about his bloodline now. That said, Aura didn¡¯t expect either that foreign affairs followed such prim rules.

    ¡°I wonder at what point apromise can be reached.¡±

    ¡°No idea. It is hard to say anything at this point. I am afraid that we will talk past each other for a while longer. After all, there is a ¡®bloodline magic¡¯ at stake. We both cannot yield for various reasons.

    To look for the silver lining, they also recognize war as the veryst and worst option.¡±

    After saying that, Aura craned her neck again while still leaning against the backrest.

    The Carpa Kingdom and the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell. Both were prominent major powers that reigned supreme on the South Continent. And both were aware that it wouldn¡¯t end with a simple burn if they yed with fire. However, there was nothing impractical like honour at stake this time. It concerned the ¡°bloodline magic¡±, the power that made up the heart of a country. It seemed unlikely that aprise would be reached so easily.

    ¡°In the worst case, it might not even reach a conclusion in your lifetime.¡±

    Aura frowned from the realistic-tinted bad prediction that her secretary mentioned.

    ¡°¡­If possible, I would like to avoid that. The longer it takes to solve a matter like this, the more both sides will see the legitimacy of their own ims and stoppromising. I would rather not see that the generation of my child will spark the next great war.¡±

    That said, Aura was a ruler, too. As a ruler, she couldn¡¯t make any secret arrangements that would disadvantage her own country. If she were to do that, the foundation of her power would start to sway, bringing about the next crisis of a revolt.

    ¡°We can only prepare ourselves for a drawn-out argument. I am restricted until I give birth anyway and making overhasty decisions is never good. Further on, it will be troublesome when the secret gets out by chance. I am sure you can imagine what someone like Puyol would say if he were to get wind of this?¡±

    As Secretary Fabio understood what Aura was getting at, he made a small sigh and agreed.

    ¡°¡­He would gleefully push a concubine onto Zenjirou-sama for sure. In order to actively steal the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯.¡±

    The ambitious General Puyol would never let the chance to capture the bloodline magic of another country escape. And the prediction that sympathetic nobles would be a majority when General Puyol proposed the above, was even more troubling. The ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± lineage was just that attractive.

    It was quite likely that the moderate faction, anxious about the Twin Kingdom, would be cast aside.

    ¡°Prudence is the key, prudence.¡±

    Aura mumbled as if to convince herself and unconsciously stroke her stomach holding the child with her right hand.

 Chapter Volume 2 6

    A certain day a few monthster.

    Queen Aura had the nth secret meeting with the envoy from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell in a room of the pce.

    Right now was the coolest season of the year in the Carpa Kingdom. The balmy sunlight, not getting hotter than twenty degrees during the day, shone in through the open windows andfortably lightened up the room.

    Aura¡¯s morning sickness was gone, but in exchange her stomach had started to stand out. d in an unusual loose and red dress, she was sitting on the couch and calmly called out to the envoy from the Twin Kingdom sitting upright across from her.

    ¡°As you can see, I am pregnant. Forgive my sloppy attire.¡±

    ¡°No offense taken. I am extremely grateful to be granted an audience with Her Highness.¡±

    The envoy from the Twin Kingdom replied with formal words to the utterance of the Queen and bowed respectfully.

    The emissary was a middle-aged man d in the formal clothes of the Twin Kingdomposed of the colours white and purple. He was a low-ranking nobility without peerage ornd, but he was entrusted with an important task this time, so they must trust in his personality and abilities quite a bit.

    And in fact, he retained his unruffledposure so far, even in the face of the Queen of a major power.

    This was Aura¡¯s fifth meeting with this man. Considering that he hade to the pce two month ago, five meetings seemed far too littlepared to the importance of the discussed matter, but it was inevitable, since its concealment took priority.

    When Aura, as the Queen of a country, repeatedly met a mere diplomatic messenger, even if the emissary was from a major power like the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, in a one-on-one conversation, then others would specte that ¡°something serious has happened¡±.

    Both countries had contrary interests, but they at least agreed on keeping the matter a secret.

    ¡°I am sure you know this already, but I cannot spare much time for you. Let us keep it brief and get started. Your Twin Kingdom sent us their blessing when my husband and I got married. You do not mean to take these words back, I take it?¡±

    Just like she had informed him at the start, Aura immediately confronted him with overwhelming words and an overwhelming attitude.

    ¡°Why, of course not. My country has sincerely expressed their congrattions on your marriage. These words were by no means a deception.¡±

    The emissary from the Twin Kingdom respectfully lowered his head, but answered without being daunted.

    They had no intention to withdraw their congrattions on the wedding of Aura and Zenjirou. In other words, the Twin Kingdom expressed that they didn¡¯t n to intervene in regards to the child between them.

    In a way, Aura aplished her minimal goal by just squeezing that statement out of him. At least there was no longer any worry that they would meddle with the legitimate heir of the Carpa Kingdom. That was technically only natural, but Aura made a sigh of relief in her heart when she got a clear assurance. It was her biggest achievement in thest few month.

    However, the emissary didn¡¯t give her any time to rejoice and hacked at Aura with polite words.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama has been acknowledged as a member of the Carpa Royal Family. Another country has no reason to meddle with his future ns. We are aware of that. However, we would like you to understand the viewpoint of our country as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­Certainly. It is not like I cannot rte to it.¡±

    Aura nodded with a solemn look,pletely different than before.

    At this point, Zenjirou had been epted as the Prince Consort of the Carpa Kingdom by the countries on the Continent, so the Twin Kingdom originally had absolutely no legitimacy to meddle with Zenjirou¡¯s bloodline now.

    However, it was a fact that an important matter like the leak of a bloodline magic could spurn an official legitimacy, depending on the circumstances. Moreover, the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell was the major power ruling supreme over the central area of the South Continent.

    Considering the worst possibility, an outburst of war, Aura couldn¡¯t afford to push onpletely aggressively.

    It vexed her, but she needed to concede a point somewhere.

    Aura softly rested her crossed arms on her stomach and suggested with an intentional lowered tone.

    ¡°My husband understands your standpoint and said that he would not make a child with other women, except for myself. Will that not suffice, considering that you said that you will not meddle with my child?¡±

    As the Carpa Kingdom currently only had two sessors to the bloodline magic, it was a generouspromise when they intentionally restricted the spreading of their bloodline. Aura had no intention concede any further.

    But the envoy from the Twin Kingdom had different values.

    ¡°I extremely appreciated that. However, the marriages of royalty are often beyond one¡¯s control. What would you do when Zenjirou-sama is forced to take a concubine due to some inevitable circumstances and their child awakens to the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯?¡±

    Without backing off, the man stated his incisive opinion, whereat Aura clicked her tongue in hear heart while she outwardly kept herposed smile.

    The man was actually right. There was no guarantee that the promise of a royalty not taking any concubines would be kept for all eternity. Secret arrangements without penal regtions for breaking it basically didn¡¯t exist.

    In fact, Aura didn¡¯t have any intention to keep such a promise very faithfully, either. Of course she wouldn¡¯t do anything foolish to unnecessarily provoke the Twin Kingdom, but she was considering breaking the promise with a suitable apology when the time should call for it.

    She honestly hadn¡¯t expected him to give her such a frank warning. The man had courage at least.

    That said, Aura wasn¡¯t such a heedless woman that she would take his excuse on trust.

    ¡°You are speaking no more than hypothetical here, are you not? I cannot see any reason in the current situation that would oblige me to answer that.¡±

    Aura discarded it, whereupon the man stayed persistent with his stillposed voice.

    ¡°However, it would not be all that strange when this hypothesis bes reality, or not? I believe it would be wiser to consider possible difficulties in advance.¡±

    The man was stubbornly insisting on his standpoint. It looked like it would require a lot of effort to drive him back without force.

    Discerning that, Aura changed her approach a bit.

    ¡°I see. You have a point there. Then let me ask you: What would happen when the Sharrow Family breaks the agreement about not meddling with the child between my husband and I? I mean, when the lineage of my husband gets leaked to their branch families and they resort to some rash actions after knowing about it. Of course I am speaking theoretically to the bitter end here, but it would not be all that strange if that actually happened, or not?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    The man was at a loss for words for the first time upon her counterattack. She had only retaliated, but it had been extremely effective. Unlike Aura, who was the head of a country, the messenger was nothing a spokesman for his country and his allowed ad-libbing was limited.

    Aura had attacked that very weakness.

    ¡°Well, you definitely made a valid point. Valid enough to consider it. Though the same applies to the hypothesis I just asked you.¡±

    It was in a roundabout way, but she was saying ¡°your argument and mine should be treated simultaneously¡±. The simultaneously made the suggestion sound impartial, but it was actually not.

    Aura was a Queen that could decide everything on her own, whereas the man was a mere diplomat with limited authority.

    ¡°¡­Understood. I will consult with my country at once.¡±

    In the end, the man couldn¡¯t get any more results on that day.

    * * *

    Around the same time. Zenjirou attended a ceremony in the reception hall of the pce, d in the formal attire of the Carpa Kingdom with the main colour red that still didn¡¯t seem to suit him all too much.

    Another chair was set up next to the empty throne. This seat was reserved to Zenjirou.

    Normally, it wasmon sense that the throne for the ruler differed from the chair for the consort next to it through an easily visible distinction in size or decoration, but the chair Zenjirou was currently sitting on was nearly identical with the throne in size, decoration and quality of the stones used for it.

    This again showed the problematic treatment of the first ¡°Prince Consort¡± in history.

    (The Prince Consort can¡¯t outdo the Queen, but as a woman, the Queen can¡¯t outdo her husband. Aura really has been put in a tight spot)

    Now that he attended an official event like this, he experienced firsthand how hard his beloved wife struggled in this troublesome position.

    To be honest, the evaluating gazes of the nobles were a great burden on his shoulder, but this hardship wasn¡¯t worth mentioning when he thought about how the pregnant Aura had taken this work on her own shoulders.

    Zenjirou dazedly let his gaze wander over the present nobles without looking them into the eyes, and waited for the ceremony to end like a well-behaved doll.

    In principle, the ceremonies he attended in Aura¡¯s stead were all of the kind, where a person with a ¡°royal¡± title only had to be present.

    Ceremonies that involvedplicated procedures or delicate conversations could only be left to Aura.

    (I just have to wait silently and well-mannered for it to end)

    Zenjirou told himself to do so while he kept a tidy, doll-like seating posture on top of his vice-throne made of red stone.

    His only role was to greet the nobles with a wave of his hand when the civil official, leading this ceremony, called his name.

    (He¡¯s gonna call on me any moment now)

    Listening to the clear words of the civil official, Zenjirou started to mentally prepare himself. At that moment.

    ¡°Today, you are in the very presence of His Gracious Majesty Zenjirou-sama, a representative of the Carpa Family. Everyone, please give His Highness a grand apuse!¡±

    Zenjirou was so surprised by the unexpected words from the master of ceremonies that he unconsciously let the air get stuck in his throat.

    But this wasn¡¯t the time to be surprised. When he looked at the face of the young civil official in charge of the ceremony, he didn¡¯t feel any malice from his words said just now, but even so, he couldn¡¯t leave it alone like this.

    Originally, his task was only to silently wave his right hand now. He had no guarantee that acting here at his own discretion would be absolutely correct, but he could only muster his courage and proceed now that the situation called for an action.

    Zenjirou lightly took a hold of the decorative bronze sword hanging down on the left side of his waist with his right hand, then reprimanded with a loud voice to suppress his nervousness.

    ¡°Correction! I am not here as a ¡®representative of the Carpa Family¡¯. I am here to ¡®substitute for Her Highness Aura¡¯, the one and only absolute ruler of the Carpa Kingdom!¡±

    It were sharp and forceful words, quite different from the usual Zenjirou. Of course they didn¡¯te from the heart. It was a well-performed act, going to the utmost limits of his capacity.

    However, by ¡°putting his hand onto his sword¡±, he signalized that ¡°he was prepared to bestow punishment depending on the circumstances¡±. As the young civil official had no way to read Zenjirou¡¯s thoughts, it was too much for him.

    The master of ceremonies turned pale in the face upon the unexpected scolding of the direct royalty and corrected himself.

    ¡°M- My deepest apologies! Let me amend it. You are in the very presence of Her Highness Aura¡¯s husband Zenjirou-sama, acting as a ¡¯proxy for Her Highness¡¯!¡±

    When he saw how the civil official was on the verge of copsing, Zenjirou unconsciously felt like apologizing with the words ¡°Sorry, I went too far¡±.

    In fact, an outsider not in the know might outrage that a social superior was bullying a social inferior for a small mistake when hearing this.

    And as a matter of fact, no small number of the assembled nobles here directed a look at Zenjirou that seemed to say exactly that.

    However, this mistake was something Zenjirou could never overlook in his position.

    ¡°Substituting for Aura¡± at this ce meant that he had Aura¡¯s permission to be here after all.

    On the other hand, being here as a ¡°representative for the royal family¡± would imply that Zenjirou attended by the direct request of the organizer of this ceremony ¡°without consulting with Aura¡±.

    In other words, Zenjirou would be executing his power as a royalty. That, of all things, should never be happening. Even without using the metaphor that a little leak will sink a great ship, it was obvious that the best method to avoid instances like this was not to allow a single precedent to happen.

    (Not good. I had anticipated it to some extent, but they already started to recognize me as royalty more than I had thought)

    Zenjirou deliberately averted his eyes from the noisy nobles and stifled his inner impatience.

    It wasmon that a banquet hosted by the organizer would follow after the ceremony.

    Such an asion gave many chances for informal conversation with the nobles, so Zenjirou did his best not to attend any, as not to make any mistakes, but today he actively had to make use of this asion to aplish a certain goal.

    Hence, he had swapped the second formal attire for the slightly more casual third formal attire and walked around the reception hall, where the banquet was held, in midday.

    Those of lower rank were not supposed to casually call out to someone of higher rank. Due to that etiquette, Zenjirou himself had no choice but to go around, calling out to people, when he wanted to aplish his goal.

    He vigorously walked around on the red carpet in his unfamiliar cloth shoes in pursue of his goal.

    ¡°Oh, who have we got here? Count Bologna, I have heard your name from my dear wife, saying that you are a capable civil official and a cultured person that embodies elegance.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Zenjirou-sama. I am highly delighted for the praising words.¡±

    Zenjirou indiscriminately called out to the nobles in the banquet hall, whose faces he could match with a name.

    ¡°I am really fortunate to get to strike a conversation with you here, Zenjirou-sama. Thank you very much for your attending today¡¯s ceremony.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mention it. It was a direct order from my beloved wife, Her Highness Aura after all. As her subject and her husband, doing a service like this is only natural.¡±

    He emphasised that he was here ¡°on Aura¡¯s order¡± in all respects.

    ¡°If you say so. However, you yourself started to leave the inner pce more oftentely, did you not? As a retainer, I am truly pleased about that. I guess the desire to spread your wings by yourself prevailed.¡±

    Although the banquet was an informal gathering, his phrasing sailed close to the wind and Zenjirou inwardly clicked his tongue in response to them while he wracked his brain to the limit toe up with the most suitable answer.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing like spreading my wings. I feel like a candle without its fire when my dear wife is away from the inner pce due to her duties, so I merely do it to distract me from the loneliness.¡±

    Saying so, Zenjirou grinned broadly.

    (Will this do? I hope he understands now that I¡¯m head over heels for Aura)

    The noble in front of himughed loudly with his shoulders trembling, whether he knew of Zenjirou¡¯s inner thoughts or not.

    ¡°Hahaha, oh my. You truly have a deep affection for Her Highness.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I never considered myself to be such the devoted type either. Be it asleep or awake, my head is always filled with my dear wife and the child in her stomach.

    As shameful as it is, it even affects my work in a bad way. Good grief, it¡¯s really troublesome.¡±

    (I¡¯m a useless guy lost in love now. I¡¯m a useless guy lost in love now¡­) Repeatedly telling himself that, Zenjirou temporarily abandoned his emotional properties such as shame and pride, which originally should be treasured, and let ring out a desperateughter.

    Thanks to that, the looks directed at him from all directions started to fill with disappointment and contempt one by one.

    * * *

    Around dusk, Aura finished her meeting with the messenger from the Twin Kingdom and returned to the inner pce, only to see that her beloved husband wasn¡¯t back yet.

    It didn¡¯t happen often that Aura returned before Zenjirou.

    ¡°Come to think of it, he is attending a ceremony in my stead today.¡±

    Aura mumbled after recalling it, then she took an orange bath towel from the basket in the corner of the room and sat down on the couch.

    She covered her stomach with the towel, as she had untied some straps of the dress there.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    She was choosing loose-fitting dresses during her pregnancy, but as a Queen, she had to dress appropriately when she appeared in public.

    With the straps around her waist loosened like this, she felt relieved. The bath towel was a caution to prevent her recently growing stomach to get cold.

    As Aura slovenly sat back in the couch, she suddenly felt thirsty and raised a voice.

    ¡°Someone.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡±

    Upon the Queen¡¯s exmation, a waiting maid immediately appeared from the next room, where she had been on stand-by.

    Still leaning against the couch, Aura just directed her eyes at the young maid standing at attention and ordered her.

    ¡°I am thirsty. Bring me something to drink. Oh, and something light to snack as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    The young waiting maid bowed curt upon the Queen¡¯s instructions, then she briskly opened the refrigerator in one corner of the room, poured water mixed with sugar and fruit syrup into a ss and put it onto the table.

    ¡°I will see about the snacks now. Do you have any requests?¡±

    Aura mused a bit over the maid¡¯s words and answered.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Something sweet, I guess. Oh, nothing fruity. And no need to hurry.¡±

    ¡°Yes, understood. Please wait a moment.¡±

    The waiting maid bowed, then left the room.

    Left behind, Aura took the ss from the table and drank its content.

    The chilled, sweet and bitter drink refreshed her throat and she sighed satisfied.

    ¡°Mhm, recently it seems that my husband has gotten ustomed to the waiting maids, too. A development I really appreciate in terms of living conditions.¡±

    Previously, Aura had refrained from calling the waiting maids into this room or the bedroom too often, in consideration to Zenjirou, who hated it when others intruded onto his private space, but ever since she became pregnant, Zenjirou was the considerate one instead and allowed the waiting maids to usually stay on alert near by.

    Zenjirou had cooperated for the sake of the mother and child, buttely it seemed that he, too, became used to the waiting maids staying in the room next door. For Aura that had always been the norm, so she was pleased about it.

    Of course she was ready toply if he were to say ¡°I can¡¯t get used to it after all. Make them leave.¡±, but it surely was okay to exploit the good-will of her husband while she was pregnant.

    Just when she put the ss back onto the table, she heard the tter of the door opening behind her.

    For a moment, she thought the waiting maid had already returned with her snack, but a maid would knock before entering the door without fail. There was only one person, who would open the door to this room without a knock or naming oneself.

    Aura turned around on the couch and the face she expected greeted her.

    ¡°I¡¯m home, Aura. How¡¯re you?¡±

    As he had attended an event as a substitute for Aura, Zenjirou was dressed in the formal attire for males in the Carpa Kingdom, a red vest over a white shirt embroidered with golden threads and wide trousers, and stood at the entrance of the room.

    Since he had began to attend public events in Aura¡¯s stead, this formal attire started to suit him more and more.

    When Aura beheld the face of her returning husband¡ª of Zenjirou, her mouth naturally formed a smile and she said with a bright voice.

    ¡°Yeah, all well. The morning sickness is gone now, too, so I had no interruptions with my duties today. Thanks to that everything went well.¡±

    ¡°d to hear.¡±

    Replying with a smile, Zenjirou closed the door behind him, then swiftly walked over the carpet towards the clothes hook in the corner of the room.

    After lightening himself by taking off the red vest and hanging it on the hook, he sat down next to Aura on the couch while fetching his own ss and a silver jar with fruit juice from the refrigerator on the way.

    ¡°Fuh¡±

    The temperature wasn¡¯t all too hot, but as he was exhausted from the unfamiliar event, his body was sweating all over. He stretched his cor as wide as a finger and fanned air into it.

    Looking at her husband, who threw his body, ckened from being relieved of the stress, onto the couch, Aura opened her mouth.

    ¡°How did it go on your end? You attended the ceremony, right? Did anything bother you?¡±

    She asked him that every day, since he started to leave the inner pce. Aura herself knew that she was being overprotective, but better that than being toote when she neglected to confirm it with him. Fortunately, her husband agreed with that line of thought and didn¡¯t treat it as a bother. He always answered ¡°No, nothing in particr¡± with a smile.

    However, today Zenjirou suddenly frowned and gave an answer different from usual with a serious expression.

    ¡°Yeah, about that, there was something.¡±

    ¡°Mh¡­?¡±

    Did some problem ur? Aura tensed up from her husband¡¯s behaviour, corrected her seating position on the couch and waited for his boration with a serious look.

    ¡°Actually, I was called a ¡®representative for the royal family¡¯ during the ceremony today. Instead of ¡®your substitute¡¯, you see.¡±

    Zenjirou added that he immediately corrected it of course.

    ¡°That¡­ is indeed a bit problematic.¡±

    Aura showed the same grim expression as him upon his remark.

    It had been a couple of months, since Zenjirou had started to attend ceremonies or evening parties in her stead.

    Zenjirou himself hadn¡¯t changed his stance of being nothing more than a substitute for the pregnant Aura, but when a male member of the royal family appeared at a public event by himself, then the culture of this country made it inevitable that some people would rather attach importance to Zenjirou, a man, than to Aura, a woman, even if she was the Queen.

    Needless to say, Aura appeared in public more often than him, even now that she was pregnant. Zenjirou was only substituting for her in a few events that weren¡¯t all that important and didn¡¯t require decisions on the spot.

    Nevertheless, rumours about a ¡°power shift¡± spread when a male royalty acted as a proxy for the Queen. Their uneasiness and dissatisfaction about the Queen must have gained the upper hand after all, seeing as her duties were left undone due to her pregnancy.

    Aura and Zenjirou looked at each other and opened their mouth nearly at the same time.

    ¡°If that happened intentionally, it will be problematic.¡±

    ¡°If that wasn¡¯t intentionally, it¡¯ll be a problem.¡±

    The couple utteredpletely opposite sentences, which seemed to be a bit simr though, at the same time and fell silent for a moment, then they tilted her heads puzzled.

    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh?¡±

    The silence was broken by Zenjirou first.

    ¡°Ehm¡­ Why¡¯s it problematic when it was intentionally? Could you exin?¡±

    ¡°Well, think about it. Mistaking it on purpose means that he obviously intends to sow discord between us. How can that not be problematic? Why did you think that it would be problematic the other way round?¡±

    Aura exposed her train of thought with clear words and asked for his opinion next.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou, too, properly put his thoughts into words, albeit not as distinct as Aura.

    ¡°Yeah, when he didn¡¯t do it on purpose, it means that the people of the pce have unconsciously started to see me as a ¡®single member of the royal family¡¯ instead of ¡®your substitute¡¯. And going by the values of this country, I thought that some people wouldin that I¡¯m your puppet.¡±

    Even if she was the Queen and he her consort, the patriarchic society of the Carpa Kingdom didn¡¯t appreciate it when the man was subjected to the woman. So far, it had only been overlooked, since Aura had achieved actual results and Zenjirou had a dubious origin of a different world.

    In the worst case, the pce might split into conflicting parties, the ¡°Queen¡¯s followers¡± and the ¡°Prince Consort¡¯s followers¡±.

    And even more troublesome was the fact that the people, who tried to dismiss Aura and install Zenjirou, actually had valid reason to do so at the present time.

    In this world, royalty equalled being a user of a bloodline magic. The count of the royal family contributed to the strength of the country in equal measure.

    However, the current royal family of the Carpa Kingdom only consisted of two people: Aura and Zenjirou. Inevitably, it was desirable that the two of them made as much children as possible. But in that case, the mother aka Aura would repeat pregnancies and deliveries over a long period of time.

    Under these circumstances, it was more efficient when Zenjirou assumed the official duties while Aura concentrated on giving birth to healthy children.

    That certainly made sense. Although only when Zenjirou¡¯s capacity to govern was on par with Aura¡¯s.

    Anyway, Aura understood what Zenjirou was getting at.

    She leaned her pregnant body against the backrest of the couch and sighed deeply.

    ¡°I see now. You want to say that the change in the perception of everyone, where they unconsciously mistake it, is a greater problem than the scheming of a few people, who mistake it intentionally.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. At least I think so. Well, in my opinion, it was only a matter of time anyway, now that I went outside.¡±

    Answering like that, Zenjirou shrugged his shoulders a bit while he still sat slovenly on the couch.

    ¡°Certainly. Then let us carefully exchange information from now on as a countermeasure, so that we do not fall victim to rumours or schemes to alienate us.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Also, I shouldn¡¯t take a position, where I¡¯ve free ess to power and capital. If you were to propose that, it would give you a bad reputation, namely ¡®infringing your husband¡¯s rights¡¯, so we ought to extensively highlight the stance that I ¡®rejected any bothersome stuff¡® from my end.¡±

    Zenjirou was already taking the me for the concubine matter and now he casually dered that he would take the me himself again.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ That certainly is the best solution. Still¡­¡±

    Aura unconsciously made a bitter face, but she found it hard to object, since she realized that doing as he said was the most beneficial for the royal family.

    However, by doing so, his current bad reputation of ¡°a fool head over heels for the Queen¡± due to rejecting concubines, would be extended by ¡°azy fellow that hates work¡±.

    Joined together it became ¡°azy fellow that didn¡¯t work and was smitten by a woman¡±. Well, considering that he ran away to a different world to break away from his sryman life after falling in love with Aura at first sight, that evaluation might be surprisingly fitting.

    Zenjirou then added, as to give his wife, who just couldn¡¯t bring herself to honestly agree, ast push.

    ¡°On my way back here, I consulted Secretary Fabio about it and he, too, said that it would be ¡®eptable¡®.¡±

    Since he himself had brought it up and even her loyal retainer approved it, Aura couldn¡¯t deny it anymore. All the more, since she herself understood its effectiveness as long as she just ignored her feeling of guilt.

    In the end, Aura nodded while making a sigh.

    ¡°Fine. Then I will presume upon your goodwill again. Still, it seems it is going well with Fabio. I am relieved. He is quite capable, but not so much affable, so I was a bit worried.¡±

    Zenjirou quickly averted his eyes upon the unexpected topic change and answered murmuring while looking the other way.

    ¡°Yeah, well, it is ¡®going well¡¯. Though we¡¯re not ¡®getting along well¡®¡­¡±

    Aura unconsciously smiled in response to her husband¡¯s obvious sullen face.

    ¡°d to hear. If you were able to ¡®get along well¡¯ with that man, then I would be unable to find any peace of mind, since I would have to deal with two men of his calibre, one at work and one at home.¡±

    At first, Aura started with a yful tone, but in the end she practically spit the words out. Apparently she had umted more retorts about the blunt way of speaking from her loyal retainer, than she had thought.

    Zenjirou discerned from her tone that they both seemed to have the same sentiment towards the man called Fabio, and faced his wife again with a rxed expression.

    ¡°Right. One of him is enough.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But one is necessary. To be honest, he sometimes ticks me off, but he is valuable, since he is not afraid to speak about unpleasant matters with me. Even more so when it is done out of good intent instead of malice. Try to get on with him as well as possible.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll get along with him ¡®as well as possible¡¯.¡±

    He didn¡¯t bother to hide the wry smile on his face as he nodded.

 Chapter Volume 2 7

    One monthter.

    In the living room of the inner pce, Zenjirou faced hisputer and typed down the contents of the secret contract that his wife Aura was reading to him.

    The season had now changed into what would be fall in Japan.

    On the South Continent this period wasmonly called the ¡°rainy season¡±. Just as the name implied, it wasn¡¯t all that unusual that rain clouds covered the sky for more than half the month and it rained for more than ten days in a row.

    Downpours on the level of small typhoons went on endlessly, which made the rainy season of Japan with its drizzling rain look adorable instead.

    Of course this weather brought along the problem of many floods, but the rain of this season nurtured the vegetation of the Carpa Kingdom and left the soil with a rich blessing of water, so it wasn¡¯t all loathsome.

    And today, too, the rain poured down heavily since the morning, true to this season.

    The shutters of the windows were closed tightly as the wind was unfavourable while the downpour continued.

    Due to that, the interior of the room was so dark that he would have trouble seeing the keyboard at his hands without anymps, even though it was still noon. Needless to say, the six floormps were turned on right now, spending sufficient light, but it facilitated the illusion that it was already night.

    ¡°¡­, the Twin Kingdom will have to pay the Carpa Kingdom three thousand gold coins as a penalty. That is the end. Did you get all of it? If you want, I can read it out one more time.¡±

    Sitting on the couch dressed in red maternity clothes, Aura called out to her husband with that after she had read from the dragonskin parchment in her hands.

    Zenjirou typed ttering on the keyboard with his back still to his wife and replied a momentter.

    ¡°¡­No, it¡¯s okay. I got all of it, I think. Just in case, I¡¯ll read it out loud again, so can you check if anything¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Hearing his wife¡¯s response from behind, Zenjirou corrected his posture on his chair and read the text he had typed just now, from theputer disy.

    ¡°Good, here I go.

    1) Zenjioru Carpa [henceforth Z] will not make a child with anyone except Aura Carpa [henceforth A] from now on.

    2) The Twin Kingdom will never meddle with the direct offspring of [A].

    3) When the Carpa Kingdom breaks term 1), namely [Z] makes a child with someone else than [A], the Twin Kingdom has the right to examine the child [henceforth C] about its bloodline aptitude.

    4) When the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ element is confirmed in [C], [C] will study abroad in the Twin Kingdom for three years, starting with its fifteen year of age.

    5) When the Twin Kingdom forces [C] to emigrate during the study stay, the Carpa Kingdom can send [C] home to their country ahead of schedule.

    6) When [C] wishes to emigrate to the Twin Kingdom out of its own will after the three years abroad, the Carpa Kingdom has no right to prevent that.

    7) [C] has the right to spread the knowledge it learned in the Twin Kingdom only amongst the Carpa Royal Family after returning home.

    8) When the Twin Kingdom breaks term 2), namely tries to meddle with the offspring of [A], ¡­¡±

    Zenjirou smoothly read out aloud the Japanese text shown on the disy.

    Simply put, this treaty dealt with the added conditions from the respective countries in regards to the ¡°restriction on Zenjirou¡¯s reproduction¡± and the ¡°restriction on the Twin Kingdom¡¯s meddling with the Carpa Kingdom¡±.

    From what he could tell on a nce, Aura seemed to have worked very hard to force through these details.

    It was clearly specified that Zenjirou was not allowed to make a child with someone beside Aura, but considering that a breach of that term was minutely written out, it seemed that the Twin Kingdom also regarded it unlikely that this condition would be kept in reality.

    In fact, most of the conditions concerned the treatment of ¡°a child, born between Zenjirou and a woman besides Aura, that could use ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯¡±.

    At this point, he had no intentions to make a child with another woman and there were no restrictions for a child with Aura, so there was nothing toin about as far as he was concerned.

    However, that didn¡¯t mean he had no doubts. Zenjirou was used to the detailed contracts of the modern age, so this secret contract with only a good dozen of terms seemed rather sketchy to him.

    With that in mind, he turned around on the chair to look behind him.

    ¡°Mh? What is the matter, Zenjirou? Did anything bother you?¡±

    Lifting her body a bit from the backrest of the couch, his wife looked at him with a smile, whereupon he was convinced for no reason.

    (Okay, Aura and the Twin Kingdom must have purposefully left in some room for ¡°convenient interpretations¡±)

    Zenjirou had sensed the shorings of the contract from a single nce, so it was hardly thinkable that Aura and the agent of the Twin Kingdom failed to notice this in their negotiations thatsted for more than half a year.

    He came to such a conclusion of his own ord, but he was actually giving the royalty in the different world a little bit too much credit.

    It was an undeniable fact that Aura and the middleman of the Twin Kingdom were smart people, way more used to negotiations than Zenjirou, but the culture of this world didn¡¯t had a custom, where contracts were concluded right down to thest detail like in developed nations of the modern age, to begin with.

    His line of thought, ustomed to considering all future possibilities and apprehending any inconveniences for the own side, was basically unorthodox.

    (Oh well. Aura or Secretary Fabio will surely intervene in the middle of it when it goes wrong)

    ¡°Hmm, give me a sec. There¡¯s something I would like to speak about a bit more.¡±

    With that in mind, Zenjirou said this sentence in advance, then checked if the printer had enough A4 copy paper and printed out the secret contract he had read out just now.

    ¡°Oof.¡±

    With the Japanese version of the contract in hand, he said down next to Aura.

    As her stomach was growing bigger, Aura was forbidden to lean forward.

    Zenjirou held up the dragonskin parchment in the local script and the copy paper he printed out just now, in front of Aura in such a way that she didn¡¯t have to change her seating posture, and stated his own opinion.

    ¡°Look here. That¡¯s the first thing that bothered me. When 2) bes inconsistent with 3) in the future¡­¡±

    The pregnant wife was a bit surprised about the surprisingly attentive pointer of her husband, but she responded politely.

    ¡°Mhm. Then 2) will obviously¡­¡±

    However, Zenjirou wasn¡¯t convinced by Aura¡¯s exnation and probed into it.

    ¡°But since it hasn¡¯t clearly been written there, they could insist¡­¡±

    ¡°You certainly have a point, but¡­¡±

    Then the two of them huddled together and continued to discuss the contents of the secret contract until one of the waiting maids came to announce that the dinner was ready.

    * * *

    Early afternoon of the next day.

    After lunch, Zenjirou was walking down the hallway of the pce next to Aura.

    He wore cloth shoes with a leather sole from a hulking dragon, yet he was unsteady on his feet for a while now, just as if walking on sponges.

    Under the pretext of supporting his pregnant wife, Zenjirou was walking hand in hand with Aura, but the sensation of her hand actually helped him to somehow keep hisposure instead.

    Aura must have grasped the mental state of her husband. She encouraged him by periodically returning the tight squeeze on her hand. He was grateful for it, but at the same time, he felt a bit pathetic.

    (Nheless, it would be more absurd to be not nervous here. I haven¡¯t been this nervous since my senior told me to be in charge of a contract all by myself for the first time)

    Zenjirou unconsciously made such an excuse at heart.

    The assigned task back then had been rather insignificant, but the whole shebang around it was in an entire different league.

    He would dly take a deep breath now to ease his nervousness, if he could.

    And he would have undoubtedly done so if it were only Aura and himself here. To his sorrow however, they weren¡¯t alone right now.

    Even if it was inside the pce, the Queen and the Prince Consort were walking around together.

    They were guarded by a total of eight soldiers as they walked next to each other: Four in front and four in the back.

    The soldiers¡¯ armament consisted of a white leather armour and a splendid short spear, which seemed to be more fit for a ceremony if anything, but the defence of the armour and the sharpness of the short spear were the real deal.

    Zenjirou shivered his spine when he happened to see the glint at the tip of the spear.

    In his head he knew that they were his guards, but he felt ufortable to be surrounded by people, who were armed with tools to kill a person.

    (Well, considering our positions, the escort is actually extremely small)

    If Zenjirou were to operate ¡°outside¡± instead of the far interior of the pce like here, then at least ten times as much guards ought to apany him. In fact, more than five times as much guards had protected him when he attended an official event in the pce in Aura¡¯s stead.

    While such thoughts crossed his mind, the vanguard stopped in front of a door.

    The soldiers took position to both sides of the door, standing at attention and holding their spears vertically. Aura and Zenjirou, too, stopped in front of the door.

    The envoy from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell was waiting beyond this door.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Zenjirou naturally faced Aura, standing next to him. The moment their eyes met, his wife nodded curt, to which Zenjirou nodded curt in turn as well and shortly ordered the soldiers left and right to him, suppressing his reflex to open the door himself.

    ¡°Open it.¡±

    ¡°As youmand!¡±

    Upon his order, one soldier slowly opened the door.

    Zenjirou took a short, deep breath, so that no one around noticed it, and passed through the door with deliberate slow steps.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Zenjirou-sama. My name is Moreno Militello, a diplomat from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell. I am terrible honoured to be granted the chance to meet you in person.¡±

    The middle-aged man lowered his head respectfully on the other side of the table, whereat Zenjirou nodded collected on his chair and replied shortly.

    ¡°I¡¯m Zenjirou, the husband of Her Highness Aura, the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom.¡±

    When he introduced himself internationally, he always said this. A deration of his intention that he was present as the Prince Consort of Queen Aura, not as a member of the royal family.

    Whether the diplomat sitting across him understood his aim or not, he lowered his head once more with a respectful expression, saying ¡°very well¡±.

    ¡°Now that my husband has introduced himself, let us get to the issues at hand. We have not much time after all.¡±

    The one to broach the topic was Aura, sitting next to Zenjirou.

    She sat somewhat slovenly on the chair, resting against the backrest so that her grown stomach wouldn¡¯t be a hindrance, but even in that posture, her words were overflowing with the characteristic strong pressure of a person that was used to give out orders arbitrary.

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    The diplomat lowered his head yet again with polite words, whereupon Aura put her hand against her chin, whose recent roundness worried her a bit, and

    ¡°Mhm, okay then, which matter do you want to start with, the official one or the real one?¡±

    asked.

    ¡°Yes, please allow me to settle the simple, official matter first. The ¡®rings¡¯ you have requested, have arrived.¡±

    The middle-aged diplomat responded to the Queen¡¯s words with that and put two rings wrapped in a thick purple cloth onto the table.

    It were pair rings with three brilliant diamonds embedded in a golden socket.

    There was no doubt that these were the two wedding rings Zenjirou had bought on Earth.

    To the ¡°normal eye¡±, they lookedpletely unchanged, but Zenjirou had awakened his ability to detect magical power through the continuous lessons with Lady Octavia in the past one year or so, thus he now saw the radiance of magical power emitting from the rings.

    Compared to the magical powering from his or Aura¡¯s body, it was rather faint, but it was his first time seeing a simple, inorganic object with magical power.

    The delivery of their wedding rings, which they had requested to be turned into magic tools. That was the ¡°official¡± matter for which the diplomat of the Twin Kingdom was granted an audience with both Aura and Zenjirou. Zenjirou usually only left the inner pce to ¡°substitute for Aura¡±, so an official reason like this was necessary for him to apany Aura here without raising suspicion.

    As Zenjirou viewed the rings curiously, the diplomat eloquently exined the magic effects of the rings.

    ¡°The ring of Her Highness Aura has the magic ¡®Ignition¡¯ and the ring of Zenjirou-sama has the magic ¡®Spring of Water¡¯ worked into it. The Ignition is the beautiful handicraft of ¡®Prince Francesco¡¯ while the Spring of Water is the delicate handwork of ¡®Princess Margarita¡¯.¡±

    The one, who reacted to these names, was Aura.

    ¡°Oho, it is quite an honour to have Prince Francesco and Princess Margarita deal with it. I will prepare a letter of gratitudeter on, so please pass it on to them.¡±

    Prince Francesco and Princess Margarita. Both were direct descendants of the Sharrow Family and famous practitioner of the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡±. Apparently they weren¡¯t so stupid to skimp on a request for magical tools, even if they were disputing with the business partner on a secret matter.

    ¡°Yes, I will make sure to deliver them.¡±

    With these words of the diplomat, the official matter, namely the delivery of the rings, was concluded.

    Now the real issue at hand followed.

    ¡°Well then, I would like to address the real matter, seeing as we are pressed for time. This is the official document for the ¡®treaty¡¯ this time. Please read through it once now and sign it here when you consent with it.¡±

    Saying so, the diplomat spread a light green dragonskin parchment on the table.

    Although it was a secret contract, the official document was still written on surprisingly exquisite parchment. ck letters on light green parchment, which was close to white in colour.

    Zenjirou¡¯s reading skill of the characters of this world was still only on the level of a 7th Grader for English, but even he could tell that the letters on the dragonskin parchment were written extremely cleanly, worthy of being called a ¡°neat handwriting¡±.

    Confronted with the document of the treaty, Aura spoke first.

    ¡°I am afraid that my husband still cannot read our characters. Please read everything out aloud.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Forgive me. Allow me to read it then.¡±

    The diplomat pointed at the lines on the parchment before them one by one as he read them out aloud.

    ¡°I will begin now.

    1) Zenjioru Carpa [henceforth Z] will not make a child with anyone except Aura Carpa [henceforth A] from now on.

    2) The Twin Kingdom will never meddle with the direct offspring of [A].

    3) When the Carpa Kingdom breaks term 1), namely [Z] makes a child with someone else than [A], the Twin Kingdom has the right to examine the child [henceforth C] about its bloodline aptitude¡­¡±

    Zenjirou pricked up his ears as not to miss anything while keeping an inexpressive face with all his might, but so far, nothing seemed off in the contents.

    The voice of the diplomat, reading out the document, only showed a small change at the end.

    ¡°¡­will have to pay three thousand gold coins as punishment.¡±

    That was the end of the contents that Aura had read out to Zenjiroust night. However, the dragonskin parchment, which the diplomat was reading out line by line while pointing at them, had another paragraph below.

    After a moment of silence, the diplomat let his cheek twitch and read the following line while pointing at it.

    ¡°Extra paragraph: When term 2) bes inconsistent with term 3) in the future, term 2) gets priority. ¡­That is all of it.¡±

    That paragraph was proposed by Zenjirou to Aurast night.

    Term 2) became inconsistent with term 3). To put simply: The question whether the Twin Kingdom had the right to meddle with a future child that was born in a marriage between a direct offspring of Zenjirou and Aura, and a branch offspring of Zenjirou and a concubine, or not.

    ording to term 2), the Twin Kingdom had no right to meddle with that child, since it would have descended in a direct line from Aura. However, ording to term 3), the Twin Kingdom had the right to meddle, since that child also descended in a line from a concubine, which was a breach of the contract.

    This didn¡¯t concern the generation of Zenjirou¡¯s children, but it was a realistic problem for the generation of his grandchildren at the earliest, or his great-grandchildren at thetest.

    Zenjirou nced surprised at Aura, whereat she smiled at bit and nodded slightly.

    Last night, he had pointed out various shorings of the secret contract, but he had heard that the contract would be signed as scheduled today, so he had jumped to the conclusion that his opinion hadn¡¯t been considered.

    (Did she add the paragraph in a meeting prior in the morning? ¡­I just can¡¯t hold a candle to my wife)

    He was once again smitten by the effort of his wife, but likewise, Aura had a simr sentiment for her husband, too.

    Inpliance withmon sense, it was only normal that term 2) would take priority over term 3). However, it was possible that they reasoned against it when it wasn¡¯t put down in writing, just like Zenjirou had fearedst night.

    At the present time, the Twin Kingdom could hardly quibble about it, since the bnce of power between the two countries was nearly equal, but the future was uncertain. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant prospect, but if the Carpa Kingdom were to greatly fall behind the Twin Kingdom one day, it was thinkable that a direct descendant of the royal family in the future was manipted under the pretext of term 3).

    To exaggerate it: Zenjirou nipped a future threat to the Carpa Kingdom in the bud with his suggestion. This actually might be an incredible achievement.

    As the matter was confidential, the addition was principally considered to be done at Aura¡¯s discretion, so it wasn¡¯t an official achievement for Zenjirou.

    (Thus, at least I will keep his achievement that stilled the fears for the future of our country, in mind)

    Aura put her name under the secret contract with the dragon bone dip pen after she dipped it into the ink pot while she vowed that in her heart.

    * * *

    Zenjirou and Aura returned to the inner pce byte evening after signing the secret contract without problems.

    Back in their living room, they quickly took off their formal attire and changed into thefortable casual wear.

    ¡°Allow me to give you a hand.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, go ahead.¡±

    As one might expect in her current state, Aura let the waiting maids help her with nearly all of her change of clothes.

    Two maids helped her out of the dress she had worn and exchanged it for just a thin dress that resembled more a negligee than maternity clothes. Then Aura immediately sat down on the couch as her grown stomach was too much for her.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    With her body buried into the couch, Aura leaked a big sigh from her mouth.

    Even she was exhausted today. In the morning she had done the final adjustments to the secret contract and in the evening she had signed it.

    Aura was blessed with a good physique and even had trained as a soldier, so her stamina clearly differentiated from an average woman, but even so, it must have been a great burden to her to adjust and sign a secret contract, which determined the future of the country, during her pregnancy.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou changed into a T-Shirt and jeans by himself in the bedroom, since he still felt ufortable to change in front of the waiting maids, then returned into the living room.

    ¡°Good job, Aura. Here, a cocoa.¡±

    Zenjirou put the freshly prepared hot cocoa he had made by pouring hot water from the water boiler into a mug with two tablespoons of cocoa powder, in front of Aura.

    He had gotten a ck tea for himself. After letting the teabag soak in the hot water in the mug, he put plenty of brown sugar into the nicely dyed tea, adding a slice of a sour fruit like a lemon as the final touch.

    Although he often drank his ck tea straight, he just craved for some super sweet and sour tea when he was exhausted like today.

    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±

    Taking the mug with the cocoa, Aura sipped the foaming sweet liquid and sighed relieved.

    Normally Zenjirou would sit down next to her, but today he took a seat on the couch on the other side of the table, as he wanted to discuss something face-to-face.

    At the same time, the waiting maids, who had stood at attention on the side so far, bowed and left all together.

    They did that in consideration for Zenjirou, who still couldn¡¯t rx when the maids were in the same room.

    ¡°For now, the trouble with the Twin Kingdom has settled down, I guess?¡±

    After confirming that the waiting maids had left, Zenjirou broached that, whereat Aura put her mug back on the table and nodded once.

    ¡°Yeah. Now they should no longer be able to say anything, at least as long as you do not take a concubine.¡±

    Zenjirou showed a slightly sullen face in response to her words.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ve been thinking about this since I read the secret contract, but is my concubine matter still prevailing?¡±

    He went through great pains to endure the shame as he gave the impression that ¡°he was head over heels over Aura¡± at the night banquet, yet that sacrificial effort was all in vain?

    Aura smiled a bit at the spiritless Zenjirou and shook her head.

    ¡°No, that matter has died down at the present time as well. It seems your activities were sessful. The number of people trying to promote a concubine has decreased. Right now, their whole attention is caught by the question whom to send in as a wet nurse for our child.¡±

    Saying so, she lovingly caressed her big belly.

    ¡°Then¡­¡±

    Determined, Zenjirou started to say something, but Aura shook her head once again before that.

    ¡°No. I know what you want to say, but that is not possible. You are better off not relying on any wishful thinking.

    Sure, under normal circumstances, you could have stopped worrying about the future once you have three or four children with me. However, the current royal family only consists of you and me, as you know.

    This situation is extremely abnormal for a major power. To give you a concrete example: In the Twin Kingdom, the Sharrow Royal Family has twenty-three members and the Jilbell Pope Family has neen members.¡±

    A royalty in this world was automatically a practitioner of a bloodline magic. The smaller the royal family, the lower the national strength. Simple as that. Her personal feelings aside, Aura, too, fully agreed with the viewpoint of the nobles, who deemed it necessary to expand the royal family, on a rational level.

    Even now, Zenjirou stubbornly stated his opinion, as he probably still couldn¡¯t get it out of his mind despite understanding that reasoning.

    ¡°Ehm, then¡­ we two should give our best?¡±

    In response to his viewpoint, which could only be considered as thoughtless, Aura showed a wry smile without surprise and answered in a yful and affected behaviour of anxiety.

    ¡°Do you want to kill me!? How many children do you want me to bear while I manage a kingdom?¡±

    ¡°Well, in my world, there was a woman in the past, who was called an Empress and had a dozen of children with her husband while she ruled over arge country at war as a grand duchess, you see.¡±

    ¡°¡­Was she really human? Maybe she had some blood of the ancient dragon race in her?¡±

    Aura wrinkled the space between her eyebrows and tilted her head puzzled as if she had heard a shady story.

    As expected, the anecdote of Austria¡¯s sovereign Maria Theresa only sounded unrealistic to Queen Aura.

    ¡°Nah, that can¡¯t be. I¡¯m pretty sure she was a simple human.¡±

    Zenjirou¡¯s knowledge about Europe¡¯s history was limited to what he had learned in history sses in high school, so he couldn¡¯t exin it any further and the topic died.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Trying to think of a new topic, he suddenly recalled the rings in the pocket of his trousers.

    ¡°Oh, right. Hey, Aura, can you hold out your left hand?¡±

    The topic change couldn¡¯t have been more obvious, but Aura knew that he carried a profound aversion towards the concubine matter, so she dared to go along with this poor attempt of a topic change. The issue would surely settle in an unfavourable way for him anyway, so it shouldn¡¯t hurt to put it off for a little while longer now.

    ¡°Mh? Okay, but give me your ring first. If we are going to do it, we might as well repeat ¡®that¡¯.¡±

    Aura held out the palm of her right hand with a smile.

    ¡°Yeah, okay.¡±

    Zenjirou put his own wedding ring in her hand, stood up from the couch and stepped up in front of her.

    ¡°Ah, you can remain seated.¡±

    He stopped her by raising his hand, as she was about to stand up, and kneeled down before her while she sat on the couch. Then he took her left hand und tried to put the ring onto her ring finger.

    ¡°That will not work. My fingers are swollen right now. Take my little finger.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, sorry.¡±

    During her pregnancy, her whole hands had be swollen, increasing the size of her fingers by one. The ring was actually a perfect match for her ring finger, but now it was unlikely to fit.

    It looked a bitme, but Zenjirou tried to put the wedding ring onto his wife¡¯s little finger while he kneeled in front of her, whereupon she whispered into his ear.

    ¡°Oh, you are not going to say anything? And here I was hoping you would say the words of that night again.¡±

    Upon these words, Zenjirou flinched and stopped moving.

    ¡°That¡± night was referring to their first night together. After the marriage ceremony during the day, they had carried out their bridal night, then he had presented her that ring in the bedroom.

    On that asion, he had spoken the ¡°marriage vow¡±, which was usually asked during the ceremony by the priest, by himself.

    ¡°Zenjirou¡­?¡±

    ¡°No, well, that was kind of a once in a lifetime thing¡­¡±

    Aura snorted a bit withughter towards her bashful and flustered husband and threw him an affected sorrowful look.

    ¡°Oh, too bad. The chance rarely presented itself again, yet you will not say it. Hmm¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­.Aw, geez. Fine!¡±

    As his wife tightly clenched her left fist, so that he couldn¡¯t put the ring on, Zenjirou realized that he had no other choice but to give in.

    ¡°Hah¡­ Fuh¡­¡±

    He took a deep breath and after temporarily blowing out his shame, he started to recite with a voice as dignified as possible.

    ¡°I promise to love and respect, tofort and help you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in wealth and in poverty, until death do us part. I take this oath on this ring.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Aura showed a smile without saying anything and opened her fist.

    The wide, yellow golden ring with the embedded three diamonds slipped onto her little finger.

    A proof of love. A symbolic vow. Aura certainly could feel the warmth of her husband from the cold metal around her little finger.

    For a while, Aura kept looking at the wedding ring on the little finger of her left hand and smiled sweetly, but before long, she faced her husband kneeing in front of her again and said in a small voice.

    ¡°Stand up, Zenjioru.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Stand up.¡±

    ¡°O- Okay.¡±

    Zenjirou had been looking up to her as he was on his knee in front of the couch, and now obediently stood up, albeit tilting his head puzzled.

    This time Aura was looking up to Zenjirou.

    Still sitting on the couch, she softly took the left hand of her husband in front of her, then repeated the vow.

    ¡°I promise to love and respect, tofort and help you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in wealth and in poverty, until death do us part. I take this oath on this ring.¡±

    After reciting this, she put the ring, which was a pair with the one around her finger, on his left ring finger.

    ¡°Aura¡­¡±

    Surprised, Zenjirou looked dumbfounded at his wife, who was looking up to him.

    He looked down. She looked up. Their eyes met.

    On their first night, Aura hadn¡¯t returned the vow when she had received the ring. Zenjirou had believed that she couldn¡¯t respond due to surprise of experiencing that custom for the first time, but the actual reason was something different. Instead of being unable to respond, she chose not to response.

    She knew that the vow was nothing but a formality, but as a Queen, she couldn¡¯t allow herself to ¡°love a single man until death did they part¡±.

    She had endeavoured to deal with him sincerely. She had been prepared to develop love. And she had been prepared to grant her husband¡¯s wishes as much as possible. However, the country, the royal family had always taken priority.

    If Zenjirou were ever to be a disadvantage to the kingdom at a crucial time, she would abandon him. The marriage was supposed to be concluded with that kind of resolution. However.

    (That is no longer possible. At least I will not be able to abandon him as long as he stays as he is now)

    Aura told herself that at heart.

    Of course that didn¡¯t apply, when Zenjirou lost himself in power or status and became an entirely different person, but as long as that wasn¡¯t the case, Aura was convinced that she wouldn¡¯t make a ¡°cold-hearted andwful decision¡±.

    After putting the ring onto his ring finger, Aura spread her arms upwards as to receive her husband in front of her.

    Discerning her intention, Zenjirou slowly brought down his body, so that he was leaning on his wife, sitting on the couch, from above.

    ¡°¡­.Mm.¡±

    ¡°¡­Mm.¡±

    Their lips ovepped silently. For Zenjirou, it was the second ¡°wedding kiss¡±, for Aura the first.

    Although the kisssted a bit too long to be called a wedding kiss.

 Chapter Volume 2 Epilogue

    Time passed by.

    After the rainy season, which was cloudy, but rtively cool, the western part of the South Continent weed its most severe season.

    These three months would be ¡°summer¡±, if the seasons of Japan were to be enforced here. In thest of them, temperatures of over forty degrees during the day continued naturally, not even dropping below thirty-five degrees at night. Zenjirou experienced this harsh season for the second time.

    In other words, a whole year had passed since he came into this world, but right now he was in no situation to appreciate that.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The wooden shutters of the windows in the living room of the inner pce were closed to keep out the brutal sunlight and gruelling heat even just a little bit. For a while now, Zenjirou was restlessly walking around the room without aim like a bear before hibernation, while sweating profoundly in his casual clothes.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, your sweat¡­¡±

    A waiting maid with ck hair, standing at attention on the side, took a chilled towel from the refrigerator and held it out to him as she could no longer stand on the sidelines.

    ¡°Ah¡­ Right.¡±

    Zenjirou only noticed that he was sweating once he was told so, and snatched the towel from the hands of the maid, then wildly wiped his face and neck.

    Considering his usual behaviour, the brusque attitude of not even thanking her was rather ¡°untypical¡± of him, but the waiting maid knew the circumstances behind it and actually gave her master a sympathetic look.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, how about you sit down and rest for a bit¡­¡±

    Not only that, one of the young maids called out to him worried, even while knowing that this act was a taboo, considering their social positions.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    In the very moment Zenjirou was about to reply consenting.

    ¡°GUUH¡­.!¡±

    The voice of his beloved wife ¡°during childbirth¡± sounded loudly from the bedroom.

    ¡°!¡±

    He unconsciously flinched and swallowed his breath. Then he shook his sweating head and denied.

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll stay like this after all. I wouldn¡¯t feelfortable sitting anyway.¡±

    Queen Aura was giving birth today.

    Just like the majority of fathers, Zenjirou could do nothing but worry to no end, so he simply continued to wander from ce to ce inside the room without any leeway in his mind to notice the room temperature of over forty degrees.

    ¡°Excuse me, I brought the hot water!¡±

    ¡°Here are the additional cloths!¡±

    The waiting maids, carrying arge steaming pot and a bunch of clean cloths, disappeared into the bedroom with swift steps.

    Zenjirou simply watched the hectic in silence. There was nothing he could do.

    A cool breeze flowed into the living room through the opened door of the bedroom.

    It originated from the cooling fan working at full power in front of some ice. Of course they weren¡¯t so unreasonable as to aim the cold air directly at Aura as she was in the middle of the delivery, but the temperature in the enclosed bedroom could be lowered to some extent by letting the venttor blow air over the ice inside the room.

    It was often said that a pregnant woman should not cast a chill on her body, but it was still better for the body than a room with a temperature over forty degrees.

    No matter how much stamina Aura had, her mind and body would exhaust during the long period of the delivery amidst a heat of over forty degrees.

    Besides, the venttor on the highest speed didn¡¯t lower the temperature to an extreme to begin with. Down to thirty degrees at best.

    The heat in the living room was just so terrific that these approximate thirty degrees seemed ¡°cool¡±.

    ¡°Shit, what a blunder. I have to figure out a way to install the air conditioning in the bedroom until the next delivery.¡±

    While aimlessly wandering over the carpet in the living room, Zenjirou mumbled in a voice so small that no one could hear it.

    Considering the unsuited bedroom size of around fifty square metre and theck of air sealing due to windows and door, which was nowhere near the air sealing in houses in modern Japan, the temperature might not get lowered as much as hoped-for, but it was still better than nothing.

    ¡°Ah, but before that, it¡¯s more important to learn the ¡®teleportation¡¯ magic first. Because if I could use it, a person from the Jilbell Family would be here now.¡±

    In his daily lessons, Zenjirou had already seed at activating a simple magic numerous times, but it was obvious that it would still take time until he could use the ¡°teleportation¡± magic as freely as Aura.

    Be it the setup of the air conditioning or the mastering of the ¡°teleportation¡± magic, both were something for the future. At the present time, there was barely anything he could contribute.

    His only role was to order that the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± was used on Aura, if she and the child should get into a life-threatening condition, but that was something he didn¡¯t want to happen, if possible.

    ¡°Hah¡­¡±

    He leaked a sigh for the nth time.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, some water.¡±

    As he kept sweating, a waiting maid worried about him, took a jar with water from the refrigerator, poured some into a ss and held it out to him.

    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±

    Zenjirou downed the chilled water in one gulp and felt how he started to sweat all over his body again. After wiping the sweat on his face and neck with the towel he had gotten from a waiting maid earlier, and regaining a bit of his presence of mind, he now called out to the waiting maids considerately, as he suddenly thought of it.

    ¡°All of you, watch your own condition, too. You can help yourself to the towels or water in the fridge.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your consideration.¡±

    For the first time today, he had uttered caring words towards the maids. The waiting maids smiled naturally, but he still wasn¡¯tposed enough yet to notice that.

    He started to walk around the room nervously again.

    Scratched his head unconsciously.

    Sighed.

    Then started to walk around again.

    The presence of mind he had regained from gulping down that cold water, disappeared again in no time.

    ¡°Aw, damn. Is it not time yet¡­?¡±

    In the end, his emotionally instable behaviour continued until the moment when the healthy ¡°first cry¡± of the baby resounded from the bedroom.

    * * *

    Queen Aura safely gave birth to her first child.

    With Doctor Michelle¡¯s permission, Zenjirou entered the bedroom, where his beloved wife Aura showed the brightest smile ever on her exhausted face from atop the bed.

    She was currently lying on the small extra bed, which was added for Zenjirou to sleep in after shehad became pregnant, instead of the original huge bed of the bedroom. The bed in which Zenjirou usually slept.

    Doctor Michelle or the assisting waiting maids wouldn¡¯t be able to lend a hand if Aura was on the giant bed and they stood at the side of it, so they took it upon themselves to perform the delivery on this bed instead.

    ¡°Aura!¡±

    ¡°Oh, Zenjirou¡­¡±

    Zenjirou was rushing over to her, whereat Aura raised her head a bit from the pillow and faintly smiled at him. Her brown face and red hair were dripping wet from sweat, which was theplete opposite of her usual vigorous self.

    ¡°Stay as you are. No need to force yourself to look at me.¡±

    Aura looked so worn out that Zenjirou unconsciously prompted her like that after rushing to her side. However, her worn-out face showed a smile of satisfaction.

    ¡°Yeah, okay. But it is alright. Look, the child and I are well.¡±

    Following her look, which was slowly going to the side, Zenjirou looked at the waiting maid, who was standing on the other side of the bed.

    The clean-limbed waiting maid pressed the baby wrapped in a fine red cloth to her breast.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­?¡±

    ¡°Yes. My¡ª our child.¡±

    ¡°My child¡­¡±

    Zenjirou timidly peeked at the face of the baby in the arms of the clean-limbed maid.

    The waiting maid, acquainted with him, showed a friendly smile all over her face and held the baby in her arms a bit into his direction, so that he could get a better look.

    ¡°Take a look, Zenjirou-sama. It is a healthy boy.¡±

    ¡°Oh, a boy.¡±

    He went around the bed, moving to the side of the maid with the baby. Then he took another look at his own child in the arms of the waiting maid.

    ¡°He has my eyes.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But he got the mouth of Zenjirou-sama, if I had to choose.¡±

    ¡°His skin colour is a mixture of my husband¡¯s and mine. A bit pale for a child of the Carpa Kingdom.¡±

    Aura and the middle-aged maid, holding the baby, were saying all that, but to be honest, Zenjirou couldn¡¯t approve of it at all.

    Were they really saying that this creature, looking like a limp monkey without hair and closed eyes, resembled Aura and him? Its skin was bright red, too, so he saw nil resemnces to Aura or himself.

    And above all, his ¡°eyes¡± were currently focused on something else than the outward characteristics.

    (Wow. His magic power¡¯s above Aura¡¯s. Maybe twice as much as mine?)

    After diligently taking magic lessons from Lady Octavia for around one year, Zenjirou had now awakened the basic of basics for a magician, namely the ¡°ability to detect magic power¡±. His eyes captured the dazzlingly overwhelming magic powering from the body of his son.

    One¡¯s amount of magic power was decided upon birth, so it wasn¡¯t strange that a newborn baby happened to have more magic power than a grown royalty. However, Zenjirou couldn¡¯t help but feel an indescribable uneasiness when this small, limp creature, from which he didn¡¯t know whether it was a human or a monkey, emitted such an incredible magic power.

    He timidly reached out his hand for the child in the arms of the waiting maid.

    The moment he was about to carefully touch the baby¡¯s bright red hand with the forefinger of his right hand, the newborn tightly squeezed his finger with its small hand.

    ¡°!? Uwah, he squeezed me!¡±

    His finger was squeezed.

    Did he felt so deeply moved from that simple action because this small hand belonged to his own flesh and blood?

    ¡°Wow. He¡¯s so small, but properly has five fingers¡­¡±

    ¡°It would be scary if he had not. Fingers are not something that growter on after all.¡±

    The middle-aged waiting maid answered like that with a smile while she held the baby in an ustomed manner, supporting the neck, which it still couldn¡¯t hold up on his own.

    Queen Aura, stillying on the bed, smiled in response to the almost childish reaction of her husband towards his newborn child.

    ¡°Fufu, cute, is he not?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yeah, quite so. The cutest in the world.¡±

    Zenjirou forgot all about his earlier rude impression that he looked ¡°like a monkey¡±, and nodded numerous times while he kept looking at his child squeezing his finger.

    ¡°Aa, Daa, Aa!¡±

    ¡°Oh my, there, there.¡±

    As tofort the baby, who started to cry, the middle-aged maid quickly dandled him gently.

    Just when Zenjirou withdrew his squeezed finger from the baby, Doctor Michelle, who had carried out the delivery today, raised a voice from the side.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, let me congratte you first of all. As you can see, both Her Highness and the prince are safe and sound.¡±

    Upon these words, Zenjirou realized that he still hadn¡¯t thanked the doctor for ensuring the lives of his precious wife and son. Flustered, he turned around in a snap.

    ¡°Yes, thank you, Doctor Michelle. It is thanks to you that Aura and my child got through the delivery without problems. I cannot thank you enough.¡±

    Zenjirou forgot his position and lowered his head in a servile manner while fully speaking in a respective tone, whereat Doctor Michelle widened his eyes in surprise for a moment, but apparently decided not to mind it right now.

    ¡°Your words are wasted on me.¡±

    The doctor immediately showed his usual calm smile and answered like that.

    ¡°Nevertheless, the delivery was quite exhausting for Her Highness Aura. I rmend to stay in bed for today. Have at least two waiting maids apany you for relieving yourself.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, got it.¡±

    Queen Aura shortly affirmed the words of the royal physician from atop her bed.

    While his wife and the doctor exchanged such a post-delivery conversation, Zenjirou nervously called out to the elderly waiting maid holding the baby.

    ¡°Uh- Uhm, I would like to hold him, too¡­ Can I?¡±

    The waiting maid widened her eyes in surprise for a moment upon the words from the new father, but in the next moment, she smiled sweetly and nodded firmly.

    ¡°Yes, of course. But please be careful. The child still cannot support its own head, so please do not forget to hold it like this under any circumstances.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay. Oof, like this?¡±

    He nervously held his newborn son in both his arms.

    ¡°Uwah¡­¡±

    The small and soft body weight, adjacent to fragile, was transmitted onto his arms. He properly felt the pulsation of ¡°life¡± when he held that puniness, which was almost a miracle to be unharmed, in his arms.

    ¡°Fufu, how nice. Papa is already holding you.¡±

    The Queen threw her husband a smile from the bed as he held their child awkwardly, raised her sweaty head a bit and looked at the waiting maids standing at attention left and right.

    ¡°I want to sit up. Help me.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Ah, but, Michelle-sama?¡±

    The aged doctor mused for a moment when the young waiting maid looked at him for permission, then nodded slowly.

    ¡°Should be alright. I will allow to sit on the bed for a short while at least.¡±

    After getting the doctor¡¯s permission, the waiting maids immediately implemented their Queen¡¯s order.

    ¡°Excuse us then, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°We will put our arms behind your back, so please lean against them.¡±

    ¡°Allow me to reach behind you. I will ce a cushion there, so please leaned against the headboard afterwards.¡±

    Two waiting maids skilfully sat Aura up on the bed while another waiting maid ced a big pillow at the headboard of the bed.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    Aura was sat up by the waiting maids like a doll and leaned against the pillow at the headboard, leaking a big sigh.

    Beads of sweat were dropping from her drenched face and neck, flowing into her cleavage or over her corbone.

    ¡°Your Highness, I will wipe your body.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thanks.¡±

    As the young waiting maid diligently wiped her royal body with a cold towel, Aura narrowed her eyes to slits like a cat tickled under the chin and thanked her.

    The wrung, wet towel felt really good on her body, which was zing hot from the severe heat and the struggle of the delivery, so Aura abandoned herself to the hands of the waiting maids.

    Zenjirou said down in a chair next to the bed with the utmost care as to prevent anything from happen to the child in his arms.

    ¡°¡­All done and dusted.¡±

    Her husband suddenly broached a topic, whereat Aura turned to him after having her sweat wiped, and nodded curt.

    ¡°Yes, for now.¡±

    A conversation between the wife, aplishing the delivery just now, and the husband, holding their newborn child in his arms.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    As if they had agreed upon it beforehand, the doctor and waiting maids considerately kept silent and wordlessly retreated to the back all together as not to disturb them.

    Whether the Queen realized their thoughtfulness or not, she kept talking in a manner as if their family of three were the only ones here.

    ¡°At first, I considered the pregnancy and birth as a part of my duties as the Queen, but after seeing my child with my own eyes, holding it with my own arms¡­ somehow, all of this superficial reasoning was just blown away.¡±

    Aura¡¯s gaze was fixated on the small, sleeping baby in her husband¡¯s arms while she muttered that.

    Zenjirou, too, looked down on the child in his arms and agreed with a broad smile.

    The Queen and the Prince Consort. The couple was supposed to be all lovey-dovey, but now the two of them had only eyes for their newborn child, not even looking each other in the face.

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s so cute.¡±

    ¡°Yes, adorably so. Now I truly regret the absolute necessary to raise a prince amongst foster siblings by a wet nurse.¡±

    If she were to raise him herself, she would likely end up spoiling him to no end, neglecting a proper education as royalty.

    Zenjirou looked into her eyes after she confessed that and snorted withughter.

    ¡°That¡¯s for sure. I doubt I could raise him with the necessary strictness, too.¡±

    He would have never imagined that having a child was something so precious.

    ¡°Come to think of it, what name are you going to give him?¡±

    ¡°Mh? Aren¡¯t you going to give him one, Aura? I don¡¯t know much about the names here.¡±

    Zenjirou tilted his head puzzled towards Aura¡¯s sudden topic chance, and answered.

    ¡°Yes, of course I am going to give him one. However, our country has a custom, where the child is given one name from each country when the parents origin from different ones. Although it is quite rare to have a royalty with two names, due to issues with a leak of bloodline magic.¡°

    Aura said so, whereat Zenjirou nodded understanding.

    ¡°Oho, I see. Then I¡¯ll think of a name, too.¡±

    If he had known that before, he would have downloaded an electronic name dictionary onto hisputer. Zenjirou regretted it a bit now. But oh well. His brain should at least be able toe up with a suitable name for his own child.

    As Aura had perceived her husband¡¯s intention, she giggled from atop her pillow.

    ¡°Kukuku, good. Each of us shall think hard and give him a good name.¡±

    But since she wasughing and speaking at the same time, her voice became a bit cracked at the end of the sentence and she coughed. Hearing that, Zenjirou looked worried at his beloved wife.

    ¡°Yeah, will do. But you¡¯ve got to rest now, Aura. Doctor Michelle also said it¡¯s not good to be up for too long.¡±

    The aged doctor, standing in the back, expressed his agreement by nodding to his words. Due to their social standing, the waiting maids weren¡¯t saying anything, but they looked pretty worried at her, too.

    The Queen gave this situation a wry smile and shrugged her shoulders a bit.

    ¡°Fine, I get it. But a little bit, just a little bit longer should be alright, no? I want to look at him a bit longer, so that I will still see him in my dream once I fall asleep¡­¡±

    ¡°Geez¡­ Okay, but just a bit.¡±

    Zenjirou could rte to her feelings better than anyone, so he allowed it with a wry smile.

    ¡°Yes, I know.¡±

    The Queen repliedmendable with a smile, nodding obediently.

    In the end however, she couldn¡¯t keep her promise.

    The father held the child and the mother watched the two from atop the bed. Without getting tired of it, she continued to watch her newborn child until Doctor Michelle, overseeing everything, finally intervened.

    Vanessa was a waiting maid working in the inner pce of the Carpa Kingdom.

    That said, she was not the kind of cute maid with an elegant appearance that one would expect in the ¡°royal pce¡±.

    As a woman of middle age, her waist and bottom had put on an impressive plump weight.

    It goes without saying that an enclosed environment like the inner pce could not be run by young and beautiful girls alone.

    Starting with the supervisory maid Amanda through to each department head, all of them were expert in their respective fields through years of experience.

    Arge working force of young girls that was primarily chosen for their appearance, and a selected few skilled leaders with an emphasis on abilities. Vanessa belonged to thetter group.

    ¡°Head of the cooking department in the inner pce¡±. That was her current position.

    Nevertheless, she still wasn¡¯t an official royal cook, despite her title.

    The official royal cooks were the men working in the pce and the food for Queen Aura and Zenjirou, living in the inner pce, was basically made by them.

    Needless to say, it would be quite inefficient when the cooks in the pce prepared all their food for each meal and had the waiting maids carry it into the inner pce every day.

    Therefore, the royal cook were in charge of staple food like bread or upscale main dishes, while Vanessa and her girls often prepared simple dishes in the kitchen of the inner pce.

    The kitchen in the inner pce was small, but its equipment was in no way inferior to the one in the pce. Likewise, Vanessa¡¯s skills as a cook weren¡¯t all that behind the royal cooks.

    In spite of that, Vanessa had no chance to be a royal cook as a woman, since the cooking sector was no exception to the customs of the patriarchal Carpa Kingdom.

    For all these circumstances, Vanessa, a waiting maid in the inner pce and the ¡°head of the cooking department¡±, was working as the practical head chef every day.

    ¡°Okay, girls, it¡¯s time to make the sweets you love so much. Let¡¯s give it our all!¡±

    ¡°Yes!

    With both her hands on her plump hips, Vanessa raised a loud voice, whereupon the three young waiting maids on cooking duty today replied energetically all together.

    Unlike the department heads, who each had their permanent position, the workers aka young waiting maids went through a rotation, where they alternated between all the departments for a set interval.

    This was done, so that the young waiting maid evenly learned the maid skills and could be send out to support other departments when there were sudden absentees or when a certain department needed help on a special asion (in fact, tasks like the monthly ¡°great cleaning of the bath¡± or the ¡°throughout cultivation of the garden after the rainy season¡± were done by all waiting maids of the inner pce together).

    Vanessa showed a bright smile on her chubby face upon the quick answer from the young waiting maids, then pped her hands.

    ¡°Good. Then let¡¯s get started!¡±

    To be honest, Vanessa¡¯s speech and conduct was a little bit different from a typical ¡°maid in the inner pce¡±. Frankly, shecked ¡°grace¡±.

    Of course she acted in a gracious manner, which you would never expect from her plump body, in front of Zenjirou and Aura, but when she was working behind closed doors, where no higher-ups saw her, like today, she was just like an olddy from a tavern in downtown.

    So much so that some of the young waiting maids from a good lineage felt a bit ufortable around her.

    However, the three maids assigned to the kitchen today were hardly concerned about that.

    Fay, Dolores and Rethe were on cooking duty today. The so-called ¡°three troublemakers¡±.

    Vanessa gave the young waiting maids instructions with a clear voice.

    ¡°Fay, you take care of the stove. Watch the fire, so that it has the right temperature!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Dolores, you sift the flour on the table!¡±

    ¡°Yes, understood.¡±

    ¡°Rethe, we two are beating the eggs. I¡¯ll do the egg yolk, you do the egg white.¡±

    ¡°Ui, I got the toughest job.¡±

    The young maids scattered on Vanessa¡¯s orders.

    Sieved wheat flour, egg yolk whipped foamy and meringue (meaning egg white whipped until it stood up in stiff peaks). As well as baking soda grinded to powder. Apart from that, there were brown sugar and vegetable oil of fine quality provided on the table.

    One might be able to guess what they were going to make from these ingredients.

    They were making a ¡°sponge cake¡± right now.

    Needless to say, the sweet called ¡°sponge cake¡± originally didn¡¯t exist in the Carpa Kingdom, so the recipe obviously came from Zenjirou.

    When he came into the different world, he had brought receipts for sweets or snacks to have with alcohol, downloaded at random, along.

    That said, about eighty percent of these recipes couldn¡¯t be carried out in this world. The reason was extremely simple: Most of the western confectionery from his world required dairy products like milk or butter.

    Since the livestock in the Carpa Kingdom consisted mainly of dragons¡ª namelyrge reptiles, there was no animal that gave milk. The North Continent apparently had livestock like goats or cows, so it was no impossible task to import and breed them through the investment of a lot of money, but to be honest, it remained questionable if it was eptable to spend such arge sum simply for an indulgence of his.

    After all, the people of the Carpa Kingdom had managed hundreds of years without dairy products. They would surely meet butter or cheese with reluctance at first. In fact, Aura had tilted her head with a rather averse expression, saying ¡°eating the milk of animals¡­?¡±, when Zenjirou had told her about it.

    Due to these circumstances, the food reproduced here so far was limited to stuff without dairy products.

    And one sweet without dairy products was the ¡°sponge cake¡±, which Vanessa and the other girls were making right now.

    Of course there were also sponge cakes, which used dairy products, like ¡°milk sponge cakes¡± or ¡°butter sponge cakes¡±, but the sponge cake recipe in Zenjirou¡¯s recipe collection was for one without dairy products.

    Eggs, bread flour, sugar and sd oil. These were the only ingredients listed on the recipe.

    Admittedly, Vanessa and the others weren¡¯t making the their ¡°sponge cake¡± ording to that recipe.

    They had no refined oil such as sd oil, so they substituted it with an vegetable oil as indistinctive as possible, but even so, the smell of the oil was rather strong, so they added a little bit of the brandy Zenjirou had brought along, as vouring.

    Moreover, in the recipe, it was leavened by the meringue alone, but so far it often failed to do so, so they added some natural sodium bicarbonate (fine powder of the trona mineral) as baking powder.

    These alternations ultimately manifested in the taste and appearance, resulting in something ¡°different¡± from the recipe.

    Although it was ¡°different¡±, Vanessa had improved the recipe with her skills on par with the royal cooks, through trial and error. The faint smell of brandy and shallow taste of alcohol might make this cake more delicious than the original one for some people.

    ¡°Dum Di Dum~?¡°

    Vanessa held arge, silver bowl in her corpulent right arm and cheerfully continued to beat the many egg yolks with the whisk in her left hand.

    She was used to ¡°whipping the eggs¡±, since that cooking method was known here, too.

    Moreover, she looked at the young waiting maids and coordinated the whole procedure while judging the foaming of the eggs through her sense of touch.

    ¡°Hey, we can fold in the meringue any moment now. Are you done, Rethe?¡±

    While skilfully adding the brown sugar, ready to hand near the bowl, to the yolks, Vanessa called out to the waiting maid with big breasts and drooping eyelids, who worked hard at making the meringue by thrusting the whisk into the bowl with the egg white, making a bright red face next to her.

    ¡°Okay~ I¡¯m done in a bit~¡±

    The waiting maid with the dropping eyelids¡ª Rethe answered her superior like that with a voice that waspletely exhausted after such a short time already.

    Unlike the egg yolk, which only had to be whipped until it slightly foamed, the egg white had to be whipped until stiff peaks stood up¡ª Making the meringue was a stiff job.

    So much so that even Fay, sweating a waterfall in front of the stove, and Dolores, sieving arge amount of flour with a floury face, unconsciously gave their roommate sympathetic nces.

    Rethe stirred the whisk with trembling movements of her whole body and praiseworthy fulfilled her task regardless.

    ¡°Good, bring it over as soon as you¡¯re done. Fay! How¡¯s the fire?¡±

    ¡°Looking good. Ready at any time!¡±

    The petite maid in front of the stove with ash on her apron and face, stuck out her small thumb in the air with a sweet smile.

    ¡°Good. Then let¡¯s get started for real. Dolores, I take it you¡¯re done with sieving the flour? Good, then oil the tin and choose what to add to the base.¡±

    ¡°Eh? I¡¯m allowed to choose?¡±

    In response to Vanessa¡¯s instruction, the tall maid happily straightened her usual nt-eyes and showed a bright smile.

    The original recipe intended for granted sugar, but Vanessa had tried out various ideas so far: Adding ground nuts, slices of dried fruits and whatnot instead.

    Basically, Dolores was entrusted with the most important task, namely deciding the vour of the sponge cake. Unsurprisingly, she was thrilled.

    ¡°Aw, not fair.¡±

    ¡°Dolores-chan, choose the granted sugar. That¡¯s the best!¡±

    Fay at the stove and Rethe making the meringue both raised a voice without a moment¡¯s dy.

    After all, the waiting maids of the kitchen were allowed to ¡°appropriately dispose¡± of whatever remained after Zenjirou and Aura got the good pieces of the baked sweets, so that matter concerned them as well.

    Vanessa rebuked these boisterous maids while she added the vegetable oil bit by bit to the bowl with the egg yolk.

    ¡°Hey! Enough with the ruckus. Focus on your job. Dolores, pick one already. It will be a disgrace for us when the sweets for our masters are dyed because you were hesitant.¡±

    Compared to supervisory maid Amanda or cleaning department head Ines, Vanessa didn¡¯t nag as much, but she didn¡¯t forget her position as the cooking department head.

    ¡°Ye~s!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Vanessa-sama.¡±

    ¡°So~rry.¡±

    The three troublemakers shrugged her shoulders together towards the scolding of their supervisor.

    Approximately one hourter.

    A sweet fragrance hang over the kitchen.

    Needless to say, this fragrance came from the freshly baked sponge cake.

    Vanessa skilfully cut into the sponge cake, removed from the metal tin, with a bread knife.

    The troublemaking trio intently watched her while leaning over the table from their chairs.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Undaunted by the pressuring looks of the trio, resembling the eyes of a carnivorous dragon that found some prey after three days without food, on the cake, Vanessa neatly cut the sponge cake in three equal pieces.

    ¡°Okay, from here to here¡­ And from here to here, I guess.¡±

    She chose the best parts from the cut cake and apportioned them onto silver tes.

    As the primitive stove was sadly fuelled by firewood after all, Vanessa could do nothing about the irregr surface baking, even with all her skills. Therefore, she baked it tolerantly, anticipating a certain level of failure from the beginning, and only presented the well-baked portions to her masters.

    With her carefree nt-eyes, Rethe watched how Vanessa portioned Zenjirou¡¯s share on the silver te and remarked with a serious tone, which was rarely heard from her under normal circumstances.

    ¡°Ah, Vanessa-sama, the surface of this piece is deformed. I don¡¯t think we should serve this to Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    The sponge cake in question was the ¡°piece with the most granted sugar¡±.

    Influenced by Rethe, Dolores and Fay also mentioned their own desire veiled in consideration for their master next.

    ¡°Vanessa-sama, please take a close look. This piece has small flour lumps on it. As a waiting maid in charge of the kitchen, I cannot allow this to be brought to Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    Assuming an affected serious look, Dolores indicated and pointed at the portion, which had best looking crust.

    ¡°Vanessa-sama, Vanessa-sama, the piece on the side! It¡¯s cut a bit skewed! I¡¯ll take responsibility and dispose of it myself!¡±

    Fay said so energetically as if she was going to jump to her feet, and had set her sight onto a slice that was cut a little bit thicker.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Speechless on a rare asion, Vanessa stared at the ¡°three troublemakers¡±, who were faithful to their desires, with half-closed eyes.

    By the time the girls thought ¡°uh oh, not good¡±, it was already toote.

    ¡°Haaah¡­!¡±

    Vanessa, still not saying anything, hotly breathed on her tightly clenched fist and

    ¡°You fools!¡±

    ¡°Agh!¡±

    ¡°Ow!¡±

    ¡°Hyahn!?¡±

    swung the heated fist down on the heads of the troublemakers one by one.

    * * *

    Afterwards, Fay, Dolores and Rethe delivered the best pieces of the sponge cake to Zenjirou in the living room and returned to the kitchen.

    ¡°We¡¯re back!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve served the sponge cake to Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°He said it was delicious and lets you know ¡®thanks as always¡¯, Vanessa-sama.¡±

    The damage from Vanessa¡¯s fist was no longer visible in their energetic behaviour as they called out.

    Well, she had hit them without reservation, precisely because these three were mentally tough and quick to recover, but the girls themselves weren¡¯t aware of that causal connection.

    Remaining seated on the chair at the cooking table, Vanessa weed the young maids with a bright smile.

    ¡°Yes, well done. I¡¯ll make some tea now, so take a break. Here, you can each pick one piece at will.¡±

    ¡°Yahoo!¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°Yay! Let¡¯s see, let¡¯s see.¡±

    The troublemaking trio happily sat down at the table and carefully investigated each slice of the remaining cake with utmost devotion to find their favourite.

    Technically, there was plenty of the cake left, but the waiting maids working in the other departments would resent them if they didn¡¯t share, so the girls could only have one slice each.

    Just as the three waiting maids had put their chosen pieces onto their tes, Vanessa had made tea for four people and ced the steamy cups in front of the young maids and herself.

    The te for the cake and the cups for the tea were all made of wood. As this country didn¡¯t know of ss or ceramics, the tableware was basically either made of silver or wood.

    ¡°Here, your tea. It¡¯s still hot, so be careful not to burn your tongue.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Vanessa-sama!¡±

    ¡°Yay. Ah, Fay-chan, pass me the sugar.¡±

    ¡°Wait a sec, Rethe. You finally get to eat some sponge cake, so when you put in so much sugar into your tea, you won¡¯t notice the sweetness of the cake anymore.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no point in telling her that, Dolores. Rethe takes lot of sugar to anything after all.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe¡­¡±

    The tea party proceeded with a harmonious atmosphere.

    Although they were in front of their superior Vanessa, Fay and the other two enjoyed the tea and cake without any tension. In a way, they had nerves of steel.

    Supervisory maid Amanda stressed rules and hierarchy, so she wouldment this scene as ¡°uneptable¡±, but Vanessa was thexest amongst the supervisors in regards to rules.

    If anything, she rather liked an harmonious atmosphere like this.

    ¡°Come to think of it, Dolores, are the papers you brought the usual again?¡±

    Having finished her own piece of the cake, Vanessa rinsed the sweetness in her mouth with the tea in the wooden cup and called out like that to the tall waiting maid, who was still eating the cake little by little across of her.

    ¡°Ah, yes. That¡¯s right. It¡¯s the ¡®next recipe¡¯ from Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    Upon her superior¡¯s question, Dolores removed the wooden fork from her mouth and quickly swallowed the cake in her mouth, then responded.

    Zenjirou tranted the recipes from the collection on hisputer into thenguage of this world at odd moments and passed them on to the waiting maids in charge of cooking.

    Of course he had Aura check the trantion before handing them to the maids, so there were no fatal mistakes that distorted the meaning.

    ¡°Ehehe, what¡¯s it going to be this time? I¡¯m all excited.¡±

    Amongst all the many waiting maids, Rethe was probably the one, who was the most fascinated by the sweets from the other world. Her face with the drooping eyelids was ck to begin with, but a soft smile rxed it even more and her consciousness was already focussed on the unknown sweet.

    Naturally, Fay and Dolores, too, were looking forward to ¡°reproduce the recipe¡±, albeit not as much as Rethe.

    ¡°We¡¯re counting on you, Rethe.¡±

    ¡°Geez, Fay. This concerns you as well! Sure, Rethe is the best cook, but you just can¡¯t leave it all to her because of that. You, as well as me, have to give our best, too!¡±

    The tall waiting maid, holding a wooden cup in her left hand, gave her petite coworker, who openly spoke about relying upon others for her own goal, an elbow check with her right.

    ¡°Oww! Aw, stop it! You may be skinny, but in exchange your elbow is pointy and hurts!¡±

    ¡°Shuddap. As if you can talk, shorty!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯re you calling a shorty, you mountain!¡±

    ¡°Jeez, watch yourself, Fay-chan, Dolores-chan. We¡¯re having a delicious cake here, so keep it quiet.¡±

    Fay and Dolores were having an intimate fight as always, to which Rethe raised a troubled and angry voice.

    She knew better than anyone that their fights were hardly genuine, but the ruckus during her favourite sweets time was definitely a bother.

    Vanessa said while watching these ¡°three troublemakers¡± with a wry smile.

    ¡°Well, keep it in moderation. My patience has its limit, too, you know. Anyway, when do you girls want to challenge that recipe?¡±

    Needless to say, they had no time to spare to make new sweets on days with their normal duties. Making three meals and the usual afternoon sweets wore away all of their energy.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°That much is clear.¡±

    ¡°We want to make it in three days. If I remember rightly, Her Highness Aura and Zenjirou-sama are away on business during the day and attend a party at night, so they¡¯ll only eat breakfast in the inner pce.¡±

    Stopping their fight at once, Fay and Dolores looked at each other and said so deeply recalling from their memories.

    Even if the waiting maids were working in the inner pce, they had memorized the entire official schedule of their masters.

    As the answers from the girls were satisfiable, Vanessa nodded firmly, but then showed a sly smile and added.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. However, the head cook from the pce requested my help for that night party. Apparently Zenjioru-sama mentioned that I know his tastes the best.¡±

    Vanessa was shaking her plump body withughter, saying ¡°It¡¯s quite an honour¡±.

    But the three troublemakers didn¡¯t feel like smiling after being told that.

    ¡°Ehh!?¡±

    Fay raised an excessive surprised voice.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be here, Vanessa-sama?¡±

    Dolores inclined her head to the side in worry to her words.

    ¡°Eh? Then we can¡¯t make the new sweet?¡±

    And Rethe made a sorrowful face, wrinkling the space between her eyebrows as if she was about to cry.

    That figures. Even if Rethe adorned herself with having the best cooking skills amongst the young waiting maids, she was nothing more than a ¡°waiting maid good at cooking¡±.

    She didn¡¯t hold a candle to Vanessa, whose ¡°cooking skills went beyond the maid level¡±.

    As a matter of course, Vanessa had coordinated all the attempts to reproduce Zenjirou¡¯s recipes so far.

    ¡°Th- Then how about the noon in seven days? There won¡¯t be a night party on that day, but Zenjirou-sama and Her Highness Aura will both be gone during the day. We would¡¯ve less time than in three days, but still¡­¡±

    Quickly going through the schedule in her head, Dolores made a suggestion, but Vanessa shrugged her shoulders with an ever so slightly affected expression.

    ¡°Well, if that¡¯s alright with you, I don¡¯t mind doing it in seven days. Shall I give the recipe to Karina then?¡±

    Karina was the name of a young waiting maid and the coworker of Fay and the other girls.

    The three girls came to a realization at the same time upon Vanessa¡¯s interjection.

    ¡°Ah!?¡±

    ¡°Right, it¡¯s toote in seven days. We¡¯ve to do it before.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to change departments in five days!¡±

    The young waiting maids periodically changed departments.

    The next change was already due in five days. As the three realized that fact, they were at their wits¡¯ end.

    In other words, they would still be in charge if they tried the new recipe in three days, but in seven days the waiting maids that relieved them of their kitchen duty would be in charge.

    Vanessa looked at the three, young waiting maids and shrugged her shoulders in a dramatic manner, shaking her head excessively.

    ¡°What a shame. And I here I was nning to use my authority to reward the first team that pulled this new recipe off, with one month of exclusive usage of the refrigerator.¡±

    The huge five-door refrigerator in the living room naturally belonged to Zenjirou, but as the head of the cooking department, Vanessa had gotten the permission to freely use around one-third of the entire space, starting from the crisper, at her own discretion.

    The troublemaking trio became all excited from hearing these words.

    The Carpa Kingdom was still in the hot season. Zenjirou allowed the waiting maids to help themselves to the chilled towels and the jug with cold water in the refrigerator or the ice from the freezer to some extent, but there were more than a dozen waiting maids in total in the inner pce after all.

    The cold water and ice, let alone the chilled towels, couldn¡¯t be taken by everyone as they pleased.

    Thus the exclusive usage of the refrigerator, if only in a limited small space, was quite attractive to the waiting maids.

    ¡°¡­..!¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Fay, Dolores and Rethemunicated with their eyes, then

    ¡°Vanessa-sama!¡±

    ¡°Please leave it to us!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll somehow pull off this recipe with just the three of us in three days!¡±

    they dered reassuring all in one breath.

    * * *

    Three dayster at noon.

    The ¡°three troublemakers¡±: Fay, Dolores and Rethe had gathered in the kitchen of the inner pce, where they were all alone.

    Needless to say, they were dressed ready to cook: A long apron over their maid clothes.

    Fay¡¯s short hair was kept like always, but Dolores and Rethe¡¯s long hair was tied back into a bun, so it wouldn¡¯t get in the way with cooking.

    Fay and the other two had dered that they would somehow pull of the recipe by themselves.

    Vanessa had most likely tried to steer the matter into that direction from the very beginning.

    The face of their supervisor had shown an ¡°all-ording-to-n¡± smile as she answered them with ¡°okay. Give it your all. I¡¯ll arrange for the ingredients, so use anything you need¡±.

    The young waiting maids challenged the new sweet recipe all by themselves. They themselves were probably not aware of it, but it was good practice for them.

    For Vanessa, who was functioning as an teacher as well, it was a wee oue when the young waiting maid improved their cooking skills through this.

    ¡°Good, let¡¯s get started!¡±

    Rethe pped her hands in front of her voluptuous breasts and proimed the kick-off.

    ¡°Okay, you¡¯re the leader today, Rethe. Please give us instructions. Fay and I will do as you tell us then.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re counting on you, Leader!¡±

    Rethe acted as if she was rolling up her sleeves and replied to her two roommates or rather co-workers.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do my best. I hope you two memorized the recipe.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I read it so often in thest three days that I can¡¯t bear the sight of it anymore.¡±

    In reaction to Rethe¡¯s inquiry, Dolores waved with the couple of copy papers, which had gotten a bit more worn out, dirtied and buckledpared to three days ago, and answered.

    ¡°I, I remember¡­ it, too?¡±

    Fay¡¯s answer remained a bit doubtful, since it ended with a question mark, but it was toote to do anything about it now.

    ¡°Jeez, Fay-chan. I¡¯ll have to trust you on that. Well then, we¡¯ll start by making the ¡®puff pastry¡¯ first.¡±

    Rethe puckered her lips on a rare asion and said that, then reached out for the ingredients on the worktop herself as the vanguard.

    The new recipe from Zenjirou was a ¡°puff pastry pie¡±, just like one could imagine from the term ¡°puff pastry¡±.

    That said, it wasn¡¯t a regr pastry. The traditional puff pastry required butter to be folded inside the manyyers of theminated dough, so it was impossible to prepare in the Carpa Kingdom, since they had no dairy products.

    The recipe Zenjirou had tranted this time was a ¡°low-calorie pastry¡±, which included vegetable oil instead of butter.

    The sweet was a recently popr diet variety, but it was much appreciated in this world without dairy products it.

    ¡°Uhn, uhn¡­¡±

    Without dy, Rethe added a bit of salt to the wheat flour and kneaded it with water like it was written on the recipe.

    The three of them each attempted to make their own puff pastry, since they expected to fail at the first try anyway.

    The three waiting maids were used to kneading dough from making other sweets or bread and made the puff pastry in a rtively ustomed manner.

    However, it was obvious that Rethe was more skilful from watching their techniques.

    ¡°Ah, Fay-chan, I think you¡¯re kneading too much? The recipe says you only need to knead it until it¡¯s crumbly.¡±

    ¡°Eh? No way? Mine¡¯s already tough?¡±

    ¡°Idiot. That happens when you don¡¯t read the recipe carefully.¡±

    While continuing her own work, Rethe still had the leisure to point out the failure of her co-worker. That showed how advanced her cooking skills were.

    ¡°Okay, this should do. Fay-chan, Dolores-chan, are you done, too? If you are, then smear oil on the surface of the dough, fold it and spread it evenly. Once you¡®ve done so, smear oil on it, fold and spread it again. Repeat that three times.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Uwah, it¡¯s quite exhausting. With my luck, I¡¯ll have the oil all over my bodyter.¡±

    Dolores said so with a sigh while she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the hand towel prepared at the side.

    The stove in the kitchen was already fired as not to waste any time, so the room was filled with hot air.

    ¡°We need to stop the sweat.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, gotta be careful.¡±

    ¡°Or it¡¯ll turn out salty.¡±

    The three maids eagerly wrapped a cloth around their head to collect the sweat and resumed the kneading with regained vigour.

    Several minutester.

    Three puff pastries were on show on top of the worktop.

    ¡°Good, all done. Now we only have to decide what to put in. I favour candied apricots.¡±

    Rethe smiled softly with a few strands of hair pasted over her face as they had broken away from the rolled up hair dumpling.

    ¡°Hmm, I like it simple, so I will go with desert bananas, I guess?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ Hmm, I don¡¯t really need to put in anything, do I? That works, too, doesn¡¯t it? I¡¯ll try baking it after smearing oil with dissolved sugar onto it.¡±

    Dolores and Fay likewise mused about what to put into their own puff pastry.

    When all is said and done, the young waiting maids loved sweet stuff. As no superior was around, they chatted boisterous while they prepared the pastry with their respective favourite ingredient.

    ¡°Okay, done!¡±

    Raising her hands, Rethe showed a satisfied smile, whereat Fay tilted her head puzzled and asked.

    ¡°Ah, but for how long do we bake them? Vanessa-sama usually takes care of that.¡±

    The primitive stove obviously had no thermostat and measuring the baking time by feeling alone was no easy task.

    Rethe¡¯s cooking skills were considered top ss amongst the young waiting maids, but she still couldn¡¯t do this.

    However, Dolores showed a fearless smile to blow off Fay¡¯s worry.

    ¡°Fufuhn~ I got that covered. Here, I borrowed it from Zenjirou-sama yesterday!¡±

    Saying so, Dolores took out the foldable and ck ¡°game console¡± from the pocket of her maid clothes.

    Recently, she had spent her breaks with an addiction to the portable console, so she now opened and operated the game console with smooth movements.

    ¡°I think it goes like this¡­ Yes, that¡¯s it, the clock!¡±

    The girls had mastered the reading of the Latin alphabet at some point while ying with the game console and even understood the division of time, twenty-four hours ¨C sixty minutes ¨C sixty seconds, from the other world (apparently they learned it through the time attack in a racing game).

    ¡°On the recipe it says to heat it for forty minutes at two-hundred degrees, right? With this, even we can measure the baking time urately.¡±

    Throwing out her small chest, Dolores imed proudly, whereupon Rethe pped with a soft smile.

    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re amazing, Dolores-chan! Now the time¡¯s no problem. But what about the temperature? Even if the time¡¯s urate, it¡¯ll be no good when the heat is wrong, won¡¯t it? I wonder how hot two-hundred degrees are.¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­¡±

    Fay immediately retorted to the quailing Dolores.

    ¡°Jeez, got it covered, my foot! That¡¯s so typical of you, Dolores.¡±

    ¡°O, Ohe on! At least we won¡¯t mistake the time with it. It¡¯ll be useful, probably!¡±

    Dolores objected to Fay¡¯s teasing with a flushed face, but she actually was by no means wrong.

    Even when the factor of the temperature remained uncertain, the merit of urately measuring time couldn¡¯t be overlooked so easily.

    Besides, it was much easier to try again with a clock when they failed the first time.

    For example, they would just have to bake it for five minutes longer when the forty minutes weren¡¯t enough. Inparison, they would¡¯ve to rely on their biological clock, ¡°a bit longer than just now¡±, when they had no clock.

    It should be easily imaginable how difficult that was.

    ¡°Geez, Fay-chan, Dolores-chan, leave the fighting forter. Time to put them into the stove now.¡±

    Rethe puffed up her full cheeks and showed an angry expression that wasn¡¯t the least bit scary.

    Forty minutester.

    On top of the worktop stood the three ¡°pseudo pastries¡± fresh out of the oven.

    Yes, ¡°pseudo pastries¡±, not real ¡°pastries¡±. At least it would be an insult to all pastry cooks, who had shaped the history of sweets, by calling these ck something a ¡°pastry¡±.

    ¡°¡­.Haah.¡±

    ¡°Pitch-ck¡­¡±

    Giving her roommates, who dropped their shoulders disappointed, a side-nce, Rethe, the only one with the usual beatific expression, took the kitchen knife and cut into the ¡°pseudo pastry¡±.

    She roughly cut up the still steaming mass, skilfully scrapping off the burned parts with the tip of the knife.

    After somehow salvaging the still eatable pieces, she put them onto wooden tes.

    ¡°Let¡¯s taste it for now.¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­ O- Okay.¡±

    ¡°It takes quite some courage to eat the first one.¡±

    The three girls reached out for the rather unappetizing ¡°pseudo pastry¡± out of a sense of duty.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Their bitter expressions revealed that the wordless food sampling was by no means a bliss.

    ¡°Dolores, the one you made has not the slightest sweetness of the bananas. It¡¯s really tough to swallow.¡±

    ¡°Well, excuse me! On the other hand, the one you made, Rethe, is too sweet! I bet you added even more sugar.¡±

    ¡°Fay-chan¡¯s is too hard in the first ce. Forget about chewing, I can barely break it with my hands!¡±

    The three waiting maids merciless criticized the sweet of their co-workers.

    Principally, one didn¡¯t evaluate his own cooking, because a self-evaluation was never objective, regardless of the oue.

    ¡°Okay, now that we¡¯ve reflected over it, let¡¯s try again!¡±

    When she finished the brief tasting of the ¡°pseudo pastry¡±, Rethe dered that with an energetic voice without giving her stomach time to rest.

    ¡°Sure, we¡¯ve got still lots of ingredients after all!¡±

    ¡°I would like to make something a bit more appetizing next¡­¡±

    Persuaded by Rethe like that, Dolores and Fay raised from their chairs as well.

    Experimenting, baking, tasting. That procedure repeated over and over again until the sun set.

    And thus it was that today¡¯s day drew to a close for the ¡°three troublemakers¡±.

    * * *

    Afternoon on the next day.

    In the kitchen of the inner pce, cooking department head Vanessa smiled akimbo at the trio, Fay, Dolores and Fay, which showed a nervous expression in front of her.

    As lunch had just been served to Zenjirou, the kitchen now had some leeway.

    ¡°Okay, then show me the fruit of yesterday¡¯sbour.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    The three girls cheerfully responded in unison to Vanessa and started to act as to quickly show off the results from yesterday.

    While Fay regted the fire of the stove, Rethe kneaded the puff pastry. At the same time, Dolores positioned the portable game console in such a way that the clock was visible and then prepared a special sweet icing for the pastry by mixing high quality brown sugar with cinnamon.

    There was no filling.

    Yesterday, they hadn¡¯t been able to seed in making a pastry with a filling like the typical apple pie or pumpkin pie.

    Maybe the dough had been too thin, but the water from the filling had caused the bottom to slip off. And when they worried too much about the bottom slipping off, it became too tough to chew instead. Furthermore, it had been a tricky job to adjust the heat and baking time every time they changed the filling.

    In the end, they had finally decided upon the kind they were making right now: A simple puff pastry pie without any filling in a rectangle shape and as long as two forefinger in a row.

    They only mixed the dough roughly until it became crumbly, sliced it out in a rectangle shape, smeared oil over the entire thing, sprinkled abundant brown sugar and cinnamon over it and baked it in the stove.

    Unlike yesterday, Zenjirou was taking all three meals in the inner pce today, so they hadn¡¯t much spare time. Only enough for one try.

    ¡°Okay, the dough is ready, Fay-chan.¡±

    ¡°Looking good on my end, too. We can bake it any time!¡±

    ¡°Good, Rethe, put it into the stove. I¡¯ll keep track of the time.¡±

    Vanessa watched the young waiting maids, preparing the sweet with all their might, with a gentle and soft smile like watching over a small child.

    ¡°Okay, start baking!¡±

    ¡°Roger, forty minutes from now on! Fay!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll keep the temperature constant.¡±

    A sweet and aromatic fragrance from the stove wasn¡¯t long in theing.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The three young maids nervously looked at cooking department head Vanessa while she reached out for the ¡°pie¡± on the te in front here without changing her carefree expression.

    ¡°Hmm, it seems quite different from how it was written on the recipe.¡±

    ¡°Th- That¡¯s¡­¡±

    Vanessa stopped Dolores, who reflexively tried to make excuses, with just a nce and continued.

    ¡°But well, it gets passing marks for appearance and smell for now. The vour and texture remains to be seen.¡±

    Saying so, she opened her mouth widely and bit into square pie.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Mmm¡­¡±

    Only the munching sound of her jaws, chewing the freshly baked pastry, resounded through the otherwise silent kitchen.

    Before long, Vanessa finished one piece of the pie and spoke.

    ¡°Yeah, not bad. I didn¡¯t expect any less from you, Rethe. It¡¯s well done.¡±

    ¡°Th- Thank you very much!¡±

    Rethe and the other two made joyful looks upon the praise, but Vanessa stiffened her expression, ready to spoil that joy.

    ¡°But there¡¯s still room for improvement. When you score it before baking, it¡¯ll be more ky and pleasant on the gums. And you might as well cut it slimly and try to braid them into its. I¡¯m sure it would turn out interesting.

    To begin with, you¡¯re baking it after smearing it with oil and sprinkling sugar over it, but wouldn¡¯t it taste even better when you fry it in oil at first and only add the sugar and cinnamon afterwards? At least we can¡¯t serve it to Her Highness Aura and Zenjirou-sama as it is.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    The girls hung their heads and dropped their shoulders dejected.

    A failure, huh.

    Sometimes hard work didn¡¯t pay off in the world of work.

    ¡°But, well, you did work hard. Now I¡¯ll just have to perfect the recipe with Karina¡¯s groupter on.¡±

    ¡°Ehh!? Th- Then the reward¡­!¡±

    ¡°Fay, stop it!¡±

    Fay unconsciously raised an angry voice. Dolores, standing next to her, stopped her with her hand, but Fay¡¯s anger didn¡¯t vanish from her face.

    It was intolerable when the following group snatched the ¡°exclusive usage for the refrigerator¡± from them, only for aplishing thest step, even though the three of them were responsibility for all the progress so far.

    Vanessa gave the petite maid, who showed a sulky expression that could get her in trouble with her superior, a wry smile while she

    ¡°Rx. I know very well that it would be unfair to you girls if I were to give the reward to Karina¡¯s group.¡±

    said that and patted Fay¡¯s small head with the palm of her stout hand like a mother did with her child.

    ¡°You mean!¡±

    Crying in one moment, smiling in the next. That was applicable to Fay now as she instantly shed a smile, whereat Vanessa said.

    ¡°Still, it¡¯s a fact that you three didn¡¯t perfect it like agreed upon. So, hmm¡­ Let¡¯s say it¡¯s a half-sess. The other half is to be a aplished by Karina and the other girls.

    Therefore, when Karina¡¯s group gets the recipe done to a level, where it can be served to Zenjirou-sama, then I¡¯ll give the exclusive usage of the refrigerator for one month to all six of you. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°Yes!!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!¡±

    ¡°Yes~?¡±

    The smiling three girls responded in unison.

    Vanessa, too, showed a bright smile that wasn¡¯t inferior to theirs, and pped her hands.

    ¡°Good. Then that¡¯s settled. I¡¯ll head over to Zenjirou-sama now and ask if he has any requests for today¡¯s sweet. In the meantime, you clean up here and get everything ready forter.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Vanessa left the kitchen after she emphasised that with a smile.

    Left-behind, the troublemaking trio cleaned the dirtied tools and worktop like they were told to while chatting happily.

    ¡°Hey, shall we teach the recipe to Karina and the others today after work, since the condition changed?¡±

    Fay suggested that to her two roommates as she cleaned the floury worktop with a small broom.

    Dolores was washing the bowl by dunking it into a water bucket and nodded to the suggestion of her petite roommate after musing for a moment.

    ¡°Yeah, that might be better. I¡¯ll show them how to read the time from this machine. In the end, they¡¯ll surely have to rely on their own senses for the baking time, but having a clock at first makes it easier.¡±

    ¡°Right. The longer Karina-chan and the others take to get it done, the longer we¡¯ll have to wait to use the refrigerator, so I agree!¡±

    Wiping the scattered flour on the ground with arge broom, Rethe also approved of it.

    The young waiting maids of the other group were practically in the same boat as them, so cooperating to obtain the blessing of the refrigerator as soon as possible was in their mutual interest.

    ¡°Good. In that case, let¡¯s get our work over and done with and find Karina and Co.!¡±

    ¡°Yep. I think they¡¯re currently in charge of the bath?¡±

    ¡°Keyshia-chan should be in Karina-chan¡¯s group and I know where her room is!¡±

    Interacting with a different group, to which they usually had no contact, of their own initiative, sharing knowledge amongst each other and cooperating for a shared objective.

    By doing so, the entire body of young waiting maids gets to know each other better and even improves their cooking skills. Vanessa was aiming at that, but the girls in question seemed to actualize it without discerning her aim at all

 Chapter Volume 3 Prologue

    A certain night exactly one month after Queen Aura of the Carpa Kingdom safely gave birth to her first child. The Capital was overflowing with fires, dispelling the night, and merry glee.

    Large bonfires were lit at the crossings of the main street or parks while here and there soldiers patrolled through the city at night, apanied by valets carrying torches.

    In the business district, the majority of the taverns had lit a couple of oil pans within the store and a special night business boomed.

    Normally the stores wouldn¡¯t open in the middle of the night, since the light wasn¡¯t cheap and there was a good risk of the fires spreading, but today was an exception.

    Because tonight was a night to be remembered, where they celebrated the news that most citizens of the Carpa Kingdom had eagerly awaited: The birth of a healthy first prince.

    ¡°To the health of Queen Aura!¡±

    ¡°To the birth of Prince Carlos!¡±

    ¡°To the future of the Carpa Kingdom!¡±

    ¡°Cheers!¡±

    Shouts of joy and the sounds of wooden mugs, filled with alcohol, shing against each other resounded through the bar at night.

    The ce was only illuminated by oil pans in each corner, but the atmosphere there made this dim light seem ¡°bright¡± instead.

    Tonight was a festival to celebrate the birth of the prince. He was actually born one month ago, but the medical treatment was undeveloped in this world, so there was no guarantee that the child would live on without problems, even if it was royalty. Therefore it was customary to celebrate the birth one month after the actual birthday.

    And that one month was reached today. The Capital burned the candles at both ends.

    Still, while it was true that the guests here were celebrating the birth of the prince, it was just as true that most of them were simply ted about ¡°eating and drinking for free¡±.

    Yes, the royal family mainly shouldered the costs for illuminations, drinks and food, which arose throughout the night.

    They prepared the oil or wood for the bonfires, paid the taverns up front and arranged for soldiers to patrol, so that no fires or fights would ur.

    The financial burden was nothing to be sneezed at, since the royal family was still rebuilding the war damages, but neither could they ignore a celebration like this. Besides, a subsidiary oue could be expected as well: a temporary boom in the economy in the capital.

    Although the royal family was catering ¡°free drinks and food¡±, it was limited to cheap fruit wine and a cheap soup, which was made in a cauldron all at once.

    One could get drunk on that wine and stuff one¡¯s stomach with the soup, but the alcohol made a few people generous enough to order better wine or food against their better judgement, paying for it with their own money.

    In the end, the taverns were operating quite in the ck, even if the sponsoring from the royal family wasn¡¯t counted.

    ¡°Man, I gotta say,tely it¡¯s one good thing after another. First we won the war, then Queen Aura got married. And now a yearter, a prince is born. Too good to be true.¡±

    A corpulent man, sitting on a chair inside the bar with spread legs, dered that with a loud voice and heavily pounded his empty mug onto the table. The wooden mug made a melodic sound as it hit the wooden table.

    ¡°Nonsense! We had a tough time during the long war, so the ¡®good things¡¯ piled up and nowe up altogether.¡±

    The one, who replied like that, was a man sitting across from him. That man was rtively slenderpared to the man in front of him, but on a closer look, one could tell that his body was firm and trained from manualbour. Most likely, the two of them were doing some kind of physicalbour in the capital.

    The slender man scooped the piping hot soup with arge wooden spoon and brought it to his mouth.

    The soup only consisted of chunks of ntain, cheap leaf vegetables and a token amount of meat from a disused dragon (meaning meat from raptorial or hulking dragons that were no longer deployable due to old age), but it was strongly voured with salt and spices, so it was plenty delicious when eaten warm.

    Salt, spice and brown sugar. All of these weren¡¯t expensive goods in the Carpa Kingdom, so the entire cuisine here had a strong vour, even in the cooking of themoners.

    Amon way to ovee the brutal heat in the Carpa Kingdom was to sweat by slurping some spicy soup and to replenish the sweated share by drinking during the heat.

    ¡°Well, yeah. That war was one helluva fight. Can¡¯t me us when a few good things keep happening now.¡±

    The sturdy man agreed with the slender man. They were around their mid-thirties and a closer look revealed that their arms or chests, peeking out of their clothes, were covered with scars that seemed to stem from a sword or arrow. Considering their age, they most likely had been soldiers in the previous war and experienced the horror of war.

    By that logic, it was only natural that these two men sounded so emotional.

    ¡°Right. Still, if they¡¯re going to serve free wine and food, I wish they would¡¯ve done so from noon on. Half a day¡¯s wasted. Well, the night¡¯s its charm, too.¡±

    Saying so, the slender man put the spoon back into the wooden te with soup and the sturdy man replied with a burst ofughter.

    ¡°Hah! ¡®Its charm¡¯? Talking big now, huh? Well, not that I can¡¯t rte. Children are a windfall. You can¡¯t control when they¡¯re born.¡±

    Normally, the birth of a prince would be celebrated for a whole day, but unfortunately it was currently the hottest season of the year. The brutal heat with maximum temperatures of over forty degrees threatened the vigour of the body.

    People would die or faint one after another when they raised their sses to the prosperity of the county amidst temperatures that far exceeded the body temperature. In this season with thesting heat, people stayed indoors and avoided efforts as much as possible. And when they absolutely had to go outside, they had to cover themselves with a hooded cloak, not exposing the slightest part of their bodies directly to the sunlight.

    The cloak was principally made out of thick cotton material. Air-permeable cloth like hemp only felt freshening when the air temperature was lower than the body temperature. When the air temperature was above the body temperature, the wind could blew through the clothes as much as it wanted, but the wearer would only feel hotter each time.

    By that definition, the night was indeed ¡°cool¡±, since all the men, revelling in the bar, were able to dress in sleeveless shirts and thin trousers.

    Nheless, that estimate was rtive to the murderous heat during the day and the night, too, was still hot for sure.

    After finishing his hot soup, the slender man fanned out his cor, but this sultry night wasn¡¯t so innocent that doing so would make it any cooler.

    ¡°The heat¡¯s killing me. Hey, I¡¯m gonna ssh some water, ¡®kay?¡±

    At the end of his limit, the slender man turned around on his chair and reached out for the woodendle leaning against the wall behind him while he said that with a voice loud enough to resound through the whole bar.

    ¡°Sure, go ahead!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s friggin¡¯ hot!¡±

    ¡°Nobody¡¯s gonna stop ya!¡±

    All guests in the tavern expressed their approval at once

    ¡°Good, here goes nothing.¡±

    Having gotten the consent from the others, the man stood up from his chair, then headed for the long and narrow water bucket, which was standing in the corner of the room, with the bigdle in hand.

    All the shops around here that were directly dealing with customers made it a customer service to ce a water bucket within the store.

    The room temperature was lowered a bit just from having the bucket there and when someone sshed the water from it onto the floor, just like the man was about to do now, then its vaporization chilled down the room considerably.

    Of course the water temporarily umted in the hollows of the stone paving and sometimes sprinkled onto the shoes or hem of the trousers of the guests, but no one here was so narrow-minded to be bothered by that.

    A bit of water like that dried in no time in face of this temperature, which was still over thirty-five degree in the middle of the night.

    On the contrary, one male customer said.

    ¡°Oh, ssh all you want. Or might as well send it flying!¡±

    Send it flying.

    In other words, he was saying that he should amply spray the water over their heads instead of sparsely ssh it to their feet.

    Sshing water onto the ground for a chilling aside, the act of sloshing around water directly over their heads inside a store was a somewhat crude behaviour, even in the Carpa Kingdom. However, this was a tavern on the outskirts. The crude suggestion was weed with a hurricane of apuse.

    ¡°Yeah, do it!¡±

    ¡°At this rate I¡¯m gonna dry up!¡±

    ¡°Hold it! Wait until we cover our food!¡±

    The water ¡°shower¡± seemed to getmon, since everyone was versed in covering their soup tes and lightly baked bread on the table.

    As to substantiate it, the shopkeeper, keeping an eye on the cauldron behind his counter, also made no attempts to stop them and just showed a wry smile on his frowned, brown face.

    Quite the opposite,

    ¡°Be careful not to hit the oil pans.¡±

    he permitted it with these words.

    Hearing that, the man grinned broadly, saying ¡°got it¡±, and plunged the tip of thedle into the square water bucket. Then,

    ¡°Okay, brace yourselves. Ready, go!¡±

    He swung the filleddle in a wide arc with his right hand and let it rain over the bar at night.

    The water drops, flying around through the air, sparkled shiny as they were illuminated by the fire on the oil pans in the four corners of the room.

    ¡°Oh, so refreshing!¡±

    ¡°Hyah, I¡¯m back to life!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so stingy with it. C¡¯mon, more!¡±

    The drinkers said arbitrary and unanimously.

    ¡°Aw, shuddap. Gimme a sec.¡±

    The man refreshed himself by pouring the water he had scooped with thedle over his head, then rapidly scattered water throughout the store by swinging thedle over and over again.

    ¡°Fuh, feels good! Long live the Queen!¡±

    ¡°Yep, long live Prince Carlos!¡±

    ¡°Long live the Carpa Kingdom!¡±

    Feeling better from the shower, the guests erupted with joy once again.

    ¡°And while we¡¯re at it, ehm, huh? What was his name again? ¡­Anyway, long live Queen Aura¡¯s husband!¡±

    Apparently ¡°Zenjirou¡¯s¡± name recognition as Queen Aura¡¯s husband was so low that themon folk in the outskirts couldn¡¯t remember his name when their ability to think was dulled by the alcohol.

    * * *

    A new morning was breaking.

    The festival with alcohol and mes ended after a single night.

    As soon as the scorching sun appeared over the horizon, business took ce as usual.

    Especially now during the hottest season of the year. The time period, where the morning sun was raising and spent light without skyrocketing the temperature yet, was quite valuable.

    In the streets of the capital at dawn, people were already full of life and taking up their work.

    To avoid a heatstroke in this season, it was customary to preserve one¡¯s stamina by taking a midday nap indoors during the time of the day, where the temperature was on the rise the most. Therefore they had to get done as much as possible during the morning and evening or they would be running out of time.

    A bustling, but lively morning in the Capital. Although the inner pce stood in the heart of that very Capital, his room was the only ce that had nothing to do with that bustle and Zenjirou greeted a calm morning like any other day.

    Zenjirou greatly stretched himself in the room, which looked chaotic on a nce and had ssic furniture in an exotic stylebined with mass-produced electronic appliances from Japan.

    The only light source was the sunrays that came through the gap of the closed wooden window shutters, so a darkness beyond dim spread over the interior.

    ¡°Fuh¡­ Kuh¡­!¡±

    Wearing indoor dress consisting of a white shirt and twin pleat, hemp trousers in ck, he stretched his arms upwards and opened the window in the living room while craning his neck.

    Once the window, ornamented with detailed carvings, was opened, stifling air and sunlight so strong that it seemed unlikely it came from the morning sun, found their way inside.

    ¡°Uwah!?¡±

    Faced with the mighty light and aggressive heat invading after opening the window, Zenjirou unconsciously turned his face away. As his eyes had been used to the darkness, the bright sunlight stung them, but the heat was even more intense.

    ¡°Wow. It feels more like my life¡¯s in danger than hot or gross.¡±

    He instinctively said that with a serious face.

    Breathing this excessively hot air felt as suffocating as air with low oxygen concentration, even with a full deep breath.

    This living room, where he usually spent his time, and the bedroom next door were cooled down by the venttor and water buckets around-the-clock.

    Since the small prince, sleeping in a different room, got the prior im on the ice recently, the temperature in the living room tended to be a bit higher than before, butpared to the outside, there was a difference as wide as between heaven and earth and thus stillfortable.

    Zenjirou frowned in response to the stream of hot air, mercilessing in through the open window, and quickly took the tools, so he could get the task over with and shut the window again as soon as possible.

    He fetched three things from the corner of the living room: A digital table clock, a mechanical pencil and a digital camera.

    ¡°Good, I¡¯m right on time.¡±

    cing the rectangle clock on the window frame, he then looked at the disy of the camera and nodded short.

    A small, needle-like nail stood vertically in the centre of the frame.

    While keeping a watch on both, the tiny shadow cast by the nail and the digital clock, he silently waited for the right moment.

    ¡°¡­Now!¡±

    7:00

    As soon as the liquid crystals in the table clock disyed that time, Zenjirou drew a line with the mechanical pencil by tracing over the shadow line on the window frame.

    Then he took a photo of that shape with the digital camera shortly after. The shutter sound rang out after the typical short timeg for a digital camera, whereupon the integrated clock of the camera disyed 7:00:09.

    This had be a daily morning routine for him these days.

    ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s a small discrepancy after all. The problem is, I can¡¯t judge whether the discrepancy is due to the fact that ¡®a day hasn¡¯t exactly twenty-four hours¡¯ or that ¡®the time for sunset and sunrise changes every day¡¯.¡±

    He mumbled while looking at the screen of the digital camera. This routine was only a few days old, but every day, he was drawing the same shadow line at the same time, yet the line shifted slightly to the side every day.

    It was his second year in this different world after transferring here. Now that he had fulfilled his greatest duty, namely making a child with Aura, Zenjirou started to settle down enough to show an interest in the different world bit by bit.

    This matter, too, was something he had decided to investigate at longst now.

    Namely: ¡°How does the calendar work in this world?¡±

    ¡°Well, the clocks from Earth still are applicable even now after a year without tuning, so it¡¯s certain that one day has as good as twenty-four hours either way.¡±

    He muttered to himself like that.

    If that weren¡¯t the case, the clocks he had brought with him would no longer be useful by now. For example, even if a day was only longer by a single minute, it would ount for a discrepancy of three-hundred and sixty-five minutes when projected to three-hundred and sixty-five days. To make it easier to understand: Three-hundred and sixty-five minutes amounted to roughly six hours.

    If the time were to be deviated by whole six hours, he would¡¯ve noticed it for sure, even if he only had a vague reference like the sunrise and sunset. In other words, it could be concluded that the discrepancy in the period of one day between his original world and this world was something so extremely small that he was unable to perceive it even over roughly one year, if there was one at all. However.

    ¡°Ignoring the discrepancy in dates, I could measure the discrepancy of one day, if I record the position of the shadow exactly one yearter, but¡­ the problem is, I don¡¯t even have the guarantee that one year has three-hundred and sixty-five days here.¡±

    Zenjirou sighed once again.

    The calendar of this world had a total of twelve months from which six months had twenty-nine days and the other six had thirty days. In short, a year had three-hundred and fifty-four days. However, that apparently caused an obvious discrepancy, so they regted that by adding an intercry month every couple of years, making it a year with thirteen months.

    Thus it seemed that one year in this world had more or less three-hundred and sixty-five days on an average, too, ording to a quick calction he had made on the aforementioned calendar.

    ¡°If I could somehow be sure that this world has the same 24/365 allocation as Earth, I would be able to make a few useful suggestions.¡±

    Zenjirou closed the wooden shutters while he grumbled like that.

    Of course he had no intention to change the current calendar, which the citizen were used to, for his own convenience.

    But if he seeded in making a somewhat urate sr calendar, it would definitely be useful in various ways.

    The current calendar caused a discrepancy of about thirty days, since it added an intercry month every few years.

    Considering that the first day of the fourth monthst year could be the first day of the fifth month this year, it was obvious just how pointless it was to hope for this calendar to announce the ¡°seasons¡±. At least it was extremely unsuitable for marking the time when they had to sow or do embankment work.

    Due to that, the periods for sowing and harvesting were currently all based on the experience and intuition of the farmers in the Carpa Kingdom.

    ¡°Hmm, it would need tens of years to collect enough data for making an estimate that could beat the experience of a veteran farmer. And this world has no thermometers either.¡±

    Nevertheless, the creation of an urate calendar and the gathering of weather data throughout the year along with it, should prove to be useful in some way in the future.

    Telling himself that, Zenjirou turned on the six LED floormps and lighted the interior of the room in an artificial white light. At that very moment.

    The sound from knocking on the entrance door resonated trough the wide living room.

    A waiting maid would state her business right after knocking. Since that didn¡¯t happen, it limited the list of possible people down to one.

    Zenjirou looked at the clock reflexively.

    ¡°Mh? These days, she¡¯s usually already at a meeting in the pce by this time. Oh well. Yes,e in.¡±

    While tilting his head puzzled, he raised a voice, whereupon the door opened. Beyond it stood exactly the person, whom he expected.

    ¡°Good morning, Zenjirou.¡±

    The tall beauty, tightly holding a small baby against her voluptuous chest like a treasure, was apanied by two waiting maids behind her and smiled at him.

    ¡°Morning, Aura.¡±

    Zenjirou returned the gentle smile on par with hers and beckoned his wife with their child, into the room.

    ¡°Excuse me, but is this position suitable?¡±

    The waiting maid took arge ice block from the metal basin in the refrigerator, as she hadpletely gotten used to it in the past year, and positioned it next to the couches, where Zenjirou and Aura were sitting. Behind it, the venttor sent a refreshing breeze at Zenjirou from the perfect angle.

    As Aura was sitting on the couch across of him, its effect didn¡¯t reach her, but that was alright for now. She was holding their one-month old baby in her arms after all. It was not a good idea to directly blow cold air onto the sensitive skin of a baby.

    ¡°Yes, well done. You may leave.¡±

    ¡°Yes, excuse me.¡±

    Keeping her gaze down on the child in her arms, Queen Aura said that, whereupon the two waiting maids, who had positioned the ice and venttor, lowered their heads respectfully, then retreated.

    After the door closed with a tter, only the couple with their child remained in the living room.

    The mother dandled the child and the father watched over her. Such a scene was ordinary all over the world, but it wasn¡¯t all that usual for Zenjirou and Aura.

    ¡°Normally you would be at the morning meeting already at this time, so what¡¯s up today?¡±

    Zenjirou asked his wife, who was sitting across of him, this in the living room after the maids had left.

    During the period, where the heat was especially severe in the Carpa Kingdom, even the Royal Pce issued long breaks at noon for reasons of health. Topensate for that dy even a bit, the morning meetings around this time were started earlier.

    Just like Zenjirou had said, Aura would normally have no time to rx like this.

    But while dandling the child in her arms, Aura

    ¡°Yes. Today¡¯s meeting is with Marquis Guzzle. And since the crucial party is arrivingte, the start of the meeting has to be postponed.¡±

    happily replied like that.

    ¡°Oh, I see. That¡¯s great. Wait, can I say it like that?¡±

    ¡°Not great at all. The agenda was merely dyed, not resolved, so it is rather troubling instead. But it is a rare free time and it would be a waste to not use it effectively. Right, Carlos?¡±

    Aura showed a wry smile for a moment, but right afterwards, she resumed her broad smile and said that, peeking at the face of the child in her arms.

    ¡°Ah, Ahh!¡±

    The one-month old baby¡ª Carlos looked up to his mother¡¯s face andughed happily.

    The image of ¡°looking like a skinny monkey¡±, which Zenjirou had when he was born, hadpletely vanished and the young prince was growing steadily by sucking milk from his mother or wet nurse. His cheeks and arms, peeking out of the sleeves of his baby clothes, also had be cute and chubby. Altogether he was overflowing with an adorableness that involuntarily made you want to nudge him.

    Curly hair in a glossy olive brown tone. A big pair of ck wide eyes. Skin coloured in a mixture of brown and yellow. ¡®My parental bias aside, could it be that he¡¯s the most adorable being in this world?¡¯ Zenjirou was actually thinking that for real, but he was the only one, who didn¡¯t realize that his opinion couldn¡¯t be biased any more, seeing as he especially added ¡°parental bias aside¡±.

    ¡°Carlos~? Lookie, lululu¡­Bleeh!¡±

    ¡°Ahh? Kyakya!¡±

    Looking at the face of his father, who was ying the fool by sticking out his tongue from the opposite couch, the infant starred nkly for a moment, then raised a shrill voice for joy.

    As he liked the reaction of his son, Zenjirou then repeated it over and over and over again.

    ¡°Oh, heughed. Am I funny? Lookie, lululu¡­ Bleeh! Lulululu, Bleeh!¡±

    ¡°Kyakya, Kyakya!¡±

    The baby continued tough happily, but the mother, who was holding him, contributed ain with a wry smile.

    ¡°Zenjirou, I can rte that you want to make Carlosugh, but please stop doing these ¡®weird faces¡¯ one after another. As your wife I cannot help but feel sad about it, even if I am his mother.¡±

    ¡°U¡­ Ugh.¡±

    For a moment, Zenjirou wanted to object with ¡°what¡¯s the point of putting on airs at this point?¡±, but when he looked at it the other way around, he could understand Aura¡¯s standpoint a bit, too.

    Even if it was for the sake of making the most adorable life-form from both worlds¡ª Carlosugh, Zenjirou definitely would demand her to stop, too, if his beloved wife were to let her lips vibrate snorting or were sticking out her tongue so far that it could reach the tip of her nose or chin.

    Politeness is not just for strangers.

    A proverb he mustn¡¯t forget, even if their rtionships as a ¡°married couple¡± remained perfectly harmonic over a long time after two actual strangers had be family now.

    The Queen gave her husband, who reluctantly ceased to do ¡°weird faces¡±, an affectionate gaze, which differed from the one she was giving their child, and said in slightly teasing manner.

    ¡°Besides, why are you calling our child like that? ¡®Carlos¡¯ is not his only name. You are the only one, who can make the correct pronunciation for his ¡®other name¡¯, so should you not be calling him by that name?¡±

    Zenjirou was a bit taken by surprise by the words of this wife and showed that on his face, but nodded.

    ¡°Ah, yeah, right.¡±

    Their child certainly had another name. A Japanese name that Zenjirou had given him. It was a lot less known in the world than the name ¡°Carlos¡±, but he had chosen the name for that very reason. After all, this name definitely made up a part of their child, too.

    ¡°¡­Zenkichi.¡±

    After taking a deep breath, Zenjirou called the name in a whisper, as if breathing only a little bit of the air that brimmed his lungs, out.

    Zenkichi.

    The second name for his child that he hade up with after a lot of consideration.

    Due to the simple idea of keeping the first Chinese character of his own name, he had suggested rtivelymon names like Yoshihiko or Yoshito at first, but the people of the Carpa Kingdom, Aura included, didn¡¯t know about the culture of ¡°ideograms¡±, so it was extremely difficult to exin that one and the same character could be either read as Zen or Yoshi.

    In the end, he had given his son the name Zenkichi.

    ¡°Carlos Zenkichi Carpa¡±

    That was the official name of this baby, the first prince of the Carpa Kingdom.

    Carlos was a rtivelymon name in the Carpa Kingdom. At least two former kings and ten or more people, counting the royalty that hadn¡¯t be king by reference to the family register, have had the same name, so some people called the new prince as ¡°His Highness Carlo-Zen¡±, shortening his two names.

    It was also possible that he would be called ¡°His Majesty King Carlo-Zen¡± in the future. But then, ¡°Prince Carlos¡± was mainly used amongst themon folk, so it was quite likely that he would simply be called ¡°Carlos III¡±.

    Meanwhile, the little prince suddenly contorted his smiling face and cried woefully.

    ¡°Fuah¡­ Fuah¡­ Fueeeh¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s wrong? Zenkichi? Carlos? Carlo? What¡¯s up?¡±

    Half-rising from the couch, Zenjirou called out to him worried, but his wife

    ¡°No, everything is alright, Zenjirou. This cry means he is hungry.¡±

    answered without any agitation.

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡±

    He made a sigh of relief upon his wife¡¯s assurance, then asked something he had suddenly realized.

    ¡°Mh? But I¡¯m surprised you can tell, Aura. Don¡¯t tell me you can differentiate whether he¡¯s hungry or soiled his diaper from his crying?¡±

    The Queen nodded to her husband¡¯s question.

    ¡°Indeed. Cassandra taught it to me the other day. Although I cannot do it as well as her, since she can tell whether it is number one or number two from the crying.¡±

    She mentioned the name of the wet nurse, who was usually taking care of their child.

    Nursing a child was such a demanding task that it was incongruously with the exhausting work of a Queen. After all, a baby was a little tyrant, who wants milk, relieves itself and cries when these two desires aren¡¯t satisfied, all day without regard for others. Even Aura with all her toughness would undoubtedly copse after five days if she were to raise the child with her own hands while still fulfilling her duties as a Queen.

    Nheless, from Cassandra¡¯s point of view, it was surprisingly easy to take care of Carlos, seeing as she had three children herself.

    That didn¡¯t mean that Carlos was a good boy, who didn¡¯t need any special attention. Rather it was thanks to all the goods like baby bottles or freezer Tupperware for breast milk, which Zenjirou had brought with him from his world.

    The breast milk, milked from the breasts during the day, was perfectly safe to use for around another day, too, when kept cold, so the wet nurse was relieved from the task to have to wake up to breast-feed the baby when it cried in the middle of the night, since it could be fed the stored breast milk, warmed to body temperature, with the baby bottle.

    When the wet nurse was tired or extremely sleepy, one of the waiting maids could just fed the baby with the bottle in her stead.

    Luckily enough, Carlos was a good sucker, so he could drink the milk from the wet nurse¡¯s breasts, from Aura¡¯s breasts or even from the baby bottle without problems.

    ¡°Well then, time to breast-feed. Zenjirou, as you can see, my hands are upied, so could you please get behind me and untie the strap of my dress?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡±

    Upon her request, Zenjirou quickly went around the couch she was sitting on. The lukewarm air felt gross on his skin, since he left the sphere of action from the venttor, but now wasn¡¯t the time to worry about that.

    To satisfy his child¡¯s hunger as soon as possible, he stood behind his wife, who had her red hair tied up, on the couch and reached out for her shoulders.

    Right now, Aura was wearing a red dress without sleeves, where the front and back were tied together over her shoulders.

    ¡°Aura, tilt your head a bit to the side.¡±

    ¡°Mm, like this?¡±

    Aura obediently inclined her head to the right, whereupon Zenjirou reached out for her right left shoulder from behind and untied the strap there.

    Normally it was tied more firmly, but right now it was just a simple butterfly knot. She probably had anticipated to breast-feed here form the beginning.

    One side of her dress gently slipped down and exposed one of Aura¡¯s big breasts.

    ¡°Thanks. Here, Carlos, milk.¡±

    With one breast bared, the Queen promptly brought her voluminous breast closer to her child¡¯s face.

    ¡°Fueeeh¡­. Fuaah? Ada¡­¡±

    The baby¡¯s reaction was dramatic.

    With his mother¡¯s breast right in front of him, the infant started to feast with all his might by sucking on the nipple right away.

    ¡°Mm¡­ Mmm¡­ Mm¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufu, look at him sucking. He really is an energetic one.¡±

    Aura looked down at her child, who was sucking on her breast, which had gotten even bigger than before due to the pregnancy, with a truly affectionate gaze while holding him firmly.

    ¡°Good. He must have been really hungry.¡±

    Once he confirmed that Carlos had stopped crying, Zenjirou sat down on the other couch again.

    ¡°Mm, Mh, Mm, Mmm¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The baby was drinking milk with all its might while the mother held it. And the father was watching over them from a bit apart.

    At some point, the parents had fallen silent and just fondly gazed upon their child.

    ¡°Eat your fill. Now is the only time I can give you milk today.¡±

    Aura unconsciously let these wordse out of her mouth. As Aura was a Queen before she was a mother, she had few chances to breast-fed her child herself.

    ¡°¡­BURP.¡±

    The peaceful and heart-warming scenested until the baby removed his mouth from Aura¡¯s breasts.

    ¡°Mh? What is the matter? Done already?¡±

    Just to be sure, Aura brought her breast closer to his mouth once more, but he averted his face to the side. It seemed that he had eaten his fill.

    Zenjirou, too, couldn¡¯t help but make a gentle smile when he saw his child with drool and milk around his mouth. However, this gentle expression of his crumbled upon Aura¡¯s next words.

    ¡°Did you drink your fill? I see, you are full. Then the rest is ¡®for Papa¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Papa won¡¯t drink it, you know!? Mama, stop making scandalous jokes in front of Zenkichi!¡±

    Zenjirou resolutely objected with a frantic expression in front of the mother dandling the sleepy baby.

 Chapter Volume 3 1

    ¡°What? The salt is not being delivered?¡±

    After hearing theint at the morning meeting, Aura raised one eyebrow and inquired again in a serious tone while remaining seated on her throne.

    She was in a small room at the very heart of the royal pce.

    The only window of the room, through which the sunrays shone in, was positioned far higher up than a person¡¯s height and barred, so the interior was wrapped in dimness, It regrly hosted important discussions, which decided the Kingdom¡¯s future.

    An imposing and long table stood in the centre of the rtive small, square room and various wooden chairs were arranged around it.

    As the Queen, Aura naturally sat at the short head of the table. Secretary Fabio stood at attention behind her and was merely allowed to be present, but not to sit down, much less to speak up.

    The only people, who were allowed to speak up in this ce, were these with the title of either a ¡°minister¡± or ¡°general¡±.

    ¡°borate, Marquis Guzzle.¡±

    Addressed by Aura, the man sitting little short of the opposite of the table, stood up with the short exmation ¡°very well¡±.

    Marquis Guzzle was past his middle age. His skin was rather brown, even for a citizen of the Carpa Kingdom, and wrinkled from age here and there, but one could tell from his smooth movement as he stood up from the chair, or from his stout neck that he kept the senility away through harsh training even now.

    Vigorous despite his age, the experienced soldier reported with a low voice thatplied with his corpulent physique, which had a close resemnce to a rugby yer.

    ¡°The day before yesterday, a ¡®small flying dragon¡¯ reached me from my son, whom I left in charge of the march. It said that the current salt supply still had not arrived seven days after the arranged time. The stock in the region willst for another three months. As my deputy, my son requests to be allowed to send our army to the ¡®Salt Road¡¯ and probe the cause of it.

    And if I may add, I agree with him.¡±

    After he had finished his concise report with a fluent way of speaking, Marquis Guzzle sat down again with the same smooth movement untypical for his age as when he stood up.

    The March of Guzzle was a domain that bordered on another country. As the domain had no coasts, nor underground rock salt deposits, the essential salt had to be imported from elsewhere. The ¡®Salt Road¡¯ referred to a ¡°state road¡±, which a previous King had decreed some generations before, so that the enormous amount of required salt could be transported trouble-free to all the domains within the Kingdom.

    ordingly, Marquis Guzzle¡¯s statement didn¡¯t meet with full approval.

    ¡°I object. Of course it¡¯s a serious matter that the salt isn¡¯t delivered to your domain and I have no objections to send soldiers out to ensure the safety on the road. However, that¡¯s not a responsibility for your army, but rather for the royal army.¡±

    The one, who opposed downright aggressively like that, was General Puyol.

    Amongst the assembled people here, General Puyol was the youngest member after Queen Aura as he was in his early thirties, but even though the Marquis could be his father age-wise, he wasn¡¯t the least bit daunted and openly stated his own opinion.

    And his notion was by no means wrong.

    The ¡°Salt Road¡± was a state road, so sending out troops to maintain its security basically fell within the scope of the royal army.

    However, Marquis Guzzle showed no signs to back off, either.

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right, General Puyol. I, too, acknowledge that the ¡®Salt Road¡¯ belongs to the Kingdom. But taking prior incidents into ount, I would say it¡¯s quite likely that the cause for the dy in the salt transport is the increase in numbers of the ¡®Meat Dragons¡¯ appearing alongside the road.

    In that case, it¡¯s necessary to send soldiers to the forest and grasnd around the road and kill the meat dragons that attack people. And as it happens, that forest and grasnd belong to my domain.¡±

    Reasoning with this theory of his, he took on the young general¡¯s gaze head-on.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Aura watched how the young and aged military officers openly re at each other face to face, which was a rare urrence amongst confrontations between higher nobles, from her seat and sighed inwardly while she outwardly kept herposure.

    (How troublesome. Although it is nothing new that the feudalndowners are reluctant about letting the royal army into their domains and neither is it surprising that Puyol Guill¨¨n wants to march out with the army for some achievements¡­)

    Lost in thought, Aura recalled the fact that Marquis Guzzle had lost two of his sons in the previous war.

    His eldest son, a candidate for seeding him, and his second son, who had made a name for himself on the battlefield, had fallen in battle.

    The ¡°son¡±, who was currently acting as his proxy at home, ought to be his third and only living son. She had heard that he was born ratherte and wasn¡¯t even in his twenties yet.

    Considering that, it made sense that the Marquis insisted upon settling this case with his own army.

    (Most likely, he wants his son to get an ¡®achievement fit for a heir¡¯ in a rtively harmless incident.)

    When the failed delivery of the salt was indeed caused by ¡°Meat Dragons¡± on the road, like the Marquis assumed, then their subjugation wasn¡¯t all that difficult.

    An escort of abnormal size for a merchant apanied the salt merchants, who were practically a public undertaking, but even so, theirbat power was nothing but brittle and paled inparison to the army.

    It was pretty unlikely that the army of the Marquis would be defeated by wild dragons, even if it was led by his third son, who had nearly nobat experience.

    In short, it was a ¡°beneficial¡± obstacle spot-on for someone who sought achievements.

    As a matter of course, it was all based on their assumed premise that the average meat dragon was the cause for the non-delivery of the salt, but the circumstantial evidences pointed to it, too.

    Aura mused for a while.

    The merit and demerit from leaving this case to the army of the Marquis. And the merit and demerit from dispatching the royal army for it.

    She quickly bnced the minimum profits and losses in her head and called out to the ring officers with a resolute voice from the side.

    ¡°Alright, Marquis Guzzle.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Upon the Queen¡¯s words, the veteran officer immediately took his eyes off General Puyol to look at Aura and lowered his head respectfully.

    Looking at the top of his head that started to go bald, the Queen continued with a t voice.

    ¡°I shall ept your proposal. Solve this incident under your jurisdiction. Once you do somendable, I shall reward you appropriately for your service.¡±

    Her assertion also equalled that ¡°she would pay for everythingter, including all necessity expenses, but he would have to assume responsibility for when he failed¡±. Still, Marquis Guzzle considered it as aplete granting of his important request.

    ¡°Yes, as youmand! I will not fail you.¡±

    As the veteran officer lowered his head in obedience, Aura kept her arms crossed under her chest and nodded acknowledging, then

    ¡°Good. Ah, one more thing, I personally will bestow the reward to your son for his achievement. He will have toe to the capital, so bear that in mind.¡±

    she added in a casual tone.

    On the other hand, Marquis Guzzle couldn¡¯t keep hisposure after being told that. He trembled his body with a shiver and reflexively wrinkled the space between his thick eyebrows.

    Well, it was more than understandable.

    The Queen¡¯s intention was obvious. The ¡°reward¡± wasn¡¯t a symbolic medal or the like. It also involved the subsequent payment of all the umted expenses for resources used during the subjugation and wages for the soldiers. It would normally take a few months of negotiations to arrive at an agreement for this enormous amount of ¡°reward¡± money, if not more than half a year.

    Due to that, Marquis Guzzle¡¯s son would have to stay in the capital for a few months to around half a year.

    Aura¡¯s aim must have been to cultivate his sense of belonging to the Kingdom by inviting him to the capital while he was still young, seeing as the nobles from remote regions had a strong sense of independence.

    Nevertheless, the royal family was extremely powerful in the Carpa Kingdom, so it was by no means a bad deal to establish a link to the royal family, even for the nobility of a rural domain. If anything, it was essential to preserve the family.

    The problem was the right dosage. Not too close to be swallowed by the royal family, but not too distant to be alienated by the royal family. That a boy still in his teens would have such a delicate sensibility was inconceivable, even to the biased eyes of a father.

    However, the concern about it wasn¡¯t so profound that he wouldplicate matters here by refusing the Queen¡¯s proposition.

    Besides, it lowered the chances of Aura grudging them the reward payment, when she tried to influence his son. And since the domain was still recovering from the previous war, that was rather wee.

    Marquis Guzzle quickly collected his thoughts.

    ¡°¡­Understood. There surely is a lot my son can learn in the capital. Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness.¡±

    In the end, he replied like that and lowered his head respectfully.

    * * *

    While Queen Aura was making important decisions at the morning meeting, Zenjirou, left alone in the inner pce, was typing on his keyboard of hisputer in the corner of the living room while the fan blew around a cold breeze.

    ¡°Good, that should do.¡±

    Sitting on the chair, he put his hands together and stretched his arms over his head to rx his body.

    The screen of theputer disyed the spreadsheet software program from his sryman days.

    A stack of dragon skin parchment he had gotten from Auraid untidy on the left side of the keyboard. It was the table for the ¡°tax yield of this year¡°.

    For a few days, he had continued to enter the data into the spreadsheet and today he finally finished the task.

    All that was left now was to reread the whole thing at least three time in search for any mistakes, but it was a good point to pause for now.

    After craning his neck and taking a deep breath, Zenjirou looked at the digitalized tax table again.

    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of red though¡­¡±

    Just like in the previous case, the blue colour on the spreadsheet symbolized ¡°a number with error by surplus¡±, whereas the red colour symbolized ¡°a number with error by shortfall¡±. A lot of red numbers indicated that the reported tax yields were often too littlepared to the estimated yield.

    Of course some cases were simple cases of miscalctions, but the majority was a deliberate adulteration.

    ¡°Mm, might as well make it easier to understand.¡±

    Looking at the screen, he implemented an idea that he had suddenly thought of.

    It was nothingplicated. Right next to the amount of the tax yields from the dragonskin parchment and the amount of the tax yields recalcted by the program, he simply added a row that disyed the difference between the two values and when that difference was over ten percent, it showed a clearly distinguishable ¡ø symbol.

    The task was done in no time. He wrote a simple function into one cell and then clicked the right bottom corner of the cell with the mouse and dragged it down to the very bottom of the spreadsheet, whereupon the function was copied to all the cells in the vertical row.

    Looking at the newly disyed data, Zenjirou knitted his eyebrows and groaned.

    ¡°Uwah, still so many ¡ø, even though I narrowed it down. Fudging more than ten percent can¡®t be shrugged off as a simple miscalction or careless mistake anymore.¡°

    Or more precisely, the ipetence of the officials would be a far greater problem than a small mistake in the tax yields, when they ¡°unknowingly made mistakes¡± over ten percent in the amount of the tax.

    Last year, Aura had cracked down on it once to some degree, but apparently it hadn¡¯t been enough to decrease the tax evasion, which had already be a routine.

    ¡°Aura sure has it tough¡­ Wait, it¡¯s about time I stop treating it like it doesn¡¯t concern me.¡±

    Zenjirou reminded himself.

    One year had already passed since he came into this world and he had started to appear at official events as Aura¡¯s proxy. He couldn¡¯t be a ¡°good-for-nothing sponger¡± forever. Although it wasn¡¯t often, he did appear in public and plunged into higher society, so he was tied down to the obligation called social association.

    Even if Aura had gotten back on the stage after safely giving birth, Zenjirou had difficulties to resume hisplete shut-in lifestyle at this point.

    That said, it might only be his own mentality that didn¡¯t allow that.

    To begin with, Zenjirou had spent an average life, normally attending school up to university and not causing any serious problemster in his job, either. He never really had an ¡°aptitude to shut himself away¡±.

    Once he had resolved to move over to this world, the leisure days after he quit his job had certainly been attractive to no end.

    However, it had only been appealing to him because he had been mentally worn out at that time from the continued, knee-deep morass called overtime hell.

    Although his body and soul had been exhausted by overwork for three years, Zenjirou was still only in his twenties.

    The physical exhaustionpletely went away after three days of rest and the mental exhaustion also naturally healed after a month away from work.

    For a while, there hadn¡¯t been any problems.

    There had been various major events such as transferring into a different world, marrying a beautiful woman perfect to his liking and even making a baby with her, so time had passed in the blink of an eye.

    On top of that, there was his mountainous stock of DVDs of ser games and TV series such as dramas, which he had brought with him from the other world.

    Without pretending, he had genuinely perceived the ¡°leisure days of just sleeping, eating, watching DVD and ying games¡± as ¡°fulfilling¡± at first.

    The problem was that his values didn¡¯t let him perceive this situation as ¡°fulfilling¡± forever.

    ¡°Guess it¡¯s about time I ask for more work. My magic studies take up a lot of my time right now, but once that¡¯s over, I¡¯ll have too much spare time.¡±

    Still sitting in front of theputer, Zenjirou spoke out his state of mind.

    Matters had settled down around him.

    The exhaustion hadpletely faded from his body and soul.

    Even so, things didn¡®t change from before. Only a few duties were entrusted to him and his allowed area of activities was still limited.

    To be frank, he had started to feel quite out of ce.

    In the end, Zenjirou¡¯s value were Japanese to the core, seeing as he felt guilty about his unproductive lifestyle all on his own, even though nobody was rebuking him about it.

    He wasn¡¯t a workaholic, whose job was his reason d¡¯¨ºtre and whose calling was to be a working gear of society, but nevertheless, he wasn¡¯t so obtuse, either, that he could unconditionally put up with the current situation, where his necessities of life were provided without having to work.

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t really stand out as her husband, but as long as all the official work is liaised with Aura, there¡¯s no problem. I want to try out various things.¡±

    At present, Zenjirou was making an effort towards the refinement of ¡°hard liquors¡±.

    Knowing that this world only had ale and fruit wine, which had an extremely low alcohol content, Zenjirou had brought along a distillery for household use from his world.

    It used a hotte as the heat source and automatically regted the temperature, so even ayman could hardly fail at it.

    Nevertheless, it was merely for household use after all. The amount from one distition was little and at the present time, he could only make enough to indulge himself in it, but Aura had shown a deep interest in it.

    The Carpa Kingdom had no culture of distilled beverage, but there was a number of people, who liked alcohol. Even the t distite made by ayman had a definite worth just due to its overwhelming concentration and intensity.

    The theory behind making distilled beverage was rather simple.

    The boiling point of water was approximately hundred degree. On the other hand, the boiling point of ethanol was weaker: at around eighty degree.

    To sum it up with rough words: an alcoholic drink was a mixture of water and ethanol and when it was boiled for a long period at a temperature above eighty but below hundred degree, the ethanol primarily vaporized from the liquor, thus making an extraction possible.

    Afterwards, the vaporized ethanol had to be gathered without letting it escape and liquefied again. The result was a liquid with an extremely high concentration of ethanol¡ª a hard liquor.

    Of course it was impossible topletely separate the water and the ethanol when ayman just relied on a thermometer to control the temperature, since the water and ethanol had a troublesome phenomenon called ¡°azeotrope¡±, but by repeating the progress numerous times, the distite gradually got a higher alcohol content.

    Zenjirou himself had imed that ¡°the current goal was to enhance it to a burnable level¡±, but he couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that he was gradually drifting away from the original objective.

    Alcohol on the level, where it could be used as fuel, was not only too intense, but also tasteless and dry, so nobody would normally drink it.

    Nevertheless, a highly concentrated alcohol had a great utility value, so a working refinement method would undoubtedly contribute to the Kingdom¡¯s development.

    ¡°After that, soap, I guess. Wait, no, that¡¯s still fine for now, but the shampoo and rinse are running low. I somewhat underestimated the amount a woman with long hair needs.¡±

    Deep in thought, Zenjirou was sitting in front of theputer, crossed his arms and groaned.

    The majority of articles he had brought over from his world, starting with the electronic appliances, were ¡°reusable¡±. The quantity of consumable goods he could bring with him was rather insignificant, so it had been a natural decision.

    However, despite knowing this, Zenjirou had made an exception for consumable bath utensils, bringing as much as possible of them.

    Solid soap for cleaning the body. Facial cleansing. And shampoo plus rinse for washing hair.

    The solid soap posed no problem. He had brought arge amount of it to begin with and since he always made sure to take the soap along when he left the bathroom after using it, so that it didn¡¯t dissolve naturally, the stock would stillst for quite a while.

    The pressing problem were the shampoo and rinse.

    Zenjirou kept his hair rather short, even for a man, so his estimation had been rather naive in regards to how much shampoo and rinse his beloved wife would need to cleanly wash her proud, long hair that reached down to her waist.

    ¡°At this rate, the shampoo will be gone before the year is over. I technically downloaded instructions to make soap and shampoo from the inte, but¡­¡±

    He had no experience of making soap, much less shampoo.

    Furthermore, the recipes he found principally needed ¡°sodium hydroxide¡± or mercial soap without additives¡±, which both were said to be unattainable in this world.

    He also had a recipe for a more primitive method, which used ash and oil, but judging by the overall nuance of it, the production seemed more difficultpared to using ¡°sodium hydroxide¡±.

    In addition to that, the soap made in that way couldn¡¯t be used right away after itspletion.

    There was also no insignificant amount of confirmed cases of ayman making soap with half-baked knowledge, where the detergence was too strong and dried out the skin or unforeseenponents got mixed in and caused pain or itching.

    Nheless, Zenjirou wasn¡¯t willing topromise as far as the bath was concerned, even though he usually avoided to be demanding.

    ¡°I¡¯ll use the first attempt to clean my hands and see how it turns out. And I¡¯ll test the shampoo on some animals first¡­ wait, that¡¯s no good. The livestock here are all reptiles and don¡¯t have any fur¡­¡±

    While mumbling troubled to himself, his voice got tinged with a serious tone, which was pretty much never heard from him.

    * * *

    Aura still had more work to do after the morning meeting.

    The meeting concluded and she relocated into her office in the pce, bringing only Secretary Fabio with her.

    ¡°¡­Fuh.¡±

    Sitting down on the chair made out of vines and wood, which could be called a temporary throne, in the office, Aura made a big sigh to relieve herself of the tension.

    She held the belief that as a Queen, she was used to negotiations and coordinations with higher nobles, but she still felt a bit drained in body and soul when she was making important decisions, which involved ¡°dispatching an army¡± like this time.

    However, as the Queen, she was in no position to leisurely wait until her exhaustion had softened.

    ¡°Fabio, draw up a paper.¡±

    Aura corrected her seating posture, took a dragonskin parchment out of the drawer of the desk and ordered the secretary like that.

    ¡°Yes. Please give me a moment.¡±

    Taking that parchment, Secretary Fabio headed to his personal desk in the corner of the room with smooth steps and skilfully ran the dragon bone quill over the paper.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The veteran secretary drew up the document in no time and returned to Aura with the just finished draft in hand.

    ¡°There you are, Your Highness. Please sign it after verifying it.¡±

    Saying so, Fabio ced the newly written document onto Aura¡¯s desk.

    The contents written on the dragonskin parchment pertained to ¡°the approval of the military operation in the domain for the army of Marquis Guzzle, the order to investigate the incident on the salt road as well as the order to eliminate its cause.¡±

    By handing this document to Marquis Guzzle, he obtained thewful authority to send his own army onto the ¡°Salt Road¡±, which was formally stated-ownednd, and the right to demand a ¡°reward for settling the incident¡± from the Kingdomter on.

    ¡°¡­Looks good.¡±

    After Aura had read through the whole paper twice and confirmed that there was nothing wrong, she put her sign at the bottom with her ball pen, versed as always.

    The crest of the Carpa Royal Family (an opened door + a hourss, where the sand was flowing upwards) was branded onto the parchment from the start, so Aura just had to sign there with her own hand-writing to make it an official document.

    Needless to say, these pre-branded parchments were strictly safekept and anyone, who took one without Aura¡¯s permission, got the death penalty as a matter of principle.

    ¡°Well then, Your Highness, shall I deliver the document to Marquis Guzzle now?¡±

    Secretary Fabio asked verifying, whereat Aura shook her head at once.

    ¡°No, that would take too much time. An incident on the Salt Road is a serious matter for our Kingdom. I personally will ¡®send off¡¯ the document along with the messenger. Tell Marquis Guzzle that he shall select a messenger from his subordinates.¡±

    She was going to send the messenger with the document directly to the March of Guzzle with her ¡°teleportation¡± magic.

    Being able to do that was one of the fortes of the Carpa Kingdom. A different country would have had to circumvent the blocked Salt Road by transporting the document through a ry of raptorial dragons or in the worst case, break through the blocked road with a sufficient escort (definitely can¡¯t use a ¡°small flying dragon¡± for an official document).

    As a major power with vastnds, the Carpa Kingdom could exceptionally keep the power of the feudal lords in the border domains in check to a certain extent, because of this very ¡°teleportation¡± magic.

    Likewise, if the incident this time had happened in a different country, then the usual pattern was that Marquis Guzzle would have dispatched his army at his own discretion and reported only the results to the central government at ater time after informally taking care of it.

    Just as the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell ruled the country under the premise of the ¡°Magic Tools¡± from the Sharrow Family and the ¡°Healing Magic¡± from the Jilbell Family, the Carpa Kingdom, too, was constituting itself under the premise of the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±.

    Going by that, it should be understandable why it was seen as problematic that Queen Aura was currently the only practitioner of the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±. In the same way it was only natural that concubine offers were persistently brought up to Zenjirou, who had atent potential for the said power.

    ¡°Very well. I will inform the Marquis ordingly. However, is that really all right?¡±

    Bowing briefly, Secretary Fabio asked somewhat suggestive while he tucked the parchment into a wooden cylinder after ascertaining, if all the ink on the paper had dried.

    ¡°What is?¡±

    The usual, huh?

    Even while the irritation was inly visible on her face, Aura didn¡¯t take offence at it and urged her secretary to speak up.

    The middle-aged secretary frankly phrased his words without so much as reacting to the sharp nce of the Queen.

    ¡°I mean the actual decree. In my opinion, the ¡®Salt Road¡¯ justifies the deployment of the royal army more than enough and I deem it unnecessary to have allowed Marquis Guzzle to deploy his army.¡±

    The statement from the secretary was exactly what Aura had expected.

    At any given opportunity, the middle-aged secretary with the slender face would deliberate take up a stance contrary to hers. Sometimes he did so after the decision was made, like this time, and sometimes he brought about a quarrel before the decision was made.

    Of course he wasn¡¯t stating it because he thought that his opinion was correct from the bottom of his heart.

    His aim was rather to stir her thinking and incite her toe up with other alternatives. What was more, the conversation with him before a decision let her simte how someone could oppose her during the meeting for that decision.

    He was a useful man. That was out of the question. He certainly was, but¡­

    (He is irritating after all.)

    Aura replied while she harboured this impression from which she no longer knew how often she had it up to this day.

    ¡°Otherwise General Puyol Guill¨¦n might be going out himself. If we carelessly let him umte achievements, his appointment as ¡®Marshal¡¯ would be more realistic. I cannot really appreciate that.¡±

    ¡°But when the royal army solves an incident in the ounds, it will add to their track record. If all goes well, would it not present a good opportunity to position our troops in the ounds from then on?¡±

    Recing the armies of the feudalndowners guarding the borders with the royal army. That had been a major agenda for Aura regarding the national defence for a while now.

    In that sense, Secretary Fabio was right. It was no bad call to make the deployment of the royal army for incidents in the ound ¡°self-evident¡± by sending out the troops for a chances like this.

    However, Aura shook her head without hesitation.

    ¡°No. The problem is that once we start to reinforce the royal army and position a division at the border, we will have to see it through all at once. The more time it takes, the longer we will expose ourselves to other countries. The time is still not ripe for it yet.¡±

    ¡°You might end up missing your chance altogether, when you wait for a good opportunity too much. In the worst case, there might not appear a better opportunity than this during your reign. Do you stand fast regardless?¡±

    ¡°I do not mind. Being greedy will only lead to the worst. Managing a country is no gamble.¡±

    Her reply was staggeringly resolute.

    There was no doubt that Aura boldly wanted to rece the ound lords¡¯ armies with the royal army for the defence of the borders, so that threats from beyond could be dealt with more swiftly.

    However, she also understood better than anyone how great of a risk such a reorganisation of the army carried.

    If she were to send the royal army high-handed into the ounds before the armies of the feudalndowners were downsized, it could lead to a rebellion.

    On the other hand, if the diminishment of ounds¡¯ armies were toe first, they would be vulnerable to other countries.

    Pressing the matter would either enrage the lords of the ounds or tempt the ambitions of other countries. In that case, it was far better to maintain the current situation. To begin with, the Carpa Kingdom was a major power. As a major power they couldn¡¯t just sit on their hands, but neither was there any need to assume full risk.

    Following, Aura said.

    ¡°Besides, the only troops we can deploy to the March of Guzzle right now are stationed right next to the capital. It would waste unnecessary time when we send them off from the capital. Since the salt stocks in the domain do notst forever, we simply have to deal with it through a faster method.¡±

    ¡°If you argument like that, would it not be better to have the royal army ready to deploy for the unlikely event that Marquis¡¯ son fails?¡±

    ¡°Is that really necessary? I cannot imagine that General Puyol Guill¨¦n would stand on the sidelines in such a situation. I am sure that he would march the army at once if the army of the Marquis were to fail their mission.¡±

    ¡°Even more reason then. General Guill¨¦n¡¯s achievement will only turn out all the better, if the royal army deploys on his demand. I think we have to keep up appearance that you initiated the deployment of the army, Your Highness.¡±

    For the first time today, Aura hesitated to give an immediate answer to the decisively phrased advice of Secretary Fabio.

    She ced her hand against her chin and mused for a while.

    ¡°¡­You have a point there. Fine. Issue a ¡®long term manoeuvre in the countryside¡¯ before General Puyol can make his move. The general may pick all the personal by himself.¡±

    Then she instructed her secretary like that. Needless to say, the training ground was going to be the nearest one to the March of Guzzle.

    ¡°As youmand. The provisions must be adequate for a possible ¡¯roundtrip to the Salt Road¡¯ after the manoeuvre. Lastly, shall I inform Marquis Guzzle about the manoeuvre?¡±

    The secretary exined the training schedule as if he had carefully prepared it beforehand, whereat Aura shook her head this time.

    ¡°No need. We have no reason to hide it, but neither a reason to tell him in particr. Just leave it be. I am sure it will reach his ears sooner orter. I would not want to him to feel needless pressure through a misunderstand if we were to tell him about it on purpose.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    As he seemed to have said everything he wanted to say now, the middle-aged secretary bowed in such a perfect manner that he appeared inhuman.

    * * *

    As the Queen, Aura¡¯s days were busy and hectic.

    In the conference room, she attended important meetings about politics or military. In the audience room, she weed ambassadors of other countries to hear their appeal. And in the office, she looked through the umted dragonskin parchments.

    There was so much work that she would have to cut back on her sleeping time and bring a LED floormp into her office, if she wanted to finish all of it to perfection. At least, Zenjirou would undoubtedly have done that in her position.

    However, Aura wasn¡¯t that heavy-handed. She somewhat knew when to work hard and when to rx.

    In the long run, it was much more agreeable to do the daily work imperfectly instead of having the Queen copse from burdening herself to the limit.

    Thus Aura suspended her duties for today¡¯s afternoon and enjoyed some recreation with her beloved husband in the inner pce.

    At noontide the sun assailed with aggressive sunrays.

    The sound of wood shing against wood resounded in the courtyard of the inner pce.

    ¡°Come on, right!¡±

    ¡°Kuh!¡±

    It originated from the wooden sticks in Aura and Zenjirou¡¯s hands. Both sticks were about one metre and fifty centimetre long.

    Aura, wearing a light military uniform, swung around the stick, which mimicked a short spear, skilfully while Zenjirou, dressed in a T-Shirt and sweat pants, parried it clumsily.

    ¡°Next, left!¡±

    ¡°Guh!¡±

    ¡°Once again right!¡±

    ¡°Agh!¡±

    Naturally, Aura was holding back quite a bit, but even so, Zenjirou perceived it as a series of attacks to which not even the slightest inattention was permitted.

    With a desperate expression, he somehow parried the attack with the ¡°basic defence stance¡±, which he had learned from Aura.

    ¡°Hey, your legs!¡±

    ¡°Aw!? Buh!¡±

    His exposed legs were tripped by her stick and he fell hard.

    The softwn they practiced on prevented any injuries, but the fall hurt nevertheless. However, Zenjirou hadn¡¯t even the time to squirm with pain right now.

    ¡°Come on, you are sitting ducks when you do not move. Stand up again right away! Otherwise roll over at least!¡±

    Saying so, Aura swung her stick down a few times next to his head.

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    Zenjirou, still looking desperate, rolled to the side and quickly stood up with all his might. A spray of water was cast off his entire body as he rolled over, pretty much like when a dog shook aftering out of the water.

    Both, Aura and Zenjirou, were dripping wet as if they had poured water over themselves. The reason wasn¡¯t just the sweat from the exercise, but also because of the water fountain that was right next town, where they practiced with their sticks. The white marble fountain kept spouting water higher into the air than his height without rest.

    The two of them were exercising exactly downwind.

    On purpose, of course.

    The maximum temperature during this time of the day exceeded forty degree, so it was too hot for a normal person to move around dashingly for a long time, unless it was under special circumstances like this.

    ¡°Good. Once again your legs!¡±

    ¡°Kuuh!¡±

    This time, Zenjirou managed to parry the sweep at his feet by thrusting his stick into the ground, but Aura¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t over yet.

    ¡°No good. Now your nk is exposed.¡±

    She let her own stick glide upwards along Zenjirou¡¯s stick stuck into thewn, tucked it under his armpit and yanked it up with a jerk.

    ¡°Uwah!?¡±

    Lifted up, Zenjirou fell t onto thewn once again.

    Obviously there was a good reason to why they were wasting their quality time together by doing a slightly violent exercise amidst the heat like this.

    Namely, to get rid of Zenjirou¡¯s physical inactivity that he had been worried about for a while now. Another reason was that Aura wanted to say good-bye to the subcutaneous fat that she had built up during her pregnancy.

    She had given birth to the first prince without problems, but even after the child had left her stomach, her figure or weight hadn¡¯t changed back to what they had been before the pregnancy.

    Well, that goes without saying.

    In modern Japan, doctors and nutritionists would have made it possible that Aura was on a ¡°diet that provided the necessary nourishment for her and the chid without making her fat¡±, but this world had no such thing as nutritional science, so going on a thoughtless diet would result in malnutrition and just endanger the child in her stomach.

    A bit of excessive nutritional intake was still better than malnutrition. Doctor Michelle had prescribed that, so obeying him, Aura had taken meals ¡°for two¡±. As a matter of course, she had gained weight.

    Gaining weight after childbirth wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing, but the viewpoint of a mother aside, Aura couldn¡¯t stand for the current situation as a woman.

    Whether it was a blessing or not, the ¡°ss mirror¡± Zenjirou had brought along was a ruthless reality check for Aura.

    The ¡°ss mirror¡± showed her silhouette unadulterated, contrary to the vague reflections in the small silver or water mirrors.

    With one look at her sagging chin in the ¡°ss mirror¡±, it became impossible to make excuses.

    Fortunately, there were no signs of a ¡°marital crisis¡±, where her husband distanced himself from her, for now, but she couldn¡¯t presume on his sympathy, either.

    There was a saying that ¡°love withers along with the appearance¡±, which naturally didn¡¯t apply to all married couples, but it certainly had a germ of truth.

    ¡°Okay,st one. Here I go, a downward swing!¡±

    Aura raised her stick over her head in a slightly exaggerated manner on purpose, then swung it straight down at the crown of his head.

    She was holding back so much that she could stop the attack at any time, if necessary, but even so, Zenjirou could barely react to it.

    ¡°Haah!¡±

    BAM! The two wooden sticks shed and made a shrill sound pretty much like metal.

    Zenjirou¡¯s stick, raised horizontally a hairbreadth above his head, had parried Aura¡¯s downward attack.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­.Good. That shall be enough for today.¡±

    ¡°¡­Puah!¡±

    His wife exchanged her serious expression with a smile and announce the end of the session, whereat Zenjirou flopped onto thewn with a big sigh that released all of the air from his lungs.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    ¡°Hah, hah, hah¡­¡±

    A bit out of breath, Aura sat down on the edge of the fountain and pleased by the spray of water from behind, she narrowed her eyes to slits. Meanwhile, Zenjirou was stretching all his limbs on thewn and breathing roughly.

    ¡°Zenjirou, want some?¡±

    As she hadpletely recovered before him, she took the PET bottle filled with drinking water out of the fountain and put it next to his head as he was putting his feet up.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ Hah, hah¡­ GULP, Mm, GULP¡­¡±

    Zenjirou somehow sat up and gulped down the substance from the PET bottle in one go without sparing the time to thank Aura for it.

    The drink was water mixed with brown sugar and the sap of a citrus fruit. The bottle had simply been plunged into the water fountain, so it wasn¡¯t really cooled down, but he appreciated it how the lukewarm liquid was actually easier to swallow right now.

    ¡°Fuh¡­ I¡¯m back to life¡­!¡±

    After emptying the 500ml PET bottle in one gulp, Zenjirou uttered emotionally.

    His whole body started to ooze sweat due to the sudden intake of water. The bruises from being lightly hit by Aura coupled with his body being on fire from the exercise, made him want to jump straight into the water fountain.

    ¡°It seems you have settled down a bit. I think I was careful enough, but how is it? Do you feel any pain?¡±

    Hearing Aura ask that, Zenjirou felt up his still powerless body.

    During the training, his body was stabbed and hit by her stick again and again, but now that he checked, it didn¡¯t really hurt anywhere.

    The tip of their training sticks technically had been amply wrapped with a soft cloth, but the stick was essentially one and a half metre long and made out of hard wood, so it wouldn¡¯t have been strange if he had fractured a bone or two, much less snapped a muscle or vein.

    However, Aura must have held back properly. As far as he was aware, his injuries amounted to nothing but bruises.

    ¡°I¡¯m all good, it seems. My left side and right thigh sting a bit, but that¡¯s all. See.¡±

    Saying so, Zenjirou stood up right where he was and moved both his arms wriggly up and down.

    He was staggering like a newborn fawn, as his legs still hadn¡¯t recovered yet, but no part of his body hurt when he strained it.

    Just like Aura had done earlier, he now sat down on the edge of the fountain.

    His exhausted body would fall backwards into the water fountain if he wasn¡¯t careful, but it wouldn¡¯t matter if that were to happen. The basin of the fountain wasn¡¯t deep enough, so that anyone could drown in it.

    Might as well let my heated body fall back into the water now.

    Tempted to do so, he nced behind him at the water fountain. At that moment.

    ¡°So, what do you say about your first spear practice? Let me hear your opinion.¡±

    Aura approached him and asked that, then said down on the rim of the fountain right next to him. Zenjirou was only around two finger lengths taller than Aura when they were standing, but when they sat next to each other like this, the difference almost doubled.

    The question was whether Zenjirou¡¯s legs were short or Aura¡¯s legs were long. The conclusion wouldn¡¯t turn all too favourable no matter how long he were to ponder about it, so he deliberately shook off the issue, as the answer was quite obvious, and replied to Aura¡¯s question.

    ¡°Well, I knew it would be hard and didn¡¯t even once thought it would be a cakewalk, but it was even worse. I¡¯m dead beat. Reminds me of how my ser club in high school once had a practice match against a junior youth team.¡±

    Answering like that, Zenjirou showed a wry smile and shook his head in an exaggerated manner.

    Theter part of his sentence had terms like high school, ser club and junior youth team, where the ¡°soul of words¡± didn¡¯t work, but Aura apparently could understand what he wanted to say just from the former part.

    ¡°Hmm, martial arts is not so in that an amateur could prevail over an expert after all, unless you are blessed with incredible talent. If you had started to train from a young age like I did, you might have been even stronger than me by now.¡±

    Not overestimating her own strength, Aura replied with a smile.

    As a matter of fact, she was as strong as an ordinary knight at best. Compared to a soldier like General Puyol, who had made a name for himself even across the borders, she was small fry.

    As a man, Zenjirou wasn¡¯t gifted with a particr good physique or athletic abilities, but he wasn¡¯t an absolute weakling, either.

    Even without ttery, it was extremely conceivable that he would be as strong as Aura by now, if he had practiced since childhood like she did.

    Zenjirou understood that Aura was saying the truth, but at the same time, he perceived the hidden meaning that ¡°it was toote to start now¡±, too, so he couldn¡¯t help but intensify his wry smile.

    ¡°Ahaha, thanks. Well, I just want to keep in shape anyway and don¡¯t n to ever make use of the techniques.¡±

    ¡°A wise decision. Of course I will not stop you, if you seriously want to make an effort for it, but otherwise there is not really a reason to overexert yourself.¡±

    Aura, too, agreed with the opinion of her husband and smiled back at him.

    Considering that Zenjirou was one of the very few royalty in the Carpa Kingdom, it certainly was unthinkable that he would get into a situation, where he had to use his superficial martial art skills.

    Even if he himself wanted to learn how to handle a spear or sword as a form of sport, he could never picture himself actually using his skills on a battlefield.

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t intend to take it that serious. To begin with, it¡¯s unlikely I¡¯ll be able to handle it single-handed with my strength¡­¡±

    Zenjirou imed that and raised the pseudo spear with his right hand while remaining seated on the rim of the fountain.

    Right now, he was still at the basic of basics, so he had only learned to wield it with both hands, but in reality, one often was supposed to hold the short spear in one hand and a wooden shield in the other at war.

    In addition to that, one was only considered a master with the spear, when you were also able to ¡°throw it¡± in an emergency, so it was inevitable that it was merely considered an exercise to stay healthy while he could only swing it around with both hands.

    ¡°Indeed. You kind ofck the strength to wield a spear as a soldier.¡±

    Upon her words, he somewhat exaggeratedly threw his hands up in horror.

    ¡°Uwah, now you¡¯ve said it¡­ But you¡¯re right. Your blows were really heavy and it seemed like my stick would get sent flying.¡±

    Heavy. Seeing as he nonchntly mentioned the number one taboo word for a woman on a diet, the current exhaustion must have dulled his train of thought quite a bit. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn¡¯t make a mistake like this.

    ¡°I, I see. That ¡®heavy¡¯, huh.¡±

    Even Aura¡¯s expression twitched.

    ¡°Yeah, super heavy. Each strike carried such a weight that I thought I would get blown away. I can hardly believe that you¡¯re only on par with an ordinary knight. Well, my weakness ys a part, too.¡±

    Saying so, he smiled innocently.

    ¡°Agh¡­¡±

    Heavy, would get blown away, carry such a weight. These words were said without malice, but right now, each of them were like a dagger to Aura.

    Not good. At this rate, they would have their first marital strife after getting married.

    ¡°O- Oh, by the way, on an unrted subject, an issue came up at the morning meeting today. It does not really concern you personally, but I will fill you in on it anyway.

    You have heard about the ¡®Salt Road¡¯ from Lady Octavia in your lessons, right? Now, ¡­¡±

    As she wished for a harmonious married life, Aura forcefully attempted a topic change with an obvious quicker manner of speaking than usual.

    * * *

    At night of the same day.

    Alcohol had been distilled in the living room of the inner pce all morning through, so the smell of alcohol was still faintly hanging in the air at night.

    In the afternoon, Zenjirou have had spear practice with Aura in the courtyard, so the windows in the living room had been left open to air the room, but the smell was still lingering persistently.

    Maybe the distilled alcohol had even permeated the furniture and carpet?

    (I better do it in the courtyard next time?)

    While thinking about that, Zenjirou poured his self-distilled beverage from the former whiskey bottle into two sses. They had the same design with respective detailed patterns in red and blue, and were a type of cut ss called ¡°Satsuma Kiriko¡±. Amongst all his tableware, these were the most expensive ones.

    His self-distilled beverage had a high alcohol level from being distilled over and over again and a slight amber colour, but was mainly colourless and transparent.

    ¡°Could you try this? To be honest, when I had the avable waiting maids try this around noon, they didn¡¯t rate it all too good.¡±

    Saying so, he showed a bitter smile and held out the red ss to his wife sitting on the couch.

    It was inexcusable to let the Prince Consort, aka himself, drink something without sampling or testing it for poison first, even if it was made by himself. And even less when it concerned the Queen, aka Aura.

    Therefore he had the waiting maids, who were off duty, drink it in advance and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with them, allowing him to serve it now.

    The essential evaluation had been¡­ well, just like he had said earlier.

    And unfortunately, Aura, too, shared that opinion.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ How shall I put it? It is dry and t.¡±

    After one sip, Aura dered inly and frowned a bit.

    ¡°Figures¡­ Haah.¡±

    Even while dropping his shoulders disappointed, Zenjirou had no choice but to acknowledge it, since he had been aware of it already.

    The distillery with the electronic hotte automatically regted the temperature, too, so the distition itself wasn¡¯t all that difficult, but Zenjirou was practically an amateur at it. And of course, he didn¡¯t even know any ¡°tricks¡± to add a vour or aroma to the distilled beverage.

    Aura sampled the liquid once more andforted the depressed maker in front of her.

    ¡°But it certainly is a surprisingly ¡®strong¡¯ alcohol, like you have imed. That alone is already a good selling point. You just need to add fruit juice or spices for vour when you drink it. Poor fruit wines or ales are drunk like that as well.¡±

    Zenjirou pped his hands upon hearing her words.

    ¡°Oh, I see. I just need to make something like Shouchuu. People often drink that mixed with soda or limeade, too, instead of straight as it is.¡±

    Saying so, he drunk from his blue Kiriko ss, too. Back in Japan, he had only ever drunk low-malt beer or cheap whiskey, but even so, he recognized the value of this alcohol, which was irrevocably ¡°nothing but high-proof without taste¡°, and cheered up a bit.

    ¡°Speaking of, they let whiskey and brandy ripe in wooden barrels for years after distition, too. I guess it¡¯s only natural that a mere distite is tasteless?¡±

    Scouring his vague memories, Zenjirou mumbled that. Aura, emptying her ss before him, put the empty ss onto the table and opened her mouth to reply to him.

    ¡°Oho, so there is still room for improvement? By the way, is it possible to replicate this so-called ¡®distilling¡¯ without the particr equipment you have brought along?¡±

    Zenjirou tilted his head a bit musing and frowned while answering the curious question of his wife.

    ¡°Mhm, well, it isn¡¯t impossible per se. The basic idea¡¯s pretty simple. You basically just keep heating an alcohol drink at temperatures of seventy to hundred degree, collect the vaporized alcohol from it and liquefy it again. But controlling the heat is a problem¡­ I think it would require a lot of trail and error to get the hang of it with a normal wood fire.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Controlling the heat, huh? How hot would these seventy to hundred degree roughly be?¡±

    Upon Aura¡¯s question, Zenjirou, sittingfortably on the couch, shifted his gaze towards the ceiling and mused.

    ¡°Ehm¡­ What would be a good indication? Oh, I know. You should be familiar with these: Water vaporizes at around hundred degree and our usual bath temperature should be forty degree more or less. So it¡¯s ¡®exactly the medium between these two¡¯.¡±

    He believed that it had been a rather sketchy exnation, but Aura seemingly grasped the meaning of it.

    She leaned a bit forward on the opposite couch and replied after a firm nod.

    ¡°I see. So in terms of sensibility, it is quite a high temperature. Or at least too hot to ¡®measure it with the hand¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Well, duh, you would burn yourself.¡±

    Zenjirou wrinkled the space between his eyebrows and shivered, as he imagined it.

    In reality it might be possible to get in contact with seventy degree for an instant without getting burned, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that measuring the temperature with the ¡°hand¡± was unfeasible.

    ¡°But there are other ways. Although their speciality is a bit different, the craftsmen, who extract sugar, might have a keen sense for measuring the water temperature.¡±

    Aura suggested that, where at Zenjirou approved, too.

    ¡°Guess so. Distilled beverage has existed in my world for ages, so I think it all depends on the senses and experience of the craftsman after he remembered the basic method.¡±

    The history of distilled beverages dated back to ancient times. Its production process was principally simple, too. Even without an electronic device to control the temperature, it should be more than feasible to replicate it with the skills and judgement of a craftsman.

    In the past, cksmiths had determined the optimum temperature to strike the iron from the ¡°colour of the me¡±. The current Carpa Kingdom must have cksmiths with such ¡°keen eyes¡±, too.

    Compared to that, it shouldn¡¯t be all that difficult to measure the right temperature for distilling alcohol with the eye or skin, either.

    Of course it was necessary to train professionals and provide the generals tools to make it happen. The problem was whether the hard liquor was profitable enough to invest so much into it or not.

    Although the Carpa Kingdom was a major power, its treasury was still devoted to repair the war damages and definitely had nothing to spare.

    Capable people, funds and time. All of these were limited. They couldn¡¯t readily jump at the chance, even if it might be profitable to the Kingdom in the future.

    For now, Aura decided to treat the ¡°distilled beverage¡± matter as nothing more than a hobby of her husband, and changed the topic to a more interesting subject.

    ¡°Okay. It should be worth to try out a few things sooner orter. As for another matter altogether, I have been told that the development of the ¡®ss¡¯ manufacture will begin in a few days.

    There was not much budget, so the team consists not even of a dozen of people. But they are all either retired cksmiths or experienced cksmiths apprentices, so they are used to working with fire.¡±

    Aura reported proudly, whereas Zenjirou inquired, albeit knowing her answer already deep inside.

    ¡°Retired ones and apprentices, huh. I guess ¡®active¡¯ cksmiths were out of the question?¡±

    And true to his hunch, Aura showed a wry smile.

    ¡°Yeah, the cksmiths are essential to our country after all. The retired cksmiths are one thing, but it was quite the ordeal to rope just the apprentices in for it.¡±

    Saying so, she shrugged her shoulders a bit while sittingfortable on the couch.

    The active cksmiths were irreceable professionals. In a way, they were even more important than a skilled knight or excellent civil official.

    These valuable people couldn¡¯t be assigned to a new business, where it was unknown when it would show signs of sess. No, technically it wasn¡¯t impossible to assign them with Aura¡¯s authority, but as a result, the national iron production would plummet, which in turn troubled Aura the most as the Queen.

    Of course it was quite unlikely that the appointment of just one or two cksmiths would result in such a conspicuous damage, but it would undoubtedly give all the cksmiths an unfavourable impression of the royal family at least.

    Veteran craftsmen not only tended to have high pride, they also banded together.

    Therefore it was better to avoid getting on their bad side, if possible.

    ¡°Anyway, these are the only people I can assign to the ¡®development of ss¡¯ right now. Needless to say, it is a simple matter to add more people for things bearing no rtion to the development or manufacture, like transporting materials or building necessary tools.

    Also, an own waterwheel at the facility would be of advantage, too. In the DVD you showed me, it looked like they often used a stone mortar for grinding broken bricks into powder or sand into even finer sand.

    The project is understaffed, so it would be better to outsource the work a waterwheel can do from the very beginning.¡±

    ¡°Oh right, you actually have waterwheels.¡±

    When Aura mentioned it, Zenjirou recalled how Octavia had told him about it during a lesson.

    Waterwheels had existed in his original world even before Christ. It wasn¡¯t really strange that the Carpa Kingdom wasmonly using them, too.

    Aura raised her eyebrows a bit upon his words, but answered with a nod.

    ¡°Yes, we have a lot of rivers throughout the country after all. In the farming areas, they are effectively used for mills. It is just that the craft originallyes from the Northern Continent. Compared to their waterwheels, ours are far more short-lived. For some reason, the cogged wheels soon start to make loud noises and break easily.¡±

    ¡°Mh? Short-lived? Doesn¡¯t it just mean that the numbers of teeth on the meshing cogs aren¡®t ¡®coprime¡¯?¡±

    It happened when Zenjirou reasoned like that while vaguely recalling the excursion from his math teacher in middle school.

    ¡°Huh? ¡®Coprime¡¯? What does that mean?¡±

    Aura¡¯s utterance was drown out by a knocking on the door and the familiar voice of a waiting maid asking ¡°excuse me?¡± from beyond the door.

    ¡°Yes,e in.¡±

    Putting their conversation on hold, Zenjirou gave permission to enter the room with a loud voice and in the next moment, the door opened and three familiar waiting maids came into the living room, where the married couple had made themselvesfortable.

    The blonde maid, standing in the middle as their representative, bowed to the two royalty sitting on the couch, then proffered their concern.

    ¡°Excuse us for disturbing you at night. It seems the temperature will not drop tonight, either, so I would like to acquire some ice for Prince Carlos. Do I have your permission?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. It still is a bit dangerous. Okay, sure. Take it.¡±

    Zenjirou casually authorized it like that.

    Even if he had a five-door refrigerator, the space for making ice in the freezer was limited. If the ice portion for tonight was taken away, Zenjirou and Aura had to settle for just the water tub and the venttor in front of it to make it through this sultry night. But they could endure that if it was for their cute little child.

    The people of the Carpa Kingdom basically were resistant against the heat by birth, but the nights during the hottest season were definitely tough on a one-month old baby. In fact, cases of infants dying due to the heat in the summer were rtivelymon, even amongst wealthy people like nobility.

    The electric cable didn¡¯t reach the room, where Carlos was resting with the wet nurse, so they couldn¡¯t set up the venttor there, but instead, the room, narrowed with partitions, was replete with cold air from the ice.

    And every night, one of the waiting maids was apparently staying awake, too, to change his diaper or feed him with the baby bottle, easing the burden on the wet nurse, but that night watch was an ¡°object of envy¡± amongst the waiting maids, so the room of the prince must be chilled quite a bit.

    The waiting maids lowered their heads respectfully while saying ¡°thank you very much¡±, and headed for the refrigerator.

    ¡°Hmm, I wish we could have Carlos sleep in the same room as us¡­¡±

    With her back to the waiting maids, who were opening the fridge, Aura mumbled with still lingering feelings.

    Of course she wasn¡¯t regretting the absence of ice in the bedroom, but rather the fact that her beloved child Carlos couldn¡¯t sleep in the same room as her.

    As the father, Zenjiroupletely agreed with his wife at heart, but he pushed away that thought and exined with a wry smile.

    ¡°That won¡¯t happen. And you know why, too. A baby of his age frequently cries, soils his pants and gets hungry at night. If you were to get up for it every time, you wouldn¡¯t be able to do your job during the day.¡±

    Even if the waiting maids took care of feeding him and changing the diapers, Aura would still wake up every time when he cried if they were sleeping in the same room.

    A repetition of such an interrupted sleep cycle would self-evidently affect her duties during the days.

    Aura understood that in the head and never intended to push her own selfishness through.

    ¡°¡­Yes, I know. Being a Queen is not all roses, seeing as I cannot even take care of my own child.¡±

    The reason she couldn¡¯t help butin about it regardless, surely was the deep affection for her child.

    As he sympathised with the grumbling of his wife, Zenjirou also joined in with a slightly bitter expression.

    ¡°It¡¯s still all very well for you. I on the other hand will have to stop talking to Zenkichi altogether soon.¡±

    He vented a sigh of regret, as his emotions got the better of him while he spoke.

    ¡°Now that is something inevitable. After all, you do not speak in our localnguage, but in the one of your world. In his current nk te, it would definitely not be a positive influence on Carlos.¡±

    Saying so, Aura smiledforting at her husband sitting across of her.

    A grumbler and aforter. At some point, their positions had suddenly switched.

    ¡°Well, yeah¡­¡±

    Zenjirou heaved a sigh once more.

    In this world, where the ¡°soul of words¡± automatically trantednguages, it wasmon sense not to speak to an infant in a differentnguage until it learned to speak for itself.

    The only time, when the power of the ¡°soul of words¡± couldn¡¯t be borrowed, was when a baby without any prior knowledge started to learn its first words.

    As a consequence, there was a risk that the baby learned a jumble of words, when there where people around it, who used two differentnguages.

    After all, a child couldn¡¯t intentionally repress the magic flow to deactivate the ¡°soul of words¡± yet.

    To serve as an example: Zenjirou teaches him the word ¡°papa¡± with the meaning of ¡°father¡±. Father = Papa. Once he memorized it like that, Carlos would automatically hear the tranted word ¡°papa¡± from then on, even if Aura and others tried to teach him the word for ¡°father¡± in theirnguage.

    As a result of continuing to learn words like that, Carlos would end up using a very oddnguage that was a mixture of Japanese and the localnguage of the western part on the South Continent.

    In short, he would ordinarily speak in dubious terms like ¡°let¡¯s bar together¡±.

    To avoid that, it was necessary to keep away people, who spoke a different nativenguage, from the baby as much as possible until it learned the regr words.

    Zenjirouprehended these circumstances, but it certainly was a harsh fate to be forbidden to interact with his adorable son.

    ¡°Moreover, Zenkichi is a boy. Once he turns five years old, he isn¡¯t allowed toe into the inner pce anymore.¡±

    He sighed yet again.

    It was a custom in the Carpa Kingdom to treat children under five years as genderless, so Prince Carlos could be raised in the inner pce for now, but even the crown prince was no exception to the ban of males in the inner pce.

    Once he weed his fifth birthday, the royal pce would be his new home instead of the inner pce and he would gradually been educated as a royalty together with his foster siblings by teachers for literacy and martial arts.

    Unless Zenjirou stopped shutting himself away in the inner pce, he would definitely grow apart from his own son in the future.

    ¡°¡­I guess I should have them prepare a room for me in the royal pce, too, in the future.¡±

    While Zenjirou mumbled away like that, the waiting maids skilfully put the huge basin with ice onto the hand cart, then pushed it over the carpet in the direction of the door.

    The hand cart, too, was brought over from modern Japan by Zenjirou. He had especially bought it at the hardware store to transport the hydropower generator, but ever since he came here, it was more often used by the maids to lessen theirbour than by himself.

    ¡°Excuse us then.¡±

    ¡°Well done.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    The waiting maids retreated after a bow, whereat Aura and Zenjirou, still sitting on the couches, called out to them like that in appreciation of their troubles.

    The door closed with a quiet CLATTER sound, then the living room at night was once again exclusive to the royal couple.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The six LED floormps illuminated the couches while they still sat opposite of each other and passed time without saying anything.

    The fact that neither of them tried to push a conversation during this silence showed how ¡°natural¡± it had be for the two of them to be all alone together.

    Thefortable ¡°tranquillity¡± then was disturbed when Aura spoke as she stood up from the couch.

    ¡°Well then, it is about time I go to bed as well. I will have to send the messenger of Marquis Guzzle to the March with my ¡®Teleportation¡¯ first thing in the morning. If I were to perform arge magic withck of sleep, it would hinder me from doing my dutiester on.¡±

    Saying so, she looked at the clock on the TV stand.

    The digital table clock was obviously disying the time with Arabian numerals, but Aura had mastered the reading of the Arabian numerals as well as the division of time, twenty-four hours with sixty minutes each with sixty seconds each, during thest year.

    Recently, the civil officials in the royal pce were being taught the Arabian numerals, too, but no one was nearly as good as Aura yet.

    In fact, the young waiting maids known as the ¡°Three Troublemakers¡± might be more ustomed to them than the officials, since they habitually borrowed the ¡°portable game console¡± from Zenjirou andpeted for the high score in the ¡°drop-down game¡± or ¡°cart racing game¡± behind their superior¡¯s back.

    Anyway, Aura slowly raised her body from the couch after she had dered to retire early tonight, and asked her husband.

    ¡°What about you?¡±

    Zenjirou mused over the question of his wife for a bit, then shook his head slowly and replied.

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll stay up a bit longer. I still have to do my ¡®magic practice routine¡¯ before bedtime, so you can go to sleep before me.¡±

    Previously, Zenjirou had immediately chased after her when she left for the bedroom, but the circumstances were a bit different now. Although they had recently started to sleep in the same bed again, at the present time, they would only sleep arm in arm at best. Any direct sexual intercourse was out of the question.

    Admittedly, Aura was the heroine that survived the previous war, but it was a bit relentless to expect her to repeat a pregnancy and delivery in the very next year after giving birth to the first prince. It definitely would be a drawback for the government affairs this time.

    Due to that, everything rted to making a child was ¡°temporarily on hold¡± right now.

    By the way, Zenjirou had cursed himself to death for not bringing any condoms from his world when the decision for abstinence had been made in consultation with Aura.

    And it certainly must have been a rather serious matter for him, since he had kind of asked her in earnest if it was possible to apply the ¡°space-time magic, so that it summoned things from Earth without the correct star constetion¡±.

    ¡°Fine. Then I will go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Mhm. I¡¯ll follow you soon enough.¡±

    After Zenjirou had stood up as well, Aura naturally twined her arms around his neck and then their lips ovepped.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    An embrace and a kiss. The embrace wasn¡¯t as intimate as before anymore. Was that an indication that Aura had lost confidence in her dieting body?

    ¡°Good night.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, night.¡±

    After they released each other from their embrace at the same time, Aura disappeared into the bedroom.

    ¡°¡­Okay, time to get the magic practice over with and hop into bed.¡±

    Zenjirou shook his head a couple of times in order to shake off the sensation from the embrace with his beloved wife, and instructed himself like that with a slightly stressed tone, then he headed over to the desk with theputer to carry out his magic practice routine.

 Chapter Volume 3 2

    On a certain day, Aura weed the nobility from other countries and had an informal meeting at lunch in the courtyard of the royal pce.

    It wasmon practice to take a long midday break during the hottest period of the year, but of course there were obvious exceptions.

    Due to her schedule, Aura reluctantly had to sacrifice even her originally private lunch time for diplomacy, since she wouldn¡¯t otherwise find the time to do it for while if not for today.

    At any rate, it was way too hot to have lunch in the dining hall like always during this season.

    In light of this, the luncheon meeting was held next to the water fountain spraying its water high up.

    Aura had chosen a structure with only a roof on four pirs for their meeting. It had no walls, so the wind could freely blow through it.

    The roof warded off the aggressive sunlight and theck of walls allowed the wind to carry a somewhat cool breeze over from the nearby fountain.

    In this courtyard with the best countermeasures against the brutal heat as possible, Aura cut up the t hardtack, immersed it into the spicy soup and brought it to her mouth, then looked at the middle-aged noble sitting to her right.

    ¡°I hope I have your understanding now, Count Zamurd. The reason we have deployed soldiers this time is to subjugate the meat dragons, which we assume have appeared on the state road. Nothing more than a domestic matter.

    I would like you to convey it to the Navarra Kingdom simrly.¡±

    The Navarra Kingdom was a mid-size country south of the Carpa Kingdom. It bordered on the March of Guzzle of the Carpa Kingdom and in sheer numbers, their military strength was far inferior to the Carpa Kingdom, but they were formidable enough to somehow or other preserve their independence until the very end in the previous war.

    Aura wanted to avoid to put their nose out of joint.

    ¡°Yes, I certainly have understood, Your Highness Aura. I promise you that I will convey it to my country without fail.¡±

    After listening to Aura, the middle-aged man¡ª the noble from the Navarra Kingdom, Count Nalbia Zamurd said that and lowered his head a bit.

    Count Zamurd didn¡¯t really have any traits to speak of. He was an ordinary man in his middle age: An average physique and an average height. His skin was brown, just the same as most people in the western part on the South Continent, and his hair and eyes were ck.

    It was basically said that the skin-, hair- and eye colour became darker the farther south you went on the South Continent, but there was seemingly no difference in racial appearance between the northerly Carpa Kingdom and the southerly Navarra Kingdom.

    That said, everyone was wearing the simplified dress of their respective countries, so it wasn¡¯t all too difficult to conjecture the nationality in appearance.

    The simplified dress from Count Zamurd was arranged around the symbolic colour of the Navarra Kingdom: yellow. Finishing his lunch, he put down the silver spoon next to the soup and looked Aura in the eye, continuing with his speech.

    ¡°Still, with all due respect, my country cannot ignore the matter when the incident on the Salt Road really is caused by ¡®Meat Dragons¡¯, as it happens right at the border.

    Your Highness, I would like to caution my country to keep an eye on the ¡¯northern border¡¯, too, when I write them about your purpose. Do I have your blessing?¡±

    Queen Aura assented the request from the noble of the bordering country while keeping the vigorous smile on her face.

    ¡°Naturally. You may do that. Borders mean nothing to the dragons after all. Due to circumstances on our side as well, we cannot cooperate, but I have no reason to hinder you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I appreciate your concern.¡±

    Hearing her approval, Count Zamurd deeply lowered his head in a still sitting position.

    Their conversation kind of feigned ignorance.

    It definitely was a fact that the March of Guzzle bordered on the Navarra Kingdom, but a steep mountain range spanned between them as a kind of buffer, so there was no fear of the meat dragons, which had appeared in the March of Guzzle, crossing the border into the Navarra Kingdom unless something grave drove them into doing so.

    Both, Count Zamurd and Aura, knew this of course.

    The count deliberately sought the ¡°permission to caution his homnd about the border¡± not for the meat dragons, but in regards to the army of the Carpa Kingdom. To put it simply, his reply amounted to: ¡°If by chance, the information turns out to be a lie and the Carpa Kingdom is going to invade us, we will be ready, too.¡±

    From the point of view of the Navarra Kingdom, that was the most natural reaction. It would be a failure as a country if they didn¡¯t take precautions when a neighbouring country moved troops along the border.

    Aura had anticipated his reply from the very beginning and had deliberately given Count Zamurd her approval, well aware of his implied intention. That was the unspoken side of their conversation.

    If the Navarra Kingdom was only going to take precautions beyond the border, it was still within an agreeable range for Aura.

    Carrying the spicy soup to her mouth with the silver spoon, Aura was sweating a bit on the forehead and she pondered innerly.

    (Well, considering the difference in our military powers, I would say that they are not going to try anything stupid anyway, even without my consideration, but that does not mean I can just neglect to do so.)

    The Carpa Kingdom was a prominent major power in the western part of the South Continent, whereas the Navarra Kingdom was nothing more than one of many mid-size countries.

    Even if she were to act somewhat inconsiderate, it was rather unlikely that the other side would oppose stubbornly, but international diplomacy had ¡°unexpected pitfalls¡± everywhere.

    If she could avoid any unfortunate idents through a simple post hoc conversation with the diplomat from the other country like this, it was an easy deal.

    That, too, was possible because the Carpa Kingdom was a major power. If the power levels of their countries had been reversed, it would have be a lot more troublesome.

    Seeking their ¡°understanding after the fact¡± like this time would definitely be inexcusable then.

    It would take priority that she first asked for the opinion of the other nation, exining that she ¡°will deploy the army near the border without any hostile intentions¡±, and get their ¡°approval¡± in form of an ¡°understanding¡±.

    (Considering that, I cannot reallyin about troubles of this level.)

    Aura had to sacrifice her lunch break, which she originally would have spent together with her amiable husband in the presence of the venttor, for an informal diplomacy meeting, so she persuaded herself like that.

    Quenching her thirst with the lukewarm water from the silver goblet, Aura deliberately showed a pleased expression, then nodded somewhat exaggerated and shifted her gaze towards another person.

    She eyed a man, who wore a simplified dress of another country with white stripes on purple cloth.

    It was the diplomat from the Twin Kingdom of Jilbell and Sharrow: Knight Moreno Militec.

    At the receiving end of her look, Knight Moreno cleared his throat once with an affected cough, then slowly began to speak in order to y his own role.

    ¡°First off, I am d to see that it didn¡¯t cause an misunderstanding between your two nations. I have great respect for Her Highness Aura¡¯s consideration as well as Count Zamurd¡¯s insight.

    I hope my country can follow your example and establish a constructive and worthwhile rtionship with nearby countries as well.¡±

    ¡°You honour us, Sir Moreno.¡±

    In reaction to Knight Moreno¡¯s words, Count Zamurd showed a little bit of relief on his almost perfect poker face and responded like that.

    Needless to say, it was a consideration towards the Navarra Kingdom to let a third party, namely Moreno Militec, attend the informal meeting.

    Considering the difference in power between the Carpa Kingdom and the Navarra Kingdom, it wouldn¡¯t be all too strange when any verbal agreements here were annulled by forceter on.

    Of course, Aura had not the slightest intention to do something that dishonest, but the other party had no way to read her sentiment.

    Aura had earned herself a reputation as a rtively sincere ruler of a major power, but she would have no choice but to dodge the question when asked if she had nothing to feel guilty about in the past.

    Because it would be a lie if she were to say that she never went back on her word as the Queen for the sake of her country.

    Therefore, she had Moreno Militec from the Twin Kingdom witness the meeting in order to lend credence to her words.

    The Twin Kingdom of Jilbell and Sharrow was a major power ruling supreme over the central area of the South Continent with a strength on par or even greater than the Carpa Kingdom. Even the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom couldn¡¯t easily break her promise when someone from the Twin Kingdom had witnessed it.

    And this intention of hers didn¡¯t go unnoticed.

    ¡°My most profound thanks for your consideration, Your Highness.¡±

    After giving Moreno a short nce, Count Zamurd looked at Aura on the seat of honour again and bowed deeply.

    Exining the ¡°troop movements in the March of Guzzle¡± to the person from the Navarra Kingdom anding to an understanding in the presence of someone from the Twin Kingdom.

    That had been the objective of the informal meeting under the guise of a luncheon and it had been perfectly achieved in Aura¡¯s eyes at this point of time.

    However, she couldn¡¯t just conclude the meeting now. Although it was just a pretext that nobody took at face value, the official designation was still a ¡°private luncheon hosted by Aura¡±.

    As they had already finished their lunch, the nobles drunk fruity water or soft alcohol drinks while making conversation.

    In this world, the mostmon countermeasure against the heat was to sweat from a spicy soup, replenish the body fluids and then sweat again.

    Due to that, one had to drink an adequate amount of water in summertime or one would suffer dehydration.

    Even without a particr medical science, the people of this world were aware of the danger of dehydration through experience.

    Amidst that, the diplomat from the Twin Kingdom, Moreno called out to the smiling Aura with a casual tone as in simple gossip.

    ¡°Still, I¡¯ve got to say that themunication within your country is as quick as always, Your Highness. It¡¯s very untypical for a major power. I take it that you have used your magic on this asion?¡±

    ¡°Mh? Ah, yes. It was a pressing matter after all, so I send off the messenger with my magic.¡±

    There was really no need to conceal it, so Aura answered honestly. Nevertheless, she was wary of him inwardly. Even without confirming it, it ought to be easily conceivable that she had used her ¡°Teleport¡± magic for this matter. The only reason the diplomat from the Twin Kingdom deliberately inquired about it here was that he wanted to expand that topic now.

    Whether he was aware of Aura¡¯s suspicion or not, Knight Moreno widened his eyes in an exaggerated admiration and spoke.

    ¡°Oho! So it was your magic after all. I knew it, the practical use of the magic from the Carpa Royal Lineage really surpasses even the other royal lineages.

    However, I would imagine it is all the more inconvenient at the present time. I mean, the magic is quite useful, but you are the only practitioner, Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°¡­Well, I guess so.¡±

    I see, that is how he is going to y. Aura more or less figured out what Moreno would say next, so she rxed a bit and affirmed it.

    And as a matter of fact, the following words from Moreno were exactly what Aura had expected.

    ¡°Well then, what do you say about this, Your Highness? We could make your magic into a ¡®magic tool¡¯ in order to use it more efficiently.¡±

    Keeping a sociable smile on his face, Knight Monero suggested this.

    The manufacture of a ¡°magic tool¡±. Of course he was referring to a ¡°Teleport¡± magic tool.

    (I knew it.)

    Aura had to use all of her willpower to stop her smile from turning sour.

    The suggestion to make ¡°Teleport¡± magic tools was something the Twin Kingdom had enquired of the Carpa Kingdom since forever, not just in Aura¡¯s generation.

    And it was also an unresolved issue as the Carpa Kingdom had always pushed it aside. The ¡°Teleport¡± magic was one of the advantages that had raised the Carpa Kingdom to be a prominent major power in the western part of the South Continent.

    Embedding that magic into magic tools meant to bequeath the possibility that people apart from the Carpa Royal Family could use the ¡°Teleport¡± magic, albeit restrictive.

    In reality, the Twin Kingdom had once proposed to ¡°make two teleport magic tools and distribute one to each side¡±.

    There was no way Aura could ept a dangerous proposition, where she practically threw away an advantage of her country herself.

    ¡°That is a grateful offer, but I have to refuse. It is necessary to cooperate with the spell caster and tool manufacturer for years to make a magic tool, correct? As you mentioned before, I am currently the only practitioner of the ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯.

    You surely do not expect me to vacate my throne and go to the capital of the Twin Kindom, do you?¡±

    She knew what Moreno was getting at.

    The Twin Kingdom wasn¡¯t considering what Aura had just said, namely inviting her to the capital, either. They most likely had their eyes on Zenjirou.

    Lately, Zenjirou was quickly making progress with his magic training. He still hadn¡¯t a perfect control over his magical power, but he reached a point, where he seeded in activating the magic at three out of five attempts.

    Once he mastered his output of magical power, it would only be a matter of time until he learned the ¡°Teleport¡± magic.

    It was foreseeable that he would reach a practical level of the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± within this year at the earliest or next year at thetest.

    Aura conjectured that the ultimate aim of the Twin Kingdom was to invite Zenjirou to their capital once he was able to use teleport.

    (In that case, I cannot really give him a curt reply here.)

    She frowned inwardly.

    After all, Zenjirou himself had expressed his ¡°intention to go to the capital of the Twin Kingdom as soon as he learned how to use ¡®Teleport¡¯¡±.

    Making arrangements, so that he could bring over a practitioner of the ¡°Healing Magic¡± from the Jilbell Lineage during Aura¡¯s next delivery if necessary.

    That was Zenjirou¡¯s greatest goal of now.

    Her husband was so devoted to his wife that Aura unconsciously cracked a smile just from remembering that.

    Taking into ount these prospective state of things, it was better when Aura avoided turning down the offer conclusively now.

    She quickly settled her thoughts like that, but on a very rare asion, her train of thought turned out to bepletely futile.

    The reason behind it was that Aura¡¯s forecast was fundamentally different from Knight Moreno¡¯s answer.

    ¡°Not at all, Your Highness. You may rest assured that is not the case. To tell you the truth, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona have shown a great interest in the ¡¯transparent jewel¡¯ and the ¡¯diamond rings¡¯ afterying eyes on them.

    As long as you permit it, Your Highness Aura, the two of them have expressed their dear desire to visit the Carpa Kingdom once.¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Faced with apletely unexpected statement, Aura failed to keep a straight face and revealed an expression of surprise.

    However, that was only natural.

    Prince Francesco and Princess Bona. Both of them were royalty from the ¡°Sharrow Lineage¡±. It was one thing when a person from the ¡°Jilbell Lineage¡± was summoned as a practitioner of the ¡°Healing Magic¡±, but a member of the ¡°Sharrow Royal Family¡±, also known as practitioners of the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡±, had never set foot into a foreign country, at least not in thest hundred years.

    Aura¡¯s surprised reaction was actually rather moderate. Some of the present nobles from the Carpa Kingdom ended up snorting the drinks from their mouths over their clothes or tablecloth.

    She couldn¡¯t even me them for this.

    A visit from the ¡°Sharrow Royal Family¡± was such a shocking revtion. Moreover, he was hinting at the manufacture of a ¡°magic tool¡±, so it also presupposed a long stay depending on the circumstances.

    ¡°Ah, this is not set in stone, of course. I would appreciate it when you only treat it as some small talk at an informal gathering. But I swear that what I have said is the truth all the same.¡±

    Moreno showed an affected grin on his face as if he was proud about the huge impact his utterance had caused at the end.

    * * *

    Night of the same day.

    As always, Zenjirou and Aura were having some quality time for themselves on the couch in the living room after a dinner and a bath.

    However, there were not sitting ¡°next to each other¡±, but ¡°opposite one another¡±.

    They would sit next to each other when they talked leisurely. And when there was something to be discussed somewhat seriously, they would sit opposite one another. This unwritten rule had established itself at some point in the past year.

    Due to that, Zenjirou had recognized how the conversation would turn out from the moment Aura had sat down in front of him, so he put down his whiskey on the rocks on the coaster on top of the table without having nipped at it yet.

    His judgment didn¡¯t seem to be incorrect as Aura began to talk with a serious expression that didn¡¯t correspond with thefortable clothes in form of a sheer nightgown that she had put on after the bath.

    ¡°Zenjirou, can we talk for a bit? I know it is not the most appropriate time for such a topic, but I want you to hear about it. It came up during the ¡®luncheon meeting¡¯ today¡­¡±

    The six LED floormps illuminated the couch, where Zenjirou leaned forward a bit in his blue-striped pyjama and lent his wife an ear.

    ¡°Ehm, I don¡¯t really get it. Is it really such a rare thing that the ¡®Sharrow Family¡¯es to another country?¡±

    After listening to Aura¡¯s exnation from beginning tost, Zenjirou first posed such a straight question.

    The Prince and Princess of the ¡°Sharrow Royal Family¡± mighte to this country.

    He understood that it was an important event, but even so, Aura¡¯s surprise about it seemed a bit exaggerated to him.

    For instance, Princess Isabelle had paid him an official visitst year and she was from the Jilbell Royal Family, the other royal linage in the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell.

    Due to the short notice, only nobles from the Carpa Kingdom or ambassadors from other countries had attended the marriage of Aura and Zenjirou, but his private tutor Octavia had told him that marriage ceremonies of a ruler were usually witnessed by a great number of direct royalty from other countries.

    Aura smiled a bit at his question, then nodded and answered.

    ¡°Yes, a visit from ¡®royalty¡¯ is not something extraordinary. A visit from THE ¡®Sharrow Royalty¡¯ on the other hand is extraordinary, because the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbill has two royal families. Foreign visits are principally entrusted to the ¡®Jilbell Family¡¯.

    The Kingdom did notst with a double leadership centuries-long for appearance¡¯s sake. They have properly allocated the duties.

    I have heard, though, that there are many blurred authority structures between the two families and that they apparently fight over them in the shadows in the interest of their respective family.¡±

    Upon Aura¡¯s exnation, Zenjirou nodded with ¡°I see¡±.

    ¡°I guess when such a secluded royal family goes out of their way to visit another country, they have some kind of concrete goal?¡±

    It went without saying, but he asked it nevertheless, whereat Aura consented like expected.

    ¡°Yes. Most likely, they are after your ¡®marbles¡¯. Truth be told, the Twin Kingdom has intimated through letters from Princess Isabelle that they wish to buy up all the remaining ¡®marbles¡¯.

    I think it is safe to assume that the ¡®marbles¡¯ y an important part for the application of the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ after all.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, the marbles, huh¡­¡±

    The ss balls were simple toys worth a few hundred yen per bag, but in this world, they were precarious objects that could disrupt the political bnce between the royal families. Still, all of that didn¡¯t feel all too real to Zenjirou.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave the negotiations to you. Do as you like and tell me the oue afterwards. Ah, by the way, what are the odds that they aren¡¯t after ¡®my bloodline¡¯? At the beginning, they were rather persistent about it.¡±

    As he suddenly thought of it, he raised such a question, whereupon Aura put her right hand against her chin and mused for a while. Then she shook her head and answered.

    ¡°¡­No, I cannot deny the possibility of it, but I would say it is quite unlikely. Sure, Princess Bona is a young and unmarried royalty and when she pays us a visit, they probably think it will not do any harm to try to seduce you on the asion, but even so, she cannot just go on the offensive in our pce.

    If we have to be wary about something, then it is ¡®their pce¡¯. At some point in time, you intend to go to the Twin Kingdom when you have mastered the ¡®Teleport¡¯ magic, right? Even if you should have magical power to spare, you certainly would not return on the same day. Their pce would undoubtedly give you a very ¡®warm wee¡¯.

    And as long as the Sharrow Family has not given up on your bloodline, or rather on your person, they will make their move there.¡±

    Saying so, his wife showed a slightly menacing smile, which involuntarily made a shiver ran down his spine.

    ¡°Oh, okay. Yeah, I can see something like that happening.¡±

    Thinking about it, it was only natural.

    Technically, he could jump directly to the permanent residence of the ambassador of the Carpa Kingdom in the capital of the Twin Kingdom with the ¡°Teleport¡± magic, but there was no way that he would be allowed to make a short trip to their royal pce without notice.

    Just like Aura had said, he would hardly be in a position to refuse the ¡°warm wee¡± with a hidden agenda.

    (Not good. I might¡¯ve taken this a bit too lightly.)

    Although the matter was still far off in the future, Zenjirou became aware of his naive outlook and hung his head a bit in self-criticism on the couch.

    Nevertheless, he couldn¡¯t let the initial goal of learning the ¡°Teleport¡± magic and moving to the Twin Kingdom, falter just because of that.

    It was more or less an established fact that Aura would give birth to a second or third child in the future.

    During the birth of the first child, namely Carlos Zenkichi, he couldn¡¯t do anything and had to entrust everything to luck and Aura¡¯s stamina. He definitely didn¡¯t want to face the same ipetence for the next delivery again.

    Once Zenjirou could travel back and forth to the Twin Kingdom with ¡°Teleport¡±, he would be able to immediately bring over a practitioner of the ¡°Healing Magic¡± from the ¡°Jilbell Lineage¡± when it came to the crunch.

    He was willing to take a few risks for that.

    Renewing his resolve about his future activities, Zenjirou corrected his posture on the couch and looked Aura, sitting across from him, in the eye.

    ¡°Okay. When that timees, I¡¯ll be extra careful and do my best not to be ensnared.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    With a gentle look, the Queen gave a short answer to the reply of her husband.

    His reply came about through the reasoning of not changing the presumed n of ¡°going to the Twin Kingdom as soon as he learned the ¡®Teleport¡¯ magic¡± in the least.

    Aura realized that the root of his reasoning was his affection and consideration towards her, so she unwittingly cracked a smile, albeit worrying about his future.

    ¡°Fine. It is still something for the future, but I am counting on you once the timees.¡±

    With her smile on disy, she told that to her husband with a calm tone.

    ¡°Anyway, to get back on topic, when will that Prince and Princess of the Sharrow familye here?¡±

    Amidst a bit more rxed atmosphere, Zenjirou stirred his whiskey, diluted from the melted ice, with a silver spoon and drunk from the blue Satsuma Kiriko ss.

    Aura wet her throat with the brandy from the red Satsuma Kiriko of the same design and leaned against the backrest of the couch, answering after inclining her head to the side.

    ¡°When, indeed. It is merely an ¡®unofficial chitchat¡¯ yet. I do not think that it will happen any time soon, but something like this never happened before. To be honest, I cannot guess their actions.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I see. Then it¡¯s no use being on guard already, I guess. Ah, speaking of, what kind of people are they? Do you know them?¡±

    Aura shook her head to his question.

    ¡°No. Like I just told you, the Sharrow Royal Family rarely appears abroad. Compared to other royal families, there is barely any information about them.

    All I know is their lineage and age. And maybe some exaggerated rumours that will be of no use.¡±

    She said that, then put her red ss back on the coaster on top of the table even though it was not empty yet.

    As her husband asked the short question of ¡°what kind of rumours?¡±, Aura leaned backwards on the couch and continued to talk with her hands folded on her stomach.

    ¡°Mhm, let me tell you about their ages first. Prince Francesco is twenty-four years old whereas Princess Bona is sixteen. The prince is a direct descendant from the royal family and the grandson of the current king. Furthermore, he is the oldest son of the crown prince, who is pretty much assumed to be the next king.¡±

    Zenjirou widened his eyes in surprise upon the unexpected great family tree.

    ¡°That means he¡¯ll be the king after his father?¡±

    That would be the case from interpreting Aura¡¯s exnation straightforward. In this world, it was no absolute rule that the eldest son would seed the throne, but it was a favoured trend.

    However, Aura shook his head to his question again.

    ¡°No, not quite. At least at the present time, Prince Francesco has no im on the throne yet.¡±

    This statement surprised Zenjirou even more than before.

    ¡°EH!? But isn¡¯t he already twenty-four? Is that even possible?¡±

    ¡°No. Normally it would be impossible. There exists a precedent of a person with legitimate birth not being acknowledge as royalty, because he could not activate the ¡®bloodline magic¡¯, but Prince Francesco is known as one of the top five practitioners of the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ amongst the current Sharrow Royal Family.¡±

    Zenjirou couldn¡¯t help but getting suspicious after hearing Aura¡¯s distinct words.

    The legitimate grandson of the current king was already in his twenty-fourth year of age and had no problems to activate the ¡°bloodline magic¡±, yet for some reason, he had no ¡°im on the throne¡±.

    When he wasn¡¯t given the im on the throne, even though there was nothing wrong with his lineage, age and talent, then the simplest solution would be that there was a problem with his ¡°character¡±.

    ¡°¡­Somehow, I don¡¯t really want to meet him anymore after hearing that.¡±

    ¡°Same here.¡±

    Zenjirou muttered his impression with a frown, whereat Aura expressed her consent with a short nod.

    ¡°Nheless, they are breaking the longstanding silence by deliberately sending a delegation to our country, so he must have enoughmon sense not to cause an international problem¡­ or at least I hope so.¡±

    Aura frowned a bit while saying so, then pulled herself together and started to describe the other royalty.

    ¡°The other visitor will be Princess Bona. She has pretty much the opposite background from Prince Francesco. Her parents are not royalty. She was born into a senior noble family with blood rtion to the royal family and inherited the ¡®bloodline magic¡¯. I think she is the 25th or 26th in the line of session? Well, a rather low-ranked nobility.¡±

    ¡°Oho, so even if you aren¡¯t of royal birth, you can get acknowledged as royalty as long as you can use the ¡®bloodline magic¡¯.¡±

    Zenjirou said somewhat in awe, whereupon Aura nodded curt and responded.

    ¡°Yes. It varies from country to country, but thews in the Twin Kingdom treat it like that. Well, the not pure-blooded royalty can practically use the bloodline magic, if only by a narrow margin, so it does not cause difficulties regarding the session for the time being. In reality though, they have no other value than being a practitioner of the ¡®bloodline magic¡¯.

    She ought to have a rather weak standing inside the country.¡±

    ¡°I see. It might be rude to say this, but she¡¯s a true ¡®princess in name only¡¯, huh.¡±

    ¡°That sums it up. That is why it is so troublesome. Their intention is as in as day.¡±

    Saying so, Aura gave Zenjirou a meaningful look. He discerned what she wanted to say and slurred his speech.

    ¡°Ahh¡­ I see, indeed. In other words, I guess, they maybe, kind of, still haven¡¯t given up on me, after all?¡±

    ¡°Well, I am repeating myself, but I think she will not go on a foolish offence in our pce. More likely, they are thinking on the lines of making an early visit to deepen the acquaintance to you, with a ¡®nothing to lose¡¯ mindset.¡±

    Aura said and shrugged her shoulders a bit.

    ¡°Uwah¡­ Sounds like it¡¯ll be quite tiresome¡­¡±

    Zenjirou emptied his ss in one gulp so as to swallow the emerging sigh along with it.

 Chapter Volume 3 3

    The March of Guzzle in the Carpa Kingdom.

    It was the most southern domain in the Carpa Kingdom. Amongst the countries in the western part of the South Continent, the Carpa Kingdom had thergest territory, but despite of that, there was hardly any difference in temperatures in the respective regions.

    That said, it applied to the whole western part of the southern continent, not just the Carpa Kingdom alone. In other words, just as the capital was currently weing the season with the strongest sunrays within the year, so the March of Guzzle was undergoing the murderous heat as well.

    This season was life-threatening to children or elder people when they stood in the sun for an hour without protection, and unsuitable forrge-scale battles, only topped by the rain season.

    These circumstances made it extremely unlikely that a war ¡°amongst humans¡± would break out during this season ording to a mutual understanding between the rulers of the South Continent.

    However, there was a hostile existent on the continent that paid no attention to the conveniences of humans.

    A species that adopted the best to the hot and humid South Continent. The predominant animal on the continent, which surpassed humanity by far in the term of simple habitat.

    The carnivore dragons.

    The Guzzle army marched out during the second most unsuitable season for battles, in order to restore the business on the ¡°Salt Road¡± that was assumed to be disrupted by these carnivore dragons.

    With a troop strength of around a hundred soldiers, they slowly advanced north on the ¡°Salt Road¡±.

    In the morning it was still rtively cool, but the descending sunlight already had an aggressive tint and vividly lightened up the green of the trees standing left and right to the road.

    Although the ¡°Salt Road¡± was a peerless state road in the Carpa Kingdom, it was built quite inly in the eyes of a person from the modern age.

    The middle of the road was levelled a bit elevated and shallow ditches were trenched on both side of it, so there was little chance that it became flooded even during the rainy season, but even so, next to no one from the modern age would agree to call this gravel-less path an ¡°important traffic route of the Kingdom¡±.

    It didn¡¯t evenpare to the gobbled state roads of the Roman Empire that have existed before the Common Era, much less the concrete highways of modern Japan.

    Never mind that the technology was low in this world, they had magic that could manipte the soil, so they should have better preconditions than the ancient Rome, yet the current state of affairs might be an evidence that the forces of nature were so much stronger here than on Earth.

    Not to say that the flourishing road works of the Roman Empire might just have been an exceptional case in the history of Earth, considering the road conditions in Europe or Middle East after old Rome.

    Anyway, the army of the March slowly proceeded along the ¡°Salt Road¡±.

    The vanguard wasposed of knights mounting big and green ¡°Raptorial Dragons¡±.

    There were five in total of them. Each knight always had one squire apany him.

    The other soldiers, all carrying short spears, were following behind them on foot.

    The whole infantry wore a thick cloak with a hood over their leather armour against the sunlight, but the vicious sun zed down on them regardless and pressed out the water from their body.

    More than half of the troops had already emptied their drinking bottles hanging from their waists.

    The only exception was the supply corps at the back. They travelled on freight wagons pulled by ¡®Hulking Dragons¡¯.

    Compared to ¡°Raptorial Dragons¡±, the ¡°Hulking Dragons¡± moved at a snail pace, but they were much stronger inpensation for it. They easily pulled the freight wagons, which were loaded with spare weapons, rations, water, firewood and cauldrons for cooking, and left big and deep tracks in the ground.

    There were a couple of these wagons pulled by ¡°Hulking Dragons¡±. A haul of this size was certainly necessary, considering the dietary needs of the hundred-strong army until the end of the operation.

    If anything, the capacity of transporting from the ¡°Hulking Dragons¡± was abnormal when faced with themon practice during the Middle Ages on Earth, as they could carry the estimated supplies for a hundred soldiers during a long-term operation on just a few wagons.

    Five knights. Five squires. Ten Suppliers. Fifteen escorts for the supply corps. Andstly, a little bit more than seventy foot soldiers.

    Compared to a typical formation, the number of knights was somewhat small, but the operation this time assumed that ¡°the carnivore dragons had to be suppressed inside the forest¡± after all.

    The knights were a branch of the army, who unfolded their high offensive power and mobility on open terrain, but on the other hand, they were underachieving in an area, where movement was restricted like on this asion.

    In reality, the five knights would dismount from their raptorial dragons and entrust the reins to their squires when it was time to fight.

    ¡°¡­Fuh.¡±

    One of these five, a young knight with a small build and ck hair and eyes, was repeatedly taking short, deep breaths for a while now, careful that no one nearby would notice it.

    Xavier Guzzle.

    That was the name of this fledging knight.

    He was the third and only living son of Marquis Guzzle.

    On a closer look, Xavier¡¯s facial features closely resembled the Marquis¡¯.

    However, his physique waspletely different. Unlike Marquis Guzzle, who wasn¡¯t all that tall himself, but sustained his efforts to keep his body muscr even at an advanced age, Xavier¡¯s body looked frail and extremely unreliable on a nce.

    Right now, he was riding a raptorial dragon, so his height was hard to tell, but it seemed like he was even shorter than Zenjirou. Zenjirou was a hundred and seventy-two centimetre tall, so Xavier¡¯s height must only amount to a little less than a hundred and seventy or around a hundred and sixty-five at worst.

    A youngd with a small and meagre build.

    He definitely didn¡¯t look like a reliablemander. As he himself was aware of that, he was excessively straightening his back on top of the raptorial dragon this whole time so as to appear taller even just a bit.

    Riding as the vanguard with his raptorial dragon gave him the illusion that all the hundred soldiers behind him were observing his every action.

    Of course that was entirely his imagination. Even though the sun was only just starting to raise, the foot soldiers had to march on and on amidst the brutal heat, so they could hardly afford to pay any special attention to their spearheadingmander. Thus Xavier¡¯s effort was in vain.

    ¡°Xavier-sama¡­¡±

    The young and fair-skinned squire, walking next to him with a spear, looked worried up to Xavier on the raptorial dragon, but Xavier wasn¡¯tposed enough to notice his look right now.

    Nheless, it was rather impressive how well he sat on the dragon despite his nervous state. A proof that he was well trained in the military arts in spite of his frail appearance.

    That said, it would exhaust him sooner orter when he kept up a riding position with strained shoulders over a long time, and provoke mistakes.

    ¡°Xavier-sama, it may it bit a early, but I suggest that we take a break. There will be a suitable ce for an encampment a little bit ahead, so how about we set up our camp there?¡±

    The one making this proposal while concealing a wry smile, was a middle-aged knight riding on a raptorial dragon at an angle behind Xavier.

    His age was probably forty-some. The knight with a deep ck moustache was in the prime of his life. Xavier trembled his body with a shiver in reaction to his words and looked over his shoulder.

    ¡°Sir Joseph¡­¡±

    He uttered the name of the knight, a retainer from his father.

    Knight Joseph was a veteran soldier with a long military service, who had be renowned in the previous war.

    Normally he acted as a close aide to Xavier¡¯s father, Marquis Guzzle, but Queen Aura had sent him, carrying the power of attorney tomand the March¡¯s army and the movement order in hand, to the March with her magic.

    There was no reason to have a knight of his standing deliver the mere power of attorney and order.

    His father most likely sent him to ease the burden on his son for his first operation a little bit.

    Xavier appreciated his father¡¯s concern, but at the same time, he felt ashamed.

    Shaking off his thoughts that tended to wander into an abject direction, Xavier called out to Joseph.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit too early for that, Sir Joseph? I think the original n was to cover a bit more distance during the morning.¡±

    The veteran knight had aligned his raptorial dragon next to the son of his lord and spoke with a polite tone to persuade the fledgling, who was tense from nervousness and a sense of duty.

    ¡°Indeed, Xavier-sama. That was the n, but the temperature exceeds our presumption today. The soldiers are already starting to be tired. I believe it would be dangerous to push on any further.¡±

    ¡°I, I see.¡±

    Hearing his subordinate¡¯s suggestion, Xavier raised a voice as if he was caught off-guard.

    It was said that the power of observation came with years of experience.

    If Xavier had been walking on his own feet, he probably would have noticed the fatigue of the soldiers through his own, but unfortunately he had to preserve his dignity as themander, so he was riding a raptorial dragon.

    Riding a dragon for a long time was quite tiring in itself, too, but it still didn¡¯tpare to the fatigue of the foot soldiers, who were walking under the zing sun on their own feet.

    The young son of the Marquis, properly educated in leadership, nodded with ¡°okay¡±, then turned around on the back of the dragon and dered to his men following after him with a voice as loud as possible.

    ¡°We will set up a camp at the clearance ahead! It¡¯s not that far off, so hang in there!¡±

    They would get to rest when they proceeded just a little farther.

    As soon as the soldier understood that, their faces showed delight for the first time today and they weren¡¯t hanging their heads all that much anymore.

    Witnessing that, Xavier became aware of his own ipetence once again.

    (Oh yeah, looks like everyone¡¯s really tired. I¡¯m just no good. I¡¯ve to notice something like that myself before Sir Joseph mentions it¡­)

    He must have been born with an earnest disposition.

    The third son of Marquis Guzzle, Xavier clenched his fists so tightly that his delicate body shook on top of the big raptorial dragon and admonished himself like that.

    * * *

    Several dayster at noon.

    The hundred-strong army from the March of Guzzle, lead by Xavier Guzzle, had set up a camp after they had marched considerably far north on the ¡°Salt Road¡±.

    The thick forest on both sides of the ¡°Salt Road¡± was growing trees in abundance and there were no natural spots to encamp with a hundred people, but the ¡°Salt Road¡± was still a state road of the Carpa Kingdom in a way.

    At set intervals, wide areas had been cleared by cutting down trees, so that arge number of people could pitch up their camp.

    The voices of the soldier resounded all over the ce on this man-madewn.

    ¡°Hey, the sunblock wall¡¯s too short here. I need someone, who can perform ¡®Earth Wall¡¯!¡±

    ¡°We want to start cooking! Someone give us a hand with ¡®Ignition¡®!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve brought the water! Please perform ¡®Water Purification¡¯!¡±

    The most noticeable thing for making a camp was ¡°magic¡± as expected.

    Although there were few people worth of the title ¡°magician¡± by having mastered a lot of spells, there was still a rtive great number of people, who could use just one spell convenient for the day-to-day life, even amongst themoners.

    These kind of people were rather useful for pitching up a camp like this.

    On the other hand, there was hardly any use for magic once the battle started. After all, the magic required the ¡°correct intonation¡±, ¡°correct perception¡± and ¡°correct amount of magical power¡± to activate.

    The ¡°correct intonation¡± and ¡°correct amount of magical power¡± aside, it was extremely difficult to sustain the ¡°correct perception¡± in the middle of a battle.

    Only when you were one of the handful elite like the royal court magicians, you could perform offensive magic from the rear of the battlefield, but performing magic while swinging a spear around was principally impossible.

    Due to that, the rtive importance of magic in the military mainly inclined towards matters outside the battlefield like this.

    A temporary headquarter was built by putting up four walls with the ¡°Earth Wall¡± magic and spanning a white tent over them. Inside of it, Xavier Guzzle sat on a wooden folding chair and was craning his neck after he finally got off the raptorial dragon.

    ¡°Kuh¡­!¡±

    Relieving the tension of his whole body from the long ride, Xavier grimaced in both pain and ease and a sound escaped his mouth.

    He had experienced riding for a couple of days during his training numerous times, but he still ended up like this.

    As expected, he must have been too worried about the eyes of his men, straining his body more than necessary.

    Right now, he was all alone with his trusted squire inside the tent. Since Xavier didn¡¯t have to worry about his men seeing him now, it was an irreceable time for him.

    A mere tent couldn¡¯t really block off the intense sunlight, but the earth walls raised with magic could perfectly shut it out.

    In the shadow of the wall, Xavier doused himself with the water from the small wooden washbowl, which his young squire had prepared for him.

    ¡°¡­Fuh.¡±

    The water drops dripped from his short, ck hair down onto his neck and from there into his clothes.

    ¡°Here, Xavier-sama.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks, Andr¨¦s.¡±

    Remaining seated on the folding chair, Xavier took the offered towel from the youthful squire and wiped his wet face with it.

    A bit of water like that would dry in no time under the zing sun, but it would still felt ufortable regardless.

    After he had wiped his face and neck, the young squire¡ª Andr¨¦s took the used towel back in a casual manner and offered him a wooden cup filled with lukewarm water instead.

    Xavier drunk the content of the taken cup in one gulp half out of reflex. At that very moment

    ¡°Xavier-sama, it¡¯s me, Joseph. The advanced reconnaissance party has returned. I would you to hear their report at once. May wee in?¡±

    A low, but clear voice could be heard from beyond the cloth of the tent.

    ¡°Oh, Joseph? Yes,e in.¡±

    While instructing Andr¨¦s, standing at attention next to him, with a nce to tidy up the interior, he called out like that to the knight standing outside the tent.

    Inside the makeshift headquarter with its earth walls and cloth ceiling, Xavier Guzzle still sat on the simple folding chair and heard the report from Knight Joseph and a soldier supposedly in his thirties, who was the captain of the reconnaissance party.

    ¡°What!? You¡¯re saying you found the corpses of the salt merchants?¡±

    Hearing the information from the captain, Xavier leaned a bit forward on his chair and raised a surprised voice.

    ¡°Yes, we found a few toppled wagons and dead hulking dragons as well as the corpses of humans on the road ahead! Each of the corpses were heavily injured and it is self-evident that the cause of their deaths was an attack from the carnivore dragons!¡±

    The soldier replied with a loud voice, so that the three-day-old beard around his mouth vibrated.

    The advanced reconnaissance party consisted of several light-footed soldiers. It was pretty unlikely that they would be able to retaliate when they encountered the powerful carnivore dragons, which were disrupting the salt road. Therefore, the man said, they had immediately turned on their heels once they discovered the dead merchants.

    A wise decision.

    Reporting the fact that ¡°the salt merchant were dead on the road ahead¡± as quickly as possible to the main force took far more priority than gathering more information in that situation.

    Sitting on his folding chair, Xavier unconsciously clenched his fists tightly on hisp.

    The real battle would finallymence. Of course he was going to be nervous, since it was his first battle.

    ¡°I see¡­ Then we can¡¯t waste any time. I guess, I ought to put the entire force on the alert.¡±

    The youngmander said that and stretched his small and frail body on top of the chair.

    So as to advice the fledgling knight with the tensed shoulders, the veteran knight spoke.

    ¡°Xavier-sama, the soldiers are still preparing lunch. I fear the younger soldiers without experience will be on the edge and unable to get a proper rest when we disclose this information to them now. Shall I proceed nevertheless?¡±

    ¡°Mh?¡±

    Xavier was just about to stand up from the chair, but upon the words from the experienced knight Joseph, he lowered his bottom onto the chair again and mused with his hand against his chin.

    It could indeed prove to be difficult for the young and inexperienced soldiers to execute themand, when they were told ¡°The carnivore dragons might be near. Be careful and take a rest¡±.

    To make matters worse, the contingent of ¡°young soldiers¡± in the body of troops was sorge that it couldn¡¯t be ignored.

    Die-hard soldiers, who fought in the previous war, were a minority here.

    ¡°¡­Joseph, what¡¯re the odds that the dragons will attack us here?¡±

    The question of the youthfulmandant made the long-established knight raise an eyebrow, then

    ¡°Well, I cannot say for certain, but I would say it is quite unlikely. We more or less have an army of hundred fully equipped soldiers. The dragons in this area should be fearing us humans quite a bit after all.¡±

    he answered smoothly like that.

    ¡°Hmm, I see.¡±

    For a moment, Xavier was about to make some kind of decision after hearing that answer, but Knight Joseph continued and interrupted that resolve.

    ¡°However, even if the possibility is low, it does not mean there is ¡®none at all¡¯. Who knows what a hungry dragon will do.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Xavier closed his opened mouth again upon Joseph¡¯s words and became absorbed in thought once more.

    If they were to put the entire body of soldiers on the alert, a bunch of soldiers would be unable to make the most of the long-awaited break. But if they didn¡¯t do it, they were at risk of being attacked off-guard by the carnivore dragons.

    Put them on the alert, or not?

    Xavier suppressed the impulse to ask the veteran knight in front of him what he ought to do, and pondered.

    Joseph already had given him his objective opinion. As themander, Xavier himself had to make a decision.

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    While he was thinking, the numbers ¡°1, 2, 3, 4¡­¡± started to dance in the back of his head.

    That was a habit, which was drummed into him by his teacher for military leadership.

    Contrary to the duties of andlord, who was supposed to consider matters carefully, a swift decision from themander on the battlefield was often better than an borated one.

    ¡°A decision on the battlefield should always be made within ten seconds. And at the sight of the enemy, it is required to make a decision within three seconds.¡±

    His military teacher had driven that doctrine into Xavier till he was blue in the face.

    Before long, Xavier exhaled a big breath and straightened his back on top of the chair, then gave his orders to his subordinate before him.

    ¡°Okay. No need to put the soldiers on the alert. Only pass on the information to the knights and unit leaders. Let the other soldiers finish their lunch and recharge their energy as always.

    In the afternoon, we¡¯ll head to the scene of the assault. It¡¯s quite likely that fighting will break out.

    Once the lunch break¡¯s over, we¡¯ll disclose the report from just now to the entire body of soldiers and march along on the alert. That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    The captain of the advanced reconnaissance party and Knight Joseph respectfully affirmed the decision of theirmandant.

    Having given his order, Xavier strained his faced so much that his cheeks were seized with cramps, doing his best as not to show his anxiety.

    Right after he finished his sentence, a doubt towards his own decision swelled up inside of him.

    Was this really the right decision?

    Now that he had given the order, it would undoubtedly be his fault if the ¡°carnivore dragons¡± were to attack them during their break.

    However, it would also be his fault if the new soldiers didn¡¯t get to rest due to the announcement of the information, interfering with the operation in the afternoon as a result.

    Whether they knew of these worries of the inexperiencedmander or not, Knight Joseph and the captain of the reconnaissance party bowed once, then quickly left the tent.

    ¡°¡­..Fuh. The fighting hasn¡¯t even started yet and I¡¯m already like this¡­¡±

    The tactful, young squire pretended to have not heard the unwitting grumble of his lord at all.

    * * *

    The hundred-strong army from the March of Guzzle, led by Xavier Guzzle, had halted in the middle of the ¡°Salt Road¡± under the zing sun.

    Approximately one hour had passed, since they had resumed their march after the break at noon.

    To put the scene in front of Xavier¡¯s party in a nutshell: ¡°Horrific¡±.

    Several freight wagons were toppled and blocked the road.

    The hulking dragons were dead, still hitched up to the wagons with leather straps.

    The torn bup bags with salt were scattered all around.

    Andstly, the corpses of many humansid near the wagons.

    The sad end of the salt merchants.

    Quite a few days must have passed since the attack. The corpses were slowly decaying and gave off a strong stench.

    It was unapparent to the untrained eye whether the missing parts on the corpses were due to the carnivore dragons¡¯ bites or due to the dposition of the flesh.

    The ck insects crawling here and there through the rotten flesh, which had dissolved into a reddish brown colour, were a swarm of flesh flies and the white spots in patches were a colony of eggsid by the flesh flies.

    The sound of several wing beats, the kind that tingled inside the ear, could be heard in the wind when one pricked up his ears.

    ¡°Agh¡­!¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t throw up! If you let this wear you out, you¡¯ll be a drag in the battleter on!¡±

    ¡°Just you dare to throw up the good food! I¡¯ll beat it back into you until ites out of your ears!¡±

    At the rear, the veteran soldiers were giving the fledgling soldiers, who struggled against nausea, a harsh pep talk.

    Notwithstanding their greenness, they were all born in the bordend, where the forces of nature were at work. The majority of them must have seen the corpse of a dragon before, not to mention the one of a human.

    Thus the reason for their nausea ought to be the stench.

    When flesh decayed, it brought about a putrid smell. The stench tainted the air so much richer than a sweet-and-sour or fishy smell could ever hope to achieve. So it was only understandable that the young soldiers were seized with the feeling of wanting to vomit their stomach contents all over the road, as they weren¡¯t used to it.

    In fact, even Xavier would have sumbed to the boiling urge of his stomach, if not for his ¡°sense of duty¡± and ¡°vanity¡±, which corded up his gullet.

    While the youngmandant fought an inner battle with his stomach on top of the raptorial dragon, the veteran knight spoke as expected, to remind him of his duties.

    ¡°Xavier-sama, your orders please.¡±

    The middle-aged knight skilfully steered his own raptorial dragon near Xavier and urged the novicemander with a slightly harsh tone.

    Recalling the duty he had to fulfil through Knight Jospeh¡¯s frank words, Xavier suddenly seemed toe back to his senses and took a deep breath. Then he gave his orders.

    ¡°Y- Yes. Have the inspection teame to the front and examine the corpses. I want a report once they analyzed the situation. The other soldiers will keep watch on the surroundings.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°You heard the man, guys! The first squad will keep a watch on the east of the road, the second squad on the west! Third and fourth squads will guard the supply corps at the rear!¡±

    ¡°Clear the road. The inspection team ising through.¡±

    The troops went into action as soon as they heard the orders from Xavier in a slightly falsetto voice.

    The men of the inspection team trotted over to the corpses, whereupon the swarm of flesh flies, which had huddled together on the corpses like ayer of mud so far, took off all at once. The vicinity turned dark as if covered by a ck fog.

    The term inspection team sounded rather scientific, but in reality, it wasn¡¯t anything that fancy. Their members were actually ¡°skilled hunters¡±.

    But there was no one, who was more knowledgeable about this kind of thing than the hunters with hands-on experience.

    They could determine the species in question from evidences like bite marks or excrements, and estimate their numbers from the state of the victims. Moreover, they could even give a rough estimate for how long the victim had been dead based on the progress of the dposition of the corpse.

    That knowledge wasn¡¯t acquired through systematic studies, but rather through practical experiences, but it didn¡¯t hurt its credibility in any way.

    Before long, the hunters of the inspection team came up to Xavier.

    If this had been the royal capital or the mansion in the March, it would¡¯ve called for the proper etiquette, butxity was more or less tolerated on the frontlines.

    A middle-aged man with a brown three-day stubble spoke as the representative of the hunters standing in front of Xavier.

    ¡°Reporting in. We believe it were ¡®Pack Dragons¡¯ that attacked the salt merchants.¡±

    Xavier¡¯s cheeks twitched upon hearing the words from the middle-aged hunter.

    ¡°Pack Dragon¡±.

    Everyone here had heard of that name before. The carnivore dragon was that popr in the western part of the South Continent.

    There was always an exception to the rule, but as a rough ssification, the majority of herbivore dragons like the ¡°Hulking Dragon¡± or ¡°Raptorial Dragons¡± walked on four legs, whereas the carnivore dragons usually walked on two. And the ¡°Pack Dragon¡±, a carnivore dragon, was no exception to this, either.

    When full-grown, the dragon was a head or two taller than a human.

    It stood upright on two thick legs, which had a strong jumping power, and bnced its body out with a long tail. Besides the sharp ws on its short forelegs, it also had jagged fangs. It used these to prey on its target.

    To match it with an animal from Earth: A ¡°kangaroo¡± would probably mirror its silhouette the most.

    Amongst all the carnivore dragons, the ¡°Pack Dragon¡± belonged to the smaller kind, but it didn¡¯t change the fact that it was still a threat to humans.

    Just like the name ¡°Pack Dragon¡± implied, these dragons usually stayed together as a pack.

    It was amon problem that the livestock from viges in the bordends, namely the ¡°Hulking Dragons¡± and ¡°Meat Dragons¡±, were assaulted by the ¡°Pack Dragons¡± and when a viger was attacked by a carnivore dragon inside the forest, then it was in all likelihood the ¡°Pack Dragons¡±, too.

    However, Xavier knew a bit about the nature and ecology of the ¡°Pack Dragons¡±, so he inclined his head puzzled on top of his raptorial dragon in reaction to the report from the hunter.

    ¡°¡®Pack Dragons¡¯, you say? Are you sure?¡±

    The bearded hunter confidently agreed with the question of themandant.

    ¡°Yes. There is no doubt. We could not really tell anything from the corpses of the people, because they were too decayed, but the skin of the hulking dragon does not dpose so easily. We found marks from bites and ws. The assault came undoubtedly from ¡®Pack Dragons¡¯.¡±

    The hunters, experts on the topic, assured it with such emphasis. There could be no doubt then.

    However, it still didn¡¯t clear up Xavier¡¯s doubt.

    ¡°I see. If you say so, I shall believe you. But I don¡¯t get it. The salt merchants were all killed by mere ¡®Pack Dragons¡¯? Their escort was supposed to be quite numerous and skilled.¡±

    Xavier said that and let his gaze wander over the corpses of the salt merchants lying around.

    The corpses were already so decayed or eaten up that it was no longer possible to distinguish between a merchant or a guard, but judging from the scattered wreckage of short spears and bows, there had been an substantial fighting force.

    As part of his training, Xavier had once repelled ¡°Pack Dragons¡±, but based on this experience, he found it hard to imagine how a force of this size failed to repulse these ¡°Pack Dragons¡±.

    However, the bearded hunter shook his head with a stern expression.

    ¡°Xavier-sama, the size of a pack solely depends on the calibre of the alpha leader. Most of the alpha leaders only make packs with a size of ten, at best, but some old and full grown alpha leaders can have twenty to thirty dragons in their pack.

    The alpha leader of such a huge pack doesn¡¯t just have to be big and strong. The important part is whether he can feed all of them or not. In most cases, the leader is abnormally smart and they hunt cunningly.¡±

    ¡°Then the pack that attacked these merchants¡­¡±

    Comprehending the situation through the exnation from the hunter, Xavier darkened his expression.

    ¡°Yes. It must have been arge pack led by a great alpha leader. It is easily conceivable that even the good escorts of the salt merchants were defeated, when twenty or thirty coordinated ¡°Pack Dragons¡± attacked them.

    As you can see, the road is nked by trees.

    So it is not all that strange if they were killed without resistance in a surprise attack.¡±

    ¡°Twenty to thirty, huh.¡±

    The hunter with the stubbles exined, whereupon Xavier mumbled and made a serious expression with a wrinkle between his eyebrows.

    However, the hunter shook his head once more while keeping an indifferent face.

    ¡°Not quite. Xavier-sama. The twenty to thirty would be the bare minimum. But this time, I would at least estimate the pack to actually have over ¡®fifty¡¯ dragons.¡±

    ¡°Fifty, you say!? Your reason being?¡±

    As the number exceeded his forecast by far, Xavier made no secret of his surprise.

    On a closer look, even the other hunters were looking surprised upon the utterance from the bearded hunter. In other words, it was the sole opinion of the hunter with the beard.

    As if he had waited for Xavier¡¯s question, the stubble hunter eloquently presented his own theory.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you can see it from here. Please take a look at the dead hulking dragons that were pulling the freight wagons of the salt merchants. Although it¡¯s not all of them, various of them have bite wounds on their back, right?

    The flesh there is chewy and unappetizing. Most of the carnivore dragons wouldn¡¯t eat that part, unless there¡¯s not enough.

    But they got quite a bit of humans and eight hulking dragons here. Despite that, they even mangled the backs of the hulking dragons. That means¡­¡±

    ¡°The pack was so big that the tender meat from the numerous humans and hulking dragons wasn¡¯t enough to satisfy all of them?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I believe.¡±

    ¡°And you say there are more than fifty of them?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s merely a rough estimate from me, though. But I think it needs to be at least this much, considering that the merchants, coachmen, back staff, soldiers and the tender and delicious meat from the eight hulking dragons didn¡¯t fill their stomachs.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Even if it was a rough estimate, the words of the bearded hunter were convincing, so Xavier bit his bottom lip and pondered with a serious expression.

    A pack of fifty dragons.

    If that forecast turned out to be true, then it was a formidable enemy even for the hundred-strong army led by Xavier.

    Of course they wouldn¡¯t be defeated. However, young soldiers were a valuable asset to the Carpa Kingdom, since it wasn¡¯t all that long ago that the previous war had ended.

    The eptable loss of human resources was slim.

    Marquis Guzzle had deemed the current incident as a ¡°beneficial obstacle for getting his son an achievement¡±, so he had kind of forcefully pushed it through that his own army would get to resolve the incident, but depending on the future development, Xavier might have to pick the lesser evil.

    There were basically two choices: Prioritize his achievement and let valuable soldiers of his domain die. Or throw away his achievement and request the help from the royal army to protect the lives of his soldiers.

    (It¡¯s not easy.)

    At heart, Xavier put the lives of his soldiers over his own achievement, but he was aware that he was in no position to make such a decision based on emotion.

    In the not so distant future, he would inherit the Marquis title and ¡°gaining a reputation¡± was directly interconnected with protecting the interests of the March of Guzzle within the Carpa Kingdom.

    His reputation or the lives of his soldiers?

    Of course the best oue would be when he earned his reputation without letting his soldiers die, but it was more than unlikely that he would be able toplete the subjugation without casualties if the enemy really was ¡°a pack of fifty Pack Dragons¡± like the bearded hunter had spected.

    Xavier realized that his train of thought was hitting a dead-end, so he concentrated onprehending the situation before his eyes for now.

    ¡°Okay. Either way, we have to dispose of the corpses and wagons first or we can¡¯t march on.¡±

    He skilfully turned around the dragon he was riding on the spot and dered that in a loud voice to his subordinates standing in the back.

    Hearing his orders, Knight Joseph immediately added more detailed instructions.

    ¡°You heard the man. Those with an axe, clear an area big enough for cremation.

    Those that can use ¡®Parch¡¯ or ¡®Wind de¡¯, chop the felled trees into firewood for the cremation.

    After that, carry the corpses and wagon wreckages over there and use ¡®Ignition¡¯ on them. Don¡¯t forget to wear masks and gloves when you move the corpses. Don¡¯t you dare to touch them with your bare hands, unless you want to die from the poison in the corpses.

    Also, burn the scattered salt, too. It¡¯s likely to have been polluted by the corpses as well.

    And be careful that none of the fires spreads to the surroundings. Have someone with ¡®Spring of Water¡¯ be on standby just in case.

    The rest of you keeps a watch on the vicinity.

    Got it? Good.

    ¡­Do you have anything to add, Xavier-sama?¡±

    ¡°N- No.¡±

    Even while being a bit overwhelmed by the precise instructions from Knight Joseph, the addressed Xavier didn¡¯t forget his own position and took a deep breath, then

    ¡°Commence!¡±

    he dered the execution with a loud voice.

    * * *

    By the time the intense sun of the hot season started to decline in the west, ck smoke was trailing over the decayed corpses and wrecked wagons on the side of the ¡°Salt Road¡±.

    ¡°Heavy-ho!¡±

    The young soldiers were sweating all over as they pulled the ropes tied around the stinking corpses over ¡°rollers¡± made from felled trees cut into the right length.

    The abrasive rope cut into the shoulders of the soldiers, who were clenching their teeth and bending over so much that their chests nearly touched their knees.

    The sweat streamed down their cheeks and dripped from their chins onto the dry soil, soaking it ck here and there.

    However, these sweat blotches dried up in no time.

    And the scorching sun wasn¡¯t the only reason for that. The decayed corpses and wrecked freight wagons were burned together in one big fire.

    A heat that wasn¡¯t even found in a forge, hung over the clearing on the site of the road, improvised by cutting down some trees.

    Smoke was raising and the air was flickering from the red mes.

    ¡°Seems we¡¯ll get to clear the road without problems.¡±

    Xavier said that while he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a dry towel.

    The rotten corpses had all been thrown onto the fire. At first, the horrible stench had brought tears to his eyes, but now he didn¡¯t feel anything in particr.

    The stench from the rotten flesh had certainly be weaker, but more likely, his nose had quit the service and he just couldn¡¯t smell the stench anymore.

    Anyway, the functionality of the road was restored for now.

    As the criteria for one task were met, Xavier regained a bit of hisposure and averted his gaze from the zing me.

    Then he noticed something.

    ¡°Mh?¡±

    The hunter with the beard stubble, who had exined the assault earlier, was tilting his head puzzled with a wrinkle between his eyebrows.

    He must have felt Xavier¡¯s look on him. Without even being called, he came trotting to in front of Xavier.

    ¡°Xavier-sama, I¡¯ve something to report.¡±

    Judging by the sour face he made, it surely were unpleasant news again, but in his position, Xavier had to listen to it regardless.

    ¡°Speak.¡±

    He immediately urged him to speak up with an expression as if he had swallowed a bitter medicine.

    Called upon, the bearded hunter briefly lowered his head with ¡°Yes, Sir¡±, then started in a slightly quick tone.

    ¡°Something is weird, Xavier-sama. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but the wheels or axles of all three freight wagons were broken, so that they couldn¡¯t move anymore.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that.¡±

    Xavier gave a short affirmative reply to the words of the bearded hunter.

    As a matter of fact, he had noticed that, too. At first, he had wanted to use the broken wagons to transport the corpses.

    However, there wasn¡¯t a single wagon left that was functioning properly.

    He simply dismissed it as ¡°bad luck¡±, but the hunter with the beard seemed to have a different opinion on it.

    ¡°Sure, it isn¡¯t all that strange that all wagons get damaged beyond functionality by chance, since it was arge-scale assault. But as far as I can see, it seems that the ¡®Pack Dragons¡¯ destroyed the wheels of each wagon by trusting their ¡®ws¡¯ and ¡®fangs¡¯ into it.¡±

    The wheels didn¡¯t break from a driving error of the coachmen, but were deliberately attacked by the Pack Dragons.

    There was only one reason why they would do that.

    ¡°You mean, they wanted to immobilize them? Are the Pack Dragons really that smart?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I find it hard to believe, too, but it would be better when we assume so. There are actually a few more points that confirm their high intelligence.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    In reaction to Xavier¡¯s enquiry, the bearded hunter deepened the wrinkle between his eyebrows and continued with a grim tone.

    ¡°Look around. There isn¡¯t a single corpse of a Pack Dragon. In other words, that means the escorts of the salt merchant were one-sidedly killed without even defeating one dragon.¡±

    ¡°And that¡¯s something impossible?¡±

    The hunter with the beard mused over Xavier¡¯s question, then shook his head.

    ¡°No, I wouldn¡¯t go as far as calling it impossible. As you can see, the road is small and nked by densely growing trees. If an coordinated pack of Pack Dragons attacked from both sides at the same time, it¡¯s conceivable that the escorts were wiped out without getting to retaliate.

    Though, only on the assumption that all the escorts had let their guard down.¡±

    After finishing his sentence, the bearded hunter inclined his head as if he himself wasn¡¯t quite convinced by what he had said.

    It certainly was weird. Of course it was inevitable that the soldiers would grow weary when they advanced on a peaceful road for a long time, but even so, it would mean that the soldiers hired by the salt merchants were extremely weak when they let their guard down so much that the ¡°Pack Dragons¡± could perfectly carry out a surprise attack.

    Something was clearly fishy about that, even if it wasn¡¯t impossible.

    That in turn naturally raised the usibility of another theory to exin the current situation.

    ¡°With this in mind, I believe that the reason why we didn¡¯t find any dead Pack Dragons, lies with the dragons, too, not the ¡®off-guard escort¡¯.¡±

    ¡°The reason lies with the dragons¡­¡±

    Xavier was about to ask ¡°what reason specifically?¡±, when it happened.

    ¡°A flying dragon in the sky from north-north-east!¡±

    The loud voice from the outlook soldier resounded through the vicinity.

    ¡°!?¡±

    Xavier¡¯s look reflexively turned to the north-north-eastern sky. There it was.

    A ck spot was hanging all alone in the glorious blue sky of the hot season.

    The silhouette only looked like a ck dot at first, but it gradually grew bigger and its finer outline became noticeable.

    A long neck. A long tail. And wings so big that they probably could cover eighty percent of its whole body.

    It was without a doubt a winged dragon. And one in a different league than the ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡± that humans used formunication: A genuine Flying Dragon.

    ¡°All hands, prepare for anti-airbat in small groups! Archers, nock an arrow and wait for the signal!¡±

    Xavier gave the whole team orders so smoothly that it even surprised him inwardly.

    His orders were nothing but the standard protocol for when the army encountered a flying dragon, but his speed of reaction was quite alright for a greenhorn on his first mission.

    ¡°A flying dragon!?¡±

    ¡°Why here?¡±

    ¡°Damnit, was it lured here by the smoke!?¡±

    Even with shouting all over the ce, the soldiers took up a defensive stance like Xavier had ordered. They formed small groups and put up their short spears above their heads, so that it looked like hedgehogs.

    ¡°Xavier-sama! Over here!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Andr¨¨s. You, too!¡±

    Xavier jumped off his raptorial dragon and pulled on the hand by his squire Andr¨¨s, he slipped into the phnx formation of themandant¡¯s personal squad.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    Surrounding by his subordinates with readied spears, Xavier got his favoured short bow from his squire Andr¨¨s and took a deep breath. Then he mumbled to himself while keeping his eyes on the Flying Dragon in the sky.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a Flying Dragon. What¡¯s it doing here in the forest¡­¡±

    He wasn¡¯t whimpering or anything.

    Therge Flying Dragons mainly hunted on ins with good visibility and rarely appeared in a forest like this.

    Because it was nearly impossible for them tond in the dense forest with their enormous, membranous wings.

    Due to that, the party was pretty much equipped with short spears and short bows, not expecting to fight against a Flying Dragon like Xavier had mentioned.

    If they were going to fight against a Flying Dragon, they ought to have long spears instead of short spears and longbows instead of short bows.

    ¡°Based on its flight characteristics, it does not seem like it¡¯s hunting here. I think it¡¯s on its way to hunt on a nearby in.¡±

    The bearded hunter had appeared next to Xavier at some point with a short bow in hand. He was taking a knee and said that to Xavier with a tensed voice while watching the Flying Dragon in the sky.

    ¡°It isn¡¯t after us?¡±

    Xavier asked him, whereupon the hunter nodded shortly while cautiously keeping the dragon in sight.

    ¡°I doubt it. Of course we can¡¯t be careless, but hunting humans inside a forest is quite dangerous for a Flying Dragon, too.¡±

    It normally tended to be misunderstood, but in reality, therge Flying Dragons weren¡¯t all that much of a threat to an army.

    Of course its kind was without a doubt a tough enemy and extremely difficult to deal with for humans, since it swooped down on them from the untouchable sky domain, but the damaged inflicted on an army that way wasn¡¯t all too severe.

    Think about it. The Flying Dragon was a dragon that flew through the sky. Its prey was limited to ones with a weight that the dragon could lift up with its ws after all.

    So even when a Flying Dragon attacked a group of humans, the actual damage usually amounted to one or two people, three at most.

    In fact, travelling merchants, who couldn¡¯t hire enough escorts, normally brought one or two old ¡°Hulking Dragons¡± along as a ¡°sacrifice¡± to the Flying Dragon when they crossed over a in.

    To paraphrase it with heartless words: This army would lose not more than three people, even when they were attacked by a Flying Dragon now. From the ¡°military¡± point of view, it was impossible to sustain any major causalities, unless a vital and irreceable person like Xavier or Knight Joseph was amongst the victims.

    Nevertheless, it was hardly afort for the individual soldier.

    There was a chance of 1:100 or 2:100 to get killed by a Flying Dragon. Be it spearman, archer or supplier, ¡°everyone¡± alike watched the Flying Dragon and focussed on the ¡°sky¡± in fear of that.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Amidst that nerve-wracking silence, only the sound from the pping wings of the dragon flying in the sky rang out loudly.

    A few archers were readjusting their aim in a posture that looked like they would fall t onto the ground of the road at any moment. The point ¡°right above the head¡± was a blind spot for an archer. An exceptional skill was required to shoot straight upwards while standing.

    Fortunately however, their alertness came to nothing now.

    Considering the eyesight of the Flying Dragon, it was impossible that it didn¡¯t notice them. Just like the hunter had said, the Flying Dragon must not have wanted to dive into the narrow road with trees densely growing on both sides, either.

    The Flying Dragon flew past them, far over their heads.

    ¡°¡­..Fuh.¡±

    Once the silhouette of the dragon waspletely out of sight, Xavier unwittingly made a sigh of relief.

    And he wasn¡¯t the only one.

    The tension from the encounter with an unexpected difficulty eased in the entire body of soldiers when they got out of that difficulty without any problems. At that very moment.

    ¡°HISS!¡±

    A couple ofrge silhouettes attacked Xavier¡¯s party from both side of the road.

    ¡°They¡± jumped with their two thick legs from the shadow of the trees high into the sky over the party¡¯s heads in a single bound and squashed the totally off-guard soldiers from above just like that.

    ¡°UWAH!?¡±

    ¡°HII!?¡±

    ¡°GAH¡­.!¡±

    Crushing the soldiers underfoot, ¡°they¡± revealed their appearance on the road.

    The whole body was covered by green scales and it was one head taller than a human: A two-legged carnivore dragon.

    The Pack Dragon.

    Seven Pack Dragons in total, three from the right and four from the left, ttened seven soldiers under their thick legs and drooled from their mouths that were showing off their sharp fangs.

    When did they had hidden themselves on the side of the road? Maybe they had closed in from the forest while the party had been distracted by the Flying Dragon in the sky?

    In that case, the alpha leader of these Pack Dragons even used the movement pattern of the Flying Dragon, which was actually supposed to be their feared enemy as well, to their advantage.

    ¡°Wh- What¡­!?¡±

    Whatever the real circumstances were, it still took a few more moments until the novicemandant aka Xavier adopted to the sudden development.

    The Pack Dragons had made a surprise attack while everyone was focussed on the Flying Dragon in the sky.

    They seeded in such a cunning assault that it was hardly imaginable that these dragons lived based on instincts. The first wave of their attack had hit several soldiers with their ws.

    Now it made sense. If they could perform such a perfect surprise attack, it was understandable that the guards of the salt merchants ended up dead without resistance, too.

    To the point that the youngmander Xavier considered such heedless things in the back of his otherwise nk mind.

    However, even if the escorts of the salt merchants had been quite skilled, they neither were as good as the proficient knights, nor as numerous.

    There was no way that the surprise attack from the Pack Dragons, which had wiped out the merchant party, would also be able to y the hundred-strong March army led by Xavier.

    ¡°¡­All hands, engage! The shield soldiers take position towards the forest, the spearmen attack from behind them! The archers shoot from within the formation! Don¡¯t let the Pack Dragons near the wagons!¡±

    Snapping back to his senses, Xavier issuedmands with a cracked voice.

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±

    ¡°Understood. Supplier! Make sure to replenish the arrows!¡±

    Upon hearing theirmandant, the soldiers seemed to recall their duties now and gradually acted like they were supposed to again.

    The battle had started with the surprise attack by the Pack Dragons, but the tide was slowly changing.

    Xavier was leading a pure military party with the mission to subjugate dragons. Once they recovered from the surprise attack, they were not beaten so easily.

    ¡°Shield soldiers, form a wall!¡±

    ¡°Spearmen, fall back! Focus on keeping them in check rather than attacking them!¡±

    ¡°Archers, shoot! Dragons that are attacking a fallenrade take priority! Don¡¯t hesitate to shoot! Your fellow soldier will be done for anyway when the dragon drags him into the forest!¡±

    As soon as Xavier and the others changed over to an organized counterattack aftering back to their senses, the battle was locked in stalemate.

    The soldiers had taken up position with short spears andrge, wooden shield at both side of the road and the Pack Dragons had quickly retreated into the forest, where they were sticking out their long necks from in-between the tress and raising shrill GYAA noises that hurt the ears.

    The archers with their short bows at the rear were sometimes sending arrows when they saw an opening, but the branches or the leafage of the trees were in the way and barely any arrows hit the Pack Dragons.

    In some rare cases, an arrow slipped through the territorial defence and hit a dragon, but in the end, itcked power, since it was shot with a short bow.

    Its draw weightcked the power to kill the dragon, who had a thick skin and a sturdy skeletal structure despite his medium size, with one shot.

    ¡°GRAAH!¡±

    An unlucky Pack Dragon was hit by an arrow and red blood shed from the wound as it shrieked, but it was far from being a lethal injury.

    Xavier kept his gaze on the Pack Dragons and his subordinates, who were ring at each other at the boundary line between the forest and the road, while he called out to the knight aiming with a bow next to him.

    ¡°Joseph, how many did we lose?¡±

    ¡°Only one for sure. He was dragged alive into the forest earlier. Otherwise we have five wounded from the initial surprise attack. They can¡¯t fight anymore, but their lives aren¡¯t in immediate danger. Right now, they¡¯re resting on the supply wagons.¡±

    Knight Joseph replied like that with a in tone while he kept the arrowhead and his sharp eyes aimed at the Pack Dragon in the shadows of the trees.

    As a veteran knight, Joseph was using a ¡°Dragon Bow¡±.

    It wasn¡¯t any bigger than the short bow from the other soldiers, but its draw weight and range was even higher than a longbow, not to mention the short bow. Truly a masterpiece.

    And it was even possible to kill a Pack Dragon with a single arrow as long as it hit the right spot.

    As a matter of fact, one of the dead Pack Dragons lying on the road right now was in by Joseph¡¯s arrow.

    Xavier, too, was itching to use his bow, but his reasoning suppressed that urge and he was getting a hold of the situation instead. Going on the attack would mean to concentrate on a single target for at least a moment.

    When an inexperiencedmander like Xavier narrowed his field of vision like that, it could cause fatal troubles for the force.

    Xavier only exerted himself to get a grasp of the current situation.

    (Counting the dead and wounded, we lost six men in total. Not a number that leaves us unable to fight. We already set up a perimeter defence. After that¡­ it became a stalemate.)

    At present, Xavier¡¯s army couldn¡¯t lessen the number of Pack Dragons as these had retreated into the forest, but likewise, the Pack Dragons were unable to make a sessful attack on them, too.

    ¡°We do have prepared the suitable equipment to get into the forest when the situation calls for it¡­¡±

    Maybe he had gotten impatient over the stalemate, but Xavier unconsciously muttered that.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say I agree. These Pack Dragons are better organized than we thought. I¡¯m not saying we would lose when we fight in their territory, the forest, but it would undoubtedly cost us dearly.¡±

    However, the experienced knight standing next to him dismissed the utterance from the youngmandant.

    Xavier himself must have realized how dangerous his idea was, too.

    He simply replied with a short ¡°right¡± to Knight Joseph and abandoned his n.

    ¡°But what do we do then? At this rate, the stalemate won¡¯t break. And our supply of arrows is limited.¡±

    ¡°I think we can keep it like this for a while. Sure, they¡¯re strangely numerous and coordinated, but that¡®s all to it. If the stalemate continues, the first one to get impatient will surely be¡­¡±

    their side, was what he was going to say when one Pack Dragon stuck out its long neck from the forest to snap at a short spear and exposed its head on the edge of the road, as if to meet Joseph¡¯s anticipation.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    Knight Joseph didn¡¯t let this opportunity slide. He quickly let an arrow loose from his dragon bow, which went into the head of the Pack Dragon.

    ¡°GYAH!?¡±

    Pretty much like a horizontal sh of light, the arrow perfectly pierced the Pack Dragon¡¯s skin on its head and dug deeply into the skull. In contrast to the human brain, the brain of a Pack Dragon was iparable small, so even a headshot was often not lethal, but luck seemed to be on his side this time.

    Shot in the head by Knight Joseph, the Pack Dragon protruded its upper body beyond the shades of the trees and tumbled down.

    ¡°Ohh!¡±

    ¡°Nothing less from Joseph-sama!¡±

    The soldiers morale went up remarkably when there was finally a triumph after the long stalemate.

    ¡°Well done, Joseph. I thought they were clever, but some of them are quite careless, too, I guess.¡±

    While praising him, the youngmandant spoke out his doubt with an inclined head, whereupon Knight Joseph quickly drew another arrow from the quiver on his back and showed an audacious grin.

    ¡°In the end, they¡¯re just dragons. No matter how smart the alpha leader is, the underlings are just animals acting on instinct. They won¡¯tply with a ¡®waiting¡¯ order forever, even if its an order from their scary leader.¡±

    ¡°I see. So they cracked under the pressure of the stalemate first.¡±

    The wrinkles between Xavier¡¯s eyebrows ckened a bit upon the first bright news after the start of the battle.

    He observed the forest with a bit calmer look and it certainly felt like the silhouettes of the Pack Dragons, hiding between the trees, had moved somewhat closer to the road than before.

    In the meantime, another Pack Dragon reached the limit of its patience and leaped onto the road while roaring and spilling drool from its widely-opened mouth.

    ¡°GRAAH!¡±

    But when a single Pack Dragon came out onto the road, it was ying directly into the hands of the waiting soldiers.

    ¡°Now!¡±

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    ¡°There!¡±

    The archers let it rain arrows from their drawn bows and the closest spearman threw the short spear in his right hand with all his might at close range in order to finish it off.

    ¡°HGI¡­!¡±

    The careless Pack Dragon looked like a hedgehog with all the arrows stuck in its entire body and breathed itsst when the thrown spear deeply pierced his torso in the end.

    ¡°Good, keep it up!¡±

    These encouraging words unwittingly left Xavier¡¯s mouth.

    If the impatient Pack Dragons came out little by little like this, they could conveniently y them one by one.

    Such an optimistic hope took shape in his mind. However, a loud roar resounded over the road from the forest, nipping that hope in the bud.

    ¡°GUAAAAAH!¡±

    That roar was more than just loud. It had a clear intent and order embedded in it, which distinguished it from the simple howling of a beast.

    ¡°Xavier-sama, to your right!¡±

    In reaction to the words of the young squire Andr¨¦s, Xavier reflexively turned his eyes to the forest on his right, where he saw a silhouette deep inside the forest.

    ¡°!?¡±

    Xavier unconsciously swallowed his saliva.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ huge.¡±

    ¡°Yes.

    The trees were thwarting a clear sight, but from its silhouette alone, it became apparent that ¡°it¡± was not amon creature.

    It ought to be standing far behind the other Pack Dragons, which hade as close to the road as possible, but on a nce, it looked like it had the same size like the other dragons or was even a bit bigger at worst.

    Normally, the alpha leader of the Pack Dragons was one head bigger than the typical Pack Dragon, but this one was probably even two heads bigger than the typical alpha leader.

    The Pack Dragon was usually ssified as a ¡°medium-sized carnivore dragon¡±, but this alpha leader was a bit too big to be called medium-sized. With its size, it was more fit to be called a rge-sized carnivore dragon on the small side¡±.

    ¡°GARUUIII!!¡±

    While Xavier and the others were captivated by its huge silhouette, the alpha leader let another loud howl resound through the area.

    In the next moment then, the Pack Dragons, snorting in the shadows of the trees near the edge of the road, were backing off all at once.

    They were retreating? The soldiers instinctively started to rx, so Xavier reflexively called out to them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down! All hands, stay alert!¡±

    His instructions were by no means wrong. If anything, it was praiseworthy that he, as a fledglingmander, immediately felt the tension of the troops plummeting and decided to reprimand them at once.

    Fortunately however, that caution turned out to be futile.

    RUSTLE. The noise of swaying branches and undergrowth gradually faded into the distance.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Once the noise hadpletely vanished, Xavier slowly counted till ten, then asked Knight Joseph and the bearded hunter next to him for confirmation.

    ¡°¡­Did they¡­ really retreat?¡±

    The two of them nodded in unison.

    ¡°Yes, all their presences have vanished.¡±

    ¡°The howl earlier was the sign to retreat. The Pack Dragons basically don¡¯te back for the same prey right away when they¡¯ve given up on it once.¡±

    With the certification from the knight, a professional soldier, and the hunter, an expert for dragons, Xavier finally rxed his shoulders, too.

    ¡°I see. Everyone, stand at ease. Give me a report on the casualties after treating the wounded.¡±

    As soon as Xavier uttered these words, the soldiers, now a little less than a hundred, rxed as they sunk down to the floor.

    * * *

    The sun was sinking to the west and its reddish rays shone upon Xavier¡¯s party while they were dealing with the aftermath of the operation.

    Treating the wounded was especially difficult.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to rinse it. Clench your teeth.¡±

    ¡°AGH!?¡±

    The clothes of the wounded soldiers were ripped, theid open wounds were rinsed with a lot of water and the bleedings were stopped by wrapping a clean cloth around it.

    Those with a fracture were held down by a few people and had their bone set, then it was stabilized by tying a splint to it with a piece of cloth.

    Right now, only this kind of treatment was possible here. But depending on the time and ce, even this treatment could make the difference between life and death.

    Before long, the supply corps had finished treating all the wounded soldiers and their captain came over to Xavier for a report.

    ¡°Xavier-sama, we have finished the treatment of the wounded. For now, no one¡¯s life is in immediate danger. Time will tell their fate.¡±

    Xavier replied to the captain of the supply corps with ¡°well done¡±. His face showed an obviousplexion of relief.

    After all, it were good news that the injuries of the wounded soldiers weren¡¯t fatal.

    But of course there was no knowing what would happen, just like the captain had said. People that were wounded by the ws or fangs of dragons, often caught a high feverter on. A fever attack was a sufficient cause of death for a soldier weakened by an injury.

    Xavier felt the urge to visit the wounded, but on a second thought, there were other things that took priority, so he continued the conversation.

    ¡°What about the wagons? Can you repair them?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Luckily only one wagon has its wheel damaged by ws, so we can get it running again with a spare wheel for now. Well, we need to exchange the whole wagon when we reach a town, though.¡±

    The captain answered Xavier¡¯s question like that and scratched his head.

    The supply corps wasn¡¯t just responsible for transporting supplies. It was a group of specialized personnel from which some could repair armours, weapons or broken wagons on the spot when necessary, too.

    In a way, all the men from the supply corps had the most outstanding performance in this battle.

    Because they had kept the ¡°Hulking Dragons¡±, which were pulling the wagons, under control the whole time when they were surrounded by the Pack Dragons.

    The squires had aplished a simr deed by soothing the ¡°Raptorial Dragons¡±, the mounts of the knights, but it sure didn¡¯tpare to the troubles of the coachmen. The ¡°Raptorial Dragons¡± of the knights were trained forbat, whereas the ¡°Hulking Dragons¡± were only drilled for manualbour. Their adaptabilities towardsbat were in different leagues.

    Their effort deserved some kind of rewardter on. As not to forget it, Xavier made a memo in his mind and questioned the captain of the supply corps.

    ¡°Okay. We¡¯re moving out as soon as the wagon is repaired. Sorry, but be quick with it. It¡¯ll be noughing matter when the spilled blood attracts other dragons now. Ah, another thing, I want the wounded to be transported on the wagons. Is that possible?¡±

    The captain of the supply corpse mused for a bit upon his question, then approved.

    ¡°Yes, that should work out. We haven¡¯t utilized the full capacity of the wagons to begin with and the freight lessened as we have usedrge amounts of water here, even if that¡®s not something to be happy about.¡±

    ¡°Right, the water is a problem, too¡­ Okay. I¡¯ll leave the repairs of the wagon and the transport of the wounded to you. Do what you can.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±

    The supply corps¡¯ captain replied with a loud voice, then rushed back to the freight wagons.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Xavier watched the back of the leaving captain for a bit, but before long, he turned his gaze forward again.

    ¡°Joseph.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°It would be reckless to give chase with what we have, right?¡±

    Rather than a question, Xavier¡¯s sentence was closer to confirming what he was already convinced of. The veteran knight nodded short in response.

    ¡°Yes. We do know the identity of our enemy now, so we may seed to some extent when we proceed with caution, but our casualties would definitely exceed a tolerable level.¡±

    The forest was the territory of the dragons. ying close to fifty coordinated Pack Dragons with a bit less than hundred men was a bit too difficult.

    Thus, Xavier made a decision, albeit biting his bottom lip regretfully.

    ¡°¡­Okay. My subjugation is a failure. We will ask the royal army for support.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Knight Joseph was about to add ¡°a wise decision¡±, but swallowed these words.

    The youngmandant had thrusted aside his regret at thest moment and made a rational decision, so these words might have only sounded like sarcasm to him.

    Even if these words were meant as a genuine praise, it was better not to speak them out when there was a possibility that the other party would misunderstand its intention.

    As Knight Joseph stayed silent, Xavier spoke while still gazing beyond the road.

    ¡°Once the wagon is repaired, we march on. Have them get ready, so we can leave any time.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. Are we going to turn back to the main town of the March?¡±

    Xavier retained a rigid expression and shook his head to Joseph¡¯s question.

    ¡°No, far from it. We¡¯ll follow the road into the royal domain. That way, we can have a doctor look after the wounded more quickly.¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    The veteran knight concealed his inner thoughts on the decision of the youthfulmander and raised an impressed voice without protesting.

    In fact, Xavier was by no means wrong.

    If they simply wanted to reach the nearest settlement, then making an U-turn here would be the fastest way, but following the road straight ahead like this towards the border of the royal domain was the best choice if the aim was ¡°the nearest ce with a physician¡±.

    There was a rtivelyrge military instation on the border of the royal domain and these instations in the Carpa Kingdom had at least one physician stationed there.

    The worry about the wounded soldier undoubtedly upied a majority of Xavier¡¯s mind.

    But at the same time, Joseph was thinking.

    (The reinforcements deployed by the capital will definitely pass through that military instation. Xavier-sama surely wants to regroup with them there and set out himself again.)

    Considering Xavier¡¯s position as the sessor of the March of Guzzle, it wasn¡¯t a fantasy that he himself would lead the reinforcements as well, depending on the status of themander of the reinforcements.

    Most likely, Xavier hadn¡¯t given up yet on getting himself a clear achievement in this battle.

    His action seemed a bit dangerous to the experienced knight Joseph, but likewise, it could be said that his struggle for fame and military recognition was proof that he perfectly understood what his father or subjects expected from him.

    ¡°The wounded worry me. I want to hurry as fast as their condition allows it. Joseph, would it be a problem when we let the soldiers that can¡¯t walk anymore, ride behind us on our raptorial dragons?¡±

    Joseph felt the strong impulse to support the youngster again as the greenmandant tried to get the best oue for the mission entrusted to him with all his might.

    ¡°Should be alright. Strictly speaking, it would be against the militaryw to let a foot soldier ride a raptorial dragon, but right now, we are still more or less in action. And it¡¯s a tacit agreement that adaptive decisions on the battlefield are above the militaryw.¡±

    Knight Joseph nodded slightly and approved of Xavier¡¯s idea by saying that.

    The ¡°Raptorial Dragon¡±, ridden by knights such as Xavier or Joseph, had an even bigger physique than the horsemonly known as Heavy Breton, and roughly twice its strength.

    In terms of resilience, it could carry two fully armoured people for a long period without any problems. Even three people were possible with periodical breaks and feeding without making it run.

    ¡°Good. Then we¡¯ll go across the ¡®Salt Road¡¯ as fast as the condition of the wounded allows us to. We need to revise the schedules for breaks, drawing water and night watches. Now that I¡¯ve failed my mission, I¡¯ve the obligation to report it and request reinforcements as soon as possible.¡±

    Xavier dered while he stared into the distance of the ¡°Salt Road¡±, which was bathed in the red sunlight of the setting sun.

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    It kind of sounded like the youthfulmandant was trying to hide his weakness, whereat Knight Joseph shortly responded with a faithful voice.

 Chapter Volume 3 4

    In the Capital.

    On a certain day, Zenjirou was already working since the early morning on a rare asion. He met with numerous nobles in the royal pce and was pressed for etiquette.

    He sat collected on the chair for the Prince Consort next to the throne while dressed up nobles came to in front of him one after another, bowing their heads.

    ¡°I am Thomas, the current head and Baron of the Pantoja Family.

    This year again, my humble self will be at your service together with my wife in the mansion of the Pantoja Family in the Capital. I retain my enduring loyalty to the Kingdom and the Royal Family unchanged.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Baron Pantoja, your loyalty is appreciated. As her proxy, I promise you to pass on your words to Her Highness Aura.¡±

    When Zenjirou said that and nodded, the middle-aged man in front of him¡ª Baron Thomas Pantoja deeply lowered his head once more, then slowly stepped back.

    In exchange, an old man, who had waited in the back of the room, came forward to Zenjirou.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Zenjirou-sama. My name is Brass, the previous head and knight of the Bobone Family. The family has detached my old self to serve in the Capital this year again.

    I shall fulfil any duty to the utmost of my abilities when either of you two Highnessesmands it.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Sir Brass. I will let Her Highness Aura know about your unchanged loyalty.¡±

    The old man bowed deeply again and retreated as well.

    Next up, a young knight stepped forward.

    ¡°I am Francesc, the oldest son of the Caballero Family¡¯s current head: Knight Conrad. Just likest year, the responsibility for serving in the Capital falls upon myself¡­¡±

    Everyone was practically saying the same.

    In short, they dered that they would be serving in the Capital as the representative of their family and Zenjirou acknowledged it.

    A formal exchange, so to speak.

    With an exceptionally powerful Royal Family, the Carpa Kingdom, a feudal state, had the unwritten rule that one person of the feudal families from each domain, either the previous, current or future head of the family, permanently stayed in the Capital.

    The custom had originally started from the connotation of a ¡°hostage¡± to the royal family, but nowadays, there were many merits for both the royal family and the feudal lords, so it was continued without any ill will in particr.

    Like previously mentioned, the royal authority in the Carpa Kingdom was extremely distinctive. Due to that, it was quite beneficial for the nobles, too, to have someone from the family with a high decision-making power, remain in the capital.

    The gathering of these influential nobles in the capital stimted its economy greatly. And the richer the economy, the moremon people congregated in the capital from the countryside.

    Many rights and interests emerged in the capital when its poption increased and the economic power improved. And the noblemen didn¡¯t want to leave the capital in order to obtain these rights and interests or not to lose them.

    Each noble family had its own ulterior motives when they detached a representative of their families to the capital. Once every year, that person then announced its delegation to the Queen and got permission to stay in the capital.

    Normally Queen Aura was supposed to carry out this formality, but all of those, who were scheduled to ¡°announce their stay¡± today, were the same delegates fromst year, so Zenjirou assumed that duty in her stead, since she was busy.

    (The usual substitutions involve all kind of troublesome formalities and regtions, but otherwise it¡¯s just simple greetings. Better let me handle these things than to bother Aura with it.)

    Sitting on his chair, Zenjirou received the greeting from one noble after another with a serious expression while such thoughts crossed his mind.

    Right now, Aura ought to have a difficult conference with the emissary from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell in a different room of the royal pce.

    Zenjirou was taking action and substituting for her like this because he wanted to ease her burden even just a bit.

    Of course he wasn¡¯t making an unapanied appearance at important events, which could be interpreted as a ¡°shift of power¡± from the Queen to the Prince Consort, neither was he taking care of matters that requiredplicated decisions.

    The events he assumed in her stead were only ones like this, where even a speaking plush toy would suffice as long as it had a ¡°royal¡± title.

    It were hardly worthwhile jobs, but doing them ¡°helped¡± Aura, which was more than enough for him.

    However, there was no way that the noblemen of this world were able toprehend that sentiment of his. Thus, some of them used asions like his one to approach him in various ways.

    The middle-aged nobleman that had just kneeled in front of Zenjirou, was of that kind.

    ¡°My name is Diego, the current head and Baron of the Duran Family. My humble self will continue to serve in the Capital for my family again this year. Still, I have got to say, it sure is hot in the capital. My domain is higher above the sea level than the capital, so I am not yet used to the heat here.

    The countryside has nothing to offer when faced with the capital, but you cannot help but miss it during this season.¡±

    Zenjirou¡¯s look turn a little bit wary when the middle-aged noble continued the unnecessary chit-chat.

    But the nobleman didn¡¯t notice the petty change in him and rattled on.

    ¡°There is hardly anything interesting in the countryside, but the beautifulndscape and clean air are something to brag about. It would be an extraordinaire honour if you ever were to retreat there for the summer, Zenjirou-sama. My family would give you the warmest wee.¡±

    Upon his words, Zenjirou tensed up his expression and narrowed his eyes to slits a bit.

    It sounded like a simple invitation to a summer resort, but that wasn¡¯t the only meaning behind it.

    At the present time, Aura and Zenjirou were the only royalty in the Carpa Kingdom, not including their baby Carlos Zenkichi. If Zenjirou, as one of the two royalty, left the capital for a ¡°summer resort¡±, then Aura, as the Queen, would naturally have to remain in the capital, since it was the hub for politics.

    In other words, this middle-aged noble wanted to invite only Zenjirou himself to his domain, without being apanied by Aura.

    (Aw, I guess he also thinks that I¡¯m discontent with my current standing?)

    While getting a bit fed up inwardly, Zenjirou assessed the thoughts of the man kneeling in front of him.

    In consideration of the patriarchal values in this country, his position could certainly only be seen as insufficient.

    The pride of the average aristocratic male in the Carpa Kingdom would definitely not allow it that the wife took the reigns and he himself stood on the sidelines.

    (Well, be it out of good-will or out of ill-will, there¡¯ll never be an end to people, who suggest things like this. But it¡¯s annoying how I can¡¯t just ignore them.)

    Only sighing inwardly, Zenjirou raised an affectedughter and replied.

    ¡°Oho, that sounds appealing. I certainly would like to pay a visit with my wife when Zenkichi hase of age.

    I will count on you when the timees.¡±

    These yfulish words probably tranted to something like this: ¡°I¡¯ve not the slightest intention to separate from Aura right now.¡±

    ¡°H- Hmm, that will not be any time soon. Very well, I will dly entertain you on that asion then.¡±

    The true meaning must have been conveyed to him.

    The middle-aged nobleman looked at Zenjirou with disappointment and lowered his head deeply.

    ¡°Good. I will keep it in mind.¡±

    Zenjirou answered, pretending not to have noticed the change in the noble of middle age at all.

    * * *

    The work in the royal pcested as long as the sun was out in order to regain a bit of the time that was lost during the nearly three hour break at noon during the hot season.

    Due to that, it had gotten so dark that Zenjirou walked with unsteady steps by the time he returned to the inner pce.

    Guided by a waiting maid with a metalntern for light, he made it back to the living room in the inner pce, where he curtly thanked the maid and opened the door by himself.

    ¡°¡­Fuh.¡±

    The first thing he did in the already dim living room was to switch on the LED floormps.

    Their white light was a bit dazzling, as his eyes had been used to the darkness.

    Zenjirou slowly took of his clothes in the now illuminated living room.

    A thick double-bogey trousers. A tunic that was ovepping at the front like Japanese clothes. And a red vest worn over it.

    All of them were made out of fabrics with a high air permeability, as it was customary for a southern country, but the formal dress was still hot, since it was a tight fit.

    He had thrown them off in no time and stood there only in his T-shirt and trunks. For a moment, he looked at the freezer of the five-door refrigerator standing near the wall, but he shook off the temptation by shaking his head after a moment of consideration.

    ¡°I can¡¯t. The ice won¡¯t be enough for the night when I take it out now.¡±

    At least until Aura came back, he ought to endure without the cold breeze from the ice fan.

    Instead, he took out the silver jug from the refrigerator and poured its contents into a ss, emptying it in one gulp.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    His whole body started to sweat, pretty much like immediately oozing out the fluid he had just taken in.

    ¡°Ah, maybe I should get into the bath without waiting for Aura?¡±

    Tempted like that, he unconsciously directed his gaze at the shelf with the bathing goods and then remembered something.

    ¡°¡­Reminds me, my soap making isn¡¯t really going well.¡±

    A few days ago, he had started to try his hand at making soap from lye and vegetable oil, but his effort was hardly paying off for now.

    The result of the first day had just been ¡°oil mixed with ash¡± and the mixture got rtively betterter on, but only a few trails were worth to be called ¡°saponification¡±.

    Did the problem lie with the lye? Or the oil? Or maybe his performance? He just didn¡¯t know. For the time being, it definitely meant a lot of trial-and-error.

    ¡°Perhaps I ought to start with making caustic soda? Nah, making caustic soda from natural ingredients definitely sounds more difficult than making soap without it.¡±

    There was no end to his troubles.

    In the modern age, handmade soap was typically made by letting vegetable oil react with a sodium hydroxide solution (caustic soda).

    Leaching ashes was a way older technique. The making of soap became so much easier by using caustic soda when avable.

    Technically, there was a guide on how to make caustic soda on hisputer, too, but needless to say, he hadn¡¯t actually tried that yet.

    Zenjirou knew of two methods to make caustic soda.

    The first one was to electrolyze salt water, but that required an ¡°ion exchange membrane¡±, which was impossible to obtain here, so he could only give up on that method.

    Therefore, he was considering the second one right now.

    That method involved the metathesis reaction between ¡°calcium hydroxide¡° and ¡°sodium carbonate¡± (a reaction between twopounds to make two differentpounds), which altered them into ¡°sodium hydroxide¡± (caustic soda) and ¡°calcium carbonate¡±.

    So it required ¡°calcium hydroxide¡± and ¡°sodium carbonate¡± at the beginning.

    The calcium hydroxide was also called ¡°ke lime¡±. It could be created by letting water react with ¡°quick lime¡±, which was gained from burning shells.

    As for the otherpound: The sodium carbonate could be obtained by heating up sodium bicarbonate aka ¡°baking soda¡±.

    In other words, it was theoretically possible to create ¡°caustic soda¡± as long as you had ¡°natural baking soda¡± and ¡°shells¡±.

    Speaking of ¡°shells¡± and ¡°natural baking soda¡±, these two happened to be relevant to the ss manufacture as well, so Aura already held a certain amount of them avable in the royal pce for it.

    The raw materials were already gathered in the royal pce. In that sense, it was understandable that Zenjirou was itching to try his hand at making ¡°caustic soda¡±.

    However, making ¡°caustic soda¡± from ¡°shells¡± and ¡°natural baking soda¡± naturally involved various working steps.

    It shouldn¡¯t be easy to aplish for aplete amateur like Zenjirou without the instructions of an expert.

    Even when thinking positive, he ought to be prepared that it took a couple of months to clear each step.

    And even if he were to clear all steps and seed in making ¡°caustic soda¡±, the ¡°caustic soda¡± was a hazardous substance that could steal your eyesight when even just a bit got into your eyes.

    Moreover, the substance was difficult to handle because it could change by reacting with the carbon dioxide in the air or liquefy through absorbing water vapour.

    Thinking about it carefully, it was more realistic to make the soap through leaching ashes right now instead of creating ¡°caustic soda¡± for it first.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll continue with the current method for a bit longer. Its more or less emulsifying now anyway. Guess I¡¯ll make a diagram with the lye and oil percentage on the x- and y-axe, respectively, and track its tendency.¡±

    Bringing his brain gear into action, Zenjirou faced theputer and switched it on, opening the spreadsheet software right away.

    ¡°First I¡¯ve to prepare various types of ashes to make lye. A couple of different vegetable oils are a must, too. Maybe I even ought to blend them? No, I¡¯ve to gauge the general tendency first.

    I feel a bit bad about it, but the maids will have to help out.¡±

    In the end, he sat in front of hisputer like that and immersed himself in drawing up a n for the future course of action until Aura came back.

    * * *

    Night-time after the sun had set.

    The married couple, Zenjirou and Queen Aura, sat on the ck couches in the living room of the inner pce like always and was talking.

    ¡°Ehm, then it¡¯s pretty much set in stone that the Prince and Princess of the Twin Kingdom will pay us a visit?¡±

    Wearing a rough outfit consisting of a white T-Shirt and light-blue hemp-trousers, Zenjirou leaned a bit forward on the ck leather couch and confirmed that with his wife sitting across of him.

    Aura, d in a thin casual wear in red, nodded to his question while retaining the wrinkle between her eyebrows.

    ¡°Yes. It is still at the informal stage, but I would say it is as good as settled. I tried to press ahead without disclosing much information, but¡­ I guess that effort will turn out to be in vain. Soon enough, amotion will hit the western part of the South Continent. Needless to say the epicenter will be our royal pce. Forgive me, but you better prepare yourself as well.¡±

    His wife talked about the uing trouble in a matter-of-fact tone, whereat Zenjirou made no pretence of his annoyance and sighed.

    ¡°¡­Okay. Anyway, why do you say the non-disclosure will be in vain? We want to hide it, but they don¡¯t?¡±

    In reaction to his question, Aura re-crossed her legs on top of the couch while shaking her head.

    ¡°No. A foreign visit from the Sharrow Family is a serious affair for the Twin Kingdom as well. They would never leak the information on purpose.

    However, it is not so easy for us, because we will amodate foreign royalty in our pce for a long period of time. I have to assign a special budget and people for the preparation.

    Besides, I have to meet with their representative again to ask for somepensation from the Twin Kingdom so that we do not operate in the red for the special budget and staff costs, since we are only epting a request from their side.

    With so much people, goods and money involved, keen people will notice the truth, no matter how careful we are.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Zenjirou was convinced by that. Even if they kept the matter itself a secret, it was nearly impossible to hide the flow of money or goods from the eyes of nobility.

    The amount of money and goods necessary to house two royalty for a long time was not an insignificant number and a keen person would notice its abnormal flow right away.

    Even if he was frowning, her husband was still somewhat treating it as someone else¡¯s problem, so the Queen said with a cautionary tone.

    ¡°I fear that once the information starts to go around, you will be the one targeted for facts, Zenjirou. It should get rather bothersome around you.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    Zenjirou finally assumed a serious expression upon these words.

    He must have imagined how the nobles woulde probing for the truth of the matter with all kind of means.

    ¡°Hah¡­¡±

    A long sigh escaped his mouth.

    Anyway, it would be a shame to spend their time alone with just a gloomy topic.

    Collecting herself, Aura took ice and fruit juice from the refrigerator and changed the topic while pouring the juice in her red ss and into Zenjirou¡¯s blue ss.

    ¡°Reminds me, you have the day off tomorrow for a change, right? Do you have any ns?¡±

    Zenjirou answered her question while epting the offered blue ss from her.

    ¡°Th- Thanks. Yeah, since I¡¯ll have the time, I want to try out my soap. Some of the soap I made yesterday turned out really good, so I want to test it for pleasantness with the help of the maids.¡±

    His recent efforts to make soap from lye and vegetable oil were going rtively well. Of course it was still a long way off until an efficient fabrication method, but he managed to get something close to a finished product by pure chance.

    But even that ¡°finished product¡± would never be finished in its actual meaning as long as he didn¡¯t test it forfortableness.

    Therefore the waiting maids would literally ¡°lend a hand¡±.

    Zenjirou was a bit reluctant to actually use it on the delicate skin of women, but there was nothing he could do about it by himself.

    After all, each person had a different constitution, which in turn could even change for the same person, depending on the current physical condition or season.

    Unless a lot of people tried it out, he couldn¡¯t guarantee its safe application.

    ¡°Oh right, the bathing goods you brought along from your world are limited after all.¡±

    Ever since she had married Zenjirou, Aura was always using the body soap, facial soap, shampoo and rinse from Japan. She nodded convinced.

    ¡°Yeah. Truth be told, the soap has the least danger to run out. But even though the shampoo will run out first, it¡¯s too difficult to make.¡±

    Although it does get rid of the dirt when you wash your hair with body soap, it will make the hair rough, hurting it instead.

    In the future, Zenjirou wanted to search for a method to clean the hair without harming its brilliance in order to rece the perfumed oil, which was typically used in the higher society of the Carpa Kingdom, but that was even further down the road than thepletion of the soap.

    To be honest, there was no hope to achieve it before the stock of shampoo was used up.

    It must have been his ruin that the majority of his mind was upied by these thoughts.

    Zenjirou tried to lift his blue Kiriko ss from the table like always, but it slipped through his fingers.

    ¡°Aw!?¡±

    It was already toote by the time he eximed.

    The ss dropped back onto the wooden table and shattered with a nging sound.

    The blue flinders in all sizes and the melting ice scattered over the well-polished table, whereas the fruit juice dripped from the table down onto the carpet.

    Talk about bad luck! If he had dropped it over the long-stranded carpet or cushioned couch, then there would have been a chance that it didn¡¯t break, but it fell down onto the hard table of all ces.

    ¡°Argh, now I¡¯ve done it!¡±

    Zenjirou unwittingly clicked his tongue.

    It was a rather harsh setback to him. On Earth, he could just buy the ss anew, but in this world it was an irreceable item he would never get his hands on again.

    Even now, he still hadn¡¯t really warmed up to the taste of the silver or wooden cups, so the ss had been an important article to him without a doubt.

    Nevertheless, he had no one else to me but himself for breaking it out of carelessness.

    ¡°Well, no use crying over spilt milk. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have the maid clean it up.¡±

    Saying that, Zenjirou reached out for the bell on the table. At that moment.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ considering my schedule¡­ Yes, no problem.¡±

    Aura was half-rising from the opposite couch and mumbling to herself on the quiet, then stopped Zenjirou.

    ¡°Wait, Zenjirou. You do not have to do that. This is a good asion. As a legit member of the Carpa Royal Family, you have a right to know about it.¡±

    ¡°Aura?¡±

    As his wife was suddenly making a big deal out of a single broken ss, Zenjirou paused his hand reaching out for the bell and inclined his head doubtfully.

    Whether she noticed her husband¡¯s scruple or not, Aura stood up straight and went towards the scattered ss flinders on top of the table, holding out the palm of her right hand with its five fingers spread.

    ¡°The skill I am about to show you is the ¡®hidden magic¡¯ of the Carpa Family. Once you mastered magic, I will teach it you as well, but you cannot let others know about the existence of this magic at all cost.

    Never ever use it in front of people. That naturally includes leading personalities in our country like General Puyol or Marquis Guzzle, but it also applies to my loyal retainers such as Fabio and Espaldion.

    Neither are you allowed to show this magic to Carlos until I say so. Understood?¡±

    With the palm of her hand still directed at the broken ss, she firmly looked Zenjirou, who was looking up to her from the couch, in the eyes and said with a strict tone.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    From her tone, Zenjirou realized that it was no time to joke around, so he obediently consented.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Aura nodded short as the reaction of her husband was to her satisfaction, and vitalized the light of magical power slowly rising from her entire body, chanting a spell.

    ¡®Rewind the time of the target for a day. Aspensation, I make one-thousand and three-hundred offerings of magical power to the space-time spirit.¡¯

    It had a dramatic effect.

    The broken ss on the table was enveloped by a hemisphere of light and in the next moment, the hemisphere emitted a light too bright to look into.

    ¡°Uwah!? ¡­Eh!?¡±

    Zenjirou squinted his eyes shut reflexively. When he opened his eyes again, the blue Satsuma Kiriko ss stood on top of the table in its recovered original form.

    With his eyes widened in surprise, he muttered to himself.

    ¡°Wow¡­! Restoration Magic¡­ No, not quite?¡±

    Just looking at the result made it seem like a magic to repair things, but taking Aura¡¯s earlier chant into consideration, it obviously was something different.

    Aura, still standing, nodded upon his words.

    ¡°Indeed. The nature of the ¡®bloodline magic¡¯ from the Carpa Family is far too different for that. It is the hidden magic of my family: ¡®Time Reversal¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡®Time Reversal¡¯¡­¡±

    Zenjirou was overwhelmed by the phenomenon that had urred in front of his eyes, and he muttered that.

    The bloodline magic of the Carpa Royal Family was ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±. When he had heard that it controlled space and time, he had somewhat considered the possibility of manipting time, but witnessing that phenomenon with his own eyes like this aroused an inexpressible excitement in him.

    Might as well call it ¡°fascination¡±.

    Even at the time Lady Octavia had shown him the ¡°water sphere¡± spell, he hadn¡¯t been this fascinated.

    An excitement equivalent to a fifth of the arousal from burying his face into Aura¡¯s breasts during their bridal night, took a hold of his heart right now.

    Aura must have noticed the change in her husband.

    Sitting back onto the couch, she showed a wry smile and continued the exnation.

    ¡°I am sorry to spoil your fun, but this magic is actually not as impressive as it looks.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Zenjirou averted his gaze from the repaired ss and looked at Aura sitting across of him again as he asked back.

    She casually shrugged her shoulders, which were bared in her sleeveless gown.

    ¡°First off, ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ can only be applied to ¡®things without magical power¡¯, so it is almost impossible to use it on living beings. The only exceptions are lower life forms without magical power such as insects or small fishes.

    Magic tools are out of the question as well. So that only leaves things that are not living beings, nor magic tools. Amongst these, very few are actually of value.

    ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ consumes an enormous amount of magical power, so surprisingly few objects legitimize the application by a direct descendant of the royal family.¡±

    Aura smiled after saying that.

    It was clearly evident that ¡°something, neither a living being, nor a magic tool¡± with a value high enough that it warranted a repair through the hidden magic of the royal family, would not be all thatmon, considering the values of this world.

    As a matter of fact, Aura herself had not many memories of having used ¡°Time Reversal¡± usefully.

    If she had to name the most useful application, it would be how she secretly repaired the pipe of her father, the previous king, when she had broken it by ident. It was hardly anything important.

    ¡°Besides, the required magical power increases exponential with the size of the target or the rewind time. I need to be prepared to use up all of my magical power to rewind a month-worth of time. For a year-worth of time, I would even have to add the magical power of my future self as a ¡®futurepensation¡¯ or the magic would not activate.

    It is extremely unprofitable.

    However, if the world ever gets to know about this magic by chance, it is quite unlikely that its strict restrictions would be propagated. In the end, they would falsely believe that it is an almighty magic that can even resurrect the dead.

    Therefore, the existence of this magic has to remain an absolute secret. Do you understand that, Zenjirou?¡±

    Aura eloquently outlined the impracticality of ¡®Time Reversal¡¯, but it did no harm to the excitement in Zenjirou¡¯s eyes.

    With the glint of exaltation remaining in his eyes, he looked Aura, sitting across of him, into the eyes and asked with a slightly shaking voice.

    ¡°In other words, it IS possible to rewind time for a ¡®short period¡¯ when the object has ¡®no magical power¡¯ and ¡®isn¡¯t too big¡¯?¡±

    ¡°W- Well, yeah.¡±

    Aura backed off a bit as she was overwhelmed by her husband¡¯s vigour on a rare asion, but still nodded.

    In his thrilled state, Zenjirou didn¡¯t notice his wife¡¯s strange behaviour and showed a bright smile. Then he rushed into the corner of the room.

    ¡°W- Well then, how much of a burden would it be on you to rewind time on this one as short as possible?¡±

    Saying so, he pointed at an electronic appliances: The ¡°air conditioning¡± that hadn¡¯t been put to use since he brought it over from Japan.

    Right aftering here, he had given up on assembling it, so it was still wrapped in its stic packing.

    Aura inclined her head puzzled as she still didn¡¯t know what Zenjirou was getting at, but answered his question truthfully nevertheless.

    ¡°Mhm¡­ It is so much bigger than the ss, so I cannot rewind it as simple as I did just now. But, well, the minimum rewind time is one day, so if it is just that, it would not be an impossible task.

    When I save my magical power for one day and have nothing scheduled for the next day, then it is feasible by night of said day.¡±

    The truth of the matter was that Aura didn¡¯t exhaust her magical power all that often.

    However, as the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom, she was the only person that could use the ¡°Teleport¡± magic, which was a trump card for emergencies.

    So it was expected that she preserved her magical power in order to be able to use that trump card at any moment.

    Her answer was attached to conditions, but it seemed to satisfy Zenjirou regardless.

    Showing a bright smile, he tightly clenched his fists and fist pumped in a rapid series to express his euphoria.

    ¡°Yes, yes, yes! I can finally start to assemble the ¡®air conditioning¡¯!¡±

    His sentence was apanied by a gush of emotions.

    The reason he didn¡¯t assemble the air conditioning until now was that he feared he would ¡°make a mistake and break it beyond repair¡±.

    However, a broken air condition was no longer ¡°beyond repair¡± with the ¡°Time Reversal¡± magic.

    Hence, he could jump at the assembling without worries.

    Even when he didn¡¯t seed on the first try, he had as much attempts as necessary. There was nothing to be afraid of, knowing this.

    ¡°Hey, Aura. I¡¯ve a little request¡­¡±

    Saying so, Zenjirou drew closer to her with the same smile as a ¡°man begging his wife for some urgent spending money¡±.

 Chapter Volume 3 5

    Zenjirou was making it a rule for himself to only attend events that were held for the sake of form as far as practicable, but appearing in public brought about some entanglements that he just couldn¡¯t escape.

    On a certain day, his appearance at a luncheon meeting that was held in form of a buffet in one part of the royal pce, was inevitably.

    ¡°Oh my, then you made apletely new alcohol drink by yourself, Zenjirou-sama? How wonderful.¡±

    Standing in front of him, a tall beauty, who could pass as a super model, praised him with such an affected voice while her arms were crossed in front of her chest. It was Fatima Guill¨¦n.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s just a hobby of mine. It¡¯s hardly praiseworthy.¡±

    Zenjirou tried to somehow end the conversation with an behaviour as cold as the circumstances permitted it, but she wasn¡¯t the little sister of the ¡°Insatiable Wolf¡± aka General Puyol for nothing. Her assertiveness and pushiness were in no way inferior to her brother¡¯s.

    ¡°Oh my, how modest. They say alcohol is a kind of culture. Creating apletely new alcohol drink means to enrich our country¡¯s culture and economy. It is wonderful, indeed.¡±

    She held him in ce with a nauseating ttery.

    ¡°Haha, please stop ttering me. When a beautiful woman like you sweet-talks me, I¡¯ll likely get all stuck-up.¡±

    Saying nothing but empty phrases, Zenjirou protected himself with a forced smile while he inwardly broke out a cold sweat and thought ¡°what a pain¡±.

    As the banquet was no formal event, it didn¡¯t ce as much importance on the social standing and etiquette. Since he only had a superficial knowledge about the etiquette, it had the merit that mistakes from him were somewhat overlooked, but on the other hand, it also had the demerit of allowing aggressive approaches like this one.

    At any rate, it had been a mistake that he attended this banquet.

    Zenjirou regretted his decision all toote.

    From the list of participants that he viewed before, he had concluded that there would be no ambitious person amongst the guests, who would assertively curry favour with him, so he had attended unmindful, but this situation without an ambitious person turned against him now.

    As a result, Famita Guill¨¦n, the little sister of an ambitious person, had participated at thest minute and could monopolize the approach on him to her heart¡¯s content.

    (Well, I¡¯m surprised she can throw herself at a man she doesn¡¯t love with such vigour. Guess I just can¡¯t empathize with the values of nobles.)

    Zenjirou looked at the tall beauty, who was half a head taller than him and continued to chat passionately in front of him, while he was under such an impression.

    This maye across harsh, but the woman called Fatima was by far the most awkward person in keeping a poker face amongst all the people Zenjirou had met so far.

    Well, considering that she was only seventeen years-old, it was to be expected, but it was obvious even to him that she hadn¡¯t had her facial expression under control.

    Her almond ck eyes, emitting a strong will, were a problem in particr. No matter how much she praised him with words or how she gave him a charming smile, the glint in her eyes was the same as a ¡°beast targeting its prey¡±.

    Everything she did, including attracting his affection, happened on the orders of her brother. Her desire was the prosperity of the Guill¨¦n Family and she saw no value in making a happy family with him.

    At least it appeared as such to Zenjirou.

    However beautiful she may be, it would be noughing matter to take her as a concubine. Zenjirou realized that it was a bit childish to think that about a girl seven years younger than him, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel that way instinctively.

    As the girl sensed his inner turmoil, Fatima overhasty exaggerated her offence, whereat Zenjirou was even further repelled.

    It was an insuperable vicious circle.

    ¡°I am not much of a drinker myself, but over the generation, the Guill¨¦n Family had a lot of sympathizer for alcohol. I could tell a thousand tales about my brother, the current head of the family, in regards to alcohol.¡±

    ¡°Oho. You shouldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover, but General Puyol sure is an exception. All the tales about him truly describe him as the great man that he looks like.¡±

    Zenjirou had feared that he went overboard with his affected reaction, but his seemingly admiringment brightened up Fatima¡¯s expression.

    ¡°Yes! When my brother was eighteen years old, he drunk our uncle Emidio-dono, known as a heavy drinker, under the table in a contest. My uncle lost his treasured spear to my brother as the stake, which made his loss only worse.

    Since then my uncle has never touched alcohol again, so his wife, Lady Deborah, was quite grateful to my brother.¡±

    As usual, the girl kept talking about the brave anecdotes of her older brother.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t have an all that favourable impression of General Puyol, as he was Aura¡¯s former husband candidate, so it was far from pleasant to hear him getting praised to the skies like this.

    (Interesting. If he holds his drink so well, I¡¯ll make some super high-proof alcohol next time, like 80% or so, and let him drink it in one go.)

    Such mischievous thoughts were crossing his mind.

    What a great feeling that would be if he could have the man, who walked about with a confident and overwhelming aura, on his knees for being dead-drunk.

    Without an idea about the small-calibre imagination of the man in front of her, Fatima continued the bragging of her beloved brother with even more vigour.

    ¡°¡­Furthermore, a couple of his heroic deeds during the previous war have been made into songs. If you have the time, please invite a troubadour next time and listen to them. Any troubadour associated with the royal pce knows of them.¡±

    Even Zenjirou couldn¡¯t withhold his wry smile as the tall beauty proudly continued to brag about her sweet brother.

    ¡°You sure respect your brother General Puyol from the bottom of your heart, My Lady Fatima.¡±

    Upon the kind of warm-hearted words one gives to children, Fatima realized that she hadpletely wandered from one topic to another and flushed her cheeks reddish all toote.

    ¡°Ah, f- forgive me. Here I go on all by myself¡­¡±

    She lowered her head embarrassed with these words and her coquettish yed smile made her look numerous times more lovely. Still, she was hardly as radiant as when she was talking about the heroic deeds of her beloved brother, which grated a bit on Zenjirou¡¯s nerves.

    ¡°No need to apologize. General Puyol is a very prominent figure in the military. It¡¯s revealing to hear about his deeds and I personally am quite interested in it as well.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    When he smoothed the situation out, the tall beauty leaned over her tall body and lowered her head bashfully.

    * * *

    The extremely tiring luncheon meeting somehow came to an end and Zenjirou had returned into the inner pce, but unfortunately it was not time to rx just yet.

    ¡°Octavia-sama is awaiting you, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be there in a minute.¡±

    Today¡¯s afternoon was scheduled with a magic lesson from Lady Octavia.

    Over past year, Zenjirou and Lady Octavia had settled into the ¡°ssroom¡±.

    Like always, they sat across each other on chairs with a table in-between them, carrying out the mysterious lesson.

    ¡°Well then, Zenjirou-sama, please go ahead. Show me your magic.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, okay.¡±

    Obeying his ¡°teacher¡±, Zenjirou took a deep breath while remaining seatedfortably in the chair.

    Since he had awakened the ¡°ability to detect magical power¡± by now, he was able to perceive the faint magical glowing from his body.

    Zenjirou vividly pictured the effect of the magic inside his head while registering that glowing from his folded hands on the table in the corner of the eye, then he spoke the ¡°incantation¡±.

    ¡®Cut off a spherical space of the world around the tip of my finger. Aspensation, I will make three-hundred and fifty-nine offerings of magical power to the Space-Time spirit.¡¯

    He was speaking in the Magic Language. Thatnguage could cram various meanings into a single syble, so the automatic trantion from the Soul of Words made it sound like a rather long sentence, even though only a few words were spoken.

    A momentter, the spell activated correctly.

    A transparent light dome, centred around Zenjirou¡ª or to be more precise, around the upheld index finger of his right hand, took shape.

    It was a kind of Space-Time Magic, the bloodline magic of the Carpa Royal Family: ¡°Space Istion Barrier¡±.

    It was a powerful defence magic that isted space itself and prevented all interference from the outside, but it didn¡¯tst for more than thirty seconds, so there weren¡¯t many practical usages for it.

    ¡°Great.¡±

    Anyway, Zenjirou unintentionally leaked a joyful utterance as he seeded in activating the magic.

    ¡°Well done, Zenjirou-sama. You can use ¡®Space Istion Barrier¡¯ almost perfectly already.¡±

    ¡°Guess so. In terms of magical output, this magic is the most simple for me after all.¡±

    Since he wasn¡¯t used to such straightforward praise, he reflexively conducted himself humbly, even while the corners of his mouth twitched happily.

    The magic of this world was easier to activate when the output of the magic was closer to the naturally discharged magical power of the spell caster. Zenjirou actually couldn¡¯t yet use the essential ability for a magician: The ¡°control over magical output¡±.

    But while he said so with a shrug of his shoulders, hisposed female teacher showed a faint smile and spoke in a rare yful tone.

    ¡°Not quite, Zenjirou-sama. You are already beginning to get the hang of the ¡®control over magical output¡¯. Have you not noticed it? The naturally discharged magical power of a person is not identical on every day.

    It fluctuates subtle based on your physical condition and mental state of the day. Your magical output for today is a little bit higher than the required output for the ¡®Space Istion Barrier¡¯.¡±

    Zenjirou was at a loss for words for a moment upon the unexpected statement.

    ¡°¡­Then why did the magic activate?¡±

    Lady Octavia, likewise his teacher for etiquette and culture, was inwardly delighted that Zenjirou kept his way of speaking befitting for a royalty despite his perplexity, and exined in a calm manner.

    ¡°For the very reason I just told you. Although it was just for a little bit, you unconsciously regted your magical power and restricted the output.

    How about we try it again? This time pay close attention to the magical glowing from your body.¡±

    The ¡°Space Istion Barrier¡± had a short duration, so it had already dissipated.

    ¡°Mhm¡­¡±

    Still somewhat doubtful, Zenjirou obeyed his teacher nevertheless and used the earlier magic again.

    ¡®Cut off a spherical space of the world around the tip of my finger. Aspensation, I will make three-hundred and fifty-nine offerings of magical power to the Space-Time spirit.¡¯

    However, he now focussed on the change in the magical powering from his body.

    By doing so, he clearly saw that the magical glow emitted from his folded hands on the table became fainter. In the next moment, the magic activated without problems and the dome of light appeared in the air.

    ¡°Aha¡­ Looks like I¡¯m really regting my magical power.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. It is not much yet, but once youe to grips with it, you will be able to control your magical output at will. That is the second step for a magician.

    After you awakened your ability to detect magical power and learned how to control your magical output, the only thing you have to do is to memorize the individual spells. You are now at the second most important turning point, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Keep on instructing me.¡±

    When he uttered the words in amanding tone from a superior, which he finally could use now without feeling awkward, Lady Octavia respectfully lowered her head.

    ¡°As you wish. I may be inexperienced, but it is my greatest joy to be able to serve you.¡±

    Her conduct was so perfect that it didn¡¯t offend a single etiquette and her polite way of speaking sounded like sincere courtesy. A too well-mannered behaviour could make one feel like being treated as a stranger, but in Lady Octavia¡¯s case, it was a natural virtue.

    The young noble woman emitted a warm-hearted kindness just by smiling sweetly.

    ¡°Then let us begin with the training for the control over magical power from today on. It is done like this¡­ Can you see it? By doing this, you can restrict or increase the output of magical power.¡±

    In line with her words, the magical glow from her entire body brightened and weakened through perfectmand of her will.

    ¡°Please try it now, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°O- Okay¡­ M- Mhmm¡­!¡±

    Zenjirou somewhat tried to change his magical output with the expierence from the earlier cast magic, but his efforts hardly bore fruit.

    It wasn¡¯t entirely in vain, but the shift merely came down to a level of ¡°now that you mention it, the glow gets a little stronger and weaker, maybe?¡± when one strained his eyes.

    It would simply be pretentious topare it with Lady Octavia¡¯s attempt, as she was in perfect control of it.

    However, the youthful teacher praised the struggle of her student.

    ¡°Yes, just like that. To stick with the analogy, where the acquiring of the ability to detect magical power can be described as ¡®opening one¡¯s eyes¡¯, theprehension of controlling the magical output can be described as ¡®learning another way to move one¡¯s body¡¯.

    In other words, the control over magical output only begins after you awaken to it, unlike the ability to detect magic, which you obtain by awakening it just once. You are going to move a body that has never moved before. You are like a newborn child, if you will so. In the same manner a baby learns to turn in his sleep, then to crawl and finally to pull himself up, you take your time to learn how to move your second body, namely your ¡®magical power¡¯.¡±

    There were no shortcuts to this progress. Only an umtion of honest effort. Furthermore, it required talent to get past a certain level, just as moving your body.

    No matter how much an untalented person trained for it, he would only be able to restrict and increase his magical output to a certain point or else fail at a delicate control of it.

    ¡°Grr¡­!¡±

    To sum it up: There was a rtive high chance that this training would turn out to be a ¡°fruitless effort¡±. Nevertheless, not one fibre of Zenjirou¡¯s body currently considered the choice ¡°to give up¡± despite knowing this.

    (I won¡¯t be able to use ¡®Teleport¡¯, unless I get a hang of this control over magical output.)

    If Zenjirou failed to learn how to use ¡°Teleport¡± by the time Aura gave birth again, he would once again have to undergo the painful experience of simply praying to God.

    ¡°Mgh¡­ Grr¡­¡±

    (Do it! For Aura!)

    Zenjirou kept going with the training for ¡°control over magical output¡± in good earnest without noticing the heart-warming gaze Lady Octavia gave him as she watched over him.

    * * *

    During the hottest season, Zenjirou had spent a rtively busy half-day with a luncheon meeting at noon and a magic lesson in the afternoon. By the time Aura came back, he wasying on the ck couch in just a T-Shirt and trousers, watching a DVD.

    ¡°I am back, Zenjirou.¡±

    Zenjirou reflexively took the remote control and paused the DVD. Then he got up from the couch and looked into the direction of the voice, where he found his beloved wife in a rare dress.

    ¡°Oh, wee back, Aura. What¡¯s up with these clothes? In the morning you were still wearing your usual dress, weren¡¯t you?¡±

    When he had seen her off in the morning, she had been wearing the usual red evening dress with a deep V-cleavage, but for some reason she was now d in the sari-like national attire, the one Lady Octavia normally wore.

    But unlike Lady Octavia, who liked to arrange her attire around the colour blue, Aura¡¯s sari had a vivid red colour as the base.

    Aura raised the corners of her mouth to a little smile, as the reaction of her husband pleased her.

    ¡°Fufu, surprised? I changed because I attended a traditional event in the afternoon today. Our country technically acknowledges dresses as a formal attire as well, but a few old events require me to wear traditional clothes like this.¡±

    Spreading both her arms and throwing out her chest, Aura showed off her unusual wardrobe to her husband.

    The look in her eyes and her behaviour were basically screaming the question ¡°does it suit me?¡± and Zenjirou was not so dim-witted to overlook it.

    Still, he wasn¡¯t an eloquent person, so all he could say was his honest opinion without giving in to his embarrassment.

    ¡°Ui. It¡¯s my first time seeing it, but it aren¡¯t bad at all. Of course your usual dress is great, too, but this one¡¯s quite vivid.¡±

    Fortunately the awkward, but sincere praise of her husband seemed to have properly been conveyed to her.

    ¡°Good. I usually do not wear this kind of clothing, because it is harder to move in than the military uniform or dresses, but if you like them, I may put them on more often from now on.¡±

    Her bright smile was so charming that it captured Zenjirou even now.

    Zenjirou wasn¡¯t aware of it, but contrary to her bearing as a Queen, Aura had a surprisingly pure and cute attitude in regards to the subtleties between a man and a woman.

    Normally she would take off the formal attire and exchange it for a morefortable casual wear as soon as she returned to the room, but today she sat down next to Zenjirou on the couch while keeping the red sari on.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    When Zenjirou naturally put his right arm around her right shoulder, Aura went with the flow and rested her head on his shoulder.

    Although the venttor was blowing over a bucket of water, the nights of the hottest season were still hot, but sometimes they just wanted to embrace like this nevertheless.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    That said, there was a limit to what their love power could ovee.

    Maybe they had been satisfied with the physical contact already or maybe they couldn¡¯t endure the heat anymore.

    Either way, they separated from each other at the same time.

    ¡°Reminds me, you were watching a DVD, right? Are you not going to finish it?¡±

    Sitting up, Aura suddenly remembered what Zenjirou had been doing when she had entered the living room and asked that.

    But Zenjirou shook his head.

    ¡°Nah, I was just killing time until you get back. I can always finish it in two days or so, when I¡¯ve got time for myself again.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, okay.¡±

    Aura realized that he was being considerate to her, but decided to obediently presume on his benevolence.

    If it had been a game or music, she could have enjoyed it together with him, but watching a DVD was out of the question.

    After all, the Soul of Words didn¡¯t work through machines. There were extremely few movies or series that were interesting without understanding thenguage. She hade to somewhat like sport broadcasts like ser or baseball, since she learned most of the rules through video games, but she just couldn¡¯t get enthusiastic about it due to theck of emotional attachment to the sport teams from Zenjirou¡¯s world.

    Zenjirou regretted the fact that he could have brought along silent movies from Chaplin or something like that if he had known that beforehand.

    Anyway, Aura asked her husband her habitual question as she had cut short the old topic.

    ¡°So, how was your day? Did anything special happen?¡±

    ¡°Mh? Well, the luncheon meeting was no big deal, I guess? Though I panicked a bit when Lady Fatima Guill¨¦n barged into it.¡±

    The obtrusion of Fatima Guill¨¦n. Aura¡¯s expression stiffened, when she heard the name of the girl, who was making the most aggressive moves at the present time.

    ¡°Fatima? She did not get any weird promises out of you, did she?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I brushed her off politely. Or rather, shepsed into her brotherplex midway and lost sight of everything else. Ah, but I told her about my ¡®distilled liquor¡¯. Was that bad?¡±

    Her husband asked with a slightly distressed expression, whereat the Queen pondered for a moment, then spoke.

    ¡°No¡­ If that is all, it poses no problem. I had nned to serve the distilled liquor at the next banquet anyway.¡±

    ¡°Okay, good.¡±

    Zenjirou made a sigh of relief, but Aura didn¡¯t neglect to give him a warning.

    ¡°Nevertheless, be careful about what you disclose. Distilled liquor and soap are harmless, but I want the ss to be a royal secret even after we manage to reproduce it.¡±

    Besides, if Zenjirou were to carelessly improve the country, the ¡°Faction opposing the Queen¡± would take advantage of that and make him their puppet.

    Even Zenjirou was aware of this danger.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry. I was kinda careless.¡±

    These apologetic words were spoken with a meek face. He must have grown ustomed to things, in a bad way. His careless actions were a bit on the raise recently.

    ¡°¡­Okay, it was nothing grave this time, so just be more careful from now on. Did anything else happen?¡±

    Zenjirou was grateful to the good will of his wife, as she was undertaking a slightly forceful topic change, and took her up on the offer.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see, I made good progress in the magic lesson with Octavia-san. I can now activate the ¡®Space Istion Barrier¡¯ nine out of ten times and I learned to control my magical output for a bit. See.¡±

    Saying so, he intensified and weakened the glow of magical powering from his body, albeit quite marginal.

    ¡°Ohh! You can already do that after such a short time. I am impressed. It took me more than two years to control the output of magical power through my own will even for a little bit after my grandfather started to teach me magic.¡±

    She praised him like that.

    But Zenjirou couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly as he knew the actual story.

    ¡°That was when you were seven, right? Since I¡¯m an adult, I¡¯ve a better perceptivity and more patience than a child, so I¡¯m obviously going to learn faster.¡±

    It definitely would have been a bit sad if he, in his mid-twenties, only improved his magic as fast as the seven-year old Aura.

    Zenjirou had a concrete goal. Namely to learn how to use ¡°Teleport¡± until Aura was pregnant with their second child.

    For that goal, he was prepared to give it his all.

    ¡°Rest assured, I¡¯ll give my best.¡±

    ¡°Okay. But do not overdo it.¡±

    Aura reminded Zenjirou, as he resolved himself anew, in a casual manner, but inwardly she was seriously worried.

    (Good grief. If I leave him alone, he will push himself to the limit again for ¡°self-practice¡±. My husband is always so quick to do everything in his power.)

    For the time being, she once again would have to actively watch over him and incite him to rest sometimes.

    (Jeez, he is more handful than a slothful person.)

    Aura harboured such a reproachful impression, but the look she gave her husband from the side was overflowing with kindness.

 Chapter Volume 3 6

    On a certain afternoon, roughly ten days after Xavier and his men fought on the Salt road.

    Aura was performing her duties in her office like always and was reading the document that the ¡°small flying dragon¡± had just delivered from the fortress on the edge of the royal domain, making a deep sigh.

    ¡°¡­Fuh. I see, the son of Marquis Guzzle failed the subjugation. Well, at least he brought back the concrete information about the cause of the road¡¯s disorder. That is an achievement in itself.¡±

    Thinking that it had turned out a little bit troublesome, she craned her neck while remaining seated on her chair. The sunlighting in from the windows let her loose, red hair shine beautifully.

    ¡°Yes. It certainly is a bit too much for a hundred soldiers if their target was an coordinated pack of over fifty Pack Dragons, like the report said. I would say Xavier-dono made the right decision.¡±

    ¡°I know that.¡±

    Aura kept her face facing forward while she replied to her secretary, standing at an angle behind her, with such short and blunt words.

    She agreed with the opinion that Xavier had made the correct decision.

    The Carpa Kingdom was still in the middle of replenishing the losses from the previous war. A young man in perfect health was an important asset, no matter if he was under her directmand or under some feudal lord.

    The subjugation couldn¡¯t be called a sess when they got rid of the ¡°Pack Dragons¡±, but lost half of the soldiers in doing so.

    For that reason, the third son of Marquis Guzzle had made a rational and correct decision in spite of being a youngmander on his first assignment.

    At least Aura wasn¡¯t counting the ¡°subjugation failure¡± against Xavier. However, due to her position, it was likewise a fact that she couldn¡¯t openly appreciate his decision.

    ¡°Now the ¡®Pack Dragon Subjugation¡¯ mission switched from the Guzzle Family to General Puyol.¡±

    Aura heaved a deep sigh.

    One thousand elite royal soldiers lead by General Puyol were already on their way to the fortress under the pretext of ¡°countryside training¡±.

    It was even possible that they had arrived there already.

    Either way, the initiative of this mission had shifted to General Puyol.

    As Aura couldn¡¯t leave the capital, she could only watch in silence how things developed.

    ¡°Well, whatever. We are talking about that man here. He will definitely resolve the matter in one way or another.¡±

    His personality aside, General Puyol could be trusted when it came down to his military abilities.

    It was a bit unfortunate for the Guzzle boy, who wanted to raise his reputation as the next feudal lord through this case, but the re-establishment of the Salt Road was an urgent matter. It would be Marquis Guzzle first and foremost, when it came topensating the resulting loss from a dyed solution, so they had to put up with it, even when their objective wasn¡¯t exactly met. However¡­

    ¡°It certainly is hard to imagine that General Puyol will fail. The problem is that he will try to use this achievement as a stepping stone to reach even further.¡±

    The slender face of Secretary Fabio kept an inexpressiveness that raised the question if he actually was wearing a well-made mask, while he said that in an unemotional tone.

    ¡°¡­Well, on the other hand, it might actually be a good thing. At least he will not be present in the capital when the Prince and Princess from the Twin Kingdom visit.¡±

    Aura¡¯s tone, as she said that, sounded kind of forced in order tofort herself.

    * * *

    In the past, when Zenjirou had still been in elementary school, he had watched the talk corner of a music show.

    There a certain musician had answered a question about his pre-debut time when he still had been poor: ¡°What was the toughest part-time job you have experienced back then?¡±

    And that musician replied at once: ¡°It was assembling air conditioning units.¡±

    For the simple reason that a room, where an air conditioning was to be assembled, naturally had no prior air conditioning. And since the room required air conditioning, it was ordingly hot.

    An arduous work in a room without air conditioning and when you were finally done, you headed straight to the next ce. Needless to say, that ce had no air conditioning either.

    The part-time job was akin to penance as you move from one room without air condition to another all day long in the middle of summer in Japan. The musician imed the air conditioning assembling job as such and back then, Zenjirou sat in his living room with air conditioned and ate rice crackers whilementing ¡°Ahaha, oh really¡± with augh.

    So, why was he remembering something from more than ten years ago now? The answer was simple.

    ¡°Damn it. The sweat got into my eye! I can¡¯t see the scale of the level!¡±

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Z- Zenjirou-sama, please watch your step!¡±

    At the present time, Zenjirou was sweating all over as he tried to assemble the ¡°air conditioning¡± inside the inner pce, where it was so hot that he would rather spent his time in the midsummer of Japan.

    ¡°¡­Good, I got the backboard done¡­!¡±

    Some way or other, he managed to assemble the back board of the air conditioning at the wall of the bedroom and he muttered that with an expression like he was already satisfied with having aplished just that.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, here, a towel.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thanks.¡±

    Zenjirou took a well-chilled towel from the tall waiting maid, standing at attention next to him, and wiped the sweat from his face.

    ¡°¡­Fuh, I feel alive again.¡±

    In the stuffy bedroom, he had stood on adder, set against the wall, and done unfamiliar work. The expression ¡°feel alive again¡± was by no means an exaggeration.

    With the help of the waiting maids, who had steadied thedder or held up the back board, he somehow had seeded in attaching the metal back board, glowing in a silver light, to the three wooden supports in a straight line with long screws.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gotta be grateful to the carpenters. And I did cause some troubles to Aura yesterday. I¡¯ve to reciprocate the favourter on.¡±

    Zenjirou looked up at the just-finished back board and uttered that.

    Yesterday he had worked out a special permission for the carpenters to enter the inner pce in order to assemble the air conditioning. They had set up the wooden supports at the wall of the bedroom. The supports were properly stabilized with cross-beams, so it wouldn¡¯t copse even when the heavy air conditioning unit was attached to it.

    The wooden construct with diagonal beams looked rather ugly against the white marble wall, but there was nothing to be done about it.

    There was no way he could screw into the marble wall. His original world may have anchor screws and electronic screwdrivers, but unfortunately Zenjirou hadn¡¯t considered these peculiar tools when he got ready to move to another world.

    Anyway, after he wiped the sweat off his face with the cold towel and heaved a sigh, Zenjirou noticed that the waiting maid were standing respectfully at attention around him and called out to them.

    ¡°You can help yourself to the chilled towels as well. Ah, drink plenty of water as well. I wouldn¡¯t want you to suffer a heatstroke or dehydration.¡±

    The waiting maids, too, had done a tough job as they had steadied thedder from below and held up the back board while Zenjirou had fastened it in ce.

    Unless they cooled themselves a bit and drunk enough water, there was a serious chance that they would break down.

    ¡°Yes, thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°We will dly take you up on the offer.¡±

    The waiting maids, drenched in sweat on their cheeks or scalps, thanked him honestly and quickly moved over to the neighbouring room, where the refrigerator stood.

    Left alone in the bedroom, Zenjirou spread the bundle of papers, which he had printed out from various homepages in Japan and showed how to assemble an air conditioning by yourself, on top of the bed and read through them again.

    ¡°Hmm, I mounted the back board even to the wall. Next up, I attach the device to it once to see if it holds. After that Iy the plumbing, power cable and drainage hose through the hole in the wall¡­¡±

    By saying so, he shifted his gaze to the right of the back board, where a round hole gaped in the thick marble wall. It was obviously pointing a bit downward, so that the drain water wouldn¡¯t flow back into the device.

    ¡°Still, I¡¯ve gotta say, professionals sure know their stuff, regardless of worlds. The hole got the right size and slope. They worked exactly ording to my instructions.¡±

    He uttered his admiration as he gazed upon the hole to the right of the back board.

    Their skill of opening a hole into the marble wall, which was thicker than his upper arm was long, urately to his instructions without using any electronic tools was so impressive that he couldn¡¯t help but be fascinated.

    The first-rate stonemasons of the pce apparently used ¡°Element Magic¡± of the earth kind. Before opening a hole in the wall, they ¡°weakened the stone¡± with magic and afterwards they ¡°strengthened the stone¡± with magic again. Still, it didn¡¯t change the fact that they had done an incredible job.

    Zenjirou turned over the towel as it had gotten lukewarm from wiping his face once and used the still cool inner part to wipe his face once more. Then he raised a voice to get himself back into spirit.

    ¡°Okay, first I¡¯ll set-up the internal device. Then pipe the plumbing and stuff outbound. After that, I assemble the external device! ¡­The external device, hmm¡­¡±

    The sun was zing outside. He would have to do the same kind ofbour he did just now, now out in the courtyard without any shade.

    ¡°¡­Haah.¡±

    He red at the sun shining in from the open window and heaved a sighed.

    * * *

    Around the time Zenjirou was sweating bullets as he assembled the unfamiliar air conditioning in the garden under the sparse shadow of the parasols held up by the waiting maids, Queen Aura finished her duties in her office and swung by the back yard of the royal pce.

    Surrounded by soldiers, wearing white leather armour and carrying short spears, from all sides, Aura walked over the ground dotted with weed with unusualrge steps for a woman.

    Compared to the front yard, which was kind of the figurehead of the royal pce, or the courtyard, where sometimes parties for privileged guests were held, the back yard could only be described as ¡°bleak¡±.

    To make up for that, though, it was bigger than the other twobined.

    The ce was allocated to the work of the craftsmen serving in the royal pce.

    The stonemasons cut their stones here and the carpenters roughly shaped their wood here. The cksmiths repaired the weapons of the Pce Knights here and the leathersmiths mended the armours.

    In a way, you could call it the ¡°business district¡± of the royal pce.

    The royal pce also amodatedrge fields, countless wells and grasnd for the livestock used for food. With that in mind, it was self-exnatory that the pce could function as a fortress that was able to withstand a siege if necessary.

    That said, the mes of war fortunately had never reached the capital so far, not even in the previous war.

    As the craftsmen noticed Aura with the guards following her, they stopped their hands from working for a moment and bowed shortly.

    ¡°Greetings. Just keep working.¡±

    Aura called out to them briefly and walked past them.

    The craftsmen in the royal pce were allowed to skip the greeting while they were working, even when faced with the Queen. It was surprisingly lenient in that aspect.

    The ce Aura headed to with fast steps while drawing the attention of the craftsmen, was a wooden shed newly built this year.

    It stood besides the canal of the pce and although it was new here, it obviously got special treatment, seeing as it had a waterwheel attached to it.

    A couple of men in dirty working clothes stood at attention in front of the shed, waiting for Aura¡¯s arrival.

    ¡°Thank you foring, Your Highness Aura.¡±

    An old man, his hair and beardpletely white, greeted her as their representative. His aged, but robust hands, sticking out from the long sleeves of his shirt, were rather gnarled, which distinguished him as a proficient artisan. But a trained eye could see that the muscles hidden behind his shirt had be too weak for him to be still in ¡°active duty¡±.

    As opposed to this, everyone standing behind him were young men in their mid- tote-twenties, who couldn¡¯t conceal their nervousness and had stiffened up due to it.

    Their bodies were still slightly built and their palms far from battered.

    A retired, old ¡°cksmith¡± and still fledgling ¡°cksmith apprentices¡±.

    Aura had gathered these craftsmen for the ¡°ss manufacture¡±.

    At this moment in time, it was quite unapparent whether this craft would yield any result or not, so it had been impossible to withdraw manpower from the current active generation.

    In front of the attentively ¡°ss manufacture team¡±, Aura threw out her chestrgely and talked straightforward.

    ¡°Give me a report. I heard you produced some result?¡±

    The aged cksmith nodded short to her words.

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness. ording to your instructions, we have

    heated up a mixture of white sand, milled shells and natural baking soda for five days and five nights at the highest possible temperature and somehow seeded in melting it together into a fluid substance.

    Then we entwined it around an iron rod and cooled it down by suspending it into ash. Please take a look at the result here.¡±

    Saying so, the old cksmith held out a long and narrow object to Aura with his gnarled hands.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Saying so, she jerked her chin and one of the soldiers, standing at attention by her side, took it from the aged cksmith. After he frisked the object carefully and had confirmed that nothing was wrong with it, he handed it over to Aura.

    She checked the presented object with her own hands and raised a voice.

    ¡°¡­Oho. Certainly.¡±

    To be frank, the object resembled a ¡°greenish obsidian¡±.

    The surface was rtively smooth, it glittered and had an almost pitch-ck colour, so that you wouldn¡¯t notice the green tint unless someone pointed it out.

    By no means did it look like the ¡°ss¡± that was used for Zenjirou¡¯s tableware or alcohol bottles.

    However, it definitely had a faint transparency when you held it up against the sun. As proof, its shadow, cast onto the hand, in particr was greenish, instead of ck.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Seeing that shadow, Aura showed a satisfied smile and nodded.

    It was nothing more than a drab pebble without any utility, but at least it proved that the method to create ss, taken from Zenjirou¡¯s DVD, wasn¡¯t mistaken in principle.

    Definitely a sess for a first try.

    ¡°Well done. Continue to specify the manufacturing process of this substance and try to find a method to increase its transparency. I know it is apletely unexplored field of work. You have all the time you need. Failures will be tolerated, too. But giving up on it is not an option. Give it your all from now on as well.¡±

    ¡°Yes! Very well!¡±

    Upon her speech, the old cksmith lowered his head excessively with these words. The rigid young apprentices behind him quickly followed his lead a secondter.

    Aura had actually spoken the truth. From the beginning, she herself had never expected that they would create the same ss that she had seen on Zenjirou¡¯s DVD.

    It was already ¡°more than she could ask for¡± that they somehow or other made something that ¡°certainly looked like ss on a closer look¡± in such a short time.

    As a matter of fact, she had heard from Zenjirou that ss was even harder to melt than iron, so she had expected that it would still take some time before it took shape.

    ¡°So, how is it going? Right now, you are using a furnace for wrought iron as it is, it seems, but will it suffice in the future?¡±

    The aged cksmith shook his head with a bitter expression in response to her question.

    ¡°Not quite, Your Highness. I believe it to be somewhat problematic. To be honest, it would not be all that strange for the furnace to blow up in our faces at some point from the heat when we continue to repeat the current method. Besides, it takes us five whole days to refine an amount of just this size, so it will prove to be difficult to polish the technique.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It ultimately might be quicker to advance the manufacture of the so-called ¡°firebricks¡± at the same time¡­ You are probably understaffed then.¡±

    In a moment of silence, Aura ced her right hand against her chin and was absorbed in thought. And then,

    ¡°Okay. I will see what I can do to increase the personnel. But it will not happen right away. Continue your efforts with the current staff for now.

    I leave it up to your decision whether you keep up with the research of ¡®making ss¡¯ itself or rather prioritize the research of the ¡®firebricks¡¯. Do the best possible. Understood?¡±

    After saying so, she gave the elder cksmith a questioning look.

    ¡°Understood, Your Highness.¡±

    The former cksmith humbly epted the order of the Queen.

    With her guards still in tow, Aura left the ss manufacture research shed behind her and walked along the canal towards a different area.

    Before long, her eyes beheld a somewhat strange spectacle.

    Namely, a great number of ¡°waterwheels¡± set up parallel to the canal. In total, there stood ten of them in a line.

    Themon practice would consider it improbable.

    If waterwheels were built one after another in such a short range, the hydraulic power would be too weak and theter wheels wouldn¡¯t produce a satisfying power. However, there was no such fear for these waterwheels to begin with.

    After all, all of them were only a knee-length tall.

    Their dynamic power was pretty useless to begin with.

    Aura crouched down, holding up the hem of her dress, and looked at the miniature waterwheels from above. At that very moment.

    ¡°Y- Your Highness! You havee by. I would have properly greeted you if you had told me beforehand!¡±

    A middle-aged man with the beginnings of a paunch and a couple of young men with solid physiques came rushing over to her.

    Without catching their breathes, the craftsmen tried to prostrate themselves at once, but Aura shrugged her shoulders a bit and stopped them with a wink of her hand.

    ¡°Rx. It is a spontaneous visit. Sorry to trouble you with my whim.¡±

    ¡°Very well. How gracious.¡±

    Although they didn¡¯t go as far as prostrating themselves, the waterwheel artisans all lowered their heads deeply.

    As Aura had no interest to waste time with unproductive actions, she spoke straightforward here, too.

    ¡°I have been told you also got some ¡®results¡¯. As far as I can see, though, six of the ten waterwheels are broken.¡±

    ¡°Why, indeed. Amongst the six broken waterwheels, five are of the traditional kind. Thest one is a ¡®new model¡¯, built ording to your instructions.¡±

    ¡°Then the remaining four intact waterwheels are all the new model?¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    ¡°The knowledge of my husband is impressive¡­¡±

    Aura muttered that only to herself, so that those around her couldn¡¯t hear it.

    This continuous durability test for the waterwheels had been Zenjirou¡¯s idea and realized by Aura as well.

    Previously, when Aura hadined in front of Zenjirou how ¡°their waterwheels broke faster than the ones on the Northern Continent¡±, he had casually remarked that ¡°the numbers of teeth on the meshing cogs were probably not coprime¡± and his opinion had manifested these ten miniature waterwheels.

    The cogs being ¡°coprime¡± to each other meant that the numbers of teeth on the meshing cogs had nomon divisor, except for the number one.

    For example, nine and five were ¡°coprime¡±, because their onlymon divisor was one. On the other hand, ten and five had five as an additionalmon divisor to one, thus they weren¡¯t ¡°coprime¡±.

    For meshing cogs it was an extremely important point whether the numbers of their teeth were coprime or not.

    When the numbers of teeth of two meshing cogs were ¡°coprime¡±, then all the teeth geared with each other on the same probability. On the contrary, when they weren¡¯t ¡°coprime¡±, then only a few teeth geared with each other over and over again, whereas some teeth didn¡¯t gear at all.

    What kind of result would that produce?

    In the ¡°coprime¡± case, the two cogs would wear off evenly, allowing for an optimum usage. In the ¡°not-coprime¡± case, some teeth would wear off most intensive, whereas some other teeth almost didn¡¯t wear off at all, which quickly strained both cogs during a continuous usage.

    A crooked cog would start to tter before long and disintegrate soon after.

    As a matter of fact, the average lifespan of coprime cogs was truly ten times longer than non-coprime cogs, even when they were made out of the same materials and with the same precision.

    In the modern age of Earth, the cogwheels were made out of carbide with a micron-precise fineness, so its capability smoothed things over, even if the cogs weren¡¯t ¡°coprime¡±, but the cogwheels used in the waterwheels in this world were only made out of wood, a material that wears off easily, and when the uracy had been done sloppily, too, the difference became painfully obvious.

    ¡°It is just as you have told me, Your Highness. Compared to the cogwheels I have built so far, the ones made in ordance with your instructionsst a lot longer.¡±

    Despite the fact that the Queen, an amateur on the field, had given them, experts on the field, an urate suggestion for improvement, the craftsmen were honestly impressed from the bottom of their hearts without so much as adting Aura.

    Strictly speaking, the recognition was entitled to Zenjirou, not herself, so Aura felt a bitplicated inside, but she wasn¡¯t so careless to let it show on her face now.

    ¡°Do not mention it. It was just a whimsical thought of mine. Without your expertise it could not have been done. If anything, I believe your ability to ept my proposal and realize it in such a short time, is all the more praiseworthy. Put out your skills for the Royal Family, for the Kingdom and for myself from now on as well.¡±

    ¡°Very well!¡±

    The waterwheel artisans deeply lowered their heads once more in reaction to the words of the Queen.

    Satisfied, Aura looked down onto the bowing craftsmen and showed a bright smile while continuing to speak.

    ¡°To keep to the point, I would like to implement this new cogwheel in the waterwheels on the royal domain next. I take that would be no problem?¡±

    Aura sough confirmation, whereat the middle-aged artisan, still humbling himself to the best of his ability, answered with an appealing upward nce.

    ¡°Of course not. We can begin right away when you give the order. However, uhm¡­ May I pose one question?¡±

    ¡°Mh? What is it? Speak up.¡±

    She was more or less aware already what the waterwheel artisan wanted to ask, but she urged him to continue with feigned ignorance.

    ¡°Yes. With your permission, I will do so. Your Highness, do you intend to share the knowledge about the new cogwheel with the other feudal lords?¡±

    The question was exactly what Aura had been expecting.

    (I knew he would be bothered about that. Well, considering his standpoint, it is understandable.)

    The new cogwheel had an overwhelmingly longer lifespan than the conventional cogwheel.

    Its development was good news for the clients, namely royalty and nobility, and for the consumers, namely farmers, but for a few others its existence meant a considerable harm.

    Naturally, it affected the waterwheel artisans.

    A longer durability of the cogs meant nothing else, but less work for them.

    In a way, they were scrapping at their own mainstay, so their worry was only natural.

    Aura kept her poker face, even if she fullyprehended their inner turmoil, and replied in a casual tone.

    ¡°Yes, of course I will do so. As the ruler of the Kingdom, I have an obligation to share such benefiting information with my trusted subjects.¡±

    ¡°C- Certainly¡­¡±

    Despair. The middle-aged craftsman looked like he was acting as a model for a sculpture with such a theme and spoke with a cracked voice.

    Aura deliberately ignored how the artisan dropped his shoulders crestfallen and continued somewhat affected.

    ¡°Oh, right. This is an entirely different matter, but I am actually thinking of changing yourmission system.

    Right now, you only get paid every time a waterwheel or its repair ismissioned. However, my idea is to leave you in charge of the maintenance and supervision of the finished waterwheels and pay all the incidental expenses in advance at the beginning of the year.¡±

    ¡°Eh? That would mean¡­¡±

    The waterwheel builder couldn¡¯tprehend her words right away, but before long, its meaning sunk in and his facial expression underwent another shift.

    From despair to delight.

    To put it simply: Aura¡¯s suggestion was a ¡°yearly contract¡±.

    So far, the artisans had only beenmissioned for repairs every time a waterwheel broke.

    As the new version of the waterwheel would decrease the number of broken ones, the urring cost reduction would directly cut into the ie of the craftsmen ording to that system.

    That in turn would make them fear for their existence.

    In order to avoid that from happening, Aura was now saying that she would be paying all the expenses for maintaining the waterwheels in advance at the beginning of each year in a yearly contract and that they didn¡¯t need to pay it back if itter turned out that the waterwheels kept working without any problems.

    Naturally, it imposed the obligation on them to work without any additional fees when a waterwheel did break down, but it wouldn¡¯t pose such a big problem, unless the ountant was extremely negligent with the bookkeeping.

    (Of course I will let them calcte the annual average of repairs for waterwheels up till now and appoint a slightly smaller sry to the yearly contract.)

    Aura thought that to herself, but it would have hardly spoiled the craftsmen¡¯s joy, even if they were able to read her mind.

    The waterwheel artisans could avoid the worst case, namely falling into poverty at once, with the system proposed by Aura.

    Neither was it in her interest to have the waterwheel-builder roam the streets due to the sudden reform.

    Besides, a yearly contract also had the merit that they wouldn¡¯t be pressed for ¡°unexpected additional expenses¡± one day, so it was easier to calcte the state expenses.

    And the craftsmen, too, could arrange their yearly budget better when they received a fixed amount of money at a designated time every year, even if their ie was slightly less.

    (Well, it is a goodpromise. Thanks to my husband, the treasury has a bit more surplus again. The question is, what do I do with that money?)

    ¡°Thank you very much, Your Highness. Really, we cannot thank you enough!¡±

    The artisans expressed their gratitude while prostrating on the ground, whereas Queen Aura was already thinking of her next agenda.

    * * *

    Late evening on the same day.

    Zenjirou and Aura were coincidentally running into each other in one section of the inner pce. To be more precisely, in the room of their beloved son Carlos Zenkichi Carpa aka Prince Carlo-Zen.

    Aura was always heading straight towards her son once her duties in the royal pce were over, but it was a rare sight to find Zenjirou there.

    That phrasing might sound like his fatherly affection for his son wasckingpared to Aura¡¯s motherly feelings, but that was by no means the case.

    Since he didn¡¯t speak the nativenguage of the western part of the South Continent, he was forbidden to speak in front of the prince as it would disturb the first phase of the child¡¯s acquisition ofnguage.

    No matter how careful he may be, he would end up speaking to his son anyway when he spent a long time with him, since that was human nature. Therefore, Zenjirou regretfully refrained from staying in the room of his son for too long.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    He looked around the room of his beloved son without saying a word.

    The room was maybe around thirteen square metrerge at best. For a room in the inner pce it was rather small.

    That said, it had originally beenrger, but wooden partition walls had deliberately been set up to make it smaller. Of course with good reason.

    So, why would they go through all the trouble to make arge room smaller?

    The reason for that became obvious once you set foot into the room.

    Coolth. Although the sun had already set considerable, the temperature was still at thirty-five degree, but in this room alone it clearly felt more than five degree colder.

    Responsible for that were the big ¡°block of ice¡± in the corner of the room and the young waiting maid moving arge fan with all her might.

    The man-made wind brushed over the block of ice and distributed its cold air to the entirety of the room. The chilly breeze could make Prince Carlo-Zen, an infant, sick instead when it was aimed at him directly, so they weren¡¯t doing that, of course.

    The room temperature was lowered through ice and arge fan. To maximize its effect, the room had been partitioned, because therger the room, the weaker the cooling effect of the ice.

    ¡°Ah, Zenjirou-sama, please excuse me for remaining like this.¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    The waiting maid greeted him without resting her hand from moving the fan, whereas Zenjirou acknowledged her with just a wordless nod.

    It had to be quite the tough job to keep fanning without rest, even if they were working in turns.

    (I could¡¯ve brought the electronic fan over here, if only the extension cable were longer.)

    That thought was crossing his mind in light of the maid¡¯s effort, but if he actually were to do that, the waiting maids would surely make a fuss.

    To be honest, the task of fanning the block of ice was currently the most desired assignment amongst the waiting maids of the inner pce.

    It definitely was a strenuous effort to keep fanning the ice, but the jobs of the waiting maids were all kind of strenuous in their own way anyway.

    That being the case, a task alongside a cool block of ice was naturally preferred over the other tasks. At least it was no exaggeration to call it ¡°heavenly¡± whenparing it to the tasks of mowing thewn under the zing sun or keeping watch on the fire in the oven at the kitchen.

    While Zenjirou was lost in thought like that, Aura quietly approached the cradle with their sleeping son and peeked into it.

    ¡°¡­Fuah?¡±

    As if to match the look of his mother, Prince Carlo-Zen opened his big eyes, blinking.

    ¡°Mh? You were awake, Carlos?¡±

    Aura pursed her mouth a bit disgruntled, as she had missed the chance to catch a glimpse of the sleeping face of her adorable child.

    ¡°Yes. He woke up earlier and appears to be in a good mood right now.¡±

    The wet nurse said so with a bright smile, but faint, dark circles were showing under her eyes.

    Most likely, our little prince had been crying throughout thest night again, breaking the well-deserved sleep of the wet nurse.

    Every time Aura witnessed these hardships of the wet nurse, she was reminded of the fact that she, the Queen, was unable to properly fulfil her obligations as a mother.

    Precisely because of that she had to cherish the time she could spent with her child like this.

    ¡°May I pick him up?¡±

    It was a bit humiliating to have to ask for the wet nurse¡¯s permission to hold her own child, but right now, the child was more familiar with the wet nurse, who was raising him, instead of his biological mother, so Aura had to soft-pedal.

    ¡°Why, of course, Your Highness. Please give the prince some motherly warmth.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Hearing the wet nurse¡¯s words, Aura softly put her hands around Prince Carlo-Zen¡¯s head and body and very carefully picked up the unbelievable warm and soft creature.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    The lifted babyughed happily in the arms of his mother and stretched out his chubby and small hands towards her face.

    ¡°Fufufu, what is the matter, Carlos? What are these hands going to do?¡±

    Her usual dignified manner vanished and her expression ckened so much it could be called ¡°slovenly¡±. In order to stick her face against his hands, the Queen inclined her head and brought his smooth body closer to her face.

    ¡°Ada, Dah, Ahh.¡±

    The palms of the prince, still smaller than two fingers of Aura together, caressed her face patting.

    ¡°Fuh, Fufufu, oh my? Hey, that tickles.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Ahh, Adah.¡±

    The scene between the mother and her child was so heart-warming that it automatically conjured a smile on your face.

    So far the father had been silent, but he seemed to have hit his limit and approached the two, opening his mouth.

    ¡°Zenkichi, it¡¯s me, papa!¡±

    The wordsing from his mouth were in the nguage of the western part of the South Continent¡±.

    It had been a bit more than a year, since Zenjirou hade into this world. Consequently, he had learned the words of this world to some extent and could use a bit of the nativenguage now.

    That said, hismunication skills in thenguage were at best the same as a Japanese middle school student had for English. Nevertheless, hundreds of vocabries were floating around in his head.

    Amongst all these, the earlier uttered words ¡°it¡¯s me, papa¡± were the only ones that had been approved with an ¡°unproblematic intonation¡± by Aura and his home tutor Octavia.

    His ¡°pronunciation¡± for all the other words was still ¡°too rough¡± for now, so he wasn¡¯t allowed to speak them in front of Prince Carlo-Zen.

    Thus, he put all his affection for his son into that short phrase.

    ¡°Zenkichi, it¡¯s me, papa!¡±

    Saying so, Zenjirou pped his arms about besides his face and looked into his face with a clownish expression.

    ¡°Fuah? Ah, Ahh!¡±

    His son switched his gaze from his mother to his father, as either the grimace had been funny or the pping arms had caught his attention.

    ¡°Muh¡­¡±

    But Aura wasn¡¯t amused. Zenjirou may be her beloved husband, but during her limited time with her child, he was a rival thatpeted with her for the attention of this lovely, little angel.

    ¡°Aw, Carlos. Look my way. You like Mama the best, right?¡±

    ¡°Ada, Dah.¡±

    She called out to him while dandling him in her arms, which kind of forcefully brought his attention back to her.

    ¡°Heh.¡±

    After regaining the interest of her child, the Queen gave Zenjirou a challenging nce and smirked victorious.

    That definitely seemed to have provoked him a bit. As if epting her challenge, he drew closer to their child once more and spoke.

    ¡°Zenkichi, it¡¯s me, papa!¡±

    Unfortunately however, these words were the only thing he was allowed to utter.

    ¡°Carlos loves Mama! Papa onlyes in second! Papa epts that, too, right?¡±

    While Mama was having her way, Papa was shaking his head with all his might and said.

    ¡°Zenkichi, it¡¯s me, papa!¡±

    As he showed a desperate look on his face, Aura grinned devious and continued.

    ¡°What is the matter? Just say so when I am wrong. Right, Carlos?¡±

    ¡°Zenkichi, it¡¯s me, papa!¡±

    ¡°Oho, what a loud voice. It will scare Carlos. You are scary, Papa, so scary.¡±

    Aura stifled aughter with all her might in view of the frantic Zenjirou and turned her back to him as to keep the prince in her arms out of his view.

    On a closer look, even the wet nurse, sitting on a chair at the side, and the waiting maid, still working the fan, were chokingughter and shaking their shoulders, but Zenjirou was in no position to notice that right now.

    He must have realized that Aura was teasing him, but he turnedpletely hopeless and circled her with loud steps, then

    ¡°ZENKICHI, IT¡¯S ME, PAPA!¡±

    said that with his loudest voice today.

    A sudden appearance from behind, a frantic expression and a loud voice.

    The result of these three factorsing together was¡­

    ¡°F- Fu- Fuueeeeeeh!¡±

    Their beloved son was crying aloud.

    * * *

    ¡°Pffft¡­.!¡±

    ¡°Aura¡­ You¡¯reughing too much¡­¡±

    As Aura kept onughing on top of the couch in the living room, Zenjirou, sitting across from her, reprimanded her with an ill-humoured expression.

    ¡°F- Forgive me. Still¡­ It, it is no good. Your miserable face when you made Carlos cry was just so priceless¡­ I, I cannot hold back, Ahaha!¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Zenjirou angrily averted his eyes from his wife, who was convulsed withugher to tears.

    Apparently nothing he could say would make her stop.

    After making his most beloved son cry, he had fled the scene, leaving the rest to Aura and the wet nurse, and returned to the living room, where he had abandoned himself to depression for a while. As soon as Aura had returned to the room a bitter, she had been in this state.

    Frankly speaking, it was no pleasure to see his wifeughing endlessly while she lied t on her face on the sofa, battering it at a mad pace.

    On a rare asion, Zenjirou gave her a final warning with a low voice while looking down on his wife, who was splitting her sidesughing, with a sharp nce.

    ¡°Aura. Why don¡¯t you give it a rest already?¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha. O- Okay. I will stop now¡­ W- Wait, cannot. Ahahaha!¡±

    Even his final warning was seemingly ignored.

    Oh well. Since his final warning had been ignored, this called for ¡°drastic measures¡±.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Standing up wordlessly, Zenjirou slowly approached the couch on which Aura wasughing her head off.

    ¡°Hah! If you want tough that bad,ugh all you want!¡±

    He fell upon Aura with a flop.

    ¡°Wait, Zenjirou!?¡±

    ¡°You little!¡±

    Now on top of her, he proceeded to tickle her waist and armpits with both his hands.

    ¡°Hii!? Hey, Hyah, Hihihihi, St- Stop¡­!¡±

    ¡°Take this!¡±

    Aura should have been stronger than him, but because of her unfavourable position, Zenjirou pinned her down on the couch and had his way with her.

    ¡°Ahahaha, w- wait. Stop, Fuahahaha!¡±

    ¡°There, there!¡±

    As Zenjirou himself started to enjoy it before long, he showed a slightly devious smile while he continued to vehemently tickle the body of beloved wife with his hands. The tables had turnedpared to the situation in the private room of the prince.

    Taking advantage of the situation, Zenjirou had his fill of exploring all kind of ces: Her waist, armpits, inner thighs, nape of the neck and soles of feet, but also the bulging points in the front of the body as well as the back of her body just below the waist.

    ¡°Hihi, st¡­ op¡­!¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, you cutie. C¡¯mon, what¡¯s the harm?¡±

    ¡°Hey! It is me or has your personality changed?¡±

    In the end, the couple messed around passionately and intimately until the waiting maid in charge of the bath came by to report that their bath was ready.

    * * *

    After cleaning themselves from the daily sweat and dirt in the bath, Zenjirou and Aura returned to the living room in their usual casual nightwear.

    ¡°Good grief. I admit that I went a bit too far in teasing you in front of Carlos and I certainly am at fault forughing afterwards, too, but that still does not warrant your actions. It would have been fine if you had just tickled me, but despite my warning that it would trouble my position as the Ruler if I were to bear another child now, you just went and¡­¡±

    ¡°Sorry, it was just a little prank.¡±

    ¡°¡­You remove a woman¡¯s clothing for a prank?¡±

    ¡°If she¡¯s my wife, yes, sometimes.¡±

    While quarrelling with each other friendly, the two of them didn¡¯t make themselvesfortable on the couches in the living room like always, but instead headed straight for the bedroom.

    ¡°Jeez¡­ Oh well. Well then, how about you show me that device you have been talking about? The ¡®air conditioning¡¯, was it? You assembled it, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, well, more or less. It¡¯s working without problems so far, I think.¡±

    With a diffident expression, Zenjirou replied like that to Aura and grabbed the door knob of the bedroom.

    Theplete assemble of the air conditioning almost took a whole day. On its test run, it had blown out cold air without any problems, so he had left it turned on.

    And since then, the door of the bedroom hadn¡¯t been opened even once.

    ¡°It was running the whole time. If it really works like it should, then by now¡­¡±

    Still grasping the door knob, Zenjirou closed his eyes and after a deep breath, he yanked the door open with a wishful expression.

    ¡°¡­Hell yeah!¡±

    Just like he had hoped, a stream of cold air unthinkable for the hot season of the Carpa Kingdom greeted him from beyond the door.

    ¡°Now that is impressive. The light and refrigerator surprised me, too, when I saw them for the first time, but this raises the ante.¡±

    Sitting down on their shared king-sized bed, Aura held out her hands towards the chilling breeze from the newly assembled air conditioning and said impressed.

    The cool air felt quitefortable on her flushed body as she had just gotten out of the bath.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    She narrowed her eyes to slits like a cat that was being stroked under the chin, but noticed the sullen expression of her husband as he sat down next to her.

    ¡°What is the matter, Zenjirou? Why the long face? Did something upset you?¡±

    Zenjirou scratched his face awkwardly while his beloved wife peeked at it from the side.

    ¡°Yeah, well, to be honest, it¡¯s still not ideal. The room is too big for the output and even if we close the wooden shutters, hot air wille in here and there, because it¡¯s not really airtight.

    Right now it¡¯s quite refreshing, because it¡¯s night, but we can¡¯t expect it to be just as cool during the day, when the sunlightes in through all the openings.¡±

    Saying so, he heaved a sigh.

    It had been pure luck that he managed to get the air conditioning running on his first try, but considering the house construction in modern Japan, it still couldn¡¯t be denied that the blessing of the air conditioning was weak here.

    The domestic air conditioning he had bought was designed for around forty square metre at best, but their bedroom was at least fifty square metre big.

    And like he mentioned just now: The buildings in the Carpa Kingdom had a poor air impermeability.

    A night like this aside, it seemed unlikely that the device could cope with the sun of the hottest season, which exceeded forty degrees during the day.

    ¡°Now, are you not asking too much?¡±

    Aura widened her eyes a bit surprised, whereas Zenjirou replied with a wry smile.

    ¡°Mhm, guess so. But I just can¡¯t shake off this refreshing image from the ¡®other world¡¯ when I think of an air conditioned room.

    Besides, the biggest problem still isn¡¯t solved yet.¡±

    ¡°The biggest problem?¡±

    His wife asked back, whereat Zenjirou nodded once and red up to the turned on air conditioning.

    ¡°Yeah. The problem whether I really did assemble it correctly or not. For now, it¡¯s working alright, not making any weird noises, nor leaking any water.

    But from what I¡¯ve heard, it often happens that it gradually wears off when wrongly assembled and then breaks down after a few days.¡±

    If that were to happen, time would have to be reverted with the ¡°Time Reversal¡± magic for these few days in order to repair it.

    And that certainly exceeded a ¡°favour¡± he could ask of Aura. He would have no choice but to give up on the air conditioning when that ever happened.

    (My only ray of hope is that I¡¯ll be able to fix it myself in the future when I learn ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ and ¡®Future Compensation¡¯.)

    ¡°Future Compensation¡± was referring to yet another secret spell of the Space-Time Magic.

    To put it simply: It was a difficult technique that allowed you to activate a magic, whose output exceeded your maximum amount of magical power, by also paying the magical power from your future self, for example one or two days in the future.

    Naturally, you wouldn¡¯t be able to use any magic at all for the expended time, so Aura would never be in a position to use it, but Zenjirou was basically not part of the military strength, so he had the chance to use it.

    Needless to say, it was more than likely that his magical power, too, would be continuously used for the ¡°national benefit¡± when he finally could use magic, so he would hardly get any opportunities to use it freely.

    Either way, even the most optimistic estimate said it would take him at least until next year to be able to use that magic. At that point, he would have to revert time back for nearly ¡°one year¡±, if he wanted to return the air conditioning to its state before the assemble.

    To wind back that much time, he would surely have to pay a couple of months worth of magical power with ¡°Future Compensation¡±. Although it was his own magical power, it urred to him that it would be too selfish to use it like that, considering his position as royalty.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s no use worrying my brain. So far, it¡¯s working without problems, so let¡¯s enjoy its blessing for now.¡±

    Zenjirou came to such a clean decision, whereupon Aura nodded and expressed her opinion.

    ¡°Hmm, indeed. Then we have to bring a table and chairs into the bedroom first thing tomorrow. It would feel wrong to take breakfast and do our chats at noon on the edge of the bed.¡±

    ¡°Aura¡­ You¡¯re totally up for moving into the bedroom, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    He inadvertently showed a wry smile as his beloved wife was surprisingly eager for it.

    Once they had settled onto the bed, over which the cool air of the air conditioning blew, it was no longer an option for them to return to the living room full of hot air.

    Since they still had time until lights out, the royal couple was enjoying a night chat while they sat next to each other on the edge of the bed.

    ¡°Then you spent almost all of your day assembling this ¡®air conditioning¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yep. And it¡¯s no exaggeration, I literally took all day for it. Even though there¡¯s so much else I want to do, like making soap or distilling alcohol.¡±

    Zenjirou answered Aura¡¯s question like that and nodded.

    Recently, he was appearing at official events in the royal pce as Aura¡¯s proxy, so he didn¡¯t have as much spare time as before anymore. Due to that, there were hardly any days anymore, where he had nothing to do daylong, but today he neither had the time, nor the energy to do anything else.

    Assembling the air conditioning amidst temperatures of over forty degrees had been quite an arduous job for Zenjirou.

    That said, the soldiers on the Salt Road were marching for days under that zing sun, but if he were allowed to say his honest opinion, he would im that all soldiers were ¡°superhuman¡±.

    (I really have to get used to the climate here¡­ Though, saying that the day I assembled the air conditioning, isn¡¯t really convincing.)

    Zenjirou wasmenting in his mind, but the matter actually only came to his mind, because he did set-up the air conditioning.

    After all, it was human nature to only think of a way to escape a bothersome situation they found themselves in. Because they wanted to get away from the trouble, they started to set praiseworthy goals.

    Anyway, he concluded that it was not the time to think about it now, so he told his wife, sitting next to him, what he intended to do from now on in order to change the topic.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll continue with the soap and alcohol whenever I¡¯ve time. I can¡¯t work at my own sweet will anymore, since I¡¯ve more stuff to do in the pce these days.¡±

    Aura frowned a bit upon the words from her husband.

    ¡°I can allocate less work for you when there is something else you would like to do. And I have more or less recovered anyway.¡±

    She proposed that out of consideration for her husband, not because she was thinking lowly of him. But he didn¡¯t ept the good will of his wife.

    ¡°And repeat the same drama likest year when you give birth again? No thanks. I¡¯m not proud of it, but I¡¯m just an average guy. Even if I¡¯ve mastered something, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll forget it after half a year of not making use of it.¡±

    ¡°That certainly is not something to be proud of.¡±

    Her husband replied puffed up with pride, whereupon Aura showed a wry smile and shrugged her shoulders. Then she said with a solemn face.

    ¡°Fine. To be honest, I have been underestimating the situationst year as well. I would definitely be quite grateful when you continue with the same workload as now.

    But please do not misunderstand me. I am not just saying it from the deep of my heart, but also because I expect the things you make to have a good influence on the country.¡±

    Hearing these words, Zenjirou scratched his head with a troubled expression.

    ¡°Um, well, I would prefer if you don¡¯t ce such high hopes on me. I¡¯m just an amateur messing around with superficial knowledge. To be honest, I¡¯m expecting to fail nine out of ten times.

    Ah, but maybe something was useful, seeing as you mentioned it?¡±

    He asked that as he apparently noticed it mid-sentence, whereupon Aura nodded with a grin.

    ¡°Yes. At noon, I visited the craftsmen I had given instructions before and their results exceeded my expectations.

    Firstly, the ss. They made something satisfying on their first attempt already. I will show it to you tomorrow. Well, it is only a shiny ck stone with a greenish tint, mind you. However, it shows that we are on the right track.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s great.¡±

    Zenjirou was honestly impressed.

    Somehow or other their efforts bore fruit, relying only on the sparse information about the materials and the rough exnations that were worlds apart from being manufacturing instructions. Appreciation was definitely in order.

    ¡°Naturally, there are still a lot of problems. The pitch-ck stone can hardly be called ss at this point and the technique to shape it into the desired form has yet to be refined as well.

    Above all, the typical earthen furnaces of our country cannot bear the high temperatures needed to melt ss. The craftsmen said that the furnaces would not evenst ten attempts at this rate.¡±

    Aura¡¯s expression made aplete turn into a bitter one as she recited the current set of problems.

    Likewise making a solemn face, Zenjirou assumed the thinker¡¯s pose with his right hand and pondered.

    ¡°Hmm, then we really need the ¡®firebricks¡¯, I guess.¡±

    ¡°I am afraid we do.¡±

    Aura consented and snorted frustrated.

    It seemed that she really wasn¡¯t pleased with the ¡°method to make firebricks¡±, which she had seen on the DVD before.

    No wonder, considering that the exnation said to ¡°bake a mixture of y and squelched old firebricks in a furnace made of firebricks¡±, which was not the least bit helpful.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t want his wife to get any more moody before bedtime, so he quickly continued in a flustered manner.

    ¡°Ehm, the remaining problems are how to shape the ss and make it colourless, right?

    I think the most realistic method to shape the ss would be to wrap it around a long pipe and blow air into it, just like the TV showed it. Though I¡¯ve heard that window ss is recently done with the ¡®Pilkington process¡¯.¡±

    He stared at the ceiling of the bedroom, which was illuminated by the orange LED floormps, while he recalled his unreliable smattering of knowledge.

    ¡°Mh? I watched the blowing technique together with you, but I have never heard of that ¡®Pilkington process¡¯ before.¡±

    Seemingly curious, his wife leaned over a bit in her nightgown, which fascinated Zenjirou as he answered faithfully.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know much either, so I can only give you a rough exnation. In short, they make sheets of ss by letting the molten ss float in molten metal that has a lower melting temperature than ss.

    In this way you get an even sheet of ss that¡¯s smooth on both sides without having to polish it.

    Just think of it how meltedrd floats in boiling water. When you leave it like that for a while, therd solidifies into a t shape, right? Same stuff.¡±

    ¡°I see. That sounds rather extravagant, but I understand the general principle.¡±

    Aura disyed herprehension with a nod, but her expression didn¡¯t look like she was all that impressed.

    It reflected the different expectation the two of them had towards ¡°ss¡±.

    Speaking of ss, Zenjirou immediately associated window ss with it, whereas Aura¡¯s greatest interest was a spherical ss¡ª the ss marble.

    So it was only natural that she wouldn¡¯t be in interested in the manufacture method called Pilkington process.

    In fact, the float ss manufacture was way more difficult than ssblowing. It was necessary to control the temperature in the bath of molten metal, where the ss would float in, and there was the danger that the workers would inhale the vaporized metal.

    In the modern age, most of the production lines were automated, managed byputers, so it was an effective method there, but considering the level of technology in this world, it might actually be more effective to have the craftsmen tten the ss they made through ssblowing or rather its practical application, the crown process, by hand.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t take all that into ount, but he still realized that the interest of his wife wasn¡¯t really piqued.

    ¡°That leaves us with the question how to make the ss colourless. I guess we¡¯ll have to follow the TV show for that, too, and get rid of the iron content in the sand as best as possible.

    That means we grind the sand more carefully, stir it in water and separate out the upperyer of the sediment.¡±

    Moving on to the next problem, Zenjirou inclined his head in thought again.

    Even the TV show about manufacturing ss exined it only briefly, but the main reason that ss stained was hat metal particles were mixed in the sand.

    The simplest and most realistic measure against it was to remove as much metal particles as possible from the sand.

    First you grinded the sand as finely as possible, so that it was easier to extract the metal particles. Then you put that sand into a barrel with a lot of water and stirred it thoroughly. Afterwards you let all the sand sediment.

    By doing so, the heavier metal particles settled down first and the lighter sand fell on top of it.

    After that you only had to scoop the upperyer of the sediment.

    Hearing his answer, the Queen ced one hand against her chin, which had started to regain its original edge from the recent training, and replied.

    ¡°Yes, you already have exined the course of action to me when we saw that video, so I had them work that way, but the result was as I mentioned earlier. Maybe they did not grind it carefully enough or did not mix it sufficiently with the water?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, or the sand itself may be the problem. I think there is actually a pretty fine line between suitable and non-suitable sand for ss. If the sand¡¯s no good from the beginning, then it might be useless, no matter how hard you try.¡±

    To put it bluntly: No matter how thoroughly you grinded ck sand, which was as good as iron sand, there would be no grand refinement.

    Of course it was quite conceivable that they didn¡¯t grind carefully enough or messed up either the stirring or the scooping, like Aura had said, so there was no guarantee that Zenjirou¡¯s opinion was correct.

    However, his opinion sounded more than usible to Aura¡¯s ears as well.

    ¡°Certainly. The suitability of the sand itself, eh. Maybe we should bring in various kinds of sand from each region.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that sounds good. Lastly, the TV series was showing the removal of the iron content with a ma, too.

    I do have a couple of mas attached to the refrigerator door, but I think they¡¯re too weak to maise any iron splinters.

    Otherwise I could use the rechargeable batteries as a DC supply and build a simple electroma if I had a bit of copper wire.¡±

    Zenjirou dug up the middle school science lessons from his memory, whereupon Aura asked with her head inclined in puzzlement.

    ¡°Copper wire? What is that? Does it by chance refer to a strand of copper?¡±

    ¡°Yep. You take copper, rolled into a long and narrow shape like a thread, and wind it around a maic core. When you run electricity though it then, it creates a maic field. In school we experimented like that to turn iron into a ma, but I guess you don¡¯t have copper wires here? Technically you could use iron wires instead, too, but it¡¯ll be less effective. Copper is the best metal conductor after silver after all.¡±

    Questioned by him, Aura crossed her arms under her voluminous breasts and contemted.

    ¡°Hmm, we definitely do not have something like that in our country as of now. The question is if the craftsmen in the pce can actually make it when I order them to¡­ It sounds difficult to make something that thin. And you even have to coil it, right? Then it must be rather flexible.

    It would be a bit more expensive, but using silver instead of copper might give us brighter prospects. A silversmith would be most suited for a delicate job like that.¡±

    Zenjirou showed a bit of surprise upon her answer, but nodded with a convinced expression immediately afterwards.

    ¡°Ah, right. We¡¯re not going to mass-produce them, but rather do a small-scale experiment, so it shouldn¡¯t get all that expensive, even with silver.

    Okay. When it got brighter conditions, let¡¯s do it that way. Meanwhile, I¡¯ll make preparations, too, and locate the workbench outside into the shadow of the courtyard.¡±

    As aymen, Zenjirou couldn¡¯t predict what kind of influence a maic field would have on its surroundings.

    It was hard to see that an electroma powered by mere batteries would damage the electrical appliances like theputer, butck of experience could be dangerous. Better safe than sorry.

    Working outside amidst the heat was somewhat troublesome, but it was nothing unbearable when in the shadows of the trees or near the fountain.

    ¡°Fine. I will arrange the silversmiths. And I will let them bring in sand from as many regions as possible as a test as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, please do.¡±

    The discussion about the ss was thus concluded for now.

    Following, Aura started to talk about the results of the ¡°waterwheel¡± experiment.

    ¡°Then there was your idea of making the teeth of the waterwheels ¡®coprime¡¯. The result is astonishing. Just like you have said, the coprime cogsst a lot longer than the other.¡±

    Unable to prevent her face from naturally forming a smile and her eyes producing sparkles, Aura dered with an excited voice.

    ¡°Oh, so it went well. Good. It was actually quite worried, since I only knew it by hearsay.¡±

    ¡°The difference was truly extramundane. Right now the miniature wheels, deliberately made out of softwood, are still in the experimental phase, but the artisans guaranteed that the actual implementation would work as well.¡±

    Now she could save a little on the budget for the management of the waterwheels in the Kingdom. Aura¡¯s smile as she said that, was brimming with the intensity of a Ruler and to be honest, Zenjirou was backing off a bit on top of the bed.

    (Ahaha, my wife¡¯s beautiful and kind, but just as intimidating.)

    The Queen, not aware of the impression of her husband, crossed her arms beneath her overly prominent two breasts and mused happily.

    ¡°This will be an additional ie for the royal family first andst. Unlike the previous case with the money from the ounting books, I can use this however I like. Fufufu, it may not be an impressive amount by itself, but saving expenses every year will make a big difference. Time to dream bigger.¡±

    By the way, the suggestion of running a test phase with numerous miniature waterwheels of the same design except for the cog teeth as well as the idea of changing to a yearly contract in order to avoid a loss in the waterwheel industry, actually originated from Zenjirou.

    He himself wasn¡¯t thinking much of it, but Aura was now thinking even more highly of him than before.

    However,

    ¡°Mhm, I¡¯m d. I really am, but since it¡¯s some precious extra money, I hope it can be used as effectively as possible. Maybe you could consider its use carefully once you have settled down a bit?¡±

    Zenjirou patted the shoulder of his wife to calm her down while he said so, whereupon Aura quickly regained herposure as if her earlier delight had just been an act.

    ¡°No, I am afraid that I will not have the time to think it through for a while. Now is the only time I can spare time like this as well.

    Truth be told, I received a report from the Twin Kingdom that said that Prince Francesco and Princess Bona have set out for our country. Before long, the Prince and Princess of the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell will arrive here.

    Once they do, we both will be extremely limited in our free time.¡±

    If anything, then now, was Aura saying, whereat Zenjirou inadvertently heaved a sigh.

    ¡°Uhh, it already has reached that point?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They are travelling in arge dragon carriage and its speed is affected by the weather and other factors, so it is not certain when they will arrive, but if everything goes well, we expect them to arrive in around a month time. From then on, we both will be busy with hospitality.

    You better say your farewells to the leisurely days while you can.¡±

    Infected by Zenjirou, Aura likewise heaved a deep sigh.

    The royalty of the Twin Kingdom wasing.

    In face of such a big event, other circumstances or the sentiments of the involved people became secondary.

    Just as Aura had said, there would follow a whole series of days, where he entertained the guests while hiding his vignce and tension behind a smile. Even if the Prince Consort was to keep a low profile, it didn¡¯t change the fact that he was one of the two current members of the royal family.

    Zenjirou¡¯s schedule would definitely be booked out for a while.

    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll try my best.¡±

    Slouching his shouldersrgely once, he exhaled all the gloomy air after a deep breath, pulling himself together. Only then he spoke.

    Still sitting on the bed, the royal couple then continued their business talk for a little while longer, but it was interrupted by the sound of the cell phone left on the edge of the bed.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s my rm.¡±

    ¡°Oh my, bedtime already? I guess time really flies when the temperatures arefortable.¡±

    Wallowing about on the king-sized bed, Zenjirou fetched the cell phone and stopped the rm, whereas Aura said regretfully.

    He had set the rm of the cell phone just in case, so that they wouldn¡¯t forget the time and miss out on sleep, but it turned out to be useful at once.

    ¡°Yeah, we could talk all night like this. Let¡¯s just go to bed.¡±

    Taking the remote control of the air conditioning, Zenjirou pressed a button, whereupon Aura dered a bit disappointed.

    ¡°Grml, you are turning it off?¡±

    Zenjirou made a wry smile as his wife had been totally charmed by the refreshing breeze.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not turning it off. I just switched the setting to the night mode. It wouldn¡¯t really be healthy to have the air conditioning working at full power while we sleep.¡±

    ¡°Ohh¡­¡±

    When he saw his wife inclining her head disappointed, he felt the urge to take back his words and put the air conditioning on full power again.

    In reality, the temperatures didn¡¯t even fall below thirty degree during the night, so leaving the air conditioning at full power might actually provide for a more ¡°appropriate¡± room temperature instead. However, there was no need to take any risks on the first day.

    ¡°I¡¯m turning of the lights, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes, okay.¡±

    Zenjirou temporarily got off the bed and switched off the orange LED floormps that were illuminating the bedroom.

    With the lights off, the bedroom was now covered in a pitch-ck darkness, since the wooden shutters of the windows were closed and didn¡¯t let any moonlight in.

    But he had grown perfectly ustomed to his home already.

    Zenjirou returned to the bed without problems amidst the darkness, hopped into it and crawled into the middle, where his beloved wife was awaiting him.

    Even in this obscurity, Aura apparently could make out his silhouette as she urately reached out her arms for him while he came crawling over on all fours, guiding him next to her.

    ¡°Zenjirou¡­¡±

    ¡°Mm, thanks.¡±

    The couple obviously held hands, exchange a kiss in the most natural manner andy side by side as a matter of course.

    ¡°Good night.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, night.¡±

    The arrival of the Prince and Princess of the Twin Kingdom would surely cause amotion, for better or for worse. As royalty, it was the role of the Queen and the Prince Consort to handle and control the fuss.

    Aura did not know what kind of troubles would await the two of them from now on, not even with her Space-Time magic. But for that very reason, they ought to devote at least the night-time to a peaceful slumber, where they were only conscious of each other.

    The loving wedded pair fell into a quiet sleep, embracing each other so closely that they felt the partner¡¯s body temperature and breathe on their skin and ear, respectively.

 Chapter Volume 3 7

    The waiting maids working in the inner pce held Zenjirou in high esteem.

    Daring toy it on the line: They were regarding him as an ¡°easy-care master¡±.

    He wasn¡¯t nitpicking about their jobs. He wasn¡¯t giving out orders on a whim. He didn¡¯t scold them when a given task wasn¡¯tpleted on time due to some circumstances as long as they exined it with a legit reason. And he didn¡¯t forget to thank them when theypleted a task.

    Individually, these points were nothing special, but an umtion of such trivial considerateness yielded a fortable environment¡±.

    As such, it was only natural that Zenjirou was held in high esteem by the waiting maids.

    However, nothing, whatever it may be, was ever ¡°perfect¡± to thest detail. Thus, it wasn¡¯t like the waiting maids had noints at all in regard to him.

    He rarely let them into the living room or bedroom. He didn¡¯t give straight orders due to his modesty. And his taste in food gravely differed from a person of the Carpa Kingdom as he came from a different world. All kind of ints¡± came up when each maid was cited.

    But most of their opinions would surely unite when the entire team of waiting maids had to name ¡°the oneint that they considered as the worst¡±.

    Namely: ¡°His abnormal ¡®fondness of baths¡¯.¡±

    On a certain midmorning, a couple of waiting maids were cleaning the ridiculousrge bathroom of the inner pce with heart and soul. As the Carpa Kingdom had high temperatures, physicalbour tended to be done during the rtively cool morning or evening.

    The water had been drained from the two baths, which wererge enough to be mistaken has small pools, and the barefooted maids scrubbed the slimy floor with long scrubbers for all they were worth while sweating on their foreheads.

    It was a stiff job without the slightest appeal.

    ¡°Aw, Ugh, my hips hurt~!¡±

    It was understandable that the young maids would utter words ofint.

    A petite maid with a short haircut wailed, whereupon the tall maid scrubbing next to her replied with a snapping tone.

    ¡°This ce echoes, so keep your ridiculous loud voice to yourself, Fay. To begin with, you¡¯re short, so you should have it better than me. I¡¯ve to work stooping the whole time.¡±

    The petite maid with short hair¡ª Fay was told off like that by the tall maid.

    As to back up her words, the tall maid¡ª Dolores took her right hand off the handle of the brush and tapped her numb hip with a clenched fist.

    In fact, Dolores did have a point. The higher up your hips were when cleaning a low ce, the greater the strain.

    Although that was indeed the case for cleaning stooped with just a cloth, a size difference hardly affected the burden when cleaning with a long scrubber. Her nerves, too, had been stretched by the monotone and toughbour. In other words, she was just venting her anger.

    But the girl called Fay wasn¡¯t so well-mannered that she would quietly put up with that outburst.

    ¡°Say what? Your voice is way louder. The volume of your voice is proportional to your body size after all, you mountain!¡±

    ¡°As if. If that were true, your voice should be too faint to even reach my ears.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not that small!¡±

    Even while cursing at each other, the two of them were still moving the scrubbers in their hands for now, which was truly praiseworthy.

    Because they were cleaning the wet floor, their skirts were rolled up at the waist part even more than usually, making it a mini-skirt way above their knees. Sandal-like shoes, made out of skin from a Water Dragon, were slipped over their bare feet without socks. Their outfit in itself was rather alluring and charming.

    However, there wasn¡¯t a shred of sexiness, regardless of how sensual their getup was, because the maids were digging their feet into the floor bowlegged and ring at the floor with hostility while gritting their teeth.

    ¡°I keep telling you, you¡¯re too noise, Shorty.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the noisy one, Mountain!¡±

    The verbal quarrel between the two girls was reverberating from the stone walls of the huge bath. As their dispute heated up, their hands inevitable stopped.

    At some point, the small and the tall girl had dropped everything and were just ring at each other during their work. Needless to say, their present superior wouldn¡¯t overlook their disgraceful behaviour.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The middle-aged waiting maid, who had worked her brush quietly in one corner of the bath, wordlessly picked up the water bucket at her feet and sshed about its entire content.

    ¡°Wah!?¡±

    ¡°Kyaa!?¡±

    Fay and Dolores jumped up with a scream when the cold water suddenly hit their bare feet. The older maid must have held back, seeing as the water didn¡¯t ssh on them any higher than their skirt.

    The middle-aged maid red at them with half-closed eyes and breathed her words with a sigh.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see your hands moving. Do your job.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes, I am sorry, Olsha-sama.¡±

    ¡°F- Forgive me, Olsha-sama.¡±

    The scolding from the middle-aged maid in charge of cleaning, Olsha, wasn¡¯t really all that harsh, but Fay and Dolores flinched exaggerated as if they had been hit with a whip.

    In charge of cleaning, Olsha was an average woman of middle age without any striking traits in particr.

    If there was such a thing as a trait, it would be how she always kept her eyes half-closed as if she was sleepy.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The tight-lipped and inexpressive waiting maid quietly returned to her own task, her interest lost after confirming with a nce that her subordinators quickly got back to work.

    She was neither as faultfinding as her fellow supervisor Ines, the maid in charge of cleaning, nor did she rule as iron-fisted as her other fellow supervisor Vanessa, the maid in charge of cooking.

    But even the ¡°Three Troublemakers¡± wanted to stay clear of her re by all costs.

    There was a good reason for that. Olsha judged the work of young waiting maids as ¡°good or bad¡± by observing them inexpressively and wordless.

    And if by chance she decided that the ¡°modus operandi of a maid was inappropriate for the inner pce¡±, she would stay apathetic to the core and calmly report to Supervisory Maid Amanda that someone ¡°failed¡±.

    Olsha¡¯s stance was as following: A job was something you learned by observing and then doing it yourself. Instructions were only necessary once at the beginning. And a superior had the responsibility to distinct between capable and useless subordinators.

    Her way of thinking was theplete opposite from Vanessa, whose purpose in life was to drill the skills into the young waiting maids, or Ines, who considered it her greatest obligation to guide the other waiting maids.

    Fay and Dolores, part of the infamous ¡°Three Troublemakers¡± known for their easy-going andx attitude, also reflexively straightened their backs when receiving such a ¡°scolding¡± from Olsha.

    In the end, the waiting maids, starting with Fay and Dolores, were making an effort to do their job because of it, so it might actually be a good management in itself. Although the young waiting maids on the receiving end could do without it.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    For a while, only the sound of brushes scrubbing over the wet floor could be heard in the bath without anyone saying a word.

    That was nothing unusual for Dolores, who was in pretty good control of herself, but even Fay, a bundle of pure energy, was shut up, which definitely spoke in favour of Olsha¡¯s self-assertion.

    However, Fay wouldn¡¯t be called the ¡°Head of the Three Troublemakers¡± if she could maintain a diligent working morale in silence for long.

    She may not be so stupid to neglect her task when she had just been scolded, but she started to get distracted bit by bit. Suddenly, she remembered that she hadn¡¯t heard anything of her other roommate Rethe yet, ever since they had started cleaning the bath.

    The scatterbrained Rethe certainly was a girl of few words and did things at her own pace, but even so, it was strange that she didn¡¯t speak a single word during work.

    Carefully continuing with her task, Fay sneaked a peek at the side. Rethe was diligently working her brush while her huge breasts, distinguishably even through her maid clothes, swayed. Because of her drooping eyes, she was usually looking somewhat silly, but now she kept an expression as serious as possible.

    (Huh? Why¡¯s Rethe so serious?)

    Witnessing the unusual behaviour of her roommate, Fay inclined her head puzzled.

    And while Fay kept her small head inclined like that, the big-breasted girl with drooping eyes finished cleaning her assigned area and approached her while her footsteps made splishing and sshing sound on the wet floor.

    ¡°I¡¯m done with my side, so I¡¯ll help you out. Fay-chan, where do you want me to start?¡±

    Usually at her leisure, Rethe now called out to her with a rtively quick tone.

    This was definitely weird. Her roommate with the drooping eyes was by no means such the diligent type.

    Fay forgot to answer her question and asked back in a whisper.

    (Hey, Rethe, what¡¯s going on?)

    Rethe widened her dropping eyes in reaction to the question, which implied the meaning of ¡°you have never been this serious¡±, and replied disappointed.

    ¡°Have you forgotten, Fay-chan? If we don¡¯t hurry up with our job, we¡¯ll end upst for the ¡¯shopping¡¯ at noon.¡±

    ¡°AH!?¡±

    ¡°EH!?¡±

    ¡®Shopping¡¯

    That one word made Fay, but also Dolores, who was scrubbing nearby, raise an exmation of surprise.

    After a moment of surprise, its meaning dawned on the two of them.

    Yes, they had forgotten.

    A merchant came to the inner pce once every three months and today was that day.

    * * *

    A couple of minutester.

    ¡°Hurry up!¡±

    ¡°Fay-chan, Supervisory Maid Amanda will get mad at us when we run in the hallway!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s all your fault for forgetting your wallet, Rethe! Aw, we¡¯re totallyte!¡±

    ¡°In the first ce, we would have had all the time in the world if you had not forgotten about today and took the cleaning seriously~¡±

    ¡°Whatever, just hurry up. We have no time to waste!¡±

    Having finished cleaning the bath in a rush, the ¡°Three Troublemakers¡± were now running down the hallway in the inner pce. Having said that, their opinion of running was actually subjective. For an onlooker, they were ¡°walking at a fast pace¡± at best.

    Despite everything, the three of them were still waiting maids of the inner pce. They would never cross the line. Nheless, they sometimes did came pretty close to that line, which earned them the alias ¡°Three Troublemakers¡±.

    Anyway, the three walked down the hallway as fast as their standing as maids of the inner pce allowed them to. At the rear entrance, they changed into their outdoor shoes, then crossed through the courtyard under the dazzling midday sun and headed for a separate building.

    The inner pce of the Carpa Kingdom was rtively small, considering the size of the country, but that didn¡¯t mean it only consisted of a single building standing by itself.

    Castle walls surrounded several buildings and their yards, the main building, where Zenjirou lived, at its centre. The entirety of it was called the ¡°Inner Pce¡±.

    Right now, Fay and the two other girls were heading towards the building that stood at the very edge of the inner pce.

    That house was partly merged with the outer wall of the pce and served as a gate, connecting the isted inner pce with the outer world. Due to that, the young waiting maids were normally forbidden to go near it unless they had a special reason.

    When they quickly crossed through the yard, a group of three young waiting maids wasing back from the house Fay and Co. were heading to, chatting with each other.

    ¡°Ah, Karina¡­¡±

    ¡°Kate¡­?¡±

    ¡°Christel-chan?¡±

    The three maids ceased their chitchat, as they also noticed Fay and the others approaching quickly, and showed them a different smile than before.

    Each of the smiling maids waved their hand and proudly showcased the textiles and small phials of perfumed oil they had bought just now.

    In contrast to them, the ¡°Three Troublemakers¡±: Fay, Rethe and Dolores were all scowling.

    They had been beaten to it.

    The merchant brought a lot of one-of-a-kind items. Rare items sold well, even in a different world.

    Even if he had some ¡°good stuff¡± in stock, it would have already found their way into the hands of the other waiting maids. And judging by their smug smiles, that event was more than likely.

    Moreover, Karina covertly held up her index and middle finger in a ¡°Victory Sign¡± when she passed by them. Needless to say, the phenomenon of a ¡°Victory Sign¡± initially didn¡¯t exist in this world, as there wasn¡¯t even the Latin alphabet. Such particrs represented the influence that Zenjirou had on the waiting maids.

    ¡°Grr¡­!¡±

    Since her co-workers looked like the cat that got the cream, Fay felt the urge to yelp at them, but she clearly had other priorities right now.

    It would be way too foolish if some other girl stole a march on her again while she snapped at her co-workers, who were already done with their shopping.

    ¡°¡­Let¡¯s go, Dolores, Rethe!¡±

    ¡°Ah, wait, Fay. Even if this is the courtyard, you shouldn¡¯t be running like the wind. If the Supervisory Maid catches you, you¡¯ll be done for!¡±

    ¡°Aw, Fay-chan, wait~¡±

    Dolores and Rethe also quickened their pace, chasing after Fay, who stormed off unfazed.

    * * *

    When Fay and the others entered therge room, a middle-age merchant with an amble belly gave them an affable smile as he sat cross-legged on top of a red carpet, all kind of articles spread before him.

    Textiles in all various colours. Perfumed oil in metal phials as thick as a thump. And essories such as rings or nes.

    ¡°Uwah, nice.¡±

    With a beaming face, Fay was about to rush over to the merchant at full speed when she noticed the silhouette sitting near the wall at thest moment.

    The person ring at her so strongly that you could feel the tension in the air was no less a figure than Supervisory Maid Amanda, the overall superior of the inner pce.

    Her sitting posture on top of the carpet with a straightened back and knees together was as perfect and inhuman as ever. To the point that it made you wonder if even the wrinkles in her clothes obeyed the will of the middle-aged head maid when seated.

    Normally she worked in the main building of the inner pce, only concerning herself with instructions for all the waiting maids and the preservation of Zenjirou¡®sfortable lifestyle. Why was she here now? Because her duties also epasses the negotiation with the merchants and their oversight.

    Right now, there were no more than six soldiers with short spears present, but Supervisory Maid Amanda had the exceptional right to assumemand of them in this room.

    In face of the fierce re of the maid, who put her life on the line to keep the order in the inner pce, and the drawn weapons of the armed soldiers under her control, the plump man of middle age left his obvious business smile unchanged, a sign that he wasn¡¯t a purveyor to the court for nothing. At least his dauntlessness was remarkable.

    The merchant, still sitting on the carpet, smiled at the new arrivals.

    ¡°Well, well. It is a pleasure to see you again, Fay-sama, Dolores-sama, Rethe-sama. I believe that I have some items you will fancy this time as well. Pleasee and take a closer look.¡±

    Saying so, he beckoned them to sit down in front of the carpet with the disyed goods.

    That he instantly remembered the names of his customers, whom he only got to see once every three months, distinguished him as a capable merchant after all.

    Guided by his smile, Fay and the others kneeled on the carpet.

    Supervisory Maid Amanda was constantly pressuring them from the other side as if to say ¡°You know what happens when you bring shame on the waiting maids of the inner pce¡­¡°, so it cramped their ¡°Three Troublemaker¡± style, but they had been looking forward to the once-every-three-month shopping so much that they could conquer that pressure.

    ¡°Oh my, I¡¯ve never seen a cloth like this. A bit unusual, but still nice.¡±

    ¡°You have good eyes, Dolores-sama. That design has recently started to be quite popr in the capital. Despite its poprity, there is a short supply of it, so that piece is the only one I have right now.¡°

    ¡°I guess I will get ab? A few teeth broke on my favourite one the other day.¡±

    ¡°Then I rmend this one, Rethe-sama. It has been cut from the carapace of a marine turtle and not only does it look beautiful, but each tooth has been carved meticulously, so it is well-suited for brushing hair.¡°

    ¡°Hmm, what should I get? A cute ring or ne is all good, but I can¡¯t wear it during work¡­¡±

    ¡°In that case, Fay-sama, how about this hairband? Unlike a ring or ne, it will not get in the way with your work and you can still look all fashionable.¡±

    As the three of them let their sparkling eyes wander over the disyed articles, the corpulent merchant immediately engaged in some sales talk.

    He casually rmended ab with few teeth to Rethe, who kind of had curly hair, and a hair essory suitable for even short hair: an Alice band to the shorthaired Fay. Yet another sign that the merchant knew what he was doing.

    Thanks to the merchant¡¯s well pronounced words, the three girls gradually forgot about the pressureing from Supervisory Maid Amanda. They put both their hands on the carpet, leaned forward and watched the goods carefully.

    As they were practically on all fours on top of the carpet, greedily stared at the articles and opened their brought wallets to count their money, they hardly looked anything like ¡°refined waiting maids of the inner pce¡±, but Supervisory Maid Amanda didn¡¯t show the slightest inclination to reprimand them for now.

    When all was said and done, Amanda, too, wasn¡¯t as unreasonable as the young waiting maids feared.

    She was flexible enough to turn a blind eye to some things during activities like this one, which served as a stress reliever.

    ¡°Hey, what do you think looks best?¡±

    Dolores held various clothes against herself and asked Fay and Rethe with an excited voice.

    ¡°Ehm, I think the one with the blue line on it looks great.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? The cloth itself may be better, but I do not think it would suit you, Dolores. This brown one would look better on you, in my opinion.¡±

    The enjoyment from satisfying your own desire to buy something with a limited budget existed even in the different world. Then again, the shopping surely would lose all its appeal when you had an unlimited budget and could take everything you wanted.

    After wracking their brains for a while, Fay and the other two had finally decided on what to buy. At that moment.

    ¡°Yes, thank you very much for your purchase. Please have a look at this next.¡±

    Keeping his friendly smile, the merchant said that and started to line up small phials that shone silver, in front of them.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Perfumed oil?¡±

    ¡°Uwah, so pretty. I only have a silver phial of perfumed oil as a hand-down from my mother~¡±

    Silver phials of perfumed oil. The young waiting maids widened their eyes upon seeing them.

    The phials used for perfumed oil were basically ssed in the following ascending order: wood, copper and silver. The wooden phial with perfumed oil was mainly formoners and thrown away after usage. Fay and the others hardly ever owned one of these, since they were lower rank nobles.

    However, even with their sense of value, the silver phial was undoubtedly ssified as a ¡°high-ss item¡±.

    The shrewd merchant deepened his smile as the eyes of the young waiting maids lighted up.

    ¡°Please, feel free to touch them. They are filled with the finest perfume oil I could get my hands on. Each phial has a different oil in it.¡±

    Saying so, he urged them by spreading his hands palms up.

    ¡°Eh, but¡­?¡±

    ¡°Our money¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we spent most of it already¡­¡±

    The girls mumbled sadly, whereupon the person, who had stayed silent the whole time so far, spoke to them from the side. It was Supervisory Maid Amanda.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the money. It¡¯s a present from Zenjirou-sama. You can pick one you like.¡±

    Their reaction to these words was yet again dramatic.

    ¡°Eh? No way!?¡±

    ¡°From Zenjirou-sama!?¡±

    ¡°Really!?¡±

    Their earlier depression vanished and they leaned over once more, intensely examining the silver phials of perfumed oil lined up on the carpet.

    All the phials were almost of the same size, around as thick as a thumb, but the patterns drawn on them were as manifold as there were stars in the sky.

    One had a design that looked like a spider web. Another one had twined ivy vines engraved on it. Yet another one showed the bas-relief of a Water Dragon lifting its head. And so on.

    ¡°To put it simply, we have, starting from the right, ¡®Rosa Unguis¡¯, ¡®Warm Chamomile¡¯, ¡®Peppermint¡¯, ¡®Red Lily¡¯, ¡®Spikenard¡¯, ¡®Sweet Horned Dragon¡¯, ¡®Blind Snake¡¯, ¡®Water Dragon Jewel¡¯ and ¡®Sweet Mouse¡¯.¡±

    ¡°You kidding me!? Sweet Horned Dragon?¡±

    ¡°The Water Dragon Jewel is mine!¡±

    ¡°Ah, I love peppermint~ Still, the Sweet Mouse¡­¡±

    The waiting maids¡¯ interest was focussed on the animalistic perfumed oil. In the eyes of the merchant, that was to be expected.

    Picking or even cultivating nts made it rtively easy to make botanical perfumed oil. In contrast to that, hunting animals was dangerous, so animalistic perfumed oil was considered a luxury.

    Strictly speaking of favourite fragrances, some people would take botanical perfumed oils over animalistic perfumed oil any day, but when they were offered something they usually couldn¡¯t afford, for free, it was human nature to choose the most expensive one.

    In fact, it was pretty unusual that someone would be torn between a rare, expensive high-ss item and amon article matching one¡¯s own preference, just like Rethe was right now.

    Supervisory Maid Amanda rolled her eyes to the narrow-minded reaction of the young waiting maids, but decided not to speak up ¡°here¡±.

    ¡°Okay, Sweet Horned Dragon it is!¡±

    ¡°The Water Dragon Jewel¡­ It¡¯s too good to be true¡­¡±

    ¡°I have made up my mind. I will take the peppermint after all~¡±

    In light of the beaming smiles of the excited maids, even Amanda had enoughpassion to not lecture them about ¡°manners¡± and ¡°etiquette¡± right here. Besides, she shouldn¡¯t really be scolding her subordinates in front of an outsider, unless they took it too far.

    Swallowing her words of reproach, Amanda dered to the waiting maids, who just finished their shopping, with a tone as inexpressive as her face.

    ¡°I see you three have made your choice. Then do not forget to thank Zenjirou-sama and use it carefully. However, make sure that you use half of it together with the ¡®soap¡¯ during baths. Afterwards you report your opinion to Zenjirou-sama. Understood?¡±

    Soap. Zenjirou was most enthusiastic about making it as ofte. He somehow had seeded in making a slimy version, but his self-made soap still somewhat reeked of oil and couldn¡¯t be really used as it was yet.

    Hearing the reason behind the present of high-ss perfumed oil for everyone, the Three Troublemakers each showed a different reaction.

    ¡°Ehh!?¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Together with the soap~? What a waste~¡±

    However,

    ¡°Do you understand?¡±

    As they sensed danger from the cold stare of the Supervisory Maid while she asked again,

    ¡°Y- Yes.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Supervisory Maid.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Amanda-sama.¡±

    the Three Troublemakers straightened their backs and lowered their heads together.

    When the young waiting maids left, the room became quiet at once.

    The six guards, standing in each corners of the room and nking the door, were not allowed to speak here without Amanda¡¯s permission.

    So practically, there were only Supervisory Maid Amanda and the middle-age merchant in the room. As long as neither of them opened their mouth, the silence went on forever.

    But Amanda seemingly had no intention to keep silent.

    ¡°Allow me to express my gratitude once more: Thank you very much.¡±

    Supervisory Maid Amanda made a perfect textbook curtsey, which conjured an amiable smile on the merchant¡¯s face under his deep ck moustache.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Instead, it¡¯s a great honour for a merchant to be able to do business with everyone working in the inner pce.¡±

    Saying so, he shook his hand in front of his face, as if to put her off.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Not daring to deny him, the Head Maid Amanda withdrew with these words.

    However, she had been right to thank him.

    This man was more or less a ¡°purveyor to the court¡±. While ofmon birth, his fortune outranked a poor noble. He was a prosperous merchant.

    Needless to say, he only dealt with high-ss articles. Normally, he would never sell items, which the wallets of the young waiting maids could afford.

    To make a reference to modern Earth: It was the same as calling Harry Winston or the manager of a high-ss jeweller¡¯s shop like Bvlgari or Cartier to your own house to buy a single jewellery worth under ten-thousand yen. It just wasn¡¯t worth the effort.

    Nheless, the smile of the merchant was by no means fake.

    ¡°I mean really mean it. As a matter of fact, Her Highness Aura regrly purchases at my store, so I¡¯m never in the reds and above all, the deal with Zenjirou-sama got me something worth its weight in gold.¡±

    Something the merchant got from Zenjirou. Namely, things from Earth.

    For example: A t button with four holes.

    The Carpa Kingdom only knew of protruding ornamental buttons, so a t button with four holes had the potential to cause a small culture revolution.

    And speaking of t buttons, they could even start a new fashion style, where buttons were hidden on the inside, and most importantly, a t button on working clothes ¡°didn¡¯t get in the way¡±. That alone was already a huge advantage.

    The merchant was devising a n to design a military uniform with t buttons and sell these to the army in the not so distant future.

    Other than that, he was also shown things like screws, the screw-cap of a PET bottle and the pump of a shampoo dispenser. Each of them had the fault that it required advanced skills to reproduce, but once a mass-production was possible, it would undoubtedly be a ground-breaking invention.

    If even only one, no matter which, brought about the expected result in the future, he would recover all of his preceding investments in no time.

    ¡°I am ovee with joy when this lets me stay in favour with Zenjirou-sama from now on, too, really.¡±

    Not leaking the inner thoughts about his ambitions, the merchant respectfully lowered his head with an attitude as humble as his words.

    * * *

    Zenjirou was infamous amongst the waiting maids for his fondness of baths.

    And not only because they had to trouble themselves to clean and heat up the bath every day.

    The main reason was that someone from a different world was suggesting ¡ª which was practically an order ¡ª his bathing customs to the people of this world, namely the waiting maids, albeit unconsciously.

    The act of ¡°washing one¡¯s body with water¡± was already established in this region, as it was humid and abundant with water resources, but unfortunately, its climate was ridiculous hot.

    Due to that, even most nobledies would rather bathe in ¡°cold¡± than in ¡°hot¡± water.

    Of course the maids, brought up in such an environment, would show reluctance when they were ¡°suggested¡± to take warm baths every day.

    Nevertheless, it had been a year by now since that bathing culture was ¡°suggested¡±. The opinion of the waiting maids in regards to bathing in hot water, had slowly started to change.

    ¡°Fuh, we¡¯re finally done for today!¡±

    ¡°Ah, I knew it, no one else is around anymore.¡±

    ¡°No surprise. Look howte it has gotten.¡±

    It waste at night. The voices of Fay, Dolores and Rethe resounded in the pitch-ck changing room. By this time, their master Zenjirou and Aura had obviously finished their bath already, but the same was true of their fellow waiting maids.

    Well, it was self-evident. After all, they had were on ¡°bath duty¡±.

    Just like a cook only ate after all the guests were gone, the people in charge boiler only took a bath after the normal bathing hours were over.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get it over with already!¡±

    ¡°Nope. Wash yourself properly. Zenjirou-sama is surprisingly neurotic when ites to cleanness.¡±

    ¡°You heard her, Fay-chan. It is finally our turn to bathe, so let us take our time and enjoy it.¡±

    Even amidst the darkness Fay and the other two remembered theyout of the room and quickly took off their maid clothes, which were dirty from the soot of the firewood for the boiler. While chit-chatting, they were stark naked in no time.

    After she got naked, Dolores then fumbled around for the ¡°LEDntern¡± standing in the corner of the room and reached out for its switch.

    ¡°Ehm¡­ Should be around here. Ah, found it.¡±

    As soon as she said that, the changing room was lit by a dazzling white light.

    ¡°Uwah.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right. Zenjirou-sama gave us permission to use this light the other day.¡±

    As the light of the LEDntern was a bit too bright for her eyes that had been used to the darkness, Rethe blinked a few times while she smiled happily.

    Just like she had said, Zenjirou had recently allowed the waiting maids to use the LEDntern during their bath. Before, they had entered the bath amidst the illumination of oil pans.

    Prior to this, thentern was used as few as possible, keeping the lifespan of the rechargeable dry cells in mind, but after asking the waiting maids to try out the slimy soap, he had no choice but to revise his decision.

    The floor, where they were cleaning themselves, had be extremely slippery, ever since they started to wash their bodies with soap. Slipping inside the bath wasn¡¯t to be underestimated. The safety of the waiting maids couldn¡¯t even bepared to the lifespan of the batteries after all.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll carry the light.¡±

    Saying so, Dolores covered the front of her naked body with a towel in one hand and lifted up the LEDntern with the other.

    ¡°Ah, Dolores, you forgot your perfumed oil.¡±

    ¡°Geez, carry it for me, will you. I got both my hands full.¡±

    ¡°Fine, fine.¡±

    Fay, too, pressed a towel against her body with one hand and grabbed the two small silver phials with perfumed oil with the other.

    ¡°Ah, wait for me!¡±

    Falling behind, Rethe trailed them.

    Guided by the light of the LEDntern in Dolores¡¯ hand, the three disappeared into the bathroom.

    The bathroom was right behind the door of the changing room.

    A lot of vapour fumed over therge bathtubs and the temperature inside the bathroom was even higher than outside. All the more right now during the hottest season with ongoing sultry nights.

    ¡°Ueh.¡±

    Thus, it was no wonder that Fay instinctively scowled.

    ¡°Aww, Damnit. What an oppressive heat. Let¡¯s get it over with already and get out of here.¡±

    With these words, Fay quickly headed over to one of the two bathtubs.

    ¡°Hey, why¡¯re you heading straight for the cold bath? We¡¯re going to wash ourselves with warm water first, Fay!¡±

    Fay, with her bare bottom exposed, was scolded like that by Dolores.

    Dolores ced the LEDntern on the counter at the wall, then picked up a wooden tub and walked over to the other bathtub.

    ¡°She is right, Fay-chan. Come over here. It feels great to wash your body with warm water.¡±

    Amongst all waiting maids in the inner pce Rethe was probably the one, who enjoyed the warm baths every day the most. As she had loved taking baths even before she was chosen as a waiting maid for the inner pce, Rethe was one of the few girls, who had adapted themselves to Zenjirou¡¯s ¡°suggestion¡± without any trouble from the very beginning.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t understand your aversion of hot water in this heat, Fay, but it is a fact that the warm water cleans your hair and body better. So resign yourself and get over here.¡±

    On the other hand, Dolores didn¡¯t like it either, but recognized the significance of a warm bath as practical.

    ¡°Geh, fine. Damn, I¡¯ll make this ordeal quick! Or rather, we¡¯ll run into the department heads if we don¡¯t hurry.¡±

    Fay was being reluctant to the end. To begin with, she preferred to bath in cold water and briefly and quickly at that, so it was only natural that she would suffer agony in a hot bath.

    ¡°Right. At least in the bath, I want my peace.¡±

    Upon Fay¡¯s remark, Dolores shrugged her slender and naked shoulders with these words. Each department head, beginning with Supervisory Maid Amanda, had a lot of duties, so they took their baths at ater time. As long as Fay and the others finished their bath orderly, they wouldn¡¯t get into the awkward situation of running into their superiors at the bathroom.

    Fay plunged a wooden bowl into the wooden tub with the slimy soap and scooped its content.

    ¡°Ugh, this stuff really stinks.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why Zenjirou-sama bought us expensive perfumed oil to eliminate the smell. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s try it out now.¡±

    ¡°Ehehe, I have ¡®peppermint¡¯. I am so excited~¡±

    Each of the three filled their small bowls with the slimy soap, then opened the phials of perfumed oil that they had gotten today.

    A person with a sensitive nose would definitely frown now as they opened the three phials of perfumed oil with different smells close at hand all at once.

    However, Fay and her friends had no such noses. If anything, they facial features rxed a bit when the fragrances whitewashed the smell of the oil.

    ¡°SNIFF, SNIFF. So this is the ¡®Sweet Horned Dragon¡¯ scent. It really gives of a high-ss scent.¡±

    ¡°Pshaw! I got the Water Dragon Jewel. It¡¯s said that a fisherman once found a single jewel washed onto the shore and could buy a new house and boat with it. Hmm, I wonder how much you could buy with this phial?¡±

    ¡°Mine is peppermint. Yes, it has a nice fragrance. I really like this smell the best~¡±

    After opening the lids, the three maids brought their faces closer to the phial and soaked themselves in the scent for now.

    ¡°Hey, hey, Dolores. How does your Water Dragon Jewel smell? Let me try it.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I want to nose it, too! I am next after Fay-chan!¡±

    ¡°Sure, but lent me yours, too.¡±

    The three of them had each something different, so they circted it one by one. In that regard, the waiting maids of the different world weren¡¯t all that different from high school girls in Japan. It was practically the same as the scene often witnessed in family restaurants or caf¨¦s, where they said: ¡°Hey, hey, let me have a taste of yours¡±.

    For a short while, they exchanged their phials of perfumed oil and enjoyed the three different scents.

    Completely forgetting the fact that they were sitting naked in the bathroom, they made merry, iming ¡°I like this scent¡± or ¡°that¡¯s not my taste¡±.

    As the small towels were only resting over their groins to let them move their hands freely, Fay¡¯s modest chest, Dolores¡¯ practically t chest and Rethe¡¯s breasts, which were so voluminous that it made you wonder if they contained her friend¡¯s share as well, were exposed in all their glory.

    Who knows how long they sat there and savoured the perfumed oil.

    ¡°Oh? What are we amusing ourselves with the perfumed oil for? Today we¡¯re supposed to mask the smell of the soap with it.¡±

    Like always, the first one to return to her senses was Dolores, the most sensible amongst the three.

    ¡°Ugh, right¡­¡±

    ¡°B- But are we really going to mix it with the soap? Such a waste!¡±

    The reason they had procrastinated so far with useless prattling might have been because their minds unconsciously told them it would be a ¡°waste¡±.

    ¡°I agree with you, but we don¡¯t have a say in this matter. C¡¯mon.¡±

    ¡°Uhh, okay.¡±

    ¡°Just a little bit will do for now, right?¡±

    Even while grumbling, the three of them slowly tilted their silver phials of perfumed oil over the wooden bowl filled with the slimy soap.

    PLOP. One drop fell down and blended in.

    ¡°No good. That did nothing.¡±

    Another drop fell down and blended in.

    ¡°Mhh? Maybe a bit more?¡±

    With utmost care and drop by drop, they stirred in the precious perfumed oil.

    ¡°Good, the oil smell is gone.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it is¡­¡±

    ¡°Aw, it used up so much already¡­¡±

    By the time the perfumed oil had whitewashed the oily smell of the slimy soap, the content of the phials had decreased by around one-tenth in one sitting.

    Therge consumption of their precious perfumed oil left the waiting maids with a sad feeling in their hearts, but their sacrifice was by no means in vain.

    ¡°Yeah, smells good.¡±

    After Dolores finished washing her body with the soap refined with perfumed oil and rinsing off the foam, she sniffed her own arm and smiled satisfied.

    ¡°Well, of course. I would break down crying instead if it didn¡¯t smell good after we used so much of the perfumed oil.¡±

    On the other hand, Fay was still regretting to have used so much of the perfumed oil, so her face only showed a faint smile.

    ¡°Yeah, but still, this so-called soap is really amazing. Look, my skin is so smooth when I run my finger over it. And thanks to the perfumed oil, it is not stinky anymore. I would love to use this every day!¡±

    Factoring in her original love for baths, Rethe waspletely fascinated by the perfumed oil soap and said so happily while she confirmed the sensation of her own skin.

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t let it get you down, Fay. In the end, we got it for free from Zenjirou-sama. Not like we paid for it out of our own pockets.¡±

    ¡°You may be right, but it¡¯s still a waste. I mean, we finally got our hands on some high-ss perfumed oil we normally could never afford.¡±

    Although there was still a tinge of regret present in their exchange, the three of them thoroughly rinsed the soap off their body, then headed to the bathtub together.

    The three waiting maids lowered their bodies into the bathtub that was so big that it seemed possible to swim in it.

    As Fay preferred cold baths over warm ones, she was already giving sidelong nces at the nearby cold bath, but apparently decided to stay with the other two for a while longer.

    Laying face-up and resting her head on the edge of the bathtub, Fay voiced the question she suddenly thought of while she unruly kicked her spread legs with splish-ssh sounds.

    ¡°Ah, reminds me, I wonder what Karina got. She had such a smug face and even showed a V-sign, so it must be something really good. Do you two know anything?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I only know it from hearsay, but it seems to be ¡®Musk¡¯.¡±

    Dolores, her long and straight hair tied up so it wouldn¡¯t get into the water, passed on the gossip she had heard like it was nothing special.

    ¡°EHH!? No way. Musk!?¡±

    ¡°You mean, THE musk from the northern continent?¡±

    Fay and Rethe eximed in surprise alike.

    Musk. That was an aroma gained from a specie of deer called the musk deer. It wasmonly agreed that animalistic perfumed oil was generally more high-ss than botanic perfumed oils, but the musk aroma was undoubtedly speaking for itself in that regard.

    The South Continent mainly had big reptiles living on it, but hardly anyrge mammals. Consequently, there were no musk deer on it either.

    In other words, all musk perfumed oils were imported from another continent without exception.

    It was said that one out of ten ships sunk during the overseas trade, so imported goods were extremely expensive by necessity.

    Compared to Fay¡¯s ¡°Sweet Horned Dragon¡± or Dolores¡¯ ¡°Water Dragon Jewel¡±, the musk perfumed oil was a notch above. Just by wearing it at a high society party, it could be quite the talking point.

    ¡°Damn, that little devil Karina! I¡¯m gonna so borrow some from herter!¡±

    As she had gotten hot in her excitement, Fay pushed up her right fist in a jerk and stood up in the bathtub.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t stand up so suddenly! The water¡¯s sshing all over me! Geez, you¡¯re getting out already?¡±

    Dolores grimaced from the hot water sshed on her face and wiped it. In response, Fay

    ¡°As if. I¡¯m just getting in the cold bath, because it¡¯s so hot. Otherwise I¡¯m going to die from the rush of blood to my head.¡±

    said that and moved over to the cold bath like she had dered.

    Now that she had mentioned it, Dolores, too, noticed that her body was feeling rather hot.

    She might have a bit of trouble to sleep at night if she were to leave like this. It would be a good idea to follow Fay¡¯s example and cool off her body in the cold bath before leaving.

    ¡°What about you, Rethe?¡±

    Standing up as well, Dolores asked their other roommate on this asion, too.

    ¡°Yeah, I want to refresh myself in the cold bath, too, but¡­ I cannot shake off that feeling that I have forgotten something.¡±

    ¡°And what?¡±

    ¡°It is called forgotten, because you cannot remember it!¡±

    Rethe repeatedly cocked her head left and right ¡ª whereby her breasts floating in the water rocked every time ¡ª with a somewhat uncertain expression while she said that, but in the end she was unable to resist the charm of a cold bath for her flushed body and she went over to the cold bath together with Dolores.

    ¡°Hyah, this rocks!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, guess so. By the way, Fay, Rethe seems to have forgotten something. You know anything?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    ¡°Hey, at least give it some thought before answering. Wait, there you go again with the paddling. If Supervisory Maid Amanda were to see you like that, you wouldn¡¯t get away with just¡­¡±

    Dolores suddenly realized something when she had gotten that far in her sentence and fell silent with a grimace.

    ¡°Supervisory Maid Amanda¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha¡­ Dolores-chan, I¡­ I just remembered what I had forgotten¡­¡±

    ¡°Now you don¡¯t say. I was justing to a realization myself¡­¡±

    Dolores, screwing up her face, and Rethe, smiling dryly, were unexpectedly looking in the same direction.

    Namely, at the door connecting the bathroom with the changing room.

    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you two?¡±

    Fay, the only one notprehending the situation, was still sshing around with her doggy paddling.

    The faint soundsing from behind the door to the changing room were surely not their imagination. Since their co-workers, the other young waiting maids, had already finished their bath, there was only one culprit left for the noise.

    At this rate, Fay¡¯s waiting maid days were in danger. Dolores couldn¡¯t be that heartless to her roommate, so she gave her a warning with a sigh.

    ¡°Fay, here¡¯s some friendly advice: Stop swimming around and stay put. It¡¯s toote to escape now.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Escape?¡±

    It happened when Fay put down her legs and inclined her head puzzled.

    The door opened with a tter and several silhouettes entered the bathroom.

    ¡°Oh! I knew someone was here from the clothes in the changing room, but it¡¯s you guys, huh.¡±

    ¡°Good grief. I will not tell you how to spend your free-time, but you have an early morning tomorrow again, so have a bit more moderation, will you.¡±

    ¡°Ohe on, Ines. Doing some naked bonding with the young ones is important as well. It¡¯s been a while, so why don¡¯t we have them wash our backs?¡±

    Led by Supervisory Maid Amanda, Ines, the cleaning department head, and Vanessa, the cooking department head, followed inside. And further in the back stood Emilia, the gardening department head, and Olsha, the bathing department head, wordlessly.

    All senior maids in charge of the inner pce were assembled here.

    ¡°O- Oh, right. With the soap and stuff, it got prettyte¡­¡±

    Fay finally grasped the current situation, too.

    ¡°Pardon me for leaving first.¡±

    Dolores gave the appearance of being polite.

    ¡°Ahaha¡­ I, I will excuse myself now, Supervisory Maid.¡±

    And Rethe attempted to leave somehow. With a ray of hope, the three young waiting maids got out of the cold bath, lowered their heads quickly and made a stab at the exit.

    However, there was no way the Head Maid would let them leave in peace.

    ¡°Hold it right there! Now that we are all here, I will verify if you can wash yourselves properly. After all, you may be called upon by Zenjirou-sama any time.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. This specially extends to you, Fay. You have a tendency to find it bothersome to care for your body and hair.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a done deal. There¡¯s no harm in learning how to take care of your body while you¡¯re young. Steel yourselves ande over here.¡±

    After being told that by the group of superiors, they had no option but to do so.

    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    ¡°Please take care of us¡­¡±

    Heaving heavy sighs, the three troublemakers headed determined over to their beckoning seniors.

    The enjoyable bath time with just the young waiting maids had turned into a tense bath guidance from the department heads.

 Chapter Volume 4 Prologue

    The Carpa Kingdom was arge country reigning supreme over the western part of the South Continent, also known as the Landlion Continent.

    Due to the conditions regarding location, goods in the western part of the kingdom were mainly circted ¡°by sea¡± and in the eastern part ¡°bynd¡±.

    Of course that was nothing but a rough partition and the western part had plenty ofnd routes as well. Likewise, the eastern part transported goods by sea, namely across rivers, too.

    Generally speaking however, more money and effort had been invested into thend routes in the eastern part of the kingdom inparison to the ones in the western part.

    Amongst the various countries on the southern continent, the Carpa Kingdom enjoyed a good reputation for their well-maintained routes in its eastern region. And an impressive convey with arge dragon carriage, drawn by eight dragons, at its centre, was slowly proceeding on such a route.

    The two young royalties from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, were guarded by three hundred soldiers from the royal army of the Twin Kingdom. Right now they were temporarily resting on the grasnd beside the road.

    It was easy to understand that they chose this ce intentionally for a break, seeing as a river was careering along not far away.

    Although it was a bit of a detour, they had to move from watering ce to watering ce. Otherwise they wouldn¡¯t have enough drinking water for the travellers and dragons. For that reason, roads remote from viges were deliberately zigzagged, so that they were bordering upon water sources on the way.

    The Raptorial Dragons pulling the carriage were currently untied from it and greedily drinking from the river together with the Raptorial Dragons of the knights.

    In the meantime, the knights were standing sentinel over their surroundings. The river could house the freshwater Water Dragons, crocodiles or carnivorous fishes. And just as likely was it that wild carnivorous dragons hunted in this area.

    Having said that, this region was grasnd as far as the eye could see, without any ces to hide, and the water in the river was quite clear, too, so it was easy to spot any enemies within it. So the knights on watch, too, were standing there rtively rxed and petted the necks of the drinking Raptorial Dragons in appreciation for their efforts on the road.

    It was a rxed atmosphere, albeit with a reasonable caution.

    Then the door of therge carriage opened and a single silhouette appeared.

    ¡°Fuh¡­ Good job, everyone. Oh man, my shoulders are so stiff.¡±

    The young man, getting off the carriage, said that in a tone that was somewhat inappropriate for his status and rolled his shoulders as to underline his words.

    ¡°Please forgive the inconveniences, Prince Francesco. We will pause here for a moment to let the dragons drink, so please unwind yourself outside in the meantime.¡±

    ¡°Okay, will do. I¡¯ll leave the schedule up to you, so do as you see fit.¡±

    The young man with blonde hair, green eyes and oldest son of the crown prince of the Sharrow Family, Francesco, replied with a refreshing smile to the middle aged knight that acted as themander of the guards.

    Both, his behaviour and words, were not exactlycking the dignity of a royalty, but it still got across as somewhat ¡°easy-going¡±. As a matter of fact, the nearby knights were no more tense than necessary, even in the presence of one of the prominent figures of their country, namely the oldest son of the next king, which definitely was attributed to this very character of Prince Francesco.

    His handsome, slender face always showed an amiable smile, so he appeared younger that he actually was.

    However, it clearly revealed him as a born royalty how he ¡°naturally¡± epted all the nearby knights standing on guard at a distance.

    Under to protection of numerous knights, Prince Francesco casually walked around with an extremelyid-back expression and eased his body that had be all stiff from the long ride in the carriage.

    ¡°Prince Francesco.¡±

    Suddenly the voice of a woman came from behind the prince.

    When Prince Francesco turned around, he saw a familiar girl and said with a brighter smile.

    ¡°Hey, Bona. I see you left the carriage, too. Good call. The western area of the continent is so much hotter, and ordingly sultrier, than the central area, but near the water it¡¯s definitely refreshing. Here, feel the nice breeze.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. Thank you for the advice, Prince.¡±

    The young woman, nodding a bit surprised in response to Prince Francesco¡¯s words, was Princess Bona.

    Like Prince Francesco, she, too, was a member of the Sharrow Royal Family.

    Nevertheless it would stretch a point to group Prince Francesco, a legitimate grandson of the current king, and Princess Bona, a lower rank noblewoman that was only put into the royal family because she atavistically awakened to the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯, together as the same ¡°royalty¡±.

    In fact, her attitude towards Prince Francesco was closer to that of an aristocrat consulting a royalty rather than that of an equal member of the royal family.

    Their difference in authority was represented in all kind of things. For example, the dragon carriage of Prince Francesco wasrge and drawn by eight dragons, whereas the dragon carriage of Priness Bona was one size smaller and drawn by six dragons.

    However, despite the obvious differences, Princess Bona was an unmistakable member of the royal family. In terms of social standing, she was very clearly distinguishable from the escorting knights and much more closer to Prince Francesco.

    Therefore it was none other than her role to point out ¡°that¡± right now.

    ¡°Excuse me, Prince Francesco, but did you put on these clothes by yourself?¡±

    Her question implied a meaning obvious to any hearer, but Prince Francesco didn¡¯t seem to notice it at all and answered cheerfully.

    ¡°Oh, you noticed. As you know, we have far less waiting maids with us than in the royal pce. I don¡¯t want to bother them all too much, so I usually do what I can on my own.¡±

    The prince dered it so proudly that you practically could hear the nuance: ¡°Quite considerate of me, isn¡¯t it? Go on and praise me.¡±

    Seeing him like that made Princess Bona feel rather guilty for some reason. But she still had to mention it, because she was the only person present that could speak openly with him without causing societal problems.

    Princess Bona cleared her throat determined with an affected cough and then

    ¡°Prince, you are wearing two different kind of socks.¡±

    she stated the fact as straightforward as possible.

    ¡°Eh? Ah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    The surprised Prince Francesco looked at his own feet and saw exactly what Princess Bona had pointed out: He was wearing different socks on each foot, a red sock on the right and a blue sock on the left.

    ¡°Ahaha, now that¡¯s really something. Thanks for telling me, Bona. You spared me an embarrassment.¡±

    The prince thanked the young princess with a smile for pointing out his mistake.

    ¡°No problem. I may be speaking out of turn, but I suggest you return to your carriage and change your socks.¡±

    While replying like that, Princess Bona internally heaved a sigh of relief.

    (Good, he will ¡°listen to reason¡± from my side after all.)

    Some people would feel offended and perceive it as promising¡± when you gave them a correct advise for their own sake. Fortunately for everyone involved, Prince Francesco was not that narrow-minded. However, there was a different problematic issue with the prince.

    ¡°Mh? But since I¡¯m wearing one red and blue sock each right now, doesn¡¯t that mean there¡¯s one red and blue sock each left in the carriage as well? So when I go back and change them, wouldn¡¯t I end up with a blue sock on my right foot and a red sock on my left foot?¡±

    (The problem is¡­ he somewhatcks the ¡°brains to understand¡± my words.)

    Princess Bona couldn¡¯t help feeling a dull pain around her temples when she heard the words of the prince, who was around eight years older than her.

    She remembered the words that Prince Francesco¡¯s father, the crown prince, and his grandfather, the current king, entrusted her with at the royal pce.

    ¡°Please take care of him.¡± Not in her wildest dreams, she would have expected these words to literally mean ¡°babysitting¡±.

    Their journey was an official visit abroad, the first one for the Sharrow Family after a couple of dozen decades. Moreover, their destination was the Carpa Kingdom, the leader in the west with whom the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell wanted to avoid a direct confrontation.

    So, what was the Sharrow Family thinking for sending her, the lowest of the lowest-ranking within the family, and a prince, who was nearly dead from the neck up, as the important emissaries?

    (His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince are both sagacious personalities. There has to be some kind of reason for sending Prince Francesco¡­)

    She had hoped to be told about that reason, if possible, but that was nothing but wishful thinking for a royal member at the bottom of the food chain.

    If she had known beforehand that it would turn out like that, she would have neverpeted for this delegation¡­

    (¡­No, in the end, I still would havepeted for it after careful deliberation.)

    As she never lied to herself, she came to such a conclusion.

    Her fate might have been decided from the moment on, when she saw the diamond rings that Princess Isabelle from the Jilbell Family had brought back with her.

    The three embedded diamonds were perfectly uniform in size and shape, and the fine and precise lines engraved in the socket were simply captivating.

    The rings were exquisite enough to fascinate someone, who was aiming to be a jeweller.

    By nature, those of the Sharrow Family, who were on the low-end in the line of session, often tried their hand at creating jewellery or armaments in order to stand on one¡¯s own feet as a maker of magic tools. And Princess Bona was no exception. She was already recognized as a full-fledged jeweller at her young age.

    (In the end, I could not take part in turning these rings into magic tools, but when I go to the Carpa Kingdom and get close to Her Highness Aura and her husband¡­)

    She had announced her intention to be part of this delegation with that kind of ambition, which was a bit too endearing to be an ulterior motive.

    Anyway, now that the current king and crown prince were ¡°counting on¡± her, she no longer had a choice but to do her best to meet their expectations.

    ¡°Prince, there is no need to change both socks. Just switch one of either socks and you will have matching colours on both feet.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right! That¡¯s what they call thinking outside the box, I guess. Not bad, Bona. You¡¯ve a flexible way of thinking.¡±

    ¡°¡­You honour me.¡±

    The young princess fought the dull pain in her head while she already started to regret her own decision.

    * * *

    A few dayster.

    Aura was looking through various documents in her office in the royal pce when a message from the fortress on the eastern border reached her per small flying dragon just as the sun had started to set.

    ¡°¡­I see. They have finally arrived.¡±

    ¡®Delegation from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell arrived at the eastern border station. The emissaries are Prince Francesco and Princess Bona.

    Scheduled to proceed after a few days of rest at the fortress. One thousand knights from the fortress will apany them as an escort.¡¯

    Once she had read the written message briefly, she heaved a sigh.

    Their visit had been known to her for a while now and she admitted that it wasn¡¯t all bad news. However, Aura could anticipate the troubles that came along with important matters, thus the sigh.

    Even so, she couldn¡¯t just leave it at a sigh as a ruler of a country.

    ¡°Fabio. How are the preparations for their reception going?¡±

    Sitting on her chair and keeping her gaze on the documents on her desk, Aura called out to her secretary, who stood at an angle behind her.

    ¡°Yes, it is going smoothly. We have made three buildings avable in the southern wing of the royal pce and the personnel has been assembled ording to your instructions as well.¡±

    The middle-aged man with the slender face, Secretary Fabio, replied with a t tone as always.

    ¡°Three? Will that be enough? We are talking about two royalties of a major power here.¡±

    Aura, raising an eyebrow, turned only her head backwards, whereupon her secretary responded indifferently.

    ¡°Yes. They seem to have less attendants with them than we anticipated at first, so I believe it will suffice. You can only get to the first and second building through the third building, so when we ce His Highness Prince Francesco in the first building, Her Highness Princess Bona in the second building and the escorting knights in the third building, they should have not much toin about from their end, either.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Deeming it necessary to verify things in detail, Aura beckoned him toe closer and posed her question.

    ¡°What about their arms? As knights from the Twin Kingdom and moreover, under the direct control of the Sharrow Royal Family, it is more than likely than everyone is equipped with ¡®magic tools¡¯ fit for action.¡±

    ¡°I definitely agree with that. We certainly cannot allow the unrestrained possessions ofbat-ready magic tools within the royal pce. However, they have to protect two royalty with a limited number of people. I doubt they will hand over their magic tools even when we ask them to.¡±

    ¡°I will appoint ¡®extraterritorial rights¡¯ to the three buildings given to the delegation and permit all armaments there. And they may only leave with protective magic tools after ascertaining their abilities and getting our permission.¡±

    In reaction to Aura¡¯s proposal, her secretary noted reaffirming.

    ¡°Does that mean that average armaments, namely non magic tools, will be allowed in the royal pce without limitations?¡±

    ¡°Not without any limitations at all, but we will have topromise to some degree.¡±

    ¡°I can already see our nobles protesting, though.¡±

    ¡°What do you expect me to do? It is not like I can tell them to guard the direct royalty without weapons.¡±

    Answering him, Aura once again heaved a deep sigh.

    Even if under limitations, armed foreigners would be let into the royal pce. It definitely wasn¡¯t a weed situation, but they couldn¡¯t simply turn them down either, considering the future.

    In the near future, Zenjirou wanted to go to the royal pce of the Twin Kingdom after learning how to use ¡°Teleport¡±. If they forcefully disarmed the guards of Prince Francesco and Princess Bona now, the odds were that they would demand the same of Zenjirou¡¯s guards when he went over there.

    Nevertheless, the delegation wasing over ¡°uninvited¡± for their own convenience, so the Carpa Kingdom would lose its face when they conceded everything to them.

    ¡°Mh¡­¡±

    Aura crossed her legs under her long, red dress with a side slit and pondered. As her secretary had been serving her for years, he seemed to read her thoughts from her face

    ¡°In that case, how about we charge them a fee for every weapon or magic item they bring in? If the matter can be solved with money, I am sure they will not refuse either.¡±

    and suggested this.

    But the Queen knitted her brows deeper upon his proposal and shook her head,

    ¡°To be honest, that sounds appealing, but no. I do not want to establish the precedent of bringing weapons into the royal pce in exchange for money.¡±

    ¡°Then how about having them arrange some kind of ¡®magic tool¡¯ instead? That is apensation only the royalty of the Twin Kingdom can pay, so it will hardly be an exploitable ¡®precedent¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­That works, I guess. Then I have to consider what kind of magic tool I will request.¡±

    ¡°I am sure you know this already, but the resulting aftermath of a Space-Time magic tool is just as tremendous as its benefit.¡±

    Turning the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±, which originally could only be used by the royal family of the Carpa Kingdom, into a magic tool meant that even people outside the royal family could use that magic. At the present time, Aura was the only practitioner of the Space-Time magic, so a magic tool with her magic would be a huge advantage to the Carpa Kingdom, but giving the magic a shape in form of a magic tool also meant that it could fall into the hands of other countries in the future.

    ¡°¡®Teleport¡¯ is out of the question, but even for other Space-Time magic it would be safer to make them into ¡®disposable¡¯ magic tools, if anything¡­¡±

    At some point, Aura had started to count the chicken before they are hatched and when she noticed what she was doing, she cleared her throat with a cough and got back on topic.

    ¡°Well, in any case, working out the fine details will have to wait until they arrive here. Enough about quarters and armaments for now. You have enough personnel, I take it?¡±

    Her topic change came out of nowhere, but her secretary was used to it, so he replied without any hesitation at all.

    ¡°Yes. Per your instructions, we have enlisted especially the young waiting maids from lower noble or wealthymon families, who have adequate looks and skills so as not to embarrass us in front of the foreign royalty.¡±

    They had picked women of rtively low status out of consideration for the Twin Kingdom. Both, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, would only bring a bare minimum of attendants with them from the Twin Kingdom.

    The attendants provided by the Carpa Kingdom were just temporary staff. Now, if they were way older or of higher status than the waiting maids from the Twin Kingdom, it wouldplicate themand structure.

    ¡°Good. But it will not affect their departments when we withdraw them, will it?¡±

    ¡°Rest assured. The royal pce has a certain surplus of staff to begin with and we can always ¡®temporarily reinstate¡¯ some retired maids if necessary.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    After hearing his full exnation, Aura nodded briefly.

    The preparations for the reception seemed to be going well. Once the two royalty arrived, it might very well be possible to encounter some unforeseen shorings, but borating further than this was the job of the people in the field, and not something the Queen of a country should directly involve herself with.

    As the Queen was pleased by his answer, the secretary now asked her a question himself.

    ¡°Well then, what about Zenjirou-sama in the Inner Pce? He would at least have to attend the wee party.¡±

    Right now, Zenjirou was still learning etiquette in the inner pce.

    In the past year, he had acquired the manner of speaking for conversing with the native nobles to some extent, but teaching the etiquette for dealing with someone of nearly equal status, namely foreign royalty, had been postponed. Of course he had started to study the social intercourse between royalty as soon as the diplomat of the Twin Kingdom had informally notified them about the visit from the Sharrow Royalty, but it was far from perfect yet.

    Aura felt a sting of guilt in her chest when she thought about how she had to throw her husband onto the stage with superficial knowledge, and responded with an odd t tone.

    ¡°Lady Octavia assured me that he has learned enough to get through it in one piece as long as nothing ¡¯unexpected¡¯ happens.¡±

    As expected, the middle-aged secretary twisted the mouth a bit when he heard the vague answer from Aura.

    ¡°Oho, as long as nothing ¡®unexpected¡¯ happens, you say?¡±

    ¡°¡­Leave it be, Fabio.¡±

    She reprimanded him, but her words kind ofcked strength again. Well, it was only natural.

    The Sharrow Royal Family had broken a decades-long taciturnity and was visiting a foreign country.

    Conceivable goals were Zenjirou¡¯s ss marbles and his blood line.

    Moreover, the visiting royalty were a prince obviously fraught with problems, since he still hadn¡¯t a im on the throne after more than twenty years even though he was the legitimate grandson of the current king with a perfect lineage, and a young princess at just the right age for marriage.

    Taking all these factors into ount, Aura herself believed not one bit that ¡°nothing unexpected¡± would happen.

 Chapter Volume 4 1

    The early afternoon on a certain day.

    An unusual atmosphere hung over the ¡°audience room¡±, which could be considered the centre of the royal pce of the Carpa Kingdom.

    Queen Aura sat on her throne and various officials, in charge of the civil and military affairs in the Carpa Kingdom, stood at the lower end, showing a mixed expression of nervousness and curiosity.

    You could very well call this an abnormal situation. All the present nobles were above a certain rank, namely important mainstays of the county.

    It was extremely rare that these noblemen, up to all the dodges, would reveal their ¡°nervousness¡± and even rarer that they couldn¡¯t hide their ¡°curiosity¡±.

    However, it would be a bit unfair to call them ¡°careless¡± for it. After all, they currently faced a situation that waspelling ¡°nervousness¡± and stimting ¡°curiosity¡±.

    A prince and a princess from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell were visiting.

    That fact was significant enough to make the nobles of the Carpa Kingdom, a major power, lose theirposure.

    Just as the Carpa Kingdom was the leader of the western part on South Continent, the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell was ruling supreme over the central area of the South Continent.

    Moreover, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona were members of the ¡°Sharrow Royal Family¡±. Unlike the members of the Jilbell Royal Family, who frequently visited other countries in demand of their ¡°Healing Magic¡±, the Sharrow Royal Family, practitioners of the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡±, basically never left their country.

    At the very least, they hadn¡¯t made any official visits abroad in thest century. So it was no wonder that the noblemen, usually experts at controlling their expressions and ways of speaking, would be unable to hide their curiosity when the royalty wrapped in such mysteries suddenly came over for a visit.

    As they stood below the throne, the noblemen faithfully kept their facial expression in check, but even then, they couldn¡¯t suppress the tint of curiosity from showing in their eyes while they gazed upon the still closed double door.

    (I have heard rumours, but to think that they would reallye¡­)

    (It¡¯s quite the surprise. I wonder what their aim is?)

    (Who knows. Officially it isbelled as a ¡°friendly visit¡±.)

    (That¡¯s obviously just an excuse. But either way¡­)

    (Yes, there will be a stir for a while.)

    If their whispered words as they stood faithfully at attention, were to reach Aura¡¯s ears, she would probably heave a sigh of relief.

    As a matter of fact, the ¡°gossip¡± of the noblemen didn¡¯t include any information that paid attention to the true aim of the visit from Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, such as Zenjirou inheriting the Sharrow blood or his ss marbles having a high chance at being a medium for the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡±.

    For now, the censorship was working as expected.

    In the meantime, the double door was pushed open with a deep tone and a pair of a man and a women entered the audience room.

    (Oho, so they are¡­)

    (Prince Francesco and Princess Bona¡­)

    With all the eyes of the nobles set on them from left and right, the young prince and princess of the Sharrow Royal Family, dressed in the formal purple garbs, advanced gracefully on the red carpet.

    Behind them followed numerous knights d in leather armour and a long sword at their waist.

    Main armaments like bows or spears, let alone magic tools forbat, weren¡¯t allowed in here, but judging by their natural, yet cautious manner of walking, it was apparent that they could execute deadly precision even with a single word.

    They weren¡¯t the Imperial Guards from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, the ruler of the central area on the South Continent, for show. The delegation of the Twin Kingdom made their way to in front of the throne and halted there while the military officers gave them looks of admiration and alertness.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Sitting on her throne, Aura silently looked at the prince and princess from the foreign country standing below her.

    (Now, they are the prince and princess from the Twin Kingdom, huh? Their magical power certainly is royal ss.)

    She watched the magical power rising from the bodies of Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, and muttered that to herself.

    Princess Bona¡¯s magical power was slightly inferior to Aura¡¯s husband Zenjirou, who was sitting almost next to her, but Prince Francesco had almost twice as much as him.

    Amongst the royalty of a major power that was an extraordinary amount. He even had far more than Aura, who prided herself on having a top ss magical power for a royalty.

    (Hmm, this proves that Prince Francesco is the legitimate grandson of the current king and Princess Bona an atavistic royalty. But that makes it even lessprehensible. Why does a direct royal descendant have no im on the throne when he got this much magical power¡­?)

    The eldest son of the crown prince hade of age, was in perfect health judging by appearance and possessed an extraordinary amount of magical power for a royalty.

    It was extremely unnatural that he hadn¡¯t gotten a im on the throne with these conditions.

    (I guess there has to be some kind of issue with his personality?)

    Wary once again, Aura spoke with a clear voice from her throne without voicing any of her inner thoughts.

    ¡°I am Queen Aura of the Carpa Kingdom. You havee a long way. I hereby wee you in my pce. Please make yourself at home.¡±

    The spoken words and assumed conduct were more or less predetermined for this kind of official event. But Prince Francesco¡¯s behaviour betrayed Aura¡¯s expectations for a bit.

    ¡°My name is Francesco. I am the first son of Giuseppe, the crown prince of the Sharrow Family. You have my deepest gratitude for your hospitality.¡±

    Prince Francesco phoned in the predetermined words with a smooth tone and deeply ¡°lowered his head¡± in a flowing motion.

    It was one thing when an average member of the royal family did so, but a crown prince, who was destined to assume the throne next up, or his eldest son would be ¡°kings in the future¡±, so they would never lower their heads, not even to the ruler of a foreign country.

    In the exchange between a Queen and a Prince, some humility in his way of speaking and so on, was obviously in order, but ¡°lowering his head¡± was definitely out of the question.

    In fact, the noblemen, filling the room to capacity, showed surprise by whispering secretly.

    On the other hand, each and every knight from the Twin Kingdom, standing at attention behind Prince Francesco, kept a straight face without even batting an eye.

    (I see. His behaviour is nothing unusual to them. For now, that means it was no random line of action for him.)

    Put another way, it meant that everyone in the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell knew that ¡°Prince Francesco would not ede to the throne¡±.

    ¡°My name is Bona, likewise from the Sharrow Family. It is a great honour to be given the opportunity to meet your Gracious Highness¡­¡±

    Thereafter, Princess Bona, standing next to Prince Francesco, lowered her head even deeper than him and spoke words in ordance with etiquette with a tense voice, but Aura was only listening with half an ear and was rather thinking about Prince Francesco.

    (Just what keeps him from getting a im on the throne? His personality after all? But he has at least enough prudence to make it through a formal verbal exchange¡­.)

    On the surface, Aura kept a straight face, but behind the mask, she was wracking her brains about possible urrences in the future.

    * * *

    It was an unwritten rule that the higher your status, theter you appeared at an evening party, usually held in the royal pce.

    As the ¡°host¡± of the evening party, you were allowed to put on airs for a bit, but when the host happened to be from the royal family, you no longer had a choice but to appear as the veryst.

    Needles to say, the royalty couldn¡¯t be punished for going against it, as it was no fixed offence, but they would incur the enmity of the nobles, who attendedter than them, in the end, so they should avoid doing so unless there was a solid ground.

    And the ¡°wee party for Prince Francesco and Princess Bona¡± in the royal pce this evening was hosted by the Royal Carpa Family.

    Consequently, Queen Aura and her Prince Consort Zenjirou, both members of the royal family, had to show upst, because they were the hosts.

    However, this world had no ¡°urate mechanical clocks¡± like modern Earth. During the day, they could rely on a sundial, but at night, everyone had to rely on its own biological clock alone.

    As a result, Aura and Zenjirou had to waste time in the waiting room next to the ballroom until all anticipated guest for tonight had arrived.

    ¡°Puh¡­ So boring.¡±

    Zenjirou sat on the cushioned couch in the dimly lit waiting room as he inadvertently spoke his mind openly.

    At the beginning, when he had entered the waiting room, he had been a nervous wreck due to the fact that he would have to speak with the prince and princess of the Twin Kingdom, but after more than one hour, not even that nervousness couldst.

    ¡° Phew¡­. Oh, whoops, I nearly crumpled my clothes.¡±

    As the tension left his body, he unconsciously was about to slump into the couch, but recalled his attire and corrected his sitting position.

    Tonight, he was mboyantly dressed in the red native dress of the Carpa Kingdom. The third formal dress, which he wore at the moment, was more likeable than his first formal dress, which he had worn at the ¡°wee ceremony¡± a few days ago, but it was far from beingfortable, either.

    ¡°Zenjirou, you can take off some clothes if you are ufortable. I think it will still take some time until it is our turn.¡±

    Sitting across from him, Aura said that, but his personality was a bit too diligent to take her up on the offer.

    The third formal dress, clothing his body right now, consisted of a garment that ovepped at the front like Japanese clothes, and was held together with a strap around the waist. Over it he wore something like a vest.

    As pathetic it may sound, Zenjirou had no confidence that he would be able to put back on his clothes properly if he were to take some off now, and he would feel guilty to trouble the busy waiting maids at thest minute.

    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll do without it. We might be called on any minute now anyway.¡±

    Therefore, he shook his head with these words.

    It definitely was boring to wait in silence, but he could do without creating an unnecessary panic for doing something rash. As he was bad at improvising to begin with, Zenjirou wanted to avoid unexpected situation as much as possible.

    ¡°Still, I¡¯ve got to say it¡¯s quite dark here¡­¡±

    Commenting about that only now, he red at the oil pan standing tall next to the table while he remained seated in a well-mannered position.

    The ballroom was rtively well illuminated by a good many of candles on magnificent chandeliers, but that wasn¡¯t the case for this waiting room.

    The light of the four oil pans standing around the two couches facing each other, couldn¡¯t be called bright even as apliment. He could only make out the silhouette of his wife sitting on the other couch, her facial features werepletely in the dark.

    At that moment, Aura¡¯s face was suddenly lit up from below.

    When he noticed that Aura was fiddling with something in her hands on herp as she sat on the couch, Zenjirou immediately knew where the light wasing from.

    ¡°Oh? You brought it with you even here?¡±

    She skilfully handled the ¡°portable music yer¡± in her hands. Originally, Zenjirou had used it to distract himself when hemuted between home and work on the train.

    Nowadays music yers had so many functions that there were called ¡°smart phones without a call function¡±, but the one in Zenjirou¡¯s possession was nothing so high-tech. It was a small device with limited functions. Despite its small size, it still had somewhat of a disy, so it wasn¡¯t impossible to watch videos per se, but in practice, it was rather exclusive to music.

    ¡°Yes, to kill some time. Do you want to listen as well?¡±

    In the past year, she had be perfectly ustomed to it, so she operated the music yer with practised hand movements, then she removed one earphone and patted on the couch beside her with her hand.

    ¡°Mm, why not.¡±

    As he had too much time on his hands anyway, he had no reason to decline, so he obediently sat down on the right side of his wife and plugged the earphone in his left ear.

    The portable music yer had loud speakers, too, so they would be able to listen to the music without sitting next to each other when they just unplugged the earphones, but the two of them basically refrained from using his brought tools openly outside the inner pce.

    Besides, sitting shoulder to shoulder and sharing one earphone to enjoy the same music wasn¡¯t all too bad.

    A bright piano melody came from the earphone in his left ear.

    ¡°Ugh, a ssical piano track.¡±

    Zenjirou moaned somewhat disappointed.

    The song Aura was ying was ssical music, which Zenjirou had bought in a batch during a sale of ¡°hundred yen for everything you can stuff into one bag¡± at a CD shop at one time.

    He vaguely remembered that the covers were saying something like ¡°Pollini¡¯s Full Collection¡± or ¡°Chopin Nocturnes¡±, but wasn¡¯t too sure anymore, since he had thrown away the CDs right after copying them onto hisputer.

    Now it was a bit saddening that his wife preferred this kind of melody that he had no attachment to, over his favourite pop music.

    ¡°Hmm, my country has music as well, and there are a lot of first-rate musician employed in the royal pce, but there is nothing thates close to this so-called piano instrument. It has a really pleasant tone.¡±

    Out of the diverse music collection that Zenijirou had brought with him, Aura liked the track with the ssical piano solo the best, and she showed a smile while she said that.

    The traditional instruments of the Carpa Kingdom principally belonged to three types: percussion, stringed or wind.

    Theck of know-how made it impossible to build a piano, of course, but ¡°keyboard percussion instruments¡± such as the xylophone or metallophone didn¡¯t exist here, either. Due to that, a piano recital must have sounded novel to her.

    In contrast, the songs from Zenjirou¡¯s favourite band seemingly went beyond a novel feeling and Aura couldn¡¯t keep up with it, so she didn¡¯t really like them. Though it might have been a more simple issue, namely preferring a simple instrumental recital over a song with iprehensible lyrics from another world.

    Anyway, even the music of a genre he didn¡¯t really like, was good enough to relieve his boredom while he waited.

    ¡°You sure love your piano songs, Aura. Reminds me, Zenkichi seems to be in a better mood, too, when ssical music is running in his room.¡±

    The Queen somehow or other caught the mumbled words of her husband with her earphone-less right ear and grinned triumphantly.

    ¡°Yes. It seems Carlos has gotten his taste from me. Fufufu.¡±

    Saying so, she gave her husband, sitting next to her, a provocative look.

    Even the usually intimate royal couple would turn against each other when it came to their child.

    ¡°Grr¡­ N- No, it¡¯s okay. I still have a lot of good songs on myputer. The jury is still out. Not to forget, I got some bads, too.¡±

    Zenjirou, still seated next to Aura, clenched his fists irmly in hisp.

    ¡°Oho, now that sounds interesting. I would like to see you try. Well, you will not get Carlos to listen to the songs of your homnd until he has learned thenguage anyway.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s right! B- But I can still turn the tables afterwards. I¡¯ll definitely get even with you.¡±

    ¡°Ahahha, just go and try it, Papa. Remember though that Carlos will leave the inner pce in five years.¡±

    Even a direct royalty was no exception to the ban of males in the inner pce. The only exceptions were the King, the master of the inner pce, (though in Zenjirou¡¯s case, he was the Prince Consort and not the King) and an infant under five years, because it was treated as genderless.

    ¡°Ugg¡­¡±

    An array of challenging words and a response putting up a fight. Contrary to the content however, their voices and expressions revealed that they were enjoying their little argument.

    ¡°Ehm, the increased tempo seems to be the problem, so I should focus on bads as they¡¯re close to a cappe. No, wait. I think I¡¯ve got a few instrumental bands, too? These I could y even now¡­.¡±

    ¡°Even though you know that you stand no chance, you still thrown down the gauntlet. I like that.¡±

    Sitting shoulder to shoulder and sharing an earphone to hear music, the married couple continued their casual exchange until the waiting maid of the royal pce came to get them.

    * * *

    ¡°Now entering, Her Majesty Queen Aura and Zenjirou-sama!¡±

    While their names were called out loudly and everyone¡¯s attention shifted towards them, Zenjirou took the hand of his beloved wife and advanced unhurried.

    The ballroom for the evening party was illuminated by the mes of the candles burning on the tall candle holders standing in an orderly line, and the numerous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

    Seen individually, they weren¡¯t much of a light source, but all of them together lighted up the ballroom to a level that deserved to be called ¡°bright¡±.

    Naturally, that brightness didn¡¯te close to the one in the living room of the inner pce, where the LED floorsmps were at work, butpared to the waiting room they had been inside until now, it was almost dazzling.

    As he squinted to the sparkling of the chandeliers, made out of silver and crystal, Zenjirou wryly smiled to himself, since he wasn¡¯t as disturbed as all the eyes set on him ought to make him.

    (Guess I¡¯ve gotten a bit used to it after the nth time.)

    More than one year had already passed, since he had married Aura, so he had made plenty of appearances at such events.

    At first, he had a hard time even walking straight, but right now, he merely registered their nces at the back of his mind.

    ¡°Getting used¡± to something too much could lead to ¡°carelessness¡±, so it was not necessarily a good thing, but it was fair to say that he had improved his first appearance, where he was too nervous and needed to lean on his wife to walk.

    (Let¡¯s see, I¡¯ve to call out to the main guests first.)

    While feeling Aura¡¯s warm touch on his right arm, Zenjirou looked around the hall in search for his first targets to greet.

    (Oh, there they are.)

    He spotted his targets effortless. If anything, they wereing his way for a greeting, since the entrance of the Queen and Zenjirou had been announced with a loud voice.

    Aura and Zenjirou stopped on the red carpet and awaited the quickly approaching pair.

    The man with blonde hair seemed to be the same age as Zenjirou, whereas the girl with auburn hair looked not older than twenty.

    The men and women, standing in the hall, made way for the guests of honour to pass.

    Before long, the pair arrived in front of them and the blonde man spoke first as their representative.

    ¡°Your Majesty Aura, Your Majesty Zenjirou, let me express my deepest gratitude for arranging such a splendid wee for us tonight.¡±

    After saying that, the man with blonde hair made such an exaggerated bow that it looked pompous.

    ¡°You have my deepmost gratitude as well, Your Majesty Aura, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    Following, the girl with the auburn hair, standing at an angle behind the man, expressed her gratitude and politely lowered her head, too.

    Strictly speaking, it wasn¡¯t their ¡°first encounter¡±, since they had met in the audience room a few days ago, but because Zenjirou had simply watched the wee ceremony from his personal throne in silence, this was pretty much a ¡°first encounter¡± for him.

    Being called ¡°your majesty¡± made Zenjirou flinch unintentionally, but when he saw that Aura next to him made no move to say something, he decided to leave it be.

    Since he was the very first Prince Consort in the history of the Carpa Kingdom, it hadn¡¯t been decided yet whether his title would be ¡°majesty¡± or ¡°highness¡±. For that reason, the nobles of the Carpa Kingdom always just added a ¡°sama¡± to his name at formal or informal asions, but you couldn¡¯t expect the two foreigners, who had only arrived in this country a few days ago, to understand that nuance.

    ¡°Yes, enjoy it to the fullest.¡±

    ¡°As one of the organizers, it fills me with pride when you enjoy the party, Prince Francesco, Princess Bona.¡±

    While repeating after Aura, Zenjirou observed the two young royalty, standing before him, with great care.

    ¡°Of course I am enjoying it. It shames me to admit it, but this is my first visit abroad in spite of my age, so everything Ie across is new to me. I have never tasted any of the food or drinks here before.¡±

    Prince Francesco, replying cheerfully, was a young man with a clear voice and finely chiselled features beaming a generous expression.

    He was taller than Zenjirou, but still more or less at eye level with him, so his height was probably around 175 centimetre. But unlike Zenjirou, he had rather long arms, legs and neck as well as well-proportioned flesh on his bones, so his figure was quite eye-catching.

    The dark purple, formal attire of the Sharrow Family, abination of a military uniform and a tuxedo, suited him ordingly well.

    If Zenjirou were to wear it, he would undoubtedly only look like a courageous, but misguided cosyer, whereas it looked like a well-suited outfit when worn by the Mr. Handsome with blonde hair and green eyes.

    (Hmm, how shall I put it? He¡¯s sociable¡ª or frivolous.)

    That was the first expression he got from the prince of a foreign country. Zenjirou let his wife Aura handle the conversation and shifted his attention to the girl on the side: Princess Bona.

    The impression he got from her was, in one word and somewhat rude: ¡°in¡±.

    ¡°Yes, it is a major honour to be able to see the renowned prosperity of the Carpa Kingdom with my own eyes.¡±

    In the course of replying with a clear enunciation, Princess Bona kept her spine straightened well-conducted and her hands casually crossed over her abdomen, showing an forced smile strained by tension.

    Her dress had a fainter purple colour than the outfit of Prince Francesco.

    Their royalty might express a ¡°rank¡± with the shades of purple, but in Princess Bona¡¯s case, the faint purple was quite bing.

    With her slender figure and somewhat in features, she would be overshadowed by a dark purple dress.

    Compared to Prince Francesco, her appearance left a weak impression, and if anything, her hair was the most striking feature.

    It had an auburn colour and extended to half-way between her shoulders and waist. That in itself wasn¡¯t worth mentioning, but as she herself seemed to dislike its in colour, she had apparently sprinkled silver dust over her hair, which was now sparkling brilliantly as the light of the chandeliers fell onto it.

    Her hairstyle was rather peculiar, too. Originally it must have been straight, but the long hair turned quite wavy from the midway through. It wasn¡¯t as neat as a perm from Earth, but the fashion of deliberately messing about with one¡¯s hair was known to this world as well.

    Princess Bona¡¯s hairstyle was a variation of that, but no other women in the hall even had a simr hairdo. Together with the shiny effect from the silver dust, she was drawing plenty of attention from the otherdies. There was a rtivelyrge number of favourable nces, so some of them might imitate it the future.

    And whilst Zenjirou was observing Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, Aura continued the conversation with affable small talk.

    ¡°Aha, then you both havee to my country at your own desire?¡±

    ¡°Yes. As you may know, our Sharrow Family rarely has the chance to leave the country, so I allowed myself to take advantage of this asion. A real bonanza, so to speak. Ahaha.¡±

    ¡°Prince Francesco, you are in the presence of Her Majesty, so please be a bit more careful about your choice of words.

    My apologies, Your Majesty. Nheless, the prince is speaking the truth when he says that he came at his own desire and was looking forward to the visit. The same goes for me as well.¡±

    The blonde prince obviously enjoyed the light-hearted talk without showing the slightest tension, and the auburn princess was performing damage control the whole time while the actions and words of the prince kept her on tenterhooks.

    Aura took care of the conversation for the most part, but since Zenjirou was attending the party, he couldn¡¯t be an onlooker forever.

    ¡°Indeed. I actually have a good reason for why I wanted to meet His Majesty Zenjirou. It may be one-sided, but you see, I find something congenial in you.¡±

    ¡°You tter me, Prince Francesco. I am also pleased to have the opportunity to speak with you.¡±

    Zenjirou responded to the blonde prince, whose friendly interaction was definitely overfamiliar, with a forced smile.

    * * *

    Roughly one hourter.

    ¡°Ohhh, living is so wonderfuuul! Sing to this golden seeeea!¡±

    The festivity was in full swing. Prince Francesco stood in the centre of the hall with a red face and was singing with a beautiful voice.

    Singing, along with dancing and ying an instrument, was pretty much said to be the aplishments of nobles, but it almost never happened that someone volunteered a sonorous song at an average evening party like this one.

    That may be the case in the Carpa Kingdom, but perhaps it was nothing umon in the Twin Kingdom? Considering that possibility, Zenjirou looked at Princess Bona and the knights from the Twin Kingdom, who were in the same ballroom.

    By doing so, he saw how the escorting knights were throwing their hands up in despair or stifling a bitter smile under their beard.

    Judging by their reaction, themon knowledge in the Twin Kingdom wasn¡¯t all that different from the one in the Carpa Kingdom.

    ¡°My apologies. He means no harm¡­¡±

    As she felt guilty for not having been able to stop Prince Francesco¡¯s entric behaviour, Princess Bona offered an apology for the nth time while she wanted to curl up and die.

    ¡°No, please do not worry too much about it. He is not really inconveniencing anyone.¡±

    Although Zenjirou replied like that with a forced smile, he couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty in his heart.

    At some point, Prince Francesco had thrown off his purple jacket and was singing cheerfully. With just one look at his red face, you could tell that he was drunk right now.

    That had happened, because he hadvishly emptied the fruit cocktails, which were mixed with Zenjirou¡¯s self-made ¡°liquor¡±.

    The people of the southern continent were only used to fruit wine or ale, which had an alcohol content of less than ten percent, so when they were drinking the distilled liquor-based cocktails with the same mindset, they would obviously end up drunk.

    (Well, I did warn him about the strong alcohol level. But I guess there¡¯s no way he could have imagined the strength of a liquor he sees for the first time.)

    ¡°A cheer for loooove! Sing to the silver moooooon!¡±

    At any rate, he was truly enjoying himself at singing. Seeing him sing so refreshingly made Zenjirou somehow misapprehend that he did something good. Although he did feel bad for Princess Bona, who was trembling uncontrobly.

    In fact, even the other guests had ovee their initial shock and were now showing affable smiles while they surrounded the singing prince from a foreign country at a distance.

    Moreover, you could hear some musical apaniment to his singing at some point.

    (Mh?)

    Zenjirou reflexively turned his head towards the origin of the music, where he saw a group of men and women, all dressed in the charming native dress of the Carpa Kingdom of old times, ying stringed instruments and cross flutes.

    (Are they the pce musicians? Oh, Aura must have done that.)

    Now he remembered how Aura had called for an attendant and given her some kind of order when Prince Francesco had started to sing with a loud voice.

    It was nothing but a happenstance when he started to sing by himself out of the blue, but it would turn into a proper entertainment when apanied with music from the band.

    Of course that didn¡¯t change the fact that the prince had gotten carried away by his own enthusiasm to sing, but as the host of this evening party, Aura officially authorized his song by making the musicians apany him with music.

    The present nobles must have understood her intention as well. The initial awkward atmosphere hadpletely vanished and everyone was honestly apuding the prince of the foreign country for his song with a smile.

    ¡°Prince Francesco truly has an outgoing personality, has he not?¡±

    ¡°I- Indeed. Uhm¡­ Thank you.¡±

    It was painfully obvious that Zenjirou picked the words for his evaluation very carefully, whereupon Princess Bona heaved a sigh of relief, but still showed an apologetic and troubled expression.

    ¡°Zenjirou.¡±

    Aura¡¯s eyes told him that she would go around patching up things for Prince Francesco.

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    Telling her in return with his eyes that he would manage, Zenjirou watched the back his beloved wife as she left with smooth movements, then he faced the foreign princess anew.

    ¡°Princess Bona, do you happen to be thirsty? If so, take this.¡±

    With these words, he beckoned a waiting maid over, who was avable with a silver tray near by.

    On his signal, the maid quickly came over, the silver tray loaded with silver goblets in hand, and held out the tray to the princess of the Twin Kingdom in a respectful manner.

    ¡°Ah, yes, thank you very much. I will have some.¡±

    Princess Bona took one of the offered silver goblets and emptied in one gulp despite her reservation.

    The goblet contained a mild fruit wine that wasmon in the Carpa Kingdom. Zenjirou certainly wasn¡¯t so thoughtless as to offer the princess the distilled liquor cocktail on their first meeting.

    All the more, because he had made the mistake to offer the prince some on their first meeting earlier.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    Maybe she felt better after taking in some liquid, or maybe the bit of alcohol affected her already? Either way, the princess with the auburn hair relieved a bit her unfortunate tension from earlier, and nced Prince Francesco¡¯s way searchingly once.

    ¡°Ohhh this beautiful capitaaal! The pearl of the desert, its name iiiis!¡±

    The drunken prince cheerfully struck up a second song, now that he had gained reassuringrades in the form of the pce musicians.

    For Princess Bona it was a painful experience, since she had been appointed as a ¡°chaperone¡± by the current and next king of her country, but she could no longer interfere, now that Queen Aura had provided the ¡°stage¡±.

    To look for the silver lining, Queen Aura and the other nobles were clearly showing their intention to not let it escte any further in consideration of them. Well, that in turn made her feel pathetic and useless as a ¡°chaperone¡±, though.

    Anyway, she realized that it would be no use to worry about Prince Francesco any further at this point as it would only tire her out mentally, so shepletely took her eyes off him for the first time this evening.

    And then she noticed the ¡°ring with magical power¡± on the ring finger of Zenjirou¡¯s left hand as he held a silver goblet.

    ¡°Your Majesty Zenjirou, that ring¡­!¡±

    Princess Bona had her eyes light up and she leaned forward, directing an intense gaze at Zenjirou¡¯s left hand.

    ¡°Oh, this? Yes, you guessed right. It is the ring I had turned into a ¡®magic tool¡¯ by your family before.¡±

    Saying so, Zenjirou switched the goblet to his right hand and brought his left hand, palm down, closer to the princess¡¯ face, so that she could get a better look.

    Anyone, who had awakened the ability to see magical power, could see it. The ring by itself emitted a magical power different than the one raising from his hand.

    Zenjirou never took the ¡°wedding ring¡± from Earth outside the inner pce, because its extremely detailed workmanship stood out in a bad way, but today he made an exception as it was expected.

    Prince Francesco himself had applied magic to that ring, so it would be rude not to wear it today. Having said that, it might have been an unnecessary concern, considering the free spirit of the prince.

    Either way, Zenjirou thought he had found a good clue to talk about with Princess Bona, because of her interest in it, so he purposefully spoke about the ring.

    ¡°If I remember correctly, Prince Francesco himself bestowed magic onto this ring?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Prince Francesco is a prominent practitioner of the Bestowal Magic within the Sharrow Family. I had volunteered to help as well, but unfortunately I was disregarded. Well, it is understandable. I may have confidence in creating something from scratch, but when ites to bestowing magic onto something pre-existing, my magical power is just not enough.¡±

    Princess Bona kind ofughed at herself after she said that. The magical powering from her body was certainly too low for a royalty.

    She had even less than Zenjirou, who was already at the bottom level. It was the bare minimum for a royalty.

    Apparently it was true that those, who inherited a ¡°bloodline magic¡± atavistically, would have a minimum of its power.

    (On the other hand, he¡¯s amazing. Looks like he exceeds Aura by half.)

    Zenjirou gave the blonde prince, who was happily singing his third song in the middle of the ballroom, a casual nce.

    The magical power hovering over the prince¡¯s body was enormous, distinguishing him as a dignified, direct descendent of the royal family.

    Queen Aura also had a magical power worthy of a ruler of a major power, but Prince Francesco¡¯s was so prominent that you could tell at a nce that it was superiors to Aura¡¯s.

    Compared to Zenjirou or Princess Bona, it was genuinely ¡°more than twice as much¡±.

    (Wow. Perhaps he¡¯s even as much as Zenkichi?)

    Keeping this impression to himself, Zenjirou turned his attention from the faraway prince back to the nearby princess.

    ¡°Interesting. So crafting is your specialty, Princess Bona? Reminds me, I have been told that the Twin Kingdom makes the finest jewellery on the South Continent.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Of course my modest abilities are still far from perfect, but I am more confident in my crafting skills than in my magical power.¡±

    Saying so, the Princess nodded briefly and her face showed more confidence than she had admitted.

    The very princess, who was way too serious and seemed more or less introverted, had said she was ¡°confident¡± about something. Maybe she really was already a full-fledged craftsman at her young age.

    At least it was obvious that her interest and passion towards jewellery was outstanding.

    ¡°Isabelle-sama from the Jilbell Family had shown it to me once before. You brought it with you from your home country, did you not?¡±

    It didn¡¯t really go against the etiquette, but Princess Bona did cast a nce so passionate on his left ringer finger that Zenjirou inadvertently felt himself in danger.

    Devouring something with one¡¯s eyes meant exactly this.

    Zenjirou winced innerly upon the unexpected passionate gaze, but managed to keep a smile on his face.

    ¡°Yes, you are right. In my homnd, it¡¯s a custom that the man exchanges pair rings¡ª meaning matching rings¡ª with his bride when they marry.¡±

    He simply exined the wedding rings like that. But Princess Bona didn¡¯t seem interested in the story behind the wedding rings and paid him no mind. She was only focussing her attention on the ¡°ring¡± itself.

    ¡°Oh, is that so. Then a ring like that ismon in your homnd? I mean, the diamonds are cut into a brilliant polyhedron and moreover, the three of them have the same indistinguishable size and shape¡­¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes. Well, they weren¡¯t exactly cheap, but you may do call themmon.¡±

    ¡°Well then, do you know how the metal of the socket has been processed? Gold certainly is easy to process, but it is beyond me how they make such detailed patterns without distortions. If you happen to know about it, I would love to hear it, if possible.¡±

    That the words poured out of her now even though she had been all restrained earlier, symbolized her enthusiasm for the ¡°jewellery craftsmanship¡±. Although the alcohol had a finger in the pie for a bit as well.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry to disappoint you, but I don¡¯t have the faintest idea.¡±

    ¡°No? Not even a little bit? Any trivial information would be fine.¡±

    ¡°So you say, but¡­ I¡¯m really not an expert. Superficial knowledge would not get you anywhere.¡±

    ¡°I do not mind. Please, something could be of use.¡±

    Zenjirou couldn¡¯t help being surprised about her zeal and appeal, which was so different from her initial demeanour.

    (Uwah, she did a total 180. Did she put on an act? Nah, I didn¡¯t mistake her character. It seems more like she only bes a different person when ites to jewellery.)

    He wasn¡¯t opposed to people, who went into a frenzy over their favourite thing or personal hobby.

    ¡°¡­Okay. On some future asion then.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much!¡±

    In the end, Zenjirou caved in and made an utterance that could very well be understood as a ¡°promise¡±.

    * * *

    After they had attended the evening party as hosts in sound condition, Aura and Zenjirou washed themselves clean from the sweat and perfumed oil in the bath, then spent the short while before going to bed in the air-conditioned bedroom.

    ¡°Aw, that was tiring. Man, I wish I could¡¯ve seen Zenkichi before going to bed.¡±

    ¡°Fufu, do not say that. You know very well that it would trouble the wet nurse and maids when you visit Carlos thiste at night, because they are obliged to wake up when wee by.¡±

    ¡°I know, I know.¡±

    Even while he agreed with his wife, Zenjirou sounded regretful and heaved a deep sigh as he leaned back into the chair.

    Right now, they were sitting on wooden chairs that had been ced in one corner of the bedroom.

    One day after the air conditioning had been set up in the bedroom, Aura had already decreed that a small, round table (though small was rtive in royal standards) and two, wooden chairs were brought into the bedroom. And one of the two LED floormps of the bedroom was moved from near the bed to the table in ordance with it.

    From then on, they had obviously spent their evening recreation in the bedroom, but they even took almost every breakfast and dinner in there.

    And these circumstances would surely continue until the hottest season was over.

    The season had a lot of days, where the temperature didn¡¯t drop below the body temperature, not even at night, so it was only natural that a person couldn¡¯t resist the charm of the air conditioning anymore after experiencing it once.

    Zenjirou washed the ice water in his ss cup down his throat in one gulp and ced the empty cup back onto the table.

    ¡°¡­Fuh.¡±

    Previously he had always drunken the low-malt beer from Japan after a bath, but as one would expect, his stock had run out by now. At first, he had carefully savoured it one by one, but near the expiration date, the vour clearly had started to change, so he had quickly drunk the rest before it went bad.

    Seeing her husband ce his cup back on the table, Aura put her folded hands on the table and spoke.

    ¡°Well then, shall we begin? We have to get up early again tomorrow, so we cannot waste any time.

    Zenjirou, what do you think about Prince Francesco and Princess Bona from the Twin Kingdom of Jilbell and Sharrow? Tell me everything, be it a simple impression or something that caught your eye.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s see, hmm¡­¡±

    He nodded shortly to her request and started to articte carefully while he recalled what had happened at the evening party.

    ¡°I¡¯ll start with my impression of Prince Francesco.

    Well, I think it goes without saying, but he¡¯s a ¡®carefree idiot¡¯ if his actions weren¡¯t an act.¡±

    ¡°True that¡­¡±

    Aura, too, wasn¡¯t able to avoid agreeing with his honest evaluation while smiling wryly.

    The behaviour Prince Francesco had shown at the evening party could only be described as ¡°stupid¡±.

    Although the evening party did excuse some frailties, drinking oneself to the breaking point and starting to sing with a loud voice was not something a nobleman did.

    If that really had been no act, then it was exinable how Prince Francesco hadn¡¯t gotten a im on the throne despite being in his twenties.

    However, Zenjirou inclined his head and continued.

    ¡°But if that¡¯s the case, I think his behaviour was too uncoerced. I mean, if that was his true character, then wouldn¡¯t he like have an unselfconscious and guileless personality that allows him to act so stupid?¡±

    ¡°Yes, guess so. What about it?¡±

    ¡°When you think about it, the Prince must have been shunned by the royal pce from a young age on, because he betrayed their expectation about his position as the legal son of the crown prince, if that carelessness and stupidity really happen to be his true character.

    But would he really turn out that innocent when he was raised in such an environment?¡±

    Zenjirou believed that the environment during childhood had an enormous influence on the development of one¡¯s personality, and Aura didn¡¯t object to that either, but that view was too one-sided to have her agree generally.

    ¡°I only know about it from hearsay, but Prince Francesco¡¯s parents¡ª namely Crown Prince Giuseppe and his wife are both respectable people. Would you not say that he could have grown up upright with plenty of love from his parents?¡±

    Apparently her argument was worth agreeing with for him, too.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s more than possible. Besides, I heard from Princess Bona that Prince Francesco is a leading practitioner of the Bestowal Magic within the current Sharrow Family.

    Having a principle like ¡®I¡¯ll keep up my chin for this at least¡¯ ys an important role. So it wouldn¡¯t be weird for this behaviour to be his true colours. For an act, it seemed too natural.¡±

    He expressed his approval like this.

    ¡°But that still raises an issue.

    Why would the Sharrow Family send a ¡®good-natured idoit¡¯ as the important ambassador for the first visit abroad in a hundred years?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, maybe they do not regard this trip as important as we do? So they just sent a prince, who is as good as disinherited, and a princess, who is royalty only in name.¡±

    Although Aura didn¡¯t actually think that, she urged an unconvincing argument to test her husband¡¯s way of thinking.

    His reaction was as she had expected. He shook his head immediately.

    ¡°No way. The prince¡¯s a ¡®prominent practitioner of the Bestowal Magic¡¯, right? It¡¯s obvious at least that he¡¯s a skilled creator of magic tools, so there needs to be valid reason or advantage in going without his skills and sending him here, or it makes no sense.¡±

    Yes, his conclusion wasn¡¯t all that different from Aura¡¯s.

    ¡°You are right.¡±

    For now, Aura had confirmed that her husband was on the same page as her and raised a happy smile. Although the circumstances were annoying, it was pleasant to see that there were at least no problems in themunication with her husband.

    ¡°In other words, even if Prince Francesco himself has no ulterior motive, the leading royals of the Sharrow Family have an ulterior motive for sending in the unambitious prince to us. Either way, it would be dangerous to proceed on official reasons alone.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Zenjirou affirmed Aura¡¯s inquiring words.

    In any case, tonight had been their first real encounter. Zenjirou didn¡¯t believe that his insight was so excellent as to correctly evaluate a person he had only met once and spoken to for a little bit.

    The same applied to Aura, albeit being a bit better off than him.

    ¡°Good. Then we will wait and see how things turn out with Prince Francesco for now.¡±

    Bringing one topic to a closure like that, Aura then started to talk about the other royalty.

    ¡°Now, what is your opinion about Princess Bona?¡±

    ¡°Mhm, my first impression was that she¡¯s a ¡®serious person who has gone through a lot¡¯. I¡¯m quite confident that it¡¯s adding up this time. She seems to be a chaperone for the prince and was so tense that I pitied her.¡±

    He didn¡¯t mention it, because Aura would probably not understand it, but a more urate description would be a ¡°timid and earnest ss president¡±.

    The image in his head was that of a girl, who had been made the ss president, because she got along with the teachers due to her good grades, but wasn¡¯t sociable and couldn¡¯t bring the ss together due to her timidity. And since she was too earnest, she couldn¡¯t abandon the duty that had been pushed onto her, and was always doing her best with tears in her eyes.

    ¡°Yes, you are right. She was nervous and seemed to pay attention to Prince Francesco all the time. However, it looked to me like you two were talking quite livelily?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, at first she was a nervous wreck and kept saying ¡®I am so sorry. Please forgive the inconveniences he is causing.¡¯, though.

    But as soon as the topic switched to my ring, she couldn¡¯t hold her tongue anymore.¡±

    A wry smile flitted across his face, as he remembered the situation.

    ¡°I was under the impression that she¡¯s dedicating her whole life to it. She got so into it that I was a bit scared.¡±

    ¡°Your ring? Oh, your ¡®wedding ring¡¯. Well, that figures.¡±

    Aura was able to rte at once, which seemed to surprise Zenjirou a bit.

    ¡°Oh really?¡±

    He asked.

    Aura nodded briefly.

    ¡°Yes, because the branch families of the Sharrow family establish themselves as magic tool makers. Menmonly set up an armament business while the women usually set up a jewellery business.

    Of course Princess Bona would have her eyes light up when she sees that ring.¡±

    She said with a short shrug of her shoulders.

    An appreciator would have had its breath taken away when looking at the brilliance of his wedding ring with three small diamonds embedded in a golden socket.

    Not to mention an authority on the subject like Princess Bona, who could perceive that it was impossible to recreate the uniformity of the diamonds or the detailed craftsmanship in this world no matter how hard one might try.

    ¡°Uh-huh, but it didn¡¯te across as ¡®pure business¡¯. She was more enthusiastic about it, practically insisting that I show her the ring and talk about it with great zeal. In the end, I gave in and kind of promised her to do so in the future.¡±

    Zenjirou scratched his head after saying this, whereupon Aura knitted her eyebrows for the very first time this night and adopted a stern tone.

    ¡°Wait a minute, Zenjirou. That was somewhat thoughtless of you. It does not sound like you made a promise with a definite date or terms, but you ought to abstain from making carelessmitments.¡±

    Being scolded by his wife on a rare asion, Zenjirou ducked his head with an earnest expression.

    ¡°Sorry. I know she¡¯s a princess from a major power even if she¡¯s at the foot of the ss. It turned out like that while I was carefully picking my words as not to be rude.

    What now? I would say I can just brush it off when the timees, because I didn¡¯t make a concrete promise.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    As he asked, Aura put a hand against her chin and pondered for a moment.

    (The promise in itself is not much of a problem. It was just a verbal agreement at a party and I doubt she herself believes that he will keep it. There are a lot of ways to talk our way out of it.

    The problem is that it is the first time that my husband made such a careless remark.)

    It would be so much better if he had made the mistake by force of habit. Judging by his current meek facial expression, Zenjirou had pulled himself together now and wouldn¡¯t made the same mistake again for a while.

    The scary part was that it might be a matter of ¡°affinity to Princess Bona¡±.

    A partner with a goodpatibility. Or in other words, a partner that was easy to talk to. Or going even further, a partner, to whom he lowered his guard unconditionally.

    She might be overthinking it, but to her it appeared like Zenjirou and Princess Bona were a bit too close for their first meeting.

    (Normally he is rather conservative and cautious. Lady Octavia has spent a lot of time with him alone and Lady Fatima approaches him quite aggressively at every opportunity, but neither of them could get any closer to him so far.)

    Inparison, Princess Bona had educed a promise to meet again at ater time from him on their first meeting, albeit in the form of just a vague verbal agreement.

    (I just hope it is my imagination or jealously, but if not, it could get a bit troublesome.)

    Down the road, Aura realized that she wasn¡¯t all that pleased about another woman getting closer to her husband. She couldn¡¯t confidently say that her judgement wasn¡¯t dulled by jealousy.

    For now, she decided to avoid digging any deeper into it here.

    ¡°Fine. She hardly seems to be the hard-hearted type, so just be more careful from now on.

    Well then, that shall be enough for today. Let us go to bed.¡±

    Hearing her words, Zenjirou checked the time on his cell phoneying on the table, stood up from his chair and moved over to Aura sitting on the other side.

    ¡°Already thiste? Got it.¡±

    Her husband naturally held out his hand to her.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    His wife took his hand and stood up.

    Hand in hand, the two of them then headed towards the bed¡­ but Zenjirou abruptly stopped with something on his mind.

    ¡°Mh? What is the matter?¡±

    As his wife looked puzzled at him, the husband scratched his head with his free hand

    ¡°Well, nothing of note. I was just thinking how cool it would be if I were to carry you to the bed like a princess now.¡±

    and uttered something absurd.

    ¡°Like a princess??¡±

    ¡°Yeah, well, how can I exin? That¡¯s how its called in my country when you lift someone up with one arm under the knees and the other around the back.¡±

    ¡°Oho.¡±

    The Queen mused for a while after hearing the exnation of her husband, then smirked and said.

    ¡°Mhm, you can count on me. I am feeling a bit dulltely, so it might not be possible right now, but with a bit of training, I am sure that I can carry you ¡¯like a princess¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Ehh? The roles reversed!? That¡¯s not the least bit attractive, only hurtful. Wait, you¡¯re saying that on purpose!!¡±

    In the middle of his sentence, he noticed the evil smirk of his wife and artificially flew off the handle.

    A woman carrying a man. Even if it was meant as a joke, a man of this patriarchic world, where strength was considered a virtue, was likely to get angry over it for real.

    However, Aura had learned in the past year that her husband wasn¡¯t the kind of narrow-minded man, who would seriously feel offended by this kind of joke, so she ended up teasing him on the spur of the moment.

    It was a kind of ¡°affection¡±.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hit the sack already.¡±

    As expected, Zenjirou merely chopped Aura¡¯s head lightly with his free left hand while his right hand still tightly squeezed her left hand.

    ¡°Ow. Fufu, okay.¡±

    Aura pinched his right arm between her cleavage and sweetly put her cheek against his right shoulder.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    With their two bodies so close that they cast a single shadow, they went towards their shared bed.

    Around the same time.

    The third son and sessor of Marquis Guzzle, Xavier Guzzle stood in one room of the fortress at the southern border of the royal domain, in a meeting with General Puyol Guill¨¦n.

    Inside the fortress with its thick stone walls and small dormer windows, it was gloomy even at day, but in exchange chillier than in an average house.

    However, Xavier couldn¡¯t afford to enjoy the chill. A cold sweat was soaking his back as he straightened his back with all his willpower. He had his arms crossed behind him and stood at attention.

    (He¡¯s the hero of the previous war, General Puyol¡­!)

    He looked up into the face of the huge man, standing in front of him, in awe.

    Based on Xavier¡¯s eye level of 160cm, the almost two metre tall General Puyol was truly a giant that he literally looked up to.

    Moreover, Xavier, confident in his judgement despite his young age, could intuitionally tell that General Puyol was a seasoned warrior, whom he himself was no match for, from his posture alone.

    In the presence of this man, who was overwhelming superior in social standing,bat strength and military tactics, Xavier had advanced his opinion.

    Due to his nervousness, his mouth was dry and he didn¡¯t dare to swallow his saliva. Then General Puyol opened his mouth.

    ¡°I see. So you are saying that you wish to follow the ¡®Pack Dragon Subjugation¡¯ mission through on your own instead of letting me take over, Sir Xavier?¡±

    The voice of the general was easy to understand even though he spoke low-keyed and far apart from loud. In response, Xavier¡¯s legs tensed up deterred and he replied.

    ¡°Not at all, General Puyol. I do know my ce! From the moment on I requested help from the capital, my ¡®Pack Dragon Subjugation¡¯ ended up as a failure.

    What I am asking of you now is that my nearly hundred soldiers and myself are allowed to participate in your operation as ¡®volunteers¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    The ¡°I see¡± wording was the same as before, but the nuance was different. This time it was filled with appreciation, as he saw the shrunk youngster before him in a new light.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    General Puyol stood there rxed and mused for a moment, then he nodded short and spoke.

    ¡°Sir Xavier, I believe that this expedition will likely take up a lot of time.

    You have located arge pack. If we can trust the theory of the hunters that the Pack Dragons get smarter and stronger with advancing age, they will turn out to be a tough opponent.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes. I believe so as well.¡±

    Although Xavier was perplexed about that fact that the general didn¡¯t answer his question and suddenly voiced his own opinion eloquently instead, he still agreed with him.

    And he was saying it in earnest.

    If the leader of the Pack Dragons was really smart enough to understand the difference in strength between both parties, then it was more than likely that they wouldn¡¯t appear in front of General Puyol¡¯s ¡°Dragonback Archery Knights¡± to begin with.

    In that case, they would have to scour thatrge and dense forest for them.

    And that in turn meant that it would inevitably turn into a drawn-out mission, unless they were extremely lucky or managed to set up a good trap.

    ¡°But then the emergency stock of salt in the March bes a problem. If I recall correctly, your stocksst for around three months at best?¡±

    Xavier realized what the General was getting at and nodded with a stern expression.

    ¡°Yes. It would be enough for half a year if we were to ration it, but it would worry the citizen and have a bad effect on the price. If possible, I would like to refrain from doing so.¡±

    General Puyol was apparently satisfied with his response. He nodded briefly without changing his facial expression at all.

    ¡°To prevent that, I have broughtrge quantities of salt with me from the capital.

    Of course it will be impossible to guard all this salt while hunting the ¡¯Pack Dragons¡¯. My initial n intended to return to this fortress as soon as the subjugation ispleted and transport the salt to your March.

    But the addition of your men will change my ns a bit.

    Sir Xavier, if you were to devote your men to transporting and guarding that salt, I would like to give priority to delivering the salt to the March first by forcing our way through the road.

    Naturally, I will count on your troops to be on the front line during the military offensive afterwards, if we are not fortunate enough to encounter and wipe out the Pack Dragons on the way there. What do you say?¡±

    Xavier innerly assented with his reasoning.

    In other words, General Puyol was willing to bring them along as long as they upied themselves with the transport and guard of the salt.

    (Basically he¡¯s saying that we won¡¯t get a chance to join the battle when we encounter the pack on the way, but if they don¡¯t finish them off then, we¡¯ll be allowed to redeem ourselves on the frontlines afterwards.)

    Furthermore, as the sessor to the March, he ought to wee the proposal of quickly delivering the salt to the domain with open arms.

    Overall, Xavier had no reason to turn him down.

    ¡°Understood. Please let us do it, General Puyol.

    I offer you my deepest gratitude for prioritizing the delivery of the salt to the March in ce of all its citizens.¡±

    ¡°Do not mention it. I am just doing my part.¡±

    General Puyol¡¯s face showed a smile for the first time today when he replied like that.

 Chapter Volume 4 2

    Ten or so days had passed since Prince Francesco and Princess Bona hade to the Carpa Royal Pce.

    That time span was long enough to make the presence of the foreign prince and princess somewhat natural in the royal pce.

    This applied to both sides: The amodated delegation as well as the amodating Carpa Royal Pce.

    Needless to say, it wasn¡¯t all-epassing. The building was fundamentally different from their home country. Although there were plenty of them, the foreign waiting maids had slightly differing views. And while they did bring some cooks from their home country along, they just couldn¡¯t get the daily meals to taste the same, because of the involved ingredients.

    Ten days were definitely too short to ept these essential differences in their cultures. On the contrary, these kind of differences could cause homesickness as they umted over time, so the real ordeal may yet toe.

    Nevertheless, it also happened that some people never suffered from a life in a foreign country at all, albeit being a minority.

    Fortunately, or rather, as expected, Prince Francesco belonged to that minority.

    ¡°Prince Francesco, please take a look at this. This is the garment with the new buttons that I have mentioned to you before. Unfortunately this is just a sample and a little bit too small for you to wear, but I will have one in your size with the same cloth tailored for you, if you wish so.¡±

    At the southern side of the Carpa Royal Pce, in one room of the building that was assigned to the delegation from the Twin Kingdom of Jilbell and Sharrow, Prince Francesco had called for the merchant and was enjoying some innocent shopping today again.

    The sunlight fell through the numerous opened windows and illuminated the room, where the garments and textiles from the merchant crowded the floor.

    Just like the merchant had said earlier, the tailored clothes were nothing but samples and there was no stock of the same item in different sizes like it wasmon in boutiques in Japan.

    In other words, all the assembled clothes here only varied in pattern or shape.

    ¡°Hmm, fascinating. Their design obviously originates from the North Continent, too, but they arepletely different from the ones in my country. Truly fascinating, indeed.¡±

    Prince Francesco weaved his way through the spaces between the widely spread clothes while he noted with bright eyes.

    The western-styled clothes had originallye to the South Continent from the North Continent. Due to that, the basic design was the same in the Carpa Kingdom in the western part and the Twin Kingdom of Jilbell and Sharrow in the central part of the South Continent, but each developed its own characteristics as the local cultural customs influenced it after all.

    ¡°Okay, for now I will take three sets of clothes. The first one will be that garment with the new ¡¯round buttons with four holes¡¯. Then the one you described as the ¡®mostmon in the Carpa Kingdom¡¯ earlier. And I leave thest one up to your decision. Get me a piece of clothes that will suit me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well! I will do my utmost best to deliver you three set of clothes that will definitely win your favour.¡±

    Having secured a generous customer in form of a direct royalty of a major power, the merchant prostrated on the spot without hiding his joy.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    In contrast, the escorting knights, standing near the wall, kept an indifferent face.

    The target they had to guard was ordering new clothes in a foreignnd, which caused the knights unnecessary troubles, since Prince Francesco¡¯s well-being was their highest priority.

    As a rule, the upation of the tailor was said to ce fourth in the ranking of ¡®types of upations that were promising for assassination when being in favour¡¯ (incidentally, far at the top stood the ¡®doctor¡¯ as the #1, followed by the ¡®cook¡¯ on #2 and the ¡®hairdresser¡¯ on #3 by far).

    In order to tailor clothes, it was necessary to measure the body of the purchaser and approach him with needles to pin the cloth in ce.

    A tailor wasn¡¯t as suspicious as a ¡°hairdresser¡±, who stood behind the target with scissors or a razor for a long time, but the upation still presented enough opportunities, if he meant harm.

    For that reason, a tailor working for the royal family usually required a clean background and personality on top of the tailoring skills.

    When a direct royalty then let the tailor affiliated with a merchant from a distant, foreign country make him some clothes, his guards would only shake their heads in disbelief.

    However, the knights, standing in the back, showed no sign of stopping Prince Francesco, even though they were stifling a sour face.

    Judging by their expression, they probably had already given up on interfering with his antics.

    Still, they might have given up on stopping the purchase itself, but they could never abandon their duty to protect him.

    They would take as much precautions as possible, such as: Preparing the needles to pin the cloth from their end, examining all the cloths before they were held up against the Prince¡¯s body and seeking an assurance about the background of the merchant and tailor from the Carpa Kingdom.

    Even so, the danger couldn¡¯t be averted altogether and the knights would held be responsible if anything were to happen.

    ¡°Good, I am looking forward to it. I will be avable for a fitting at all times, so feel free toe by whenever you need to.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you very much. I will do my utmost.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The prince pledged himself to something troublesome with an innocent smile, whereas the knights near the wall just watched over him while stifling all kind of reactions, such as making a sour face or sighing.

    * * *

    Who turned out to be the busiest person because of the visit from Prince Francesco and Princess Bona? It goes without saying that it was Zenjirou.

    Naturally, the evaluation of the ¡°busiest¡± was rtive, measured by the difference between before and after the visit, so he wasn¡¯t actually the busiest person in the pce.

    Previously, Zenjirou had been attending some official events in ce of Aura, but it hadn¡¯t been rare either that he got a whole day off.

    However, that kind of lifestyle came to end with the visit of the Prince Francesco and Princess Bona.

    After all, they were the prince and princess of the major power: Twin Kingdom of Jilbell and Sharrow. It required a rather high ¡°status¡± to keep thempany and as the Prince Consort, Zenjirou was the only other adult royalty of the Carpa Kingdom besides Aura.

    Since Aura couldn¡¯t abandon her duties as the Queen, it was extremely self-evident that Zenjirou was sent out to deal with the prince and princess.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, like I have told this morning, you now have a meeting with Prince Francesco. He is already waiting in the anteroom. Shall I bring him inside?¡±

    Secretary Fabio¡¯s t voice resounded in the room of the pce, which recently had turned into Zenjirou¡¯s ¡°office and audience room¡±.

    ¡°Yeah, go ahead.¡±

    Zenjirou met the gaze of the expressionless middle-age man, who was looking down on him from above, and corrected his sitting position on the couch, then nodded.

    Actually, he felt like stretching himself out and heaving a deep sigh, but he couldn¡¯t act so sloppy in front of the trusted retainer of his wife, who always had one word too many to say.

    This middle-aged secretary was, like Aura had ensured, definitely a capable person, versed in the inner workings of the pce, but every time Zenjirou did something careless, this man was cautioning him with a mixture of spite and sarcasm, so he just couldn¡¯t bring himself to like him.

    But at the same time, he felt relieved over the fact that he would avoid making fatal mistakes when he followed his advice, which irritated him even more. Secretary Fabio often spoke ambiguously and tried to test him with his behaviour, but he properly held his tongue during times like this, where they couldn¡¯t risk an embarrassment to the outside world.

    ¡°Okay, I will bring him in. Please wait a moment.¡±

    Saying only that, Secretary Fabio left the room for now.

    Roughly ten minutester. Zenjirou was chatting with Prince Francesco, who sat on the couch across.

    ¡°Is that so? I¡¯m d to see that you have limated already, Prince Francesco.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Your country and mine are not all that different in temperatures or food after all. Ahaha.¡±

    Zenjirou forced a smile, whereas the blonde prince cheerfully replied with an absolutely innocent smile.

    However, the prince¡¯s earlier words and reality were contradicting each other.

    The Carpa Kingdom was mainly covered by thick forests and had high temperatures while the Twin Kingdom of Jilbell and Sharrow was a desert for the most part with always dry air even though it had the same temperature. It was rather far-fetched to im that these climates were ¡°not all that different¡±.

    Needless to say, the differences in the climate also manifested itself in the flora and fauna, which in turn influenced the eating habits of the people living there.

    In broad outline they were definitely resembling each other, for example that a lightly-baked bread was a staple food or that spicy soup and roasted meat were favoured. But on a closer look, the flour used for the bread turned out to be different, not to mention the kind of spices.

    To draw a parallel, it was as extreme as grouping the French and English cuisine together as the ¡°same western cuisine¡±.

    (Though in his case, he might actually be serious about it.)

    In their meetings over the past few days, Zenjirou had more or less started toprehend the Prince¡¯s personality and was cracking a bitter smile at heart.

    Anyway, the prince¡¯s behaviour was unpredictable. As all his words were directly conducted by his emotions and impulses, he was often contradicting himself.

    Leaving aside the question whether his words were the truth or some borated act, Zenjirou would certainly go crazy if he were to take every single word from him at face value.

    In any case, he was lucky that the topic resolved around food, since he had prepared some clues in advance.

    ¡°Reminds me, Prince Francesco, you seemed rather fond of the ¡®distilled liquor¡¯ at the evening party. If you want, I can cede you a bottle.¡±

    ¡°Really! Thank you, Your Majesty Zenjirou!¡±

    Zenjirou turned a bit away as the Prince was more interested than expected, and called out to Secretary Fabio, who stood at attention behind him.

    ¡°Y- Yes, really. Fabio, bring it over.¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡±

    With one bow, the middle-aged secretary left for the room next door. Zenjirou observed him out of the corner of his eyes while he waited silently for his return with the ¡°distilled liquor¡±¡­ Or so he had intended to, but his n crumbled like a house of cards.

    ¡°Woah, I can hardly wait! Thank you so much. I had never tasted such a strong alcohol before and now I am really hooked on it! Alcohol has always been a weakness of mine, but that was something entirely different. You drink it mixed with all kind of other things, right? I would love to try out a certain blend.¡±

    The blonde prince, sitting across from him, seemingly couldn¡¯t stand a moment of silence and continued to chatter happily.

    It was somewhat considered to be bad manners to continue the chatter one-sidedly when facing a conversational partner of equal standing, but there would be no end if you started to point out every little offence to the prince.

    ¡°I see. Then I am d to offer you some, if you like it so much.¡±

    While Zenjirou was conversing with a forced smile, Secretary Fabio returned.

    ¡°I have brought it, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Remaining seated on the couch, Zenjirou replied with a short nod, whereupon Secretary Fabio put down a bottle wrapped in red cloth before him without a sound.

    Zenjirou reached out for the table and undid the knot of the wrapped cloth, revealing what was inside.

    ¡°Ohh!¡±

    Prince Francesco eximed in awe, but this time his reaction was not exaggerated. As a matter of fact, even the knights, standing at attention behind the prince, had reced their previous inexpressive with surprise.

    The red cloth let out a ¡°transparent, rectangr container¡±.

    It was the ¡°whiskey bottle¡± that Zenjirou had brought with him from his world.

    The tall bottle with a square base was made out of thick, transparent ss. Moreover, the whole surface was rugged like the shell of a tortoise, so the sunlighting from the windows made it shine brilliantly like a gem.

    The bottle had originally been filled with the amber-coloured whiskey, but right now it contained Zenjirou¡¯s self-made ¡°distilled liquor¡±, which had a colour close to transparent. Due to that, the whiskey bottle was practically entirely transparent, making it a real eye-catch.

    In the eyes of the people from the South Continent, where no ss manufacture existed, this wasn¡¯t just a container, but rather a piece of art.

    ¡°Wonderful! You are giving it me like this!? You will not ask me to give back the container once I emptied it, right!?¡±

    ¡°I will not. Please take it with you.¡±

    As Prince Francesco was gued by worries of poverty inappropriate for his standing, Zenjirou eased his sorrow with a shake of his head.

    He wrapped the whiskey bottle in the red cloth again, then raised a bit from the couch and slid the bottle towards Prince Francesco.

    ¡°But I ask you to be careful. This bottle is way more fragile than one out of wood or silver. If you drop it from high up, it will break easily and if the surface is hard enough, it might even get damaged by just falling over.¡±

    Warning him like that, Zenjirou watched Prince Francesco¡¯s behaviour with utmost attention.

    It hadn¡¯t been his own judgement to present the prince the ss whisky bottle. Last night, he had made that decision in consultation with Aura.

    Although the Twin Kingdom had shown a profound interest in the marbles, they weren¡¯t all that impressed by the beads.

    Then what about a transparent ss bottle? They had decided on this present because they wanted to observe his reaction and the result exceeded their expectation, but at the same time, betrayed their anticipation.

    ¡°Wow, this really is amazing. What is it made of? I have never seen such a clear craft, not even with crystals. Not to mention its perfect shape without distortions!¡±

    The exaggerated joy in the facial expression of the prince was all too pure, making it impossible to distinguish whether it was directed at a mere ¡°beautiful piece of art¡± or at ¡°something valuable for making a magical tool¡±.

    (Man, I can¡¯t tell at all. Guess I should¡¯ve made Aurae along or at least taken a secret shot of his attitude with my digital camera.)

    Although he did regret that at heart, he also did understand that it had been practically impossible.

    It was uncertain how long the Prince would have to wait until Aura found the time to attend the meeting as well, since she was busy with her duties as a Queen, and he hadn¡¯t been able to think of a way to take a shot with the digital camera without raising suspicion.

    The whiskey bottle would be just waste ss in Japan, but in this world it was one of his limited, irreceable goods, so it would definitely be a shame to give it away for nothing.

    And Prince Francesco seemed to have discerned that worry of him.

    ¡°But I would feel bad if I were to ept something so wonderful without repaying you. What do you say when I offer to make a ¡®magic tool¡¯ for you in exchange, Your Majesty Zenjirou?¡±

    He proposed the best Zenjirou could ask for.

    It was a windfall that the Prince brought up the topic of making a magic tool of his own ord.

    Once again, Zenjirou paid attention to Prince Francesco¡¯s facial expression and speech while he replied.

    ¡°Now that sounds great. But I¡¯ve heard that it takes quite a long time to make a magic tool. Will you manage? I believe that you have already promised to make us one magic tool while you stay here.¡±

    As apensation for the expenses of the delegation during their stay and the permission for the escorting knights to bring certain weapons into the pce, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona had promised to endow the Carpa Kingdom with one magic tool each.

    The time required to make a magic tool ounted to months for something simple and years for something with a ¡°bloodline magic¡± embedded into it. Consequently, the ¡°personal gratitude¡± for the whiskey bottle would take ce many years in the future.

    ¡°Yes, you are right. Hmm, what to do? It would be no problem if I just had one of these transparent, colourless jewels¡­¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Zenjirou wanted to praise his own self-restraint for not snorting when he heard the quiet words of the prince that he muttered more or less to himself at the end of his sentence.

    (Has he lost his mind!? Wasn¡¯t that supposed to be top secret!?)

    The production period for a magic tool could drastically be shortened with the use of ¡°transparent, colourless orbs¡± like the marbles. Or at least that had been an unreliable rumour only few knew of.

    Apparently, Aura was more or less convinced that this rumour was true through gossip and correspondence with the Twin Kingdom, but there still was no specifying proof, of course.

    Not in their wildest dreams they would have thought to get that proof so quickly and moreover, exposed by one of the proprietors himself.

    Maybe this prince really was just a simple idiot? Such a convenient though crossed Zenjirou¡¯s mind, when suddenly

    ¡°Excuse me, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    the voice of a sentinel resounded from beyond the door.

    Zenjirou excused himself from Prince Francesco, who was sitting across from him.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    With a loud voice, he called out to beyond the door.

    ¡°Yes, Princess Bona hase for a visit. May shee in?¡±

    Then he realized it all toote.

    Why hadn¡¯t Princess Bona been present here?

    It hadn¡¯t bothered him that Prince Francesco hade by himself, because only the name of the prince had been announced for the meeting, but now that he gave it another thought, something was odd.

    At the evening party it had be more than obvious that Princess Bona was supposed to be a ¡°chaperone¡± for Prince Francesco.

    Would that faithful Princess Bona really allow an extremely dangerous situation such as the troublemaking prince meeting the royalty of another country all by himself, to happen?

    ¡°Prince Francesco?¡±

    Zenjirou already kind of knew the answer and darted a prompting nce at the blonde prince as he called his name.

    Prince Francesco showed a bright smile without the slightest shred of ill will, then

    ¡°Well, she always has to apany me, you see. So I thought she could need some time for herself, too, and came here without telling her, but what can I say, she really takes her duties seriously.¡±

    told him while he scratched his blonde-haired head.

    ¡°Is that so. But now that she¡¯s here, you do not mind that shees in, right?

    You heard me? Let her in.¡±

    (¡­I wouldn¡¯t want to be in Princess Bona¡¯s shoes.)

    Pitying the princess with the auburn hair quite a bit in thought, Zenjirou gave the soldier beyond the door an order with a loud voice.

    * * *

    ¡°I apologize that I havee by without prior notice. And I offer you my deepest gratitude for epting my whim so readily, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    Princess Bona¡¯s first words were exactly what Zenjirou had expected: An apology.

    A visit without prior notice certainly was not a nice way. Even more so when you considered that Zenjirou counted as a ¡°public character¡± in the royal pce and the two of them weren¡¯t exactly close enough to ignore these unwritten rules.

    But Zenjirou could rte to the princess¡¯ role as a ¡°chaperone¡±, so he didn¡¯t intend to make a fuss about something like this.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s alright. That said, it won¡¯t happen every time as I¡¯ve things going on at my end to consider, too, but on asions like today, I¡¯ve no reason to refuse you.¡±

    Even while he gave her a light warning, he also voiced his approval of her action.

    The ¡°asions like today¡± part was obviously referring to the present situation, where Prince Francesco had dared to meet Zenjirou all by himself, giving his chaperone Princess Bona the slip.

    In other words, he was implying the meaning: ¡°Please join us the next time this happens without worrying about making an appointment or giving prior notice.¡±

    And she must have properlyprehended his hint.

    ¡°Th- Thank you very much.¡±

    Princess Bona made an expression like she had a narrow escape from death and lowered her head once more.

    ¡°Hmm, not sure what is going on, but good for you, Bona.¡±

    ¡°!¡­Yes, Prince Francesco.¡±

    As the main culprit for her worries uttered something easy-going, Princess Bona was about to say something on reflex, but then realized that it was inappropriate for this ce and swallowed these words at thest moment.

    The mood could need some refreshing. Sensible to that, Zenjirou spoke with a tone like he thought of it just now.

    ¡°Come to think of, I usually have tea around this time. What do you say? How about we go out into the garden and continue our conversation in the pavilion?¡±

    He casually suggested.

    The prince and princess had no real reason to decline, so

    ¡°Yes, sounds good. I was just feeling a little thirsty, too.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you very much. I will take you up on your offer.¡±

    the two of them replied affirmative.

    The pavilion in the garden was a building without walls and only four pirs that supported a shingled roof. The trees had been nted in such a way that the wind blew over the nearby fountain into the pavilion, so it was a lot chillier there than in the royal pce.

    For that reason it had been an extremely reasonable suggestion to spend the hot noon hours in the pavilion. However, Zenjirou didn¡¯t choose this ce for its chill.

    As the pavilion stood near the fountain, there was obviously a constant sshing of water to be heard. As a result, the conversation within the pavilion couldn¡¯t be overheard by the escorting knights or the secretary, who were all standing by outside, unless they deliberately raised their voices.

    His thoughtfulness had made Zenjirou relocate the conversation to this ce, because he wanted to clue Princess Bona in on the ¡°slip of tongue¡± from Prince Francesco and get her confirmation about it.

    ¡°Well then, I will take some cold tea.¡±

    After he had said down in the typical local chair made out of wood and vine, Zenjirou kept his gaze directed forward while he called out to the person behind him with a normal vocal volume on purpose.

    In reaction,

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama? Did you say something?¡±

    Secretary Fabio asked back affected.

    ¡°Yeah, did you not hear me? I said to bring me some tea.¡±

    Now Zenjirou repeated himself with a louder voice. All of that had been pre-arranged by them.

    He had wanted to show the prince and princess that they wouldn¡¯t be heard by the others if they spoke normally, but the only indication to whether they had understood him or not, were there facial expressions.

    ¡°I will take cold tea, too. They say you ought to drink something hot and sweat during the heat, but I really prefer something ice-cold when it is hot outside.¡±

    Saying so, Prince Francesco showed a grin, but otherwise his expression was unreadable, which wasn¡¯t all that surprising for Zenjirou.

    The problem was Princess Bona. She was truly easy to read.

    ¡°Eh? Ah! Ehh!? Ahh! ¡­I, I will take cold tea as well¡­¡±

    Put into words, her expression first changed into ¡°doubt¡±, then into prehension¡±. In the next moment it already changed into ¡°doubt¡± yet again andstly, ¡°shock¡± was written all over her face.

    She had been perplexed right after hearing him out, because she didn¡¯t understand the hidden meaning, but after a few seconds, she made an ¡°Oh, I see¡± face, now that she had read between the lines. But directly afterwards, she had wondered why there had been a necessity for such a confidential talk, and finally, she had despaired, because she concluded that Prince Francesco must have had exposed some secret information to Zenjirou before her arrival.

    At heart, Zenjirou pitied her, but he couldn¡¯t let that emotion influence him in his position. On the contrary, his position obliged him to broach the subject again and profit from that slip of tongue.

    (Though I can¡¯t overdo it and incur their displeasure. And I¡¯m not supposed to do anything spectacr in my position either¡­ Now this is a pain.)

    While these thoughts crossed his mind, the waiting maids with orders from Secretary Fabio finished cing the silver goblets with drinks and wooden tes with snacks onto the table.

    The wooden tes with borated designs carved into the fine wood were masterpieces, to say nothing of the silver goblets.

    Zenjirou brought his silver goblet to his mouth and wetted his throat a bit. He fixated his gaze equally on the blonde-haired prince and auburn-haired princess sitting across from him as he spoke.

    ¡°Prince Francesco, earlier you mentioned that the time for making a magic tool would be no problem if you had a ¡®transparent, colourless jewel¡¯. What did you mean by that? Maybe you could exin the process in detail?¡±

    Zenjirou had imagined that a point-nk approach would be best, but his words evoked a drastic change in Princess Bona.

    ¡°Pfft!?¡±

    She snorted with all her might without any chance to keep up appearance. Her whole body was caked with ¡°horror¡±, not just her face. Lucky under the circumstances, she didn¡¯t had anything in her mouth.

    Of course Zenjirou had waited to bring it up until he had confirmed that Princess Bona had swallowed her tea, just in case, and his consideration had certainly paid off. Though it was hardly any constion for the Snort Princess herself.

    However, there was something far more pressing than pursuing the udylike reaction of Princess Bona in front of a foreign royalty, namely: the bombshell announcement that had caused that very reaction.

    ¡°G- Good gracious, Prince Francesco, you have told him about it!?¡±

    That Princess Bona hadn¡¯t lost her senses yet reveal itself in the fact that she still kept her voice at a normal level. But her face was ¡°pale¡± in the true sense of the word and the voice that left her lips, which had turned bluish violet, had transcended a mere scream and was closer to a ¡°death cry¡±.

    But the anxious state of mind of the princess waspletely ignored.

    ¡°Hmm, now that you mention it, I might have let something like that slip out. I said it in a very low voice, but I guess His Majesty Zenjirou heard me anyway. Ahaha.¡±

    ¡°¡­This is noughing matter, Prince Francesco. It was supposed to be a secret amongst the Sharrow Family!¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. That is the way it is, Your Majesty Zenjirou, so please keep it to yourself.¡±

    Prince Francesco made an expression like he only realized that fact now, put his index finger against his mouth and lowered his voice, which in turn enraged Princess Bona.

    ¡°What is the point of asking him to keep it a secret now!? It spelled doom for us the moment he heard about it!¡±

    ¡°Please calm down, Princess Bona. It may be weird for me to say this, but Prince Francesco was really speaking in very low tone, so I¡¯m sure I was the only one to hear him as I sat directly across from him.

    Let us have a more constructive-minded conversation.¡±

    Zenjirou thought to himself how callow she still was, with a wry smile while he appeased her like that. If his earlier words had only been a bluff, then her reaction would have given away crucial information for sure, but she herself didn¡¯t realize that.

    Having said that, Princess Bona was only sixteen years old yet. In Japan she would still be a high school girl. Only a handful of people ever managed to get negotiations skills like a poker face or improvisation at a practical level at this young age, even if they were of royal birth. It would definitely go too far to expect that much from the diligent princess.

    ¡°Ah, yes. Please forgive me for stepping out of line¡­¡±

    Reflecting on her actions, Princess Bona now turned bright red and bowed repeatedly. On the other hand,

    ¡°Indeed. No use crying over spilt milk. Let us work towards a more productive end.

    Your Majesty Zenjirou, I can certainly cut down the time for creating a magic tool if you were to hand over one of these jewels in your possession. What do you say?¡±

    Prince Francesco requested that with a bright smile as if he had decided on that course of action from the very beginning.

    (Ohh¡­ Maybe he isn¡¯t just an idiot after all?)

    ¡°Okay, I understand the gist of it. But what I don¡¯t understand is why it has to be a marble¡ª that jewel. I¡¯ve heard that the Twin Kingdom has the best skills for gemcutting on the South Continent. Would it not suffice to polish a crystal into a spherical shape?¡±

    Glossing over his naturally raising wariness with a smile to the best of his abilities, Zenjirou inquired as casually as possible.

    Prince Francesco shock his head in an exaggerated manner, still smiling cheerfully.

    ¡°Not at all. You are giving our gemcutters a bit too be much credit.

    Of course our country has gemcutting skills that are prominent on the whole continent, but it is impossible to polish some transparent material into such a perfect spherical shape. Right, Bona?¡±

    The addressed Princess Bona heaved an heavy sigh as she finally resigned after she had quarrelled with him for some time, and started to speak.

    ¡°Indeed. We certainly do not have anyone capable of that at present. Polishing a gem purely depends on the skills of thepidary, and in the past, some craftsmen had been able to polish a crystal into a useful spherical shape.

    But then, I heard that even these exceptional craftsmen rarely seeded and took a lot of time, so they fabricated three or four at best in their lifetime. Besides, a craftsman of such a calibre would not dedicate his whole work life to the creation of these spheres alone.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Zenjirou assented impressed.

    In fact, the polishing of hard minerals into spheres had only be possible in thetter centuries on Earth as well.

    It actually required really advanced skills to cut a perfect sphere from minerals. Not that Zenjirou would know about it.

    Inparison, it was extremely easy to make marbles. Because, unlike a crystal, where you had to ¡°cut it into a perfect sphere¡±, marbles were shaped like that from the ground up.

    Simply put, you let an adequate amount of fluid ss of high viscosity roll down a spiral slope like a waterslide, and by the time it arrives at the bottom, it will have cooled down and taken a spherical shape.

    Needless to say, you ended up with mostly deformed spheres that were hardly perfectly round by using this simple method, but you just had to repeat it long enough to pick out the satisfying products.

    While Zenjirou recalled the ¡°marble manufacture procedure¡± that he had seen at a ss museum during a field trip in high school at the back of his mind, he nodded his assent and carried on the dialogue.

    ¡°That certainly makes them valuable. Still, to what extent does the jewel affect the procedure when you actually use it?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Princess Bona hesitated to speak up, as she still seemed to be opposed to disclosing everything at thest moment, but the blonde prince, sitting next to her, had no such reservations.

    ¡°Believe it or not, but it has an enormous influence. You can finish the bestowal of a typical element magic in one day with the jewel you have presented Princess Isabelle with before. The important factors for an item to be bestowed with magic are ¡®colour¡¯ and ¡®shape¡¯.

    Am I right, Bona?¡±

    How much more did he intend to disclose? Prince Francesco didn¡¯t show the slightest inclination to stop his chattiness, which prompted Princess Bona, who was bad at making a poker face to begin with, to screw up her face all too obviously.

    At this rate, it seemed like the only way to put the prince to silence would be by sheer force from the guarding knights with an order.

    Princess Bona strengthened her resolve as she concluded such. Now that it hade to this, she ought to take up the reins of the conversation by exining things herself and somehow turn the one-sided exchange of information into a give-and-take.

    With a vexing resolve like that, Princess Bona looked Zenjirou straight in the eye, then nodded with an obviously sugarcoated expression.

    ¡°¡­Yes. The more transparent and colourless it is, the quicker the magic gets bestowed upon it. But even if it is not colourless, something with a high transparency is better than one without. That is actually the reason why gems are so highly valued as a target for bestowal.

    Then there is the shape¡­ Oh my, please forgive me. I let myself get carried away.

    Do you happen to be interested in this, Your Majesty Zenjirou?¡±

    After revealing a bit of information, the girl with the auburn hair asked him that a bit affected.

    Thus, Zenjirou realized what Princess Bona was implying.

    (Oh yeah, she¡¯s trying to make me say that I¡¯m interested. If Imit myself to it, the fact that Prince Francesco spoke of his own ord will at least give the impression that he talked because I expressed interest.)

    Now that he had noticed her aim, there was no need to y along.

    But if he were to drive them into a tight corner, it was possible that the rtionship to the Twin Kingdom of Jilbell and Sharrow would be damaged.

    Making a quick judgement, Zenjirou smiled exaggerated and replied.

    ¡°Well, it is a truly fascinating topic. But I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯m not the right conversational partner for it. As embarrassing it is to admit it, I only just awakened my ability to discern magical power by sight at my age and barely know anything about magic yet, so I fear that I will only disappoint you two by saying something absurd.

    That will not happen with Queen Aura, though.¡±

    Loosely tranted, he was saying: ¡°In my position, I¡¯ll not be able to make any promises for apensation, even if you give me more information now. Please direct such requests at Queen Aura herself.¡±

    Zenjirou hadn¡¯t used any particr abstruse metaphors forck of time, which fortunately brought about the result that the princess with the auburn hair correctly caught his implied meaning and brightened her smile in relief.

    ¡°Is that so. Then would it be alright to continue our conversation at ater date in thepany of Her Majesty Aura?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will advise her ordingly.¡±

    The matter had been settled somehow or other. Princess Bona couldn¡¯t stop the relief from showing up on her face, whereas Zenjirou with his poker face was inwardly liberated from just as much pressure and nervousness as the girl sitting in front of him.

    The only reason he barely managed to conceal it was his slightly superior experience.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    On the other hand, Prince Francesco actedpletely different from his earlier chatty self. He politely refrained from interrupting their conversation and simply watched over it with an innocent grin.

    * * *

    After Zenjirou parted with Prince Francesco and Princess Bona at the pavilion in the garden, he once more returned to his office in the royal pce.

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    Only Secretary Fabio was with him in the room. The office was steaming hot inparison with the pavilion, but even that steaming hot air feltfortable, now that the heavy responsibility in form of the meeting with two royalty from a foreign major power had been taken off his shoulders.

    Sitting on the edge of the leather couch with his legs apart, he rxed his shoulders and took a deep breath.

    Secretary Fabio darted a cursory nce at him, but he refrained from saying anything now, though.

    He surely realized that Zenjirou¡¯s mind and body wouldn¡¯tst if he didn¡¯t get to rx a bit when his schedule had time to spare and no one else was around.

    Another detestable point about the middle-aged secretary was that he meticulous waited for the very moment he caught his breath and regained some of his stamina and willpower, to call out to him.

    ¡°Well then, Zenjirou-sama, may I ask you something? Earlier you relocated to the pavilion in the middle of the conversation, but can I assume that you did that, because you had something to discuss that was not meant for our ears?¡±

    Maybe this man could see the recovery rate of his stamina and willpower in numbers? For a moment, Zenjirou harboured such an unrealistic doubt, but then he had to answer his question.

    He nodded short and sat up well-mannered on the couch. Then he leaned into on the backrest and looked up to the middle-aged secretary standing before him as he opened his mouth.

    ¡°Yes, you can. It actually concerned ssified information from the Twin Kingdom. To be honest, I never expected Prince Francesco to carelessly reveal so much.

    I cannot possible tell you about it.

    Of course I¡¯ll report the details to Aura. If you should feel the need to know about it, ask herter.¡±

    ¡°Mhm¡­ I see.¡±

    In reaction to Zenjirou¡¯s reply, Secretary Fabio put his right hand under his thin chin and pondered for a while.

    It was not often that the middle-aged secretary, detached by Aura, got absorbed in thought for a long time.

    Had Zenjirou said something bad in his response? Although he did not show it on the surface, Zenjirou was a bit nervous at heart as he waited for the answer of the secretary.

    Then Secretary finally seemed to have collected his thoughts. He nodded once and grumbled more or less to himself.

    ¡°We might have been ¡®deceived¡¯ instead.¡±

    Zenjirou frowned in regards to the ominous remark.

    ¡°Deceived? What do you mean? Exin it.¡±

    As far as he could remember, he hadn¡¯t been so negligent to let them deceive him. If anything, he viewed it as a one-sided diplomatic victory for himself, whereby the other party had slipped up of their own ord.

    The middle-aged secretary received Zenjirou¡¯s obvious stern look from below, and answered without so much as moving a muscle as always.

    ¡°Okay. The fact that you alone heard ssified information from the Twin Kingdom at first hand poses a great problem.

    I would like to confirm one thing with you. After Prince Francesco disclosed that ssified information, did he forbid you to say anything about it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he did. He said I should keep it to myself.¡±

    Zenjirou answered perplexed, but honestly, whereat Secretary Fabio nodded as if to say ¡°I knew it¡±.

    ¡°In that case, in my humble opinion, we have no choice but to abide by that, whether that is true to their intention or not.

    After all, it is ssified information from the Twin Kingdom of Jilbell and Sharrow. I cannot say how advantageous it would be if we were to utilize it effectively, but it would definitely bear some kind of fruit.

    In addition, there will be official records of your meeting with Prince Francesco today.

    Truly a magnificent diplomatic achievement. It will raise the ¡®fame of His Majesty Zenjirou¡¯ for sure, yes.¡±

    ¡°¡­Aw.¡±

    Zenjirou even forgot to caution him about calling him sarcastically by the title ¡°His Majesty¡± as he breathed a sound of dismay.

    It was quite clear what Secretary Fabio was trying to say.

    The more advantage the Carpa Kingdom took of the information Zenjirou had attained today, by bringing it to light, the more it would highlight his achievement and raise his fame whether they liked it or not.

    Needless to say, that was the worst case scenario for Zenjirou andpany.

    The patriarchal values were ingrained in the Carpa Kingdom. For example, an ¡°achievement¡± of this level alleged it as a usible pretext to expand Zenjirou¡¯s sphere of influence.

    Although the nobles acknowledged Queen Aura¡¯s ability as a politician, the majority of them harboured an emotional aversion towards the fact that they yed second fiddle to a woman.

    Due to the issue with awful lineage, no one was so stupid to im that the throne and crown should be abdicated to Zenjirou, but many put forth a ¡°sound argument¡± that he ought to have an authority appropriate to his standing as the only adult male of the royal family.

    Of course some people were suggesting that out of pure good will or their sense of justice, but above all, most of them were saying it in self-interest, thinking that they were ¡°easier to deal with¡± if Zenjirou had more authority than Queen Aura.

    ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s it to be? Are you saying they still have the upper hand right now?¡±

    As he was still confused, Zenjirou spoke with an unconfident and inquiring tone, whereupon Secretary Fabio shortly nodded once in affirmation.

    ¡°Yes. We admittedly might benefit from bringing the matter to light, but at the same time, it will cause mayhem. Hence, it is necessary to keep it in confidence. I deem it proper to remain passive.¡±

    ¡°Why should we have to be careful to keep it a secret when they were the ones, who leaked it to us¡­ Sounds a bit unreasonable to me.¡±

    Zenjirou ended upining on the spur of the moment even though he saw the truth in Secretary Fabio¡¯s advice.

    But while he was talking with him, the initial shock faded and his train of thought got back on track as well.

    ¡°I wonder if Prince Francesco really considered it in all its bearings when he acted? I do admit that the situation¡¯s too convenient for the whimsical actions of a free-spirited man to be responsible for it alone, though.¡±

    The middle-aged secretary shrugged his slender shoulders a bit in reaction to his question

    ¡°Everything certainly ys out too well to call it a coincidence. But even if we were to assume that Prince Francesco¡¯s attitude had been a farce and that he is actually far more intelligent than he lets on, I still believe that it would be an overstatement to say that he caused this situation wittingly.

    I mean, it would have yed out entirely different if you had happened to be ambitious. For now, I say that it is impossible that he caused this in purpose.¡±

    and replied with that.

    Secretary Fabio certainly had a point. Or rather, Zenjirou was an exception amongst exceptions. In general, there was no such thing as a male royalty, who would keep confidential information of this level to himself out of consideration for his wife.

    Normally, the Prince Consort would make good use of the information as soon as he heard it and the Twin Kingdom would suffer quite a loss.

    ¡°Hmm, yeah. It¡¯s too strange for it to be a stroke of luck from an idiot. Just like it¡¯s too strange for it to be the plot of a smart mind ying the fool. But what¡¯s it all about then?¡±

    Zenjirou did voice that question, but it rather seemed like he was talking to himself without expecting an answer.

    ¡°I do not know. If everything had neither been a coincidence nor a plot, then maybe it was a bit of both? Or else, there is more to it than meets the eye, an important objective that makes them disregard the disclosure of ssified information?

    Either way, we have too little information to specte.¡±

    And in fact, the reply from Secretary Fabio contained nothing that could be viewed as a solution.

    * * *

    Around the time Zenjirou and Secretary Fabio were seriously engrossed in conversation, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona had returned to the southern building. An heated dialogue took ce while they walked down the long hallway, even if they were talking past each other like always.

    ¡°Prince Francesco! Do not do something like today again. Please call for me as well when you are going to meet Her Majesty Aura or His Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Um, my bad. You looked so busytely, so I just wanted to be nice to you, Bona. But it backfired. Okay, I will be more careful from now on.¡±

    Strictly speaking, only Princess Bona was talking hot-blooded. Prince Francesco smiled friendly as ever as he answered unconcerned.

    ¡°Please do.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t neglect to scold him, since she acted as his chaperone, but neither could she rebuke the man all too severely, since he was older and higher ranked than herself. Although her expression indicated otherwise, Princess Bona contended herself with just that.

    In the meantime, they reached a certain room.

    In practice, Prince Francesco was staying alone in this first building, whereas Princess Bona had her lodging in the neighbouring second building, but right now, they had to discuss something urgent.

    Princess Bona followed Prince Francesco through the door opened by the guards.

    The interior of the room was cold to the point that just one step into it was enough to feel it.

    It goes without saying that the Sharrow Royal Family permitted Prince Francesco and Princess Bona to take a few magic tools with them for a long stay in a foreign country, so that their daily life wasn¡¯t affected in the least.

    And it was one of these magic tools that chilled down the room.

    Arge, silver basin had been embedded with the spells ¡°Fog Genesis¡± and ¡°Wind Control¡±, which ensured that it constantly coughed up fog with the consistency of white fume and then let spring up a pleasant breeze.

    The cooling effect wasn¡¯t as sweeping as from Zenjirou¡¯s air conditioning, since there was no magic that manipted water temperature, but it still managed to convey the feeling of ¡°sitting in the shade of a tree near a riverlet¡±.

    The foreign prince and princess heaved a deep sigh of relief when they got away from the unfamiliar stifling heat, and sat down on chairs facing each other.

    Their wooden/vine chairs as well as the wooden table were all made here in the Carpa Kingdom. They weren¡¯t exactly ufortable, but definitely took a little getting used to.

    Prince Francesco spoke while he shifted his bottom on top of the chair to find a better sitting position.

    ¡°Phew, bless the cold. Anyway, I am really sorry, Bona. But I do not think you need to be that angry. I mean, both my father and grandfather said it would be alright to disclose it as long as it earns us the jewels.¡±

    ¡°The Crown Prince and His Majesty, respectively, actually said that the obtaining of the jewels takes highest priority and only in the worst case, we are to reveal ssified information. No one said a single word about recklessly bandying ssified information about.¡±

    Princess Bona corrected the conveniently repressed memory of the prince with a serious tone.

    But the blonde prince did not even flinch.

    ¡°You are so naive, Bona. Naive in your opinion about how well my father and grandfather understand me. From the time when they allowed me to speak about the secret, they had already resigned themselves to the fact that I would blurt everything out on the first asion.

    After all, I am not smart enough to remember every little term. Both of them know that all too well.¡±

    Prince Francesco threw out his chest with an ¡°Ehe~¡±, whereas Princess Bona slouched her shoulders crestfallen.

    ¡°Prince¡­ That is not something to be proud of.¡±

    Suppressing the dull pain surfacing at the back of head, she retorted quietly, but punctilious.

    In her troubled mind floated the scene when the King and Crown Prince of her home country had entrusted her with this mission.

    When she had epted the ¡°chaperone¡± mission, she had been surprised howrge the offered reward was. Back then, she had trembled with excitement, thinking she had been entrusted with an ordingly important task, but maybe the abundant reward was just a pensation for her troubles paid in advanced¡±?

    She harboured such a doubt in her heart when Prince Francesco said with a sidelong nce at her without straining his beaming smile.

    ¡°Oh well, it is all water under the bridge now. More importantly, Bona, look at this. I received this from His Majesty Zenjirou. Great, right?¡±

    He unfastened the red cloth that was wrapped around the bottle with distilled liquor on the table.

    The colourless and transparent whisky bottle showed itself. It was filled with a liquid whose hue was close to transparent, the self-made ¡°distilled liquor¡± from Zenjirou. But the content wasn¡¯t important right now.

    ¡°D- Dear me!¡±

    As expected, her eyes lighted up and she leaned forward towards the table. The moment she had gotten up from the chair, it rattled noisily, but she didn¡¯t even notice it, let alone bothered with it.

    ¡°You can pick it up, but be careful. His Majesty Zenjirou said that it is very fragile. Hey, are you listening, Bona?¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Without replying to him, Princess Bona reached out straightaway for the whiskey bottle, her eyes sparkling with passion. She carefully grabbed it with both hands as not to drop or knock it over, so she must have heard his warning atrge.

    Once she had pulled the bottle to in front of her and sat back into the chair, Princess Bona fixated her gaze on it intensively to the point that it seemed to be a waste to blink.

    ¡°So beautiful¡­ What a wless workmanship. Is it from the same material as these transparent jewels? And everything is so uniform, be it the pattern on the surface or the height and width, not to mention theck of deformations. Just how was this made?¡±

    ¡°Uhm, Bona? Just to be clear, His Majesty Zenjirou gave that to me, not to you.¡±

    Princess Bona¡¯s hands clutched the whiskey bottle so tightly that one might worry that the distilled liquor inside would warm up, which prompted Prince Francesco to call out to her from the other side of the table worried.

    ¡°Prince Francesco!¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes?¡±

    ¡°Would you consider relinquishing this to me?¡±

    Although he did anticipate her request, it was nevertheless an unexpected utterance from the princess, considering her usual demeanour.

    Normally she was modest to a fault and hiding her own desires, but her attitude seemingly changedpletely for anything rted to jewellery.

    ¡°No, I certainly cannot do that. His Majesty Zenjirou personally ceded it to me. It would be rude if I passed it on to someone else right away.¡±

    ¡°Th- Then I will settle for this part on the edge.¡±

    ¡°No, no. If you break that out, the contents will spill. It will bepletely useless to me with a hole!¡±

    ¡°If it is of no use to you, I will dly take the rest as well!¡±

    ¡°No, hold your horses! I was speaking purely hypothetical and you cannot actually break it, okay? Please tell me you understand that.¡±

    Should this be called a negotiation or just pstick?

    Either way, the usual roles for Prince Francesco and Princess Bona were reverted on a rare asion and their skirmishsted until the sanity of the princess recovered.

    * * *

    At night of the same day.

    After dinner and bath, Zenjirou had changed into leisurewear and was now sitting across his wife Aura in their bedroom with the air conditioning, discussing the urrences of today.

    ¡°I see¡­ Prince Francesco really gave us a troublesome ¡®slip of tongue¡®. I cannot say if I should be happy or annoyed.¡±

    Aura had listened to the whole story of the incident at noon, then she said that as she leaned into the backrest of her chair.

    ¡°But never minding how it came to be, you can call it a sess that you managed to ascertain the effect of the marbles. You did well.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. Well, I didn¡¯t really do anything and I can¡¯t even take credit for it in my position. Aura, be honest with me. Do you think it was on purpose? I do agree with Fabio that it¡¯s quite a tricky situation, because I happened to hear about it first when I was alone.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Aura closed her eyes and mused.

    ¡°It definitely is troublesome. To be honest, it would have been a hard blow, if not necessarily fatal, if my husband had been anyone other than you.¡±

    ¡°Aura.¡±

    Zenjirou inadvertently smiled broadly in reaction to her words.

    It had been a vote of confidence from his wife without doubt. On closer consideration however, the vote rather applied to hisck of ambition and desire.

    In ordance with the universal values of this world, her words had by no means been a praise, but that was hardly any concern for Zenjirou.

    He could say in confidence that something like that wasn¡¯t worth borating to the point, where it jeopardized the rtionship with his beloved wife.

    Aura returned the smile of her beaming husband while she leaned forward and continued to talk with both her arms resting on the table.

    ¡°For now I also agree with Fabio. At this point we have too little information to deliver judgment. Instead of paying undue attention to their potential intentions, we ought to focus on further verifying the information.

    For example, we could hand one marble over to them and see if they can make a magic tool. And even while I really query whether it had been a pre-arranged ruse by Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, I cannot rule out its possibility.

    Above all, I actually wee it when the time for creating a magic tool can be reduced. Because I know how effective it will be to embed the ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯ into magic tools, yet the required magical power and time are too expensefull so far when repeating the process numerous times.¡±

    Once she had finished her speech without a breather, she took the red Kiriko ss filled with ice water in hand.

    To make a magic tool, you needed a practitioner of the Bestowal Magic as well as a practitioner of the magic you wished to embed into the magic tool.

    Both practitioners could end up being one and the same person in case of simple elemental magic, but to embed the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±, Aura¡¯s cooperation was absolutely necessary as she was currently the only practitioner of it.

    And since she had a busy schedule as the Queen, it would be more than wee if the cooperative work time could be cut down from one year to less than ten days.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good thing that you¡¯re able to spend much less time on the creation of the magic tool, but wouldn¡¯t it be a problem in itself when the work is done all too fast?

    I¡¯m afraid someone might even lift the lid on ¡®my achievement¡¯ if the information gets leaked by chance.¡±

    Although he did acknowledge the virtue of her suggestion, Zenjirou had qualms about doing it. Aura put the red ss she had drunk from back onto the table and answered.

    ¡°We have no choice but to conceal it by dying the publication for a year, even if it was actually done after a few days. Fortunately, it only involves four people: Prince Francesco, Princess Bona, you and me. The less people know about it, the easier it is to keep it a secret.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? I mean, we¡¯re talking about Prince Francesco here.¡±

    The Queen hesitated quite unusually as her husband shot an extremely doubtful nce at her.

    ¡°Mh¡­ Well, I admit that I am a little bit worried.¡±

    ¡°Just a little?¡±

    ¡°¡­Okay, quite a bit. But we ought to take a few chances here to get to the bottom of it.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll let you call the shots on these things. Do you have an idea already what kind of magic tool to request first?¡±

    Zenjirou realized that Aura had already decided on a general course of action, so he shifted the topic to something else for now.

    If she was set on testing the ¡°secret technique¡± from the Sharrow Family by handing a marble over to them, then they had to decided what kind of magic tool they wanted to have made.

    Aura seemingly had intended to discuss this question with Zenjirou as well. She leaned forward some more in such a way that her deep cleavage poked out of her thin nightgown, and began to talk.

    ¡°Yeah, that is a good question. Picking a powerful and versatile magic has a lot of merits, but considering that it might fall into the hands of an enemy one day, we cannot assume full risk.

    The monopoly on the ¡®Bloodline Magic¡¯ lets the royal family stay in power after all. Embedding it into magic tools means to abandon its advantage, if not necessarilypletely.

    Just to be safe, we should request a ¡®disposable¡¯ magic tool, but then again, its applicability will be limited. It is a tough choice.¡±

    Resting her chin in her hands on the table, his wife vented a sigh. Meanwhile, Zenjirou was over the moon with her revealed cleavage as he contributed ideas.

    ¡°Hmm, so ites down to that after all. Then the hidden magic ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ and the most important ¡®Teleportation¡¯ are out of the question.

    What else could be useful¡­ Maybe ¡®Great Barrier¡¯ or ¡®Effect Extension¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes, something like that. And speaking of disposable ones, ¡®Spatial Vibration¡¯ is possible, too. It is one of the few destruction spells amongst the Space-Time Magic. Embedding it into a magic tool and keeping it at a fortress on the border will act as a deterrent.¡±

    Aura answered like that and nodded satisfied after that.

    Just like the name implied, Space-Time Magic was a magic that manipted space and time to a certain degree. Due to that, there were a lot of useful spells for the everyday life, but in contrast, there were very few offensive spells.

    ¡°Oho. Anything else? ¡­Ah, what about the ¡®Summoning¡¯ spell that brought me here? It¡¯s not really a hidden magic, is it?¡±

    Zenjirou had noticed that Aura didn¡¯t want a precise answer from him, but rather various suggestion that stimted her inspiration, so he mentioned everything that crossed his mind.

    ¡°That is too far-fetched. There is no point in embedding a magic that can only be used once or twice in thirty years with an appropriate constetion.¡±

    ¡°Well, it urred to me before already, but we¡¯ve ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ and ¡®Time eleration¡¯, right? What if webined it with one of these? Perhaps it works even without the right constetion then.¡±

    ¡°Not a chance. Magic that maniptes time cannot be applied to something with magical power. You would only be able to summon something non-organic when youbine Summoning and Time Reversal.

    Moreover, the ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ spell needs to be supplied with my magical power of several days through ¡®Future Compensation¡¯ even if I only want to wind back time for one year for the tiniest object. ¡®Time eleration¡¯ is not as bad as ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ in that aspect, but why would you go to the lengths of doing that to obtain something from the not so distant future?

    Frankly speaking, it is not worth it.¡±

    ¡°Mhm, I see. Too bad.¡±

    Zenjirou stared at the ceiling a bit regretful.

    Through thebination of ¡°Time Reversal¡± and ¡°Future Compensation¡±, he had wanted to establish a connection to an inte hotspot.

    The idea was to align a fingertip-sized airspace to a time with an appropriate constetion by means of ¡°Time Reversal¡± or ¡°Time eleration¡±, and then link it to Earth with the ¡°World Bridge¡± spell.

    At the same time, hisputer and cell phone would be reverted to their state before he had cancelled his inte contract, through ¡°Time Reversal¡±. By doing so, he had hoped to establish a connection to the inte, but that turned out to be nothing but wishful thinking.

    (Too much of a good thing.)

    Pulling himself together, Zenjirou still vocalized whatevere to mind.

    ¡°Oh, we might as well embed ¡®Future Compensation¡¯ then. The spell allows you to use your magical power of the future in advance, right? But you said there¡¯s no such thing as ¡®Past Compensation¡¯, which would you allow to utilize the unspent magical power of the past.

    But we might get a pseudo effect if it is possible to embed ¡®Future Compensation¡¯ into a magic tool. I mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. That certainly sounds viable. We would have to consult Prince Francesco for details, though¡­¡±

    The royal couple continued their night chat until the cell phone yed the music that signalized that it was time to go to bed.

    Around the time when Zenjirou was in the hot seat to entertain the prince and princess from the Twin Kingdom in the Royal Pce, the Dragonback Archery Knights led by General Puyol were fighting off the ¡°Pack Dragons¡± that attacked them from both sides of the road in a distant region.

    ¡°Shoot!¡±

    The knights drew their bows on the backs of their Raptorial Dragons and shot their arrows upon the signal from General Puyol.

    ¡°Gyah!?¡±

    Dozens of fired arrows found their target: the bodies of the Pack Dragons. Although a few arrows hit nearby trees or fell harmless to the ground, most of the arrows on the scale of things pierced their intended targets.

    ¡°Wow¡­ These are the Dragonback Archery Knights in action¡­¡±

    Apart from the battlefield, Xavier whispered dreamily as he observed them.

    Since the body of soldiers from the March of Guzzle led by Xavier himself, was devoting itself to the guard of the salt like promised, they wasn¡¯t partaking in the battle.

    Of course their guarding duty entailed fending off any Pack Dragons that approached them, but the way things were going, it didn¡¯t seem likely they would get to swing their weapons at all.

    Even if Xavier was technically standing on a battlefield, he was watching the battle unfold as a better observer instead.

    The overall battle before his eyes was developing like his strategic thinking had simted.

    The foot soldiers constrained the Pack Dragons with their spears while others stood ready at their sides with big, wooden shields to defend them.

    The main offensive were the archers, firing arrows from behind them.

    Their strategy was fundamentally the same as the one Xavier had employed against the Pack Dragons with his troops before.

    But there were two major differences. First, the ¡°Dragonback Archery Knights¡± fought true to their name, sitting on their Raptorial Dragons, and second, the shield bearers didn¡¯t have to fortify the frontline so far, not even once.

    ¡°How can they control their Raptorial Dragons so sessfully amidst all that howling of the Pack Dragons¡­¡±

    It was only understandable that Xavier didn¡¯t believe his eyes.

    The Raptorial Dragon was actually a herbivore and thus a prey for the Pack Dragon, a carnivore.

    Of course the trained Raptorial Dragons wouldn¡¯t flee the scene, but it was still pretty thrilling to see how the archers had let go off the reins and wielded their bows with both hands as they sat on the backs of the Raptorial Dragons with only their feet in the stirrups.

    The Raptorial Dragons stayed still, sensing the will of their riders even without the reins.

    And the archers showcased precise shooting from an unsteady and weak stance in the stirrups.

    Moreover, the majority of the bows used by the Archery Knights were ¡°Dragon Bows¡±¡ª a bow that an average soldier would even have trouble drawing on the ground.

    It could be tallied well-intentioned as ¡°amazing¡± for one or two people, but when all of the Archery Knights, counting up to over a hundred, showed the same impressivepetency, you couldn¡¯t help being struck dumb.

    ¡°Joseph.¡±

    Xavier kept his gaze on the battlefield in front of him while calling out to his father¡¯s retainer standing next to him.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Are you able to do that?¡±

    The skilled knight answered the question of his youngmandant frankly.

    ¡°Yes, I can. To be honest though, their skills are still a bitcking, considering their fame on the South Continent.

    Well, they were nearly wiped out in the previous war and when you consider the fact that they recovered in such a short time, they are still worthy of praise.

    But as someone, who has seen the full potential of the ¡®Dragonback Archery Knights¡¯ during the war, I cannot help feeling a bit disheartened.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying they were even better than that!?¡±

    Xavier forgot all about the battle and eximed in surprise when his close aide practically found fault with them so casually.

    ¡°Indeed. If I had joined the Dragonback Archery Knights during the war, I would have ranked barely mid-table, but in their current condition, I am closer to their elite. Well, the young knights do have talent, they justck experience and training.

    I do not doubt that General Puyol will bring them back to the top of their form in the near future.¡±

    His statement was clearly based on the fact that he personally knew the soldier named Puyol Guill¨¨n.

    General Puyol as well as Knight Joseph had made a name for themselves in the previous war. It wouldn¡¯t be all surprising if they had fought together on the battlefield in the past.

    In the corner of his mind, Xavier was thinking that he would like to ask him about it if he got the chance, while he focussed his attention and sight back onto the battlefield.

    ¡°I can see how good they are, but why is General Puyol letting them fight on top of the Raptorial Dragons? No matter how good they may be on dragonback, it¡¯s a fact that they lose uracypared to drawing on the ground.

    I can¡¯t even imagine that someone as experienced as General Puyol would be overconfident in his soldiers and issue a meaninglessmand.¡±

    The doubt of the youngmander was immediately rified by the seasoned knight.

    ¡°The reason is to get the necessary altitude for shooting, because they can horizontally shoot above the heads of the foot soldier if they remain seated on the Raptorial Dragons.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Xavier turned a bit red from embarrassment as the all too simple fact was pointed out to him.

    Speaking of which, he now noticed that the archers were certainly firing arrows as one pleases without having to worry about the foot soldiers in front of them.

    If the archers would get down onto the ground as well, they would surely have a lot less chances to shoot. ¡°Taking up position on a high ground¡± was the basic of basics in rangedbat.

    Xavier scolded himself for his obstinacy that had viewed the Raptorial Dragons only as a ¡°means of transportation¡± and shook his head a bit. At that time, a particr howl he had heard before echoed from deep within the forest.

    ¡°GRUIII!¡±

    ¡°Xavier-sama!¡±

    ¡°Yes, over there!¡±

    Knight Joseph and Xavier spotted the silhouette at the same time.

    Even though the giant silhouette stood even deeper in the woods than the other Pack Dragons, it created the impression of being within one¡¯s reach.

    The abnormallyrge Pack Dragon led an abnormally abounding pack.

    It goes without saying that General Puyol had noticed its existence as well, and was giving additional orders to his soldiers.

    ¡°Fourth Squad, enemy to your right, fire!¡±

    However, the huge Pack Dragon reacted before the elite soldiers could implement themand of the general.

    By the time the archers quickly had turned their Raptorial Dragons and nocked an arrow, the huge Pack Dragon had already vanished into the depth of the forest.

    ¡°Kii, Kii!¡±

    ¡°Gya, Gya!¡±

    At the same time, all the other Pack Dragons were starting to retreat, too.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give chase! Guarding the salt takes priority for now. But stay alert.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±

    The knights reacted as quick as a wink to the orders of the general.

    Thereafter nothing more happened and the wary General Puyol eventually gave the all-clear.

    ¡°Remove the corpses from the road. We move on as soon as the troops are lined up again. Anything to report?¡±

    ¡°No, General Puyol. We suffered no losses!¡±

    Xavier stood at attention and answered General Puyol, who hade over after leaving the aftermath of the battle to his adjutant.

    There had been no causalities on Xavier¡¯s side. It was only natural, since not a single one of them had even gotten the chance to draw his weapon.

    ¡°Okay. We had no casualties either, but we used up more arrows than I had anticipated. If possible, I would like to stock up our supply at the March once we delivered the salt. Can you arrange it?¡±

    In reaction to his question, Xavier threw out his chest and

    ¡°Yes, please leave it to me! Merchants affiliated with my family will be avable at the settlement closest to the ¡®Salt Road¡¯. They are able to provide you with anything you need within an utmost short period of time.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oho.¡±

    General Puyol raised an eyebrow in recognition, as the answer surprised him.

    ¡°Sir Xavier, you headed straight for the royal domain after the subjugation attempt, right?

    In that case, did you arrange all that in advance?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I have made arrangements for unexpected loss or in case the subjugation were to drag on, but also for distributing the delivered salt all over the March as quickly as possible.¡±

    ¡°¡­..Ohoo.¡±

    The gigantic general eximed in surprise again when he heard Xavier¡¯s reply.

    Before setting out for the subjugation, he had secured a supply line for any eventuality.

    It would turn out to be a waste of money if everything went ording to n, so it had its pro and contra, but at least General Puyol seemingly deemed his action worthy of praise.

    ¡°A good call. Well done.¡±

    ¡°Always at your service!¡±

    The praise from the hero of the previous war sparked the young sessor to the Marquis to show a broad smile.

 Chapter Volume 4 3

    Princess Bona was the chaperone for Prince Francesco.

    Strictly speaking Prince Francesco acted as their representative, because his age and status were overwhelmingly higher, but everyone stopped addressing official matters to him after his tempestuous character became known on the third day since his arrival in the Carpa Kingdom.

    As a result of this, the young Princess Bona had to shoulder the troublesome work by herself.

    Furthermore, Prince Francesco wouldn¡¯t just sit still. One day he participated in a luncheon meeting and mistook people¡¯s names, the other day he attended a ball and stepped onto the dress of somedy. Every day he outdid himself.

    Much as his simple-hearted character was excessive for his age, it fortunately prevented things from going out of hand, but incidents that had to be solved with a written apology or sometimes even with a little present, umted to no end.

    The result of all this was that Princess Bona was busily engaged in duties every day, having no time for studying the foreign jewellery craftsmanship in depth like she had intended to.

    But one person had sympathy for her circumstances. It was none other than the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom: Aura I.

    ¡°Ehm, did I hear right? You¡¯re saying Princess Bona¡¯s reaching her limit and I should sce her a bit?¡±

    One night, Zenjirouy heads-up on the bed in his blue pyjama already while he ascertained the proposal of his wife.

    ¡°Yes. This is generally true. To our regret, Prince Francesco is too difficult to deal with. If Princess Bona were to copse, we would lose our point of contact with the delegation from the Twin Kingdom.¡±

    Aura, likewise in her nightgown, was sitting on the edge of the bed while she affirmed it to her husband with a nod.

    Her expression looked a bit sullen.

    Nearly half a month had passed by now. Aura had met with Prince Francesco and Princess Bona a couple of times so far, if not necessarily as often as Zenjirou, and realized how pointless it was to deal with the prince directly.

    The question whether the conduct of the prince was false or honest, didn¡¯t matter on this asion. You simply couldn¡¯te to grips with him.

    Unfortunately, Zenjirou had to fully agree with Aura on that.

    He was the one, who was in the line of fire from Prince Francesco, so he knew all too well how cheerful and simple-minded the prince was, but also what a problematic case he represented.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a crucial time right now. You decided on the first magic tool, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Yes. In the end, I settled on the ¡®Future Compensation¡¯. It seems we can expect something really outstanding. ording to Prince Francesco, it will even be possible to ¡®replenish¡¯ it. Though it will definitely be impossible to use it in instalments.

    Anyway, I will be able to use my magical power more efficient then.¡±

    Zenjirou asked her by only lifting his head from the bed, whereas Aura turned around and answered him as she still sat on the edge of the bed.

    Like its name implied, ¡°Future Compensation¡± was a magic that allowed you to use your magical power of the future in advance to supplement yourck in magical power.

    This desperate measure had been invented in order to activate the high-ss ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±, which required ridiculous amounts of magical power to begin with, but if it could be embedded into a standalone magic tool, apletely new mode of use became essible.

    Take, for example, the case of Aura using that magic today to embed a magic tool with the magical power worth of three days in the future.

    From the next day on, she will be unable to utilize any magical power for three days. That by itself was no different from the usual application of ¡°Future Compensation¡±.

    However, by preserving her magical power in form of a ¡°magical tool¡±, she can freely decide when she wants to use that magical power.

    Moreover, the ¡°replenish¡± function allows her to asionally store the magical power of days, on which she doesn¡¯t need to use magic, and use it to active arge magic one yearter.

    Of course there were various restrictions, such as: One would be unable to use magic for at least a whole day after embedding the magical power. Only the one, who embedded the magical power, would be able to use the stored magical power. And the stored magical power could only be used once as a whole. Nevertheless, the advantage of being able to store magical power was extremelyrge.

    Prince Francesco and Princess Bona were already given one marble each for the creation of a magic tool.

    The lying Zenjirou sat up and said.

    ¡°So, Prince Francesco will be upied with the making of that ¡®magic tool¡¯ for a while?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. As from tomorrow, Princess Bona will be relieved from her ¡®chaperone¡¯ duties and have a break for a few days while Prince Francesco works on the magic tool.

    From what I have heard, Prince Francesco also seems to pride himself quite a bit on the creation of magic tools, so he will carry on his job extremely diligent and sincerely.

    Therefore, could you help Princess Bona rx, Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°Mh? But in her eyes, I¡¯m part of a foreign royalty, ain¡¯t I? Wouldn¡¯t it wear her out instead when I impose on her?¡±

    As he mounted a sound argument, Aura nodded briefly.

    ¡°Yes, you are right. But Princess Bona has not been in our country for long. I fear that she would just rest in her own room, even if she gets some spare time.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a legit way to spend your break to me. To be honest, I¡¯m a bit envious, because I¡¯ve got so much worktely.¡±

    ¡°Do not lie to me! Someone, who says that, would not have the self-discipline to voluntarily prepare a timetable and a list of answers to possible questions on the day before the task.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    His wife talked him down with a yful tone, so hepsed into silence somewhat disgruntled.

    Still, he could think of nothing to riposte, because aftering into this world, he had started to realize that he was actually perceiving the ¡°time he spentzing around doing nothing¡± as torment.

    Anyway, Aura continued to get the derailing topic back on track.

    ¡°Well then, on the first day you visit Princess Bona, you will show her some things from your world, like the weddings rings, for example.

    If necessary, you may even let her borrow them for some time.

    I am sure she will happily spent the rest of her spare time with honing her jewellery craftsmanship when you do that. After all, jewellery seems to be her purpose in life.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Zenjirou agreed with Aura.

    Speaking of, some of his co-workers at his previouspany had been like that, too. The type of person, who dedicated their valuable holiday, which they only had once or twice per month, for their hobby and came to work on Monday with red eyes, but a ¡°refreshed aura¡±.

    Zenjirou didn¡¯t had such a passionate hobby, so he didn¡¯t know where they wereing from, but he had to acknowledge the fact that they were able to rx.

    And Aura¡¯s proposal made sense, considering that Princess Bona also belonged to that category, if not necessarily to such an extreme extent.

    ¡°Okay, then I can show her the wedding rings, the coins of my country and some beads?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sounds fine. I will leave the precise selection to you.¡±

    ¡°Good. Shall we turn in then?¡±

    Ending the conversation at his own discretion, Zenjirou hit upon a little prank and moved over the bed to behind his wife sitting on the edge of the bed.

    ¡°Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°Hehe!¡±

    Then he embraced his beloved wife energetically from behind. His arms locked around her chest and his legs around her waist in the exact same manner as a ko was clinging to a branch of a tree.

    After that, he rolled over and dragged his wife with him onto the bed.

    ¡°Here I go!¡±

    ¡°Ah, hey?¡±

    Aura eximed troubled, but her face showed a smile. In the first ce, it would have proven to be difficult for Zenjirou to pull Aura even with all his might if she had actually resisted.

    She was stronger than him and also heavier, since she hadn¡¯t lost all the extra kilos from her pregnancy yet, although she would never admit that out loud.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    Whether he was aware of that or not, Zenjirou embraced his beloved wife on top of the bed and put his face against her neck to get even more intimate with her.

    ¡°Jeez, what is up with you?¡±

    As she was being held from behind, Aura only turned around her head to look at him, whereupon Zenjirou smiled cagey.

    ¡°You see, I¡¯m so busy these days and get back to the inner pcete, so I¡¯ve less chances to hug Zenkichi and was feeling lonely.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I am just a substitute for Carlos?¡±

    The Queen puckered her lips affected in a sulking manner upon the words from her husband.

    And Zenjirou showed her an affectionate smile.

    ¡°No, no, I never said something that rude. To begin with, you two arepletely different in size, weight¡­¡±

    and softness, was how he had wanted to finish his sentence, but his words were cut off in the middle.

    So far Aura had obediently abandoned herself to his arm like a spoiledp dog, but she turned the tables on him in an instant, wriggling herself out of his arms and getting into a cowgirl position.

    Apparently ¡°weight¡± had been a taboo topic for his wife, since she hadn¡¯t lost her additional weight from the pregnancy yet.

    ¡°Aura¡­?¡±

    Looking up to his wife, who was sitting on his abdomen with a smile, Zenjirou blinked with surprise.

    Aura grinned humorous.

    ¡°Okay, I get it. Tonight I will be your recement for Carlos. Give me a hug, Papa.¡±

    ¡°No, I said it¡®s not like that¡­¡±

    But Aura didn¡¯t listen to him and flopped onto his chest just like that. Then she quickly pushed her arms beneath his back and hugged him tightly.

    <em>Oh, she¡¯s making fun of me.</em> Zenjirou came to that conclusion and yed along with Aura¡¯s ¡°mischief¡± while cracking a smile.

    ¡°Ahaha, I don¡¯t remember having such a big daughter.¡±

    If possible, he would have liked to put his arms around her back and stroke her hair or pat her back, but unfortunately Aura was embracing him along with his arms.

    ¡°Papa, I love you~¡±

    ¡°Thanks. I love you, too. But could you let go for a bit? It hurts a little bit¡­¡±

    ¡°Papa~¡±

    She ought to have heard it, but made no move to let go of him.

    ¡°Hey, Aura? Please release me, it hurts.¡±

    Her voluminous and soft breasts pressed onto his thorax while her tender thighs squeezed his legs together. Moreover, she kissed him on the nape of his neck like a spoiled child.

    It was supposed a cute prank of his beloved wife as she fawned on him.

    But for some reason,

    ¡°Aura, I¡¯m really feeling some pain here. Hey, let me go already. I give up. My arms are starting to get numb.¡±

    ¡°Papa~ Hug me. I love you, Papa!¡±

    the ominous image of ¡°being preyed on by a tigress¡± vividly floated in the back of his mind and wouldn¡¯t leave him alone anymore.

    * * *

    A few dayster.

    Zenjirou visited the ¡°second building in the south¡± that the Carpa Royal Family had rented out to Princess Bona.

    He carried a small bag that contained the wedding rings, the wallet he had used in Japan and the pouch with beads.

    (Oh man, I just can¡¯t get used to the loose time measurement here.)

    After being brought into a room with the words ¡°please wait here¡±, he was sipping on the prepared cold tea while thinking to himself.

    This world had no mechanic devices to measure time, so ¡°appointments¡± turned out irritatingly vague for the perception of a person from the Modern Age.

    Even if you arrived right on time ording to your senses, it wasmon that you had to wait and the waiting person wasn¡¯t even considering that as rude. No surprise, since there was no criteria for whose measurement of time was correct, considering theck of a definite clock.

    Still, everything had its limits.

    (It feels rather long today.)

    Zenjirou rolled up his sleeve and looked down on the wristwatch around his left arm.

    10:18 AM

    He had been brought into this waiting room around nine o¡¯clock, so he was actually waiting for more than an hour already.

    In fact, Zenjirou was a person of noble rank, namely the Prince Consort. Even if a vague timeframe was the norm in this world, he had never experience such a long dy before.

    (Hmm, if anything, I would have said that Princess Bona¡¯s the type that doesn¡¯t make others wait. Was I wrong? Or did something happen?)

    In these cases, it was typical to providepany for the guest so that he didn¡¯t get bored, but Zenjirou had turned it down in the beginning, because it was too troublesome.

    Around the time he started to feel so bored that he regretted that decision a bit, the door was knocked.

    ¡°Excuse me, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Princess Bona awaits you now. Please follow me.¡±

    A messenger finally appeared to inform him about his reception.

    ¡°M- My deepest apologizes for making you wait for so long. I am most honoured that you have went out of your way to visit me today.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Guided to another room, Zenjirou was suddenly at a loss for words in front of a girl, who had deeply lowered her head.

    ¡°Ehm¡­ Princess Bona¡­?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes¡­¡±

    Zenjirou had called her name to be sure, whereupon the girl in front of him ducked her head and affirmed with a weak voice.

    ¡°Well, how should I put it¡­¡±

    Fully aware of how rude it was, he eyed the girl up.

    Her slender body was d in light purple, one-piece dress with few ornaments.

    Her face was chiselled, but in without any special traits.

    So far, so good. All of that was nothing to new to the Princess Bona, whom he had met numerous times already. The issue was located higher up.

    Her entire hair had been tied together into one bundle. A ponytail with an extremely short knot, if you will so. No, not quite. It wasn¡¯t borated enough to call it a ¡°hairdo¡±. The hair was merely tied back because it had been in the way.

    On a closer look, the tied hair wasn¡¯t held together by a fancy ribbon, but rather a small hemp cord. Furthermore, strands of hair escaped from the bundle here and there.

    To be honest, it looked sleazy. Her appearance was unsuited to wee the royalty from a foreign country, even if it happened in her private chamber.

    Kindness dictated that you overlooked some minor ws, but not saying anything in this case would make it awkward instead.

    ¡°Ehm¡­ Would you exin the circumstances to me?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    Princess Bona nodded resigned.

    For now, they sat down opposite each other on the couches and Zenjirou listened to the full exnation from Princess Bona, whose white skin had turned bright red up to her throat due to shame.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Although he gave Princess Bona, who was trembling her tightly squeezed fists on herp, a pitying look, he still put a summary of what he had heard into words for confirmation.

    ¡°In other words, you had prepared yourself for my visit, early in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°But I arrivedter than you had thought, so you had free time on your hands.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes.¡±

    ¡°And then you told yourself ¡®just for a little bit¡¯ and started to work on the gravure of the brooch fromst night.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±

    ¡°On that asion, you wanted to tie up your hair, since it was in the way, but your usual ribbon was nowhere to be seen, so you just used the hemp cord that was binding your tools.¡±

    ¡°That was careless of me¡­¡±

    ¡°After that, you became engrossed in your work and continued until the moment the waiting maid told you about my arrival.¡±

    ¡°M- My apologies.¡±

    ¡°Then you tried to untie your hair in a hurry, but your hair got entangled and the cord would note off. Even the help of the waiting maids only made it worse. In the meantime, you were running low on time.

    You were faced with two choices: Either make me wait even longer or meet me in your current appearance. In the end, we are here like this now.¡±

    ¡°¡­I have nothing to say in my defence.¡±

    Zenjirou realized something in light of the girl with the tied up hair, who deeply bowed once again.

    (Oh, I see. She¡¯s one of them. The type of girl I saw in the science and engineering department of my university: ¡®a hopeless girl who has nothing but her hobby on her mind¡¯.)

    During his days at the university, he had spotted a couple of them.

    As a general rule, young females favoured to use their limited resources of time and money on fashion or socialisation with their friends. However, a small fraction of women with a particr hobby ranked their hobby above fashion or socialisation.

    That type of person was even more dominant amongst men, but there was a decisive difference between male and female hobbyists.

    Namely: Female hobbyists still ced importance on outward appearance in their own way, unlike male hobbyists.

    Even if men ignored fashion, they were still epted as long as they maintained a certain level of hygiene, but the world was not that forgiving towards women, who didn¡¯t care for fashion.

    It even goes as far as saying that women were only allowed to go out in public without make-up up until the age of twenty.

    Therefore, female hobbyists had no choice but to pay money and attention to fashion to a certain degree in order to avoid the criticism of the world.

    As a result, these women ¡°mimicked¡± an ordinary person so well that you couldn¡¯t see through them when you only kept thempany for a little while.

    The girl sitting in front of Zenjirou was the perfect example, although her ¡°mimicry¡± was turned off right now.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    (What am I supposed to do now?)

    Zenjirou got the urge to just return to the inner pce, pretending he never saw the girl trembling in silence, but escape was not an option, since this ¡°informal meeting¡± counted as ¡°work¡±.

    ¡°Ehm, I cannot really tell you not to mind it, but I ept your apology.

    It will be alright as long as you are careful that something like this will not ur again in the future.¡±

    ¡°Th- Thank you very much.¡±

    Princess Bona bowed down before Zenjirou like a vige girl, who was shown mercy by the magistrate.

    * * *

    (Man, instead of faking an illness, she decide to apologize to me directly, so I thought she¡¯s honest to a fault or obstinate, but maybe she¡¯s just more ¡®crazy about her hobby¡¯ than I thought?)

    Such thoughts were crossing his mind when he saw how Princess Bona¡¯s eyes lighted up as soon as he revealed the ¡°wedding rings¡±, the ¡°beads¡± and the ¡°coins¡± to her.

    After her exnation, he had expected to hear her say: ¡°I know it is selfish of me, but I ask you to postpone today¡¯s meeting because of this¡±, but instead, Princess Bona had said ¡°May I ask you then what brings you here today, seeing as you are willing to forgive me?¡± with upturned eyes, although she did turn bright red and hung her head in shame.

    ¡°Eh? Ah, yes, of course.¡±

    Truth be told, the answer left his mouth more out of reflex than out ofprehension of her unexpected utterance.

    With an outward appearance that embodied strangeness as everything below her neck was neatly d in a thin dress without sleeves whereas only her hairdo was unkempt, Princess Bona gazed at the beads or wedding rings exhibited before her on the table.

    ¡°Amazing. These transparent grains have almost the same size and shape. And there is even such a small hole in the very middle¡­¡±

    Zenjirou observed Princess Bona in silence as she looked at the beads on the table with the eyes of a professional instead of the typical excited look of women for jewellery.

    Since she was looking down on the table, he was thus looking at the parting of her hair.

    (Hmm, her hairdo¡¯s aplete mess, but she got the silver dust applied to it like always. All that glitter. But it¡¯s only natural, I guess. She properly prepared herself after all, even if she gave in to the temptation midway. ¡­Mh?)

    Amidst all the sparkling silver dust in her hair, he spotted a mass of silver that was too big to be called dust. It was slim and long, coiled like a chip of wood made by a woodcarving knife.

    (Wait? Shavings from a carving knife? Didn¡¯t she say that she was working on a gravure just before? Maybe¡­)

    Aside from the silver dust, a silver scrap simr to a splint from carving stuck to her hair.

    Zenjirou¡¯s train of thought gained momentum when he noticed it.

    Come to think of it, Princess Bona usually had her hair covered with silver dust. Moreover, her peculiar hairdo was straight halfway down, then turned wavy.

    It probably was not a coincidence that the transition from straight to wavy seemed to be right around the part, where she had knotted her hair.

    (Maybe her ¡®half-straight, half-wavy hair covered with silver dust¡¯ is actually just ¡®unruly hair, due to tying her hair back tightly, covered with silver scraps¡¯?)

    The true circumstances were probably not that deplorable, but the chances were high that she deliberately chose this kind of hairstyle, so that she didn¡¯t need to fix her hair every time there was a frizz or silver scrap.

    Thinking back on it now, Princess Bona always had the same hairdo: silver dust sprinkled over partly straight and party wavy hair.

    Having the same hairstyle all the time wasn¡¯t strange per se, but nobledies at her age usually changed their hairstyle to match the theme of the party they were attending or the dress they were wearing on that day.

    Following that line of thought, Zenjirou¡¯s idea gained credibility.

    ¡°Amazing. These coins are absolutely identical in size and shape as well. Your Majesty Zenjirou, would you be willing to tell me more about it?¡±

    Apparently it was not enough for her to just evaluate it with her eyes. At some point, Princess Bona lifted her head and pleaded while looking him directly into the eyes.

    ¡°Yes, as much as I am possible to. But like I have mentioned to you before, I am apleteyman when ites to jewellery, so I doubt the information I can give you will be anything like you expect.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I am grateful to you. Any trivia might spark an idea.¡±

    (Yep, dropping the topic of her hairstyle will be to our mutual advantage.)

    Discerning that, Zenjirou deliberately turned a blind eye to anything rted to her hairdo and went along with the subject as he sees fit.

    The following conversation went smoothly as long as he averted his eyes from her hairdo.

    ¡°Oh, I get it. So they used diamonds to cut the diamonds. That sounds extremely simple, but that idea never urred to me.

    There are various problems unsolved, though. How would you pulverize the diamonds and how would you apply that powder to make a file? But once that is done, I might be able to process diamonds without relying on magic.¡±

    Princess Bona¡¯s smile was so vivid that you could almost see her excitement taking shape. Hooked by it, Zenjirou smiled back.

    ¡°I am d that I could help. That said, are you unable to process diamonds with magic? I have heard that proficient earth magicians can cut diamonds with their magic.¡±

    His clueless question prompted Princess Bona to show a wry smile.

    ¡°That is out of the question. I may be confident in my precise practice of earth magic, but my magical power is nowhere near enough to meddle with diamonds by means of magic.

    On the other hand, people, who have sufficient magical power for it, tend to have trouble controlling it precisely, so only a few genius magicians are able to cut diamonds with magic, since they need to ovee that contradiction.

    As far as I know Prince Francesco has not actually done it, but he should be able to.¡±

    ¡°Oho, that is impressive.¡±

    Zenjirou met the unexpected high evaluation of Prince Francesco with genuine surprise.

    To his knowledge, Queen Aura and the Royal Archmage Espaldion, not counting the infant Carlos Zenkichi, were the only ones in the Carpa Kingdom, who had more magical power than Princess Bona.

    Having said that, Aura was a typical example for a magician that had arge amount of magical power, butcked precise control over it, so she was out of the picture for now. As for Espaldion, he prided himself with a magical power that was greater than the average for royalty, butpared to Aura, that amount was probably stillcking.

    ording to that, one could tell how outstanding Prince Francesco was as a magician.

    Princess Bona was unable to contain her mixed feelings while

    ¡°As you may know, he is a person with a lot of, well, quirks, but he definitely is a first-rate magician. I dare to say that my control is a bit better, but my magical power hopelessly outnumbered.

    If anything, it is little short of a miracle that his control over such an enormous amount of magical power is only slightly inferior to mine.¡±

    she described the legitimate grandson of her King like that.

    Although she herself wasn¡¯t aware of it, the same could be said about her, albeit lowering the sights a bit.

    As a practitioner of the ¡°bloodline magic¡±, her magical power admittedly ranked at the bottom of royal standards, but she could call an abundant magical power her own whenparing it to any average magician out there.

    On top of that, she had dered that her forte was the precise control over it, so her talent was more than outstanding.

    Nheless, Princess Bona underestimated herself, whether that happened deliberately out of modesty or due to an undeserved self-assessment. In order to change the subject, she picked up a bead from the table.

    ¡°I have to say, these beads are truly a fascinating thing. The folk art in my country also includes handiwork, where small stones are chained together with a string, but they used coloured stones with holes for that. Naturally, none of the stones share the same shape or colour. Moreover, they are bigger than these most of the time, so they can only be used for bulky bracelets or nes.

    In contrast, you have so many of the same size, shape and colour here. It would make an extremely beautiful handiwork.¡±

    ¡°Yes, with enough practice, you are able to make all kind of things with it, such as rings, broaches or bracelets. I have a few temtes, so would you like to try your hand at it, Princess Bona?¡±

    The most favoured handiwork of beads in recent times were cell phone straps, but that would prove difficult to exin, so he omitted it.

    ¡°May I!? Thank you very much!!¡±

    The conversation proceeded harmonious while they unconsciously grew closer to each other.

    * * *

    Aura had been worried about it before and with justification: Zenjirou and Princess Bona had a good chemistry.

    Zenjirou was born into an average family on Earth and then had unexpectedly eded the position of the Prince Consort. Princess Bona hailed from a lower ranked noble family and was weed into the royal family when she atavistically awakened to the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡±.

    On top of that, both were diligent in nature, smart enough to understand their own standing and even had a rationality that made them act appropriate to their status.

    In short, they sympathised on the fact that they both had went through the ¡°trouble of climbing the socialdder¡±, even if under slightly different circumstances.

    ¡°Eh? Then you lived with your parents until you were ten years old?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I was epted into the royal family when I turned ten. Before that, I was raised as any other second daughter of a lower ranked noble.

    Though I do admit that my parents had high expectations of me, since I had an exceptional magical power despite being the daughter of a lower noble.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then it must have been quite an ruckus when you were acknowledged as royalty?¡±

    ¡°And how! It took several days to recognize it as reality, for me as well as for my family.¡±

    ording to her, the Twin Kingdom examined those born into higher nobility with a magical power on par with royalty when they started to recognize the world around them, but the status of Princess Bona¡¯s family had been too low for that.

    Due to that, her aptitude wasn¡¯t discovered until her tenth year of age.

    Incidentally, her case triggered the other lower ranked nobles to hope that maybe their child was the same, but to their dismay, that was not the case.

    ¡°So you learned the ¡¯Bestowal Magic¡¯ within six years? And the jewellery workmanship, too?¡±

    In reaction to Zenjirou¡¯s admiring tone, Princess Bona replied with an embarrassed smile, which was a mixture of modesty and pride.

    ¡°Yes, I had a tough row to hoe. Though I would say that it was more difficult to learn manners and speech. The royal etiquette ispletely different after all, even if I was born into lower nobility.¡±

    ¡°I can rte.¡±

    Zenjirou inadvertently expressed his genuine consent.

    ¡°In contrast, I had fun learning the ¡¯Bestowal Magic¡¯ and jewellery craftsmanship. It gave me a sense of aplishment. Nevertheless, it was difficult in its own way. And naturally, I still have much to learn.¡±

    Right now she was sixteen years old. She had started to study when she was ten. It was quite praiseworthy that she had obtained a full-fledged skill within six years.

    The various branch families of the Sharrow Royal Family had brought up even younger professionals for jewellery, armaments or bestowal magic, but they had learned their practice from the cradle. Princess Bona had ater start than them.

    Engrossed in thoughts like that, Zenjirou noticed something strange.

    ¡°Then what about Prince Francesco?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he was acknowledged as a full-fledged practitioner of the Bestowal Magic at the age of twelve. In addition, he also has mastered the crafts of jewellery and armaments, so he definitely is an authority on these fields of expertise.¡±

    Her wry smile showed a tinge of jealousy, but Zenjirou was in no shape to notice that.

    (I knew it! That means he received the education of the branch family from the very beginning, even though he¡¯s a direct descendant.)

    Unlike the branch families, direct descendants of the royal family weren¡¯t obligated to learn the skills to craft armaments or jewellery, instead they got drubbed the ¡°bloodline magic¡± into them.

    Of course the magic wasn¡¯t learned in a day or two either, but the years of study for the jewellery and armaments craftsmanship were several times of it.

    After spending years of grappling with iron and silver day in and day out, you started to get the hang of the craft.

    There was no way that a direct descendant, a key element of the country, could spare all that time for it. There were many other things he ought to learn if he had free time on his hands.

    However, Prince Francesco had not only learned the Bestowal Magic from a young age on, but likewise mastered the craftsmanship of jewellery and armaments. Unless he was some kind of abnormal genius, it meant that he was made to study all of it as early as possible.

    (In other words, he already got stripped of his right to ascend the throne in the future when he was practically still a baby. And then it doesn¡¯t make sense to me his ¡®stupidity¡¯ for depriving him of that right.)

    If someone were to give up on a young child for the reason of being ¡°stupid¡±, that person would be far more stupid instead.

    There was no doubt that the birth of Prince Francesco was shrouded in some kind of mystery.

    (I¡¯ll tell Aura about itter.)

    ¡°Sounds like Prince Francesco sure is blessed with an excellent talent.¡±

    Zenjirou made a mental note of it and gave his consent to Princess Bona just because.

    His reply had been little short of half-hearted, because he was woolgathering, but mercifully, Princess Bona didn¡¯t seem to suspect anything.

    ¡°Indeed. I have taken my cue for being a maker of magic tools from him.

    Anyway, this ring is truly the most eye-catching item. The more I look at it, the more fascinated I get by its perfect handiwork¡­ This obviously applies to the three uniform diamonds, but also to the well-borated socket. Just how did they manage to make such a detailed pattern?¡±

    As she once again shifted her attention towards the wedding ring, Zenjirou thankfully took up the thread of the conversation.

    ¡°Believe it or not, but the total number of this repeating, reticted pattern is exactly the same for both rings.¡±

    He was just repeating what he had heard from the clerk at the jewellery shop, but Princess Bona was most surprised by that information.

    ¡°Really!? One, two, three¡­¡±

    She pinched one ring between the middle finger and thumb of her right hand, brought it closer to her face and started to count the patterns on the socket with all her might.

    Having said that, the reticted pattern on the ring was not something that could be counted with the naked eye.

    Even so, Princess Bona was trying with her whole heart. Seeing that, Zenjirou¡¯s kindness was triggered unnecessarily.

    Much to his chagrin and much to her joy, the ¡°coins¡± wereying on the table within sight at that time.

    (Oh, I know.)

    His usual wariness and tension had dropped considerable, so he put the idea he just thought of, into action without any hesitation.

    ¡°Excuse me for a bit.¡±

    With a short utterance, he picked up a five yen coin from the table with his left hand, then scooped a drop of water from the refreshing drink with the fingertip of the little finger of his right hand and carefully dribbled that drop into the hole of the five yen coin.

    ¡°Mm, nope. It¡¯s a concave lens. Once more¡­ Good, now it worked.¡±

    After a few failures, the drop of waterpletely filled the hole of the coin, like he had intended to, and formed a little convex lens.

    ¡°Mhm, okay, all done. Princess Bona, please use this. You should be able to see a bit better with it. Hold it carefully and look at the ring through the hole in the middle of the coin.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Okay.¡±

    So far Princess Bona had desperately counted the patterns on the ring, but now she obediently followed his instructions, took the coin and looked through the opening at the ring.

    Her following reaction was sweeping.

    ¡°Eh? EH!? What is this!?¡±

    She eximed in surprise when she saw the world through a convex lens for the first time.

    Zenjirou was happy that her reaction was exactly like what he had expected, so he answered her somewhat ted.

    ¡°It¡¯s a water lens. It makes things appear bigger by making use of the light refraction effect. You know how the riverbed looks distorted when you look at it from above through the clear surface? It¡¯s the same principle.¡±

    ¡°Ehh? It appears to be so big just by looking through water?¡±

    ¡°Not quite. It¡¯s not only the water. Its shape is important, namely a disc shape, where the middle is inted and gradually ttens towards the edge.¡±

    Princess Bona eagerly listened to his clumsy exnation and then suddenly chanted a spell while she breathed heavily due to her excitement.

    ¡°Mhm¡­ Maybe like this? ¡®O, water in the vessel, gather at my fingertip and take he shape I desire for a short while. Aspensation, I make one-hundred and fifty-six offerings of magical power to the water spirit.''¡±

    ¡°EH!?¡±

    This time it was Zenjirou, who eximed in surprise.

    When she smoothly chanted the spell with her index finger on the surface of the water in her ss, a portion of the water contorted itself like slime and shaped a lens in the size of a magnifying ss at her fingertip in no time.

    ¡°Oh, wow. This is really amazing, Your Majesty Zenjirou!¡±

    The moment she confirmed the effect of the simple water lens she had made with her own water magic, she forgot all her manners and called out innocently.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    On the other hand, Zenjirou had lost hisposure to react to her.

    (Oh shit. Now I¡¯ve done it¡­!)

    He noticed his mistake all toote and broke out in a cold sweat all over his back way after the fact.

    But Princess Bona was too excited to notice his behaviour and was looking at the magnified texture of the table with the water lens when the magic wore off in the middle of it.

    ¡°Aw.¡±

    Out of magic, the water lens suddenly dissolved and dropped onto the table with a ssh.

    ¡°My apologies. That was impolite of me.

    As excepted, the short duration effect of normal magic is impractical. And the ¡®Full Water Reshaping¡¯ magic consumes too much magical power. If we create a specialized magic and turn it into a magic tool¡­

    Your Majesty Zenjirou, thank you very much!¡±

    It goes without saying that Princess Bona was naturally thinking along the same lines that Zenjirou had feared.

    Developing a magic that shaped water into a lens and embedding that very magic into a magic tool meant that the Twin Kingdom was going to monopolize the important technology called lens.

    (Damn! I screwed up big time. I¡¯ve gotta confess myself guilt to Aura and perform damage control.)

    ¡°No problem. I am d that I could help.¡±

    Zenjirou was shaken at his unprecedented mistake and it took all of his willpower to at least reply as a formality.

    * * *

    At night of the same day, Zenjirou had returned to the inner pce and reported the incident during his meeting with Princess Bona to Aura at full length with a meek expression.

    He had deemed the subject inappropriate for thefortable bedroom with air conditioning, so they were, once again after a long time, sitting on the couches in the living room at his request.

    ¡°Hmm, I would say you did quite well in getting Princess Bona to show her true colours and obtaining some information on the mystery behind the birth of Prince Francesco, but why are you so crestfallen? Does it really pose such a big problem when the Twin Kingdom realized that so-called lens?¡±

    After Aura had listened to his repentance-like report, she crossed her legs anew as she sat on the couch and inclined her head uprehendingly.

    Zenjirou had anticipated her reaction to some degree.

    It definitely didn¡¯t seem to pose such a great threat, since a single convex lens could only be used as a magnifying ss. At best, it would make the work of craftsmen like Princess Bona more ¡°convenient¡±.

    As a matter of fact, Princess Bona had admittedly been impressed on arge scale, but hadn¡¯t shown doubt in the least. In other words, she had recognized it as something trivial not worth a suspicion, even when he generously had told her about it for free.

    However, the potential of the lens wasn¡¯t that tiny. And Zenjirou was aware of it.

    Although he had been aware of it, he had carelessly spilled the knowledge to a most dangerous person of influence, so he regretted his own action all the more.

    He took out the five yen coin and started to exin again.

    ¡°Okay, look here. First off, this is the convex lens I showed to Princess Bona. You see how it¡¯s inted in the middle and gradually ttens towards the edge?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the view beyond it really looks erged. How convenient.¡±

    Aura peeked through the five yen coin lens held out by him, and nodded impressed once again, but wasn¡¯t really worried about it after all.

    Zenjirou then shook the coin once to remove the water and filled it with an even smaller drop of water than before.

    ¡°And this is a concave lens. Now it¡¯s the other way round: The middle is the thinnest part and the edge is thick. Everything looks smaller now, right?¡±

    ¡°Certainly. But how is that useful?¡±

    She asked him a question, but Zenjirou told her ¡°wait a sec¡± with a side nce and stood up from the couch, moving into a corner of the living room.

    All the stuff he had brought with him from Earth, but didn¡¯t use all that often, were stored there inside a box.

    ¡°Ehm, where did I put it¡­ Ah, there it is.¡±

    He rummaged in the opened box for a while, then suddenly pulled out something that was wrapped in an elongated cloth coloured in fancy blue, white and red.

    ¡°The good ol¡¯ fan merchandise from my university. I got rid of my fan tricot and cell phone strap when I joined my oldpany, but I¡¯m d I kept at least the terrycloth scarf and binocr.¡±

    Technically, only the terrycloth scarf was a fan merchandise. The binocr was a run-of-the-mill merchandise that he had only used to watch the training matches, but that wasn¡¯t really worth mentioning now.

    Zenjirou put the terrycloth scarf, which had written ¡°YOKOHAMA¡± in Latin letters on it, back into the box and returned to the couch, where his wife was waiting, with only the copsible binocr in hand.

    ¡°Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°Here, look at this. It¡¯s the result ofbining a convex and concave lens. Well, just putting them together won¡¯t get you a clear vision like this, instead everything would look mirror-inverted and bottom up, but it brings its consequences home to you at any rate.¡±

    With these words, Zenjirou folded out the binocr, adjusted the focus briefly and handed it over to Aura.

    Seeing as it was night right now, she couldn¡¯t look outside, but the living room wasrge enough and the binocrs only had a triple magnification, so its function could be experienced well here, too.

    ¡°Wha!? What is this!?¡±

    When Aura had looked through the binocr like Zenjirou had told her, she eximed in surprise as expected.

    ¡°It erges things threefold, but depending on the lenses, you can get even more.

    At this point in time, Princess Bona only knows about the convex lens and I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll hit upon the idea tobine the convex and concave lens any time soon, but at a practical level, it¡¯s possible to make it happen at once.¡±

    In fact, even on Earth there had been arge gap between the development of the lens and the development of ¡°telescopes¡± and ¡°microscopes¡±, which utilized thebination of lenses.

    Considering that, it might be overhasty to panic about it, but excessive optimism was risky.

    Aura peeked a few times through the binocr and pondered wordless for a while.

    A device that allowed you to see faraway things erged. If the mainponent of it, aka the ¡°lens¡±, could only be applied through magic tools, then the Twin Kingdom would obviously have a monopoly on it.

    Before long, Aura seemed to have reached a conclusion and she showed Zenjirou an unusual strict expression as she spoke.

    ¡°You are right. You did make a ¡®mistake¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ Sorry.¡±

    As her husband apologized honestly, Aura shook her head a bit, whereby her long red hair swung back and forth, and sighed.

    ¡°Well, what is done cannot be undone, but the circumstances seem a bit tooplicated to just brush it off with that.

    We have more or less two ways to cope with it: The first method would be to negotiate with them to ultimately get our own magic tool for the water lens, but the better alternative would be to establish the same manufacture process in our Carpa Kingdom by utilizing the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ying dormant in your blood.¡±

    The conversation started to turn into a disappointing direction in line with his expectations, so Zenjirou tabled his own idea as to oppose it.

    ¡°Or else we can give the ss manufacture greater attention. This binocr may be made out of something else, namely hard stic, but lenses in my world are principally made out of ss.

    As such, we just have to establish a ss manufacture and teach the craftsmen how to shape the ss into a lens at the same time, then the value of the lens will drop from a ¡®magic tool¡¯ to a ¡®high-ss tool¡¯.¡±

    Apparently had he thought about countermeasures from the time of his ¡°mistake¡± until now, seeing as he fluently presented his own n.

    ¡°Oh, I see. That is worth considering as well. But before anything else, we have to do something about you first.

    This incident finally convinced me. Zenjirou, you are being imprudent around Princess Bona, abnormally so at that. Are you aware of that?¡±

    Zenjirou was at a loss for words when his wife pointed it out strictly.

    She had said that he was being careless around a certain woman. That piece of information wasn¡¯t meant reproaching, but stimted a guilty consciousness within him. Even more so, since he admitted the truth behind in.

    Zenjirou answered her somehow without averting his eyes, albeit stuttering.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s, well, right. I¡¯m aware¡­ of it, I guess? What can I say¡­ She¡¯s really easy to talk to. We¡¯re kinda on the same wavelength and get along well¡­¡±

    ¡°Mhm¡­¡±

    As her husband was vindicating himself, Aura put a hand against her chin and mused. At least he was aware of it himself, so he wouldn¡¯t mistake it as jealousy when she pressed him hard.

    Once her thoughts had reached that point, she became aware that she was afraid of getting hated by him, and smiled bitterly at heart.

    The Queen never had been a person, who let her thoughts show on her face.

    ¡°That makes things easier. Forgive me, Zenjirou, but I am forbidding you to meet with Princess Bona by yourself from now on.

    This incident might as well repeat itself otherwise, even if you do not intend for it and she may have no hidden motive.¡±

    She sternly dered without batting an eye.

    Personally, Zenjirou didn¡¯t need to be reminded about it.

    Sure, he had enjoyed the conversation with Princess Bona as he got along with her, but he was not going to persist on them when it actually disadvantaged the country.

    ¡°Yeah, okay. From now on, I¡¯ll only meet with Princess Bona when she¡¯s acting as the ¡®chaperone for Prince Francesco¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do so. Forgive me for contradicting myself now, seeing as it was me, who suggested that you go see Princess Bona in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry. It might¡¯ve turned out like this now, but your decision was right back then. The biggest problem is my weakness, so I should be apologizing, not you.¡±

    ¡°Mm, fine.¡±

    The calm response of her husband prompted the red-haired Queen to heave a small sigh of relief to herself.

    * * *

    Deep in the night. Once Queen Aura had confirmed that her husband was sound asleep in the same bed, she quietly slipped out of the bedroom and went to the living room next door.

    Amidst the darkness of the living room, she fumbled for the LED floormp and switched it on.

    ¡°!¡±

    The white light of the LED was too bright for her eyes ustomed to darkness. Aura blinked a few times and by the time her eyes got used to the bright light, the entrance door of the living room was lightly knocked three times.

    ¡°Good. Come in.¡±

    ¡°Yes, excuse me.¡±

    The one, who entered with her permission, was a waiting maid with unusual blonde hair for a citizen of the Carpa Kingdom.

    Her official appointment only advertised her as one of the young waiting maids, but in reality, she was an secret key figure with a wide informationwork amongst the waiting maids in the inner and royal pce. Along with the Royal Archmage Espaldion and Secretary Fabio, she was one of the trusted retainers of Queen Aura.

    Aura sat down on the ck leather couch in her thin nightgown, then spoke in a rough tone.

    ¡°Your report.¡±

    ¡°Yes. ording to the waiting maids we dispatched to Princess Bona, Princess Bona has shown no attempts to seduce Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°Mhm. Then she herself really has no ulterior motive?¡±

    Hearing the report, Aura mused in the thinker¡¯s pose.

    She had pretty muche to terms with the fact that the Sharrow Royal Family would aim at Zenjirou¡¯s lineage.

    Even if the best time for it would be his visit to the royal pce of the Twin Kingdom as soon as he learned the ¡°Teleport¡± magic, she had been on the watch, thinking Princess Bona was going to make some kind of move while she staying here, but nothing of the sort had been reported so far.

    Even today Zenjirou, their target, had gone to her temporary lodging all by himself. It had been the perfect opportunity, so Aura had worried that she would do something, but the report just now denied it.

    ¡°Still, my husband hits if off with Princess Bona very well. Is it just a coincidence? But the Twin Kingdom is faraway on the central part of the southern continent, so they should not know about his type of woman¡­¡±

    As a matter of fact, not even the nobility of the Carpa Kingdom, who were pushing for a concubine, had a real grasp on his type of woman. If anything, the only clue was that he was pretty intimate with Queen Aura, but she and Princess Bona had not really anything inmon.

    All her thoughts didn¡¯t get her anywhere. Still, she couldn¡¯t help but feel worried about the close association between Zenjirou and Princess Bona, although she wasn¡¯t going to use the illogical concept of a ¡°woman¡¯s intuition¡± to justify that worry.

    Zenjirou hadn¡¯t been thatx with anyone before. Not with Lady Octavia, who was famous for her beauty in the royal pce. Not with Fatima Guill¨¦n, who brimmed over with confidence and youth. And not even with the waiting maids of the inner pce, who were interacting with him every day.

    To be honest, Aura was well aware that her caution was fuelled by the green-eyed sentiment of a woman.

    As the Queen however, she fortunately had the right to restrict the rtionship of her Prince Consort with a foreign princess.

    Even if she was unable to prevent him from taking concubines one day, the first one definitely shouldn¡¯t be a princess from a foreign country.

    ¡°Okay. Tell the waiting maids to report anything anomalous from now on, too. But we do not want to raise any suspicion in Princess Bona¡¯s mind, so I do not need a periodical report.

    They are primary to act like faithful waiting maids, who listen to her.¡±

    Although she admitted that her behaviour was controlled by a womanly emotion, she persuaded herself that her actions were justified.

    The blonde waiting maid, standing in front of her, showed a brief smile, as she noticed the unusual feminine reaction of the Queen.

    ¡°¡­Very well.¡±

    But before Aura saw anything, the maid smoothed her facial features again and quietly left the room after she had bowed once, so that her long blonde hair shifted.

 Chapter Volume 4 4

    Time passed by and the toughest, also called the hottest season in the Carpa Kingdom finally came to an end.

    Around that time, the atmosphere in the Inner Pce was as tense as never before.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Queen Aura had dyed her morning schedule to stay here and Zenjirou also had resolved himself to not move an inch from here all day, cancelling all his appointments for today. Both of them waited with bathed breaths.

    Although the waiting maids of the inner pce had be well acquainted with their masters in the past one and a half year, they simply stood at attention near the wall right now, unable to engage in some casual talk with them, much less fulfil their rightful duties such as serving tea.

    The silence was taut as the strings of a bow and continued until the very moment the door was knocked.

    ¡°!¡±

    ¡°Enter!¡±

    Aura¡¯s brash promptcked anyposure, whereupon the person in question entered the living room of the waiting Queen and Prince Consort.

    ¡°Pardon me.¡±

    Unaffected by her tone, a man of middle age answered with a calm voice before he came in. His characteristic long hair and beard were streaked with grey flicks of hair and he wore a white robe.

    His name was Michelle, the royal physician.

    The doctor closed the door of the wide living room behind him and remained standing in front of it without approaching the royal couple on the couch.

    His bearing seemed to be agreed on beforehand, seeing as neither Aura nor Zenjirou reprimanded him for it.

    Doctor Michelle looked at the fraught Queen and Prince Consort in equal measure, then

    ¡°To cut the matter short: Prince Carlos has caught the ¡®Spotted Fever¡®.¡±

    reported the situation in a manner of fact tone.

    As the wet nurse Cassandra was always by his side, she naturally had noticed the change in the crown prince of the Carpa Kingdom, Carlos Zenkichi Carpa, first of all.

    It was nothing out of the ordinary that Prince Carlos, still an infant, woke up crying, but the cry on that night had been different.

    Cassandra was made for being a wet nurse as she could distinguish whether his demanding cries meant breast-feeding, pee, poop or simply whining.

    As soon as she had heard his cry that was shriller, yet weaker than usual, she had woken up the resting waiting maids and sent one to Queen Aura and Doctor Michelle each.

    ¡°Spotted Fever¡±. Since the name of the disease meant nothing to Zenjirou, he checked with Doctor Michelle without rxing his strained facial muscles.

    ¡°Doctor, what does that mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, as the name implies, it is a fever that causes red rashes on the face or body. The rashes are merely outward symptoms that cause neither pain, nor itch, but the prolonged high fever can bring about the throat to swell up.

    The fever attack usuallysts around three days. As a rule, a normal grown-up has nothing to fear as long as he stays in bed and eats properly, but it is not unheard of that weaker people like elders or babies lose their life from it.¡±

    Taking in the doctor¡¯s words, Zenjirou rubbed his cold fingertips against each other as he sat on the couch.

    ¡°In other words, Zenkichi¡¯s life is at risk?¡±

    ¡°Fortunately Prince Carlos has been kept well nurtured so far and is growing favourable. He is also blessed with a bing stamina for a baby, so I do not think we need to be that pessimistic.

    I dare to say that it is a nine out of ten chance that he will pull through it.¡±

    Nine out of ten. That statement inadvertently made Zenjirou heave a sigh of relief, but Aura, sitting next to him, cautioned him with a still tense expression.

    ¡°Zenjirou, you have to take his appraisal literally. Put another way, it means that one out of ten babies in the same situation as Carlos would die.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    He was at a loss for words after his wife¡¯s indication.

    The survival rate was ny percent. Reversely, that meant a mortality rate of ten percent. One out of ten patients would die. After being told that, it goes without saying that one couldn¡¯t be overly optimistic.

    There were hardly any parents that could settle back when their own child was put in such a predicament.

    Naturally, Zenjirou wasn¡¯t one of them either. He wracked his clouded brain with all his might to find a way out of this dilemma.

    ¡°Ah! Then we can just use the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯!¡±

    The magic tool could heal any injury or illness in an instant. As he remembered its existence, Zenjioru proposed it eagerly, but the ¡°Queen¡± reacted opposed.

    She bit her lip with a stiff face.

    ¡°I do not think so. Our country is in possession of only three of them and it remains unclear when we will actually get our hands on another one.

    If I were to use the valuable ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ under these circumstances for the sake of a child that will, in their opinion, most likely pull through anyway, I would get in trouble with the nobles.¡±

    Quite unusually, Zenjirou got exasperated with the heartless words of his wife.

    ¡°What! He¡¯s the first prince! Are you saying some stone is more important than our only child!?¡±

    Queen Aura showed a pained expression for a moment as her husband snapped at her for the very first time, but readjusted her mask as the Queen right away and reasoned.

    ¡°Carlos is certainly an important figure in our country, but not so important that his passing would immediately affect the country.¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    Zenjirou had his breath taken away by the cold words of his wife and before he coulde back at her, Doctor Michelle interjected with a calm voice.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, this may sound a bit relentless, but children in our country catch an illness of this level around four to five times on an average before they reach the age of ten, even amongst royalty and nobility.¡±

    ¡°Four to five times¡­¡±

    The distinct calction devoid of feeling was convincing enough to calm his fiery temperament.

    The Carpa Kingdom had three ¡®Imbued Stones of Cure¡¯ at the present time. On an average however, Prince Carlos would catch an illness like this four or five times during his childhood.

    The numbers just didn¡¯t add up.

    Even less when considering their ns for more children in the future. If they were to use their trump card for every single illness, there would be a severe shortage of stones. Even Zenjirou himself was gradually brought down to earth by that harsh fact.

    ¡°Sorry¡­ I lost my cool.¡±

    As her husband slumped down into the couch, Aura just replied ¡°It¡¯s okay¡± with a small voice.

    In practice, Aura might have used the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ if it weren¡¯t for Zenjirou.

    She was definitely the strongest inheritor of the royal blood, but still a woman. There was a limit to how many children she could bear in her lifetime.

    All the more because she lived in a world, where childbirth was anything but safe. At the same time, they couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that her body may no longer be able to conceive after giving birth once.

    Having said that, that insufficiency in childbirth was resolved at once when you factored in an ¡°adult male¡± with strong royal blood such as Zenjirou.

    Moreover, he had already proved himself in form of his child Carlos.

    To exaggerate it, Prince Carlos was nothing to get excited about in the eyes of themon nobles, so even if he were to die, they would just say: ¡°That¡¯s too bad. Please make an effort for another child, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    On the other hand, they would surely demand the use of the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± if Zenjirou himself were to catch an illness of this nature, since any sophisticated man in this world knew that a prolonged fever came with the possible risk of impaired fertility, even if it did not im one¡¯s life.

    As cruel as it may sound, Zenjirou¡¯s testicle were currently more important to the country than Prince Carlos¡¯ life.

    Aura kept silent about it though, because there was no way she could reveal that fact to him.

    Meanwhile Zenjirou, too, had calmed down a bit, but that didn¡¯t necessarily give him any better ideas.

    ¡°What about calling a healer from the Jilbell Family¡­¡±

    ¡°I am currently the only person, who can use ¡®Teleport¡¯, so I would have to go to the Twin Country all alone with my magic.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t we have a doctor specializing in that ¡®Spotted Fever¡¯?¡±

    ¡°You are being rude to Doctor Michelle, you know. He is the finest physician in our country. You will not find a better one, no matter the area of expertise.¡±

    ¡°And I guess there¡¯s no special medicine for it¡­¡±

    ¡°We would have used it already if there was one.¡±

    ¡°Figures¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Every elementary idea he could think of was immediately shot down by Aura.

    A gloomy silence spread over the room.

    Nothing could be done. Well, not quite. If truly nothing could be done, he would be able to give up, but there was an absolute trump card in the form of the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡±, yet the political situation didn¡¯t allow for it to be used.

    That was what it meant to be royalty. For the first time, Zenjirou experienced the grave responsibilities of his new standing firsthand.

    Quite possibly he could have his way and use the stone, but it would invoke the deep resentment of local nobles and the scorn of foreign royalty if he were to do that.

    That would actually be desirable if it only applied to Zenjirou, but it was more than likely that Aura would be caught in the crossfire as well, since she, the Queen, didn¡¯t stop him.

    Still, she just couldn¡¯t stop doubting whether or not shecked parental love, since she hesitated to do what was best for her own child in need, out of consideration for her political standing.

    ¡°We would not have to worry so much if he had at least caught the ¡®Blessing of the Forest¡¯ first. Your Highness, do you know someone that currently has caught the ¡®Blessing of the Forest¡¯?¡±

    Doctor Michelle broached a slightly different subject as to distract from the inevitable reality and Aura answered his proposition.

    ¡°None. No one that would be allowed into the Inner Pce has caught it at the moment.¡±

    The ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡± was a local illness that Zenjirou had caught once before, too.

    Its name was meant literally. You only caught it once in your lifetime and it wasn¡¯t really deadly unless something dramatically happened. And because it left you with antibodies that worked against various other illness afterwards, it truly was an ¡°almighty preventive¡±.

    Of course there were some instances of infants dying from the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡±, too, but considering theter course of life, it ultimately gave you a better survival rate when you caught it at an early stage.

    Due to that, Aura had nned to bring the child of a trustworthy noble into the Inner Pce if it had caught the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡± to let Carlos pick it up, but unfortunately that opportunity didn¡¯te to be and Carlos caught the ¡°Spotted Fever¡± first.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Another oppressive silence filled the room.

    She could do no more for her child. Her duties as the Queen forbid her toe in contact with a contagious patient.

    Knowing that, Aura heaved a deep sigh, then quickly got up from the couch.

    ¡°Very well. Doctor Michelle, I leave Carlos in your and Cassandra¡¯s care. I have to attend a bted meeting now.

    I trust in your skills, so do your best.¡±

    ¡°Yes, as you wish.¡±

    The middle-aged doctor,posed from beginning to end, bowed once and Aura shifted her attention from him to her husband, who still sat on the couch and looked up to her.

    ¡°What will you do, Zenjirou?¡±

    Confronted like that, Zenjirou pondered for a moment while remaining slumped into the couch.

    ¡°¡­No, today¡¯s no good. I know it won¡¯t change anything when I stay here, but I¡¯m in no state to do any work in the pce, to say nothing of causing irreparable mistakes.¡±

    ¡°I see. Since your work is not all that pressing, that is fine. However, you are not allow to visit Carlos in person, understood?¡±

    ¡°Mm, yeah.¡±

    Aura cautioned him just in case and he obediently obeyed.

    Even if he were to pick up the ¡°Spotted Fever¡±, there was practically no danger for him, since he was a healthy adult with the ¡°Blessing of the Forest¡±, but he still would end up bedridden for two or three days and above all: he shared a bed with Aura.

    The ¡°Spotted Fever¡± would pass on from Carlos to Zenjirou to Aura.

    The royal pce would be paralyzed when the Queen was sick in bed, if only for three days. It was one of the duties of a Ruler to stay healthy.

    ¡°It may be no use telling you, but do not take it to heart all too much.¡±

    Saying so, Aura left the Inner Pce with invigorated steps as to show an example of ¡°not taking it to heart all too much¡±.

    * * *

    ¡°Ugh¡­ Grr¡­!¡±

    Left alone in the living room, Zenjirou had immersed himself in practicing magic in order to vent the irritation he felt towards hisck of power.

    The exercise involved the ¡°control over magical output¡±, something he had slowly gotten better attely. It was an essential skill to master all kind of magic.

    If he were able to use ¡°Teleport¡± by now, he could have gone to the Twin Kingdom to get a healer.

    That thought spurred his magic training on.

    The likelihood that he would be allowed to summon an expensive healer for an illness with a mortality rate of just ten percent was extremely low, though, even if he could actually use ¡°Teleport¡±.

    ¡°Puuh¡­ Grr¡­¡±

    The ¡°control over magical output¡± didn¡¯t really require any physical strength in particr, so it normally didn¡¯t tire you that much, but Zenjirou hadn¡¯t quite got the knack of it, so he was unnecessarily straining his whole body.

    Due to that, he had been sweating all over for a while now.

    On top of that, he could barely concentrate, because he was always envisioning the pained figure of his sick son, getting practically no results.

    ¡°Aw, damnit!¡±

    He cursed on a rare asion, shook his head so that the sweat was flying around and got up from the couch. Then he headed towards the refrigerator near the wall.

    ¡°Puh¡­ I just can¡¯t hack it today.¡±

    After pouring some boiled water from the silver jug into a ss, he emptied it in one gulp and uttered wailing without meaning to.

    But the practice of magic actually called for concentration quite often, so it was a given that training with an absent mind like right now was pointless.

    ¡°Aura said not to take it to heart, but that¡¯s easier said than done¡­¡±

    Zenjirou felt utmost respect for his wife, who was as worried as him deep inside, but properly got her act together on the surface to deal with work.

    ¡°Would I¡¯ve been the same if I had married and gotten a child in Japan?¡±

    That rambling monologue slipped out of his mouth when he got back to the couch.

    In that case it would have been a fatal weakness for a sryman.

    At the same time, the medical care in modern Japan had a way better credibility than here, so he might have had an easier time trusting the doctor, though.

    ¡°Aw, damn. Time for some game.¡±

    All his thoughts were for the wellbeing of his son, no matter what. In order to distract himself a little bit, Zenjirou took out his game console from the TV stand after a long time and the very moment he plugged it in:

    ¡°Excuse me, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    The door was suddenly knocked and the familiar voice of a waiting maid resounded.

    ¡°Yes,e in.¡±

    Although reflexively calling her in, he thought to himself.

    What did she want? It was too early for lunch. The waiting maids knew that he disliked having others in the same room as him, so they didn¡¯t call out to him unless it was important.

    (Don¡¯t tell me something happened to Zenkichi?)

    Understandably enough, his train of thought inadvertently took a turn for the worse under the current circumstances.

    A middle-aged waiting maid, neatly wearing a crimson maid uniform, entered the room¡ª It was Supervisory Maid Amanda.

    Zenjirou¡¯s tension built up. If the Supervisory Maid came over in person, it must be about something very important.

    Whether she knew about her master¡¯s tension or not, the middle-aged Supervisory Maid made a perfect textbook curtsy, then started to speak prosaically.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, we just now received a message from the Royal Pce, or more specifically, from Fabio-sama.

    Apparently Prince Francesco from the Twin Kingdom has expressed his desire to pay Prince Carlos a sick bed visit.¡±

    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±

    Zenjirou leaked a dumbfounded sound as the unexpected development went over his head.

    After a moment he finallyprehend what she had said and shook his hand in front of his face, signalising that it was out of the question.

    ¡°No, we can¡¯t do that, seriously. Nothing good¡¯s going toe of letting a foreign royalty meet with our sick Zenkichi, for neither side. Besides, I would¡¯ve understood if it had been Princess Bona, but Prince Francesco isn¡¯t allowed inside because of the ban anyway, right?

    Or is he saying we¡¯re to have a sick child leave the Inner Pce?¡±

    Talking himself into a fury so far, he suddenly realized:

    Secretary Fabio would¡¯ve never allowed that a ridiculous request like that was passed on.

    As was expected, Supervisory Maid Amanda brushed his outburst aside and continued to ry the message.

    ¡°ording to Prince Francesco, he is in the possession of numerous ¡®Imbued Stones of Cure¡¯ that were entrusted to him by the Sharrow Family for his trip just in case, and he signified his intention to use one of them for Prince Carlos.¡±

    ¡°!!¡±

    Zenjirou¡¯s reaction was priceless.

    ¡°I¡¯ll meet him at once! Get my clothes! I¡¯m going to the Royal Pce!¡±

    ¡°Very well. Please move to the room next door. We have prepared everything there.¡±

    The Supervisory Maid answered her shouting master with apletelyposed voice like that.

    * * *

    After changing in a rush, Zenjirou suppressed his urge to storm down the hallway of the pce as he proceeded at a smart pace. When he entered the room, there already sat Prince Francesco and Queen Aura across each other, talking.

    ¡°Oh, Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Forgive me, but we have already started discussing things here.¡±

    Aura and Prince Francesco stopped their conversation when he entered and called out to him like that.

    For a moment, he was surprised to see Aura here, but on second thought, it was only natural that she was present.

    Zenjirou himself couldn¡¯t make a decision about the matter of a foreign prince entering the Inner Pce as well as the matter of receiving an ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± from that very foreign prince.

    So it was only natural that Secretary Fabio had notified Aura at the same time as him.

    Once he realized that, he uttered a short apology of ¡°Sorry it took so long¡± while he sat down next to Aura.

    The normal etiquette for a meeting between the Queen, the Prince Consort and the foreign prince called for some kind of address of wee first, even for an highly informal emergency meeting, but neither was Zenjirou in a state of my mind right now to consider that, nor was Prince Francesco the kind of man to nitpick about such trivialmon sense.

    ¡°I am d you came, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Sorry for sending for you so suddenly.¡±

    Like always, Prince Francesco showed an innocent smile and didn¡¯t choose his words carefully. The first thing Zenjirou asked him was what weighted on his mind the most.

    ¡°Not at all. It concerns me, too, after all. By the way, I don¡¯t see Princess Bona around. Where is she?¡±

    Upon his question, Prince Francesco grimaced a bit as he answered.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell her. It would be bothersome if I did.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I can see that happening.¡±

    ¡°A valid point for sure.¡±

    Both, Zenjirou and Aura, had to agree with his reasoning.

    It practically goes without saying that the earnest Princess Bona wouldn¡¯t allow the handover of the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡±.

    Prince Francesco and Princess Bona were situated in a foreign country, the Carpa Kingdom. The ¡°Imbued Stones of Cure¡± were their lifeline for when the crunches and Prince Francescockedmon sense to offer one of them like it was nothing while Princess Bona was just a woman ofmon sense, since she would stop him if she were to get wind of it.

    Having said that, Zenjirou and Aura preferred the unreasonable approach from the prince instead, so they were lucky that the reasonable Princess Bona didn¡¯t partake in this.

    They looked at each other in the eyes to coordinate their opinions, then:

    ¡°In that case, there¡¯s really no need to bring in Princess Bona as well.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. She must be busy, too.¡±

    Princess Bona¡¯s exclusion was decided on the spot.

    ¡°Well then, Prince Francesco, you said you would offer us an ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯?¡±

    Although Aura looked calm on the surface, she, too, was restless deep inside, so she got straight to the point.

    As a result, Prince Francesco affirmed it readily.

    ¡°Yes. I brought one with me. Look here.¡±

    After he answered like that, he pulled a palm-sized, white stone out of his pocket and ced it onto the table.

    It looked somewhat like a ¡°cuboid with cropped corners¡±. The neatly cut white stone with a bit of a marble pattern was probably not worth much by itself.

    However, anyone with the ability to discern magical power could see that the palm-sized stone emitted magical power on the level of an average magician.

    ¡°You are giving this to us?¡±

    Aura became a bit wary, because Prince Francesco suddenly showcased the item without discussing anypensation for it.

    So far, Prince Francesco had continuously behaved so open-handed that you could only consider him an idiot, such as the secret around the ss marbles, but that didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t want apensation this time by default either.

    The prince¡¯s answer, though, was anything but what Aura had expected.

    ¡°No. I¡¯m not exactly giving this to you. I¡¯ll ¡®personally use it on Prince Carlos¡¯, so I want to ask for your permission to pay him a sick bed visit.¡±

    He didn¡¯t ask for apensation, but demanded to meet Carlos, since he was going to use the stone himself.

    If his answer didn¡¯te across as strange, she would have a seriousck of prudence, as a Queen and parent alike.

    Aura asked more cautious after Prince Francesco¡¯s more than odd request.

    ¡°May I ask why? The ¡¯Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ should be something very important to you as well, so I would like to know why you are offering to use it for Carlos¡® sake.¡±

    ¡°Well, what can I say? I feel kind of ¡®congenial¡¯ with Prince Carlos. Besides, as a Prince of the Twin Kingdom, I can get my hands on a ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ easier than others.

    So it doesn¡¯t hurt when I use one.¡±

    The phrase ¡°congenial¡± rang a bell with Zenjirou as he listened to his easy-going remark on the side.

    (Mh? I think I¡¯ve heard him say the same before¡­ Oh, right, when we first met at the evening party. He said he felt the same with me, too.)

    He felt congenial with both, the father and the son. Could that actually be brushed off as just another of his talkative remarks?

    For now Zenjirou decided to consult Aura about itter. In the meantime, the conversation between Prince Francesco and Queen Aura continued.

    ¡°Then you are offering this out of pure good-will?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It is my avid desire to free Prince Carlos of his suffering.¡±

    ¡°In that case, there is really no need to specifically use the stone yourself, is there? If you wish to see Carlos, then we can bring him to the Royal Pceter on when he feels better.¡±

    ¡°No, that won¡¯t do. This may sound rude, but the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ is very precious and there¡¯s no guarantee you¡¯ll actually use it, even if the Crown Prince is at stake.¡±

    He put it somewhat tantly, but his objection was justified.

    From a strictly profitable point of view without emotions, it was by no means a bad call to take the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡±, lie about using it and in fact bet on the ¡°nine out of ten¡± chance for survival.

    Well, they would lose both, the Crown Prince and the trust of the Twin Kingdom, all at once if they unfortunately got the other one out of ten chance, so one wouldn¡¯t usually take that approach.

    But as the royalty from a foreign country, Prince Francesco¡¯s worry was only natural.

    (Well, either way, one thing is certain now. Prince Francesco is definitely not an idiot. His usual behaviour is an act.)

    As he was watching the other two from the side, Zenjirou could keep his cool and conclude this.

    An idiot would be unable to make such a logical line of argument, not even by ident.

    So his usual behaviour had been an act after all. Then why did he go so far as to take off the mask that fooled the majority in his home country, in order to meet Carlos?

    ¡°What do you say? I really just want to pay him a simple sick bed visit and promise not to bring anything with me except the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯. No guards either.

    You may even examine me throughout first.¡±

    Since Aura hesitated, Prince Francesco kept making concessions to no end, but persisted on the sole condition that he visited Carlos in person.

    At this point, even Aura noticed that Prince Francesco was hiding some greater agenda.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°I beg of you. You have my word that neither the Prince, nor your country wille to harm.¡±

    Prince Francesco pleaded by prostrating himself when seated, which looked hrious, but the plea itself was anything but funny.

    Still, if they actually were to let him inside the Inner Pce under these conditions, there definitely was nothing he could perpetrate.

    Without weapons and guards, Prince Francesco could easily be seized in the event of attempting any intrigue.

    To begin with, he had barely received any military training as one could already tell from his conduct.

    Admittedly, he was rtively tall and well-built, but even Aura herself wouldn¡¯t have trouble apprehending him if she wanted to.

    And above all, Aura was a mother and didn¡¯t want to let go off the chance to use an ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± for her child.

    ¡°¡­Fine. I will assume your sick bed visit to use the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯, to be one from a doctor or healer from the Jilbell Family. You will be allowed into the Inner Pce by way of exception.

    It would be troublesome when it gets around that we tried to keep a low profile to get you into the Inner Pce, so we might as well make the sick bed visit to use the stone an official event and have you enter openly from the front. Are you fine with that, Prince Francesco?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am. Thank you very much.¡±

    Aura finally conceded, whereat Prince Francesco expressed his gratitude with a bright smile.

    * * *

    One hourter.

    Zenjirou, Aura and Prince Francesco walked down the hallway of the Inner Pce.

    Before he was allowed inside, Prince Francesco was subjected to a body search and everything except his clothes and the ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡± was taken away from him. On the other hand, Aura and Zenjirou were quite unusually wearing swords at their waists.

    Giving Zenjirou a sword only acted as a deterrent, but Aura could use it like any knight.

    All alone, Prince Francesco didn¡¯t pose a threat, since he had nobat experience, although he was well-built.

    Still, he went to such lengths to get into the Inner Pce and his intention was still unknown, so some worry remained.

    At first, they had considered to let Aura¡¯s personal guards apany them into the Inner Pce, but refrained from doing so after weighing up the pros and cons.

    It was practically an act of faith that they had allowed the prince into the Inner Pce. Wearing swords themselves was still fine, but if they brought along armed soldiers, who were actually prohibited from entering, it would signalize that they didn¡¯t take Prince Francesco at his word.

    ¡°Oh, they might be both Inner Pces, but yours is quite different from ours. That said, I only have vague memories of ours from when I was six, so I can¡¯t be too sure, ahaha.¡±

    Like a sightseer, Prince Francesco curiously eyed the surroundings as he walked on, showing no sign of tension.

    He was ying the fool so much that Zenjirou once again wondered if the prince maybe was just an idiot after all.

    Before long the three reached Carlos¡¯ bedroom.

    ¡°It is I.¡±

    She must have notified them beforehand. Upon Aura¡¯s call, the door was opened from the inside without any surprise.

    ¡°Doctor Michelle and Cassandra are awaiting you inside, Your Highness Aura, Zenjirou-sama and Prince Francesco.¡±

    The blonde maid, who had opened the door, said so and lowered her head respectfully. A short while ago, a different waiting maid had been taking care of Carlos, but when Aura had notified them earlier, she had issued a change of shift, too.

    The maid with the blonde hair was, along with Secretary Fabio and Royal Archmage Espaldion, a trusted retainer of Aura. She would never let it show, but she was one of the two waiting maids in the Inner Pce that had actualbat experience.

    ¡°Good. How is Carlos?¡±

    ¡°He fell asleep just a moment ago. Before that, he was crying the whole time as his throat seemed to hurt.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Biting her lip, Aura proceeded into the room.

    Prince Francesco followed after her and Zenjirou followed after him.

    Aura had instructed him not to hesitate in the unlikely event of the princemitting anything suspicious.

    In the back of the room stood a small bed, in which their beloved child Carlos Zenkichi was sleeping. To the right and left stood the wet-nurse Cassandra and Doctor Michelle.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Cassandra wordlessly bended her plump body into a deep bow. In contrast, Doctor Michelle gave Aura and Zenjirou a sharp nce and said.

    ¡°Your Highness Aura, Zenjirou-sama, I have heard the circumstances.

    But if you allow me to speak out: You are being overhasty. The ¡®Spotted Fever¡¯ is not an illness you will be immune to after catching it once.

    And I was of the opinion that you are not to approach the room until I gave the okay.¡±

    Zenjirou inadvertently cowered before the merciless re of the middle-age physician. The same applied to Aura.

    ¡°Sorry, but the situation has changed. Please understand.¡±

    She exined with an apologetic tone.

    Any further reprimand must have been contra-productive in his opinion, so Doctor Michelle heaved an affected sigh and interposed waspish.

    ¡°So that¡¯s Prince Francesco at the back? You brought an ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ for Prince Carlos?¡±

    An average physician versus a prince from a major power. Under normal circumstances, it would be unforgivable that Doctor Michelle spoke to him first, but right now, he was the physician in charge of Prince Carlos.

    So he was given quite a bit of authority in regards to matters involving his patient Carlos.

    Maybe the Twin Kingdom had the same custom or maybe he was just being generous?

    ¡°Yes, I did. Here it is.¡±

    Either way, Prince Francesco didn¡¯t feel offended by his words and honestly replied like that, showing him the white stone in his right hand.

    Seeing the stone glowing with a strong magical power, Doctor Michelle finally softened his expression a bit.

    ¡°I see. Prince Carlos¡¯ condition has been stable so far, but if we can heal him immediately, we might as well do it.

    And unlike the ¡®Blessing of the Forest¡¯, there is no benefit in oveing the ¡®Spotted Fever¡¯ by your own efforts after all.¡±

    Up until now, he hadn¡¯t shown the slightest insecurity while he took care of Carlos, but there was a ten percent chance that the crown prince could die and shouldering that responsibility must have given him a lot of pressure.

    The face of the middle-aged physician clearly disyed relief.

    In front of the doctor, Prince Francesco kept smiling and took a step closer to the small bed with the sleeping Carlos.

    ¡°Okay, I got this. I will relieve Prince Carlos of his illness.¡±

    Saying so, he tapped himself on the chest with his free left hand.

    ¡°Well then, Prince Francesco, I do not like to rush you, but can you get started?¡±

    Aura had casually taken up a position from where she could barge in between the bed and the prince at any time and said that.

    Prince Francesco nodded once more, then nonchntly dropped a bombshell.

    ¡°Yes, but before that I have to apologize to you.¡±

    ¡°¡­Apologize?¡±

    Aura obviously readied herself to jump in.

    In the back, Zenjirou, too, reached out for the hilt of his sword on reflex.

    The blonde waiting maid bended over a little bit in a natural manner, so that she was able to draw the short sword attached to her thigh under the skirt at any moment.

    And Doctor Michelle swallowed hard as he watched the scene unfold. The still smiling Prince Francesco continued with a wry look.

    ¡°Indeed. The truth is, I have been lying to you.

    I imed to have numerous ¡®Imbued Stones of Cure¡¯, because I¡¯m from the Twin Kingdom, but that was a lie.

    The Twin Kingdom has the healers of the Jilbell Family and we of the Sharrow Family basically never leave the capital. Therefore a healer can immediately be dispatched when someone from the Sharrow Family falls ill. ordingly the Royal Family hardly gets any ¡®Imbued Stones of Cure¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Then what is that white stone in your hand? It is not the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯?¡±

    Aura asked sharply with a stern expression and voice that revealed her bloodlust, whereat Prince Francesco retained his smile and answered brightly.

    ¡°Oh no, this is definitely an ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯. But it¡¯s the one and only in my possession. Bona will be really angry when I use it.¡±

    ¡°Now then, what do we do?¡±

    Although Aura crouched down some more and set her hand to the sword at her waist, she signalized Zenjirou, standing at the back, with her eyes not to act hastily.

    The behaviour of the prince was clearly dubious, but if he actually meant to harm Carlos, it was even more dubious.

    Although he had no im on the throne, Prince Francesco should be too valuable to send him on a suicidal mission, even if you discounted his only forte of being one of the current best practitioners of the Bestowal Magic.

    In other words, it was more than likely that it was not his aim to harm Carlos.

    Amidst all that tension, Prince Francesco held up his left hand, not the right hand holding the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯, to the bed with the sleeping Carlos

    ¡°I will do this instead: ¡®Relieve this person of the sickness guing its body. Aspensation, I make two-hundred and eighty-six offerings of magical power to the life spirit.¡¯¡±

    and chanted.

    The palm of his left hand emitted a pale light of magical power that showered down on Carlos.

    The result was eye-catching. The ¡®Spotted Fever¡¯ was called like that because of its symptom of spot-like red rashes on one¡¯s body and face.

    Until just a moment ago, Carlos¡¯ adorable face, too, had been cluttered pitiable with red rashes.

    However, the rashes hadpletely vanished now. And when you listened closely, you could hear how his rough breathing had changed into a peaceful one.

    It was in as day that the ¡°magic¡± of the prince had taken effect.

    ¡°¡¯Healing Magic¡¯¡­?¡±

    After a while, Zenjirou finallyprehend what had happened in front of his eyes and muttered softly.

    ¡°Impossible!¡±

    On the other hand, Aura just stood there dumbfounded with a surprised expression never seen before.

    It was understandable that she was surprised.

    Prince Francesco belonged to the Sharrow Royal Family. And yet he had used ¡°Healing Magic¡±, which was the bloodline magic of the Jilbell Royal Family. ording to themon knowledge of this world, this was a practically impossible and insane happening.

    ¡°Ehm, could we move elsewhere? I want to exin myself in detail. Ah, but only with the people present at the moment, since I need you to keep quiet about it.¡±

    In the meantime, the perpetrator aka. Prince Francesco was the only one, who kept his carefree attitude, and announced that.

    * * *

    ¡°Only Doctor Michelle, the wet nurse Cassandra and the waiting maid Margret were with us in the room. For now, I have forbidden the three to leave from there.

    I do not mean to scrutinize your magic, but we cannot leave an infant that is still recovering all alone, so they will continue to look after him.

    And since I had already forbidden anyone to get near that room when Carlos fell ill, those three will note in contact with anyone else. That will take care of the secrecy for now.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, Your Majesty. I appreciate your consideration.¡±

    Since then, Aura, Zenjirou and Prince Francesco had moved to a room, where they could talk in peace.

    This room in the Inner Pce was usually used by Zenjirou for his lessons with his private teacher, Lady Octavia.

    It was the perfect location, because it was furnished to receive guests without having any stuff from Earth around.

    Aura and Prince Francesco were sitting opposite one another with a table in between them and Zenjirou had taken a seat next to his wife. A typical arrangement.

    By the means of changing rooms, Aura had regained some of herposure in time.

    ¡°Well then, let us hear what you have to say. There is a lot I want to ask, but frankly speaking: Just who are you?¡±

    Unsurprisingly, Aura¡¯s all too frank question made Prince Francesco smile wryly and scratch his head.

    ¡°Who I am? I am Francesco, the first son of Crown Prince Joseph from the Sharrow Royal Family, and no one else.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I guess my question was misleading, so I will ask one thing at a time.

    Are you really a member of the Sharrow Family? No, wait, that should go without saying. I see you using your ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ every day to make us the ¡®Future Compensation¡¯ magic tool.

    But why do you can use ¡®Healing Magic¡¯ then? Is it some kind of trickery?¡±

    She was questioning him a bit too severely, considering he was the prince of a foreign country and the saviour of her sick child.

    However, her harsh approach was reasonable, seeing as he did something practically impossible.

    Prince Francesco himself seemed to understand that, too, as he showed no signs of being offended and replied obediently.

    ¡°It¡¯s no trickery, but genuine ¡®Healing Magic¡¯. To be honest, I can use both, ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ and ¡®Healing Magic¡¯.¡±

    He said happy-go-lucky as though he was bragging how impressive that was. Even in all modesty, the word impressive didn¡¯te close to describing it, though.

    As a result, Zenjirou, who had silently listened to the two of them so far, spoke up about something that had been on his mind the whole time.

    ¡°Prince Francesco, you told me that you feel congenial with me when we first met at the evening party, right? And today, you said the same about Zenkichi.

    I will be in with you: Does your so-called ¡®congenial feeling¡¯ refer to kindred spirits, who ¡®inherited two kinds of royal blood¡¯?¡±

    His question surprised Prince Francesco a bit. The prince blinked, then answered with a grin.

    ¡°Wow. So you remembered it. Yes, you¡¯re right.

    Just like you and Prince Carlos have inherited the blood of the ¡®Carpa Royal Family¡¯ and ¡®Sharrow Royal Family¡¯, I have inherited the blood of the ¡®Sharrow Royal Family¡¯ and ¡®Jilbell Royal Family¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Zenjirou and Aura were speechless for a while when Prince Francesco readily confirmed the greatest secret of the century.

    Still, one mystery was solved like that.

    The epted theory amongst schrs researching magic, was that it was possible that someone could use two bloodline magic when the person had inherited two royal bloodlines and had more magical power than the average royalty.

    Prince Francesco had nearly twice as much magical power as Zenjirou and when he had inherited not just the blood of the ¡°Sharrow Royal Family¡±, but also the blood of the ¡°Jilbell Royal Family¡± with that kind of magical power, it was exinable that he could use two bloodline magic.

    ¡°Then your parents are¡­¡±

    Zenjirou had trouble asking as it concerned the dishonour of his parents, but Prince Francesco¡¯s answer was beyond his expectation.

    ¡°No, you¡¯ve got that wrong. My parents are without doubt the Crown Prince Joseph and his wife Tosca.¡±

    ¡°Eh? But¡­¡±

    The prince gave the confused Zenjirou a wry smile and exined.

    ¡°Your Majesty Zenjirou, the Twin Kingdom has been established by two royal families hundred of years ago. Do you honestly believe that the two bloodlines never immingled during all this time?¡±

    Although Zenjirou was asked that question, it was the listening Aura, who answered it.

    ¡°I see. In a way, you are the same as Princess Bona then.¡±

    ¡°Yes, indeed.¡±

    Although she was born into an average family of lower ranked nobles, Bona had atavistically awakened to the bloodline magic of the Sharrow Family. On the other hand, Prince Francesco was born as a direct descendant of the Sharrow Family and atavistically awoke to the bloodline of the Jilbell Family. Therefore one could certainly put them on the same level.

    ¡°Then that is also the real reason that you do not have a im on the throne, even though you are the son of the Crown Prince?¡±

    When Aura asked with narrowed eyes, Prince Francesco didn¡¯t stop smiling, but his smile certainly became a bit clouded with tension as he affirmed it.

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a secret treaty between our two royal families.

    When someone in one family awakens to the bloodline magic of the other, that person has to spend to the rest of his life alone to bring his lineage to an end.¡±

    That treaty was most likely arranged to preserve the im on their respective bloodline magic. Without such a treaty, it would be incredible difficult to run a unique country with two royalties.

    Still, no matter how much you sugar-coated it, it must have gotten across extremely unfair to Prince Francesco?

    Maybe he was hiding the distress over it behind that innocent smile of his? While pondering over that, Aura inquired further.

    ¡°Then your usual behaviour is an act because of that? An act to convince others that you have no im on the throne, because you cannot make the real reason public.¡±

    By ying azy failure, he sacrificed himself for the good of his country. Maybe he felt ¡°congenial¡± with Zenjirou in that regard as well?

    That thought had crossed her mind, but surprisingly enough, Prince Francesco shook his head and denied her assertion.

    ¡°No, if anything, that¡¯s actually my true self. I was never smart to begin with and always speak before thinking it through.

    Usually I just say and do whatever I want without holding back. Only at times like this I pull myself together and act like I¡¯ve been taught.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    His statement made Aura smile wryly.

    He probably didn¡¯t notice the fact that he was no longer an idiot when he could ¡°pull himself together and act like he had been taught¡±. It would be difficult for an onlooker to overthrow the self-assessment he had ever since he was a child, with just words.

    Anyway, it now made sense how his usual ¡°foolish act¡±e across so naturally.

    That left only onest question. And the most important, at that.

    Truth be told, Aura had already guessed his answer to the question by now, but she had to pose it anyway.

    Sitting straight on her chair, Aura took a deep breath and spoke well though out in a calm tone.

    ¡°Okay, onest question, Prince Francesco.

    Why did you confide your secret to us? And why did you go out of your way to prove that you can actually use ¡®Healing Magic¡¯ by getting into the pce with a lie and healing my child? I am pretty sure it is a secret amongst secrets that not many in the Twin Kingdom even know of.¡±

    Prince Francesco straightened his back like Aura.

    And then he showed a somewhat transparent smile that was so unlike his previous innocent smile.

    ¡°Yes. The only ones that actually know about it are the king, the pope, my parents and my teacher for Healing Magic. Ah, Bona doesn¡¯t have a clue, of course, so please keep it that way.

    As for my reason: I wanted to let you know that someone can really use both bloodline magic when he has inherited the blood from two royal families and has a lot of magical power like myself.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The answer really was as expected, so Aura closed her eyes and kept silent for a moment.

    ¡°In other words¡­!¡±

    Next to her, Zenjirou must havee to the same conclusion as her, if only a bitter. He couldn¡¯t hide his surprise and opened his eyes wide.

    Queen Aura resolutely nodded to her husband, then said with a calm voice.

    ¡°Indeed. Our child Carlos can use two bloodline magic, the ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯ as well as ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯. Am I right, Prince Francesco?¡±

    Carlos had a magical power on par with Prince Francesco. That conclusion was inevitable when the earlier exnation from the prince could be trusted.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    The affirmation from Prince Francesco echoed rather intensely in Zenjirou¡¯s ears.

 Chapter Volume 4 5

    Following this, Prince Francesco immediately left the Inner Pce.

    On the other hand, Aura and Zenjirou, both still speechless, headed straight to the room of their child.

    Their aim was unfortunately not to embrace their healed child, but to bound the confined physician, wet nurse and waiting maid to secrecy once more.

    ¡°Listen, under no circumstances are you allowed to speak of anything that happened in this room today. If it doese to light by chance, remember that not only you, but your whole family will pay with their lives for it. Understood?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    The doctor, the wet nurse and the waiting maid answered and bowed in unison to the unvarnished warning from Queen Aura.

    ¡°Good. Keep it in mind.¡±

    Aura nodded contented.

    This should probably take care of it.

    In his capacity as the royal physician, Doctor Michelle was used to secrecy and the wet nurse Cassandra was a trustworthy woman with a profound loyalty to the royal family.

    As for the blonde waiting maid¡­ There was no need to especially point it out to Margret.

    She was a trusted retainer of Aura.

    If she couldn¡¯t be trusted to keep a secret, then surely no one under Aura¡¯smand could be trusted.

    Considering all that, Aura had concluded that the secret would be safe unless something drastic happened.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    ¡°Even I am all exhausted today.¡±

    Having moved from Carlos¡¯ room to the living room, Zenjirou and Aura threw themselves onto the couches and slumped into it like a wet sack without saying anything for a while.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    All too much had happened for one day today.

    Carlos had fallen ill.

    Prince Francesco had paid him a sick bed visit.

    Then he had confined them his secret and revealed the secret of Carlos.

    Each and every one was already a shocking matter on its own.

    The sunlight,ing in from the windows, was still illuminating the room brightly, but Aura and Zenjirou had no longer the energy to even turn their heads.

    Zenjirou had already cancelled all his work in the morning, but Aura was supposed to finish some more work today. Nevertheless, she had decided to call it a day at this point for once.

    She knew very well that she eventually would be overwhelmed from too much work if she kept pressing on at such a time.

    Besides, abandoning her work in the royal pce didn¡¯t equal having free time from now on.

    ¡°¡­Kuh.¡±

    Theyzed around for a while. When Aura recovered somewhat of her strength, she sat up straight on the couch.

    ¡°Do you need more rest, Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­ Mmh? You want to get started already?¡±

    Called upon, Zenjirou just turned his head towards his across-sitting wife without getting up.

    ¡°Yes, if it is alright with you, I would like to begin.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­ Okay.¡±

    Answering like that with sleepy, half-closed eyes, he, too, sat up straight.

    ¡°Now then, where do we start?¡±

    Not yet back in top shape, Aura sloppily crossed her legs on top of the couch, whereas Zenjirou replied with interjectional yawns while craning his neck.

    ¡°Mh? Can I ask then what I found strange first?¡±

    ¡°Sure, go ahead. I do not know whether I will be able to answer it, though.¡±

    OK¡¯d by her, Zenjirou spoke up hesitantly as he was collecting his thoughts.

    ¡°Then a fundamental question first. Or rather, a review. It really was ¡®Healing Magic¡¯ that Prince Francesco used to heal Zenkichi, right? And not that he secretly used the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ in his right hand instead.¡±

    ¡°Yes, no doubt. You must have seen it, too. The magical power back then really came from Prince Francesco¡¯s body and showered down on Carlos. That was his magic beyond question.

    And as you can see, the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ is not consumed.¡±

    Saying so, Aura ced the white stone redundant with magical power on the table.

    Zenjirou blinked surprised.

    ¡°Huh? He left it with us?

    ¡°Yes, because the official reason for paying Carlos a sick bed visit all the way in the Inner Pce was to use the stone. It would contradict itself if he were to leave with an unused stone.¡±

    ¡°But didn¡¯t he say that Princess Bona would be angry if he used it?¡±

    ¡°ording to him it is an everyday urrence for both of them that she gets angry at him.¡±

    ¡°Oh no¡­ That sounds like Prince Francesco has a hard time, but when you think about it, it¡¯s Princess Bona, who has a hard time.¡±

    Zenjirou apologized to Princess Bona in his mind.

    ¡°Anyhow, the prince wasn¡¯t an idiot after all. Then the story that the king himself appointed Princess Bona as his chaperon¡­¡±

    ¡°She was undoubtedly used for obfuscation. Prince Francesco¡¯s foolish acting bes so more believable when someone is actually taking him serious.¡±

    ¡°How pitiful¡­¡±

    Tears welled in his eyes.

    Seriously pitying Princess Bona now, Zenjirou moved on to the next topic in order to shake off that feeling.

    ¡°Anyway, I kind of understand the exnation that Zenkichi can use ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯ as well as ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯, but why did Prince Francesco go to such length to prove that to us? In my opinion, that was only beneficial to us.¡±

    Aura shook her head to his question with a slightly bitter expression.

    ¡°No. In the short run, knowing that actually holds no merit for us.

    Think about it. Do you actually believe it is possible to learn the correct intonation, magical power input and perception for the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ without a teacher?¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. Just knowing the fact that you can use it doesn¡¯t mean you can actually use it. You need to learn the right way to use it.¡±

    Zenjirou was convinced, whereas Aura nodded displeased.

    ¡°Exactly. Without the help of the Sharrow Royal Family, it would probably take three or more generations to learn it by trial and error.¡±

    ¡°Uwah, that¡¯s long¡­¡±

    Now it made sense that Aura said there was no merit in the short run.

    ¡°So, in other words, Prince Francesco¡¯s going to ask for something in exchange for teaching Zenkichi any time soon?¡±

    After a bit of pondering, Zenjirou made a conjecture about the ulterior motive of the foreign prince, which Aura affirmed, albeit correcting it a bit.

    ¡°That is more than likely. Still, it is hard to believe that Prince Francesco is acting on his own on this. The revealed information is just too grave for that.

    If the Crown Prince or the King of the Sharrow Family are pulling the strings here, they might be after something entirely different.¡±

    ¡°Something entirely different?¡±

    Since Zenjirou inclined his head puzzled, Aura continued to exin with a slightly stern expression.

    ¡°Yes. There is no real benefit for the Sharrow Family when Carlos can use ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯. But who do you think will profit when it bes publicly known that Carlos is a practitioner of the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Prince Francesco?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Leaving his political standing aside, he has an incredible talent.

    It is only natural to want to pass his immense amount of magical power on to the next generation, not to mention his special feature of having two magic.¡±

    ¡°Right. The amount of magical power¡¯s generally inherited from the parents after all, with a few exceptions.¡±

    The inherited factor was only as noticeable as one from a phenotypic trait from the parent, though, but having more magical power was appealing to royalty, who were using ¡°Bloodline Magic¡±.

    Yet Prince Francesco, in possession of tremendous magical power, was forbidden to make children by reason of their secret agreement. From a certain point of view that was certainly a waste.

    ¡°In short, they are nning to overrule the agreement, where the ¡®lineage of those with two bloodline magic has to end¡¯, by establishing a public precedence in form of Zenkichi?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes, but that is just my personal deduction. The Twin Kingdom would practically bring about a revolution if they actually were to do that, so I doubt that they will go so far.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then it won¡¯t be such a big fuss?¡±

    His somewhat hopeful remark was merciless dismissed by the Queen.

    ¡°No. I am afraid that it will. Now that foreigners know how Carlos can use ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯, it is more than likely that our own people will get to know about it, too.

    And when that happens, the next question will be: ¡®How did Prince Carlos get the disposition for the Bestowal Magic?¡¯

    Then it will only be a matter of time until it is exposed that you, Zenjirou, have inherited the blood of the Sharrow Royal Family. And at longst, the radical faction, starting with General Puyol, will surely insist even more forcefully than before that you take a concubine.¡±

    ¡°Oh god¡­¡±

    After she had indifferently talked about the presumptive future so far, the Queen showed a cramped expression that suppressed her pain when her husband leaked a despairing outcry.

    ¡°Sorry. In the end, I am always breaking my promises to you, even though you have never broken any to me¡­¡±

    Since his wife slouched her shoulders so much so that you could practically see her dejection, Zenjirou reflexively answered withforting words.

    ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry about it so much. You didn¡¯t break your promise to me, the circumstances of my ancestors are just a little bit too special.¡±

    In fact, it really wasn¡¯t Aura¡¯s fault. If anything, her only mistake was that she had been too naive about the initial future prospect.

    Things were just developing into an unpleasant direction for him, but as the Queen, Aura had no choice but to burden him with it, since the country would suffer too much otherwise.

    ¡°Nheless, I have given you the condition that ¡®you do not need to do anything except making a child¡¯ when I summoned you. I wish I could travel back in time with ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ and p myself in the face.

    To be perfectly honest with you, the Royal Pce would sink into total chaos right now, if I really were to have you ¡®do nothing¡¯.¡±

    Aura vomited out these words just like mocking herself for her naivety back then.

    ¡°Hmm, but I never really thought that I would get to do nothing. And I did have my share of free time for a few month after the wedding.

    But not having to do anything wasn¡¯t as fun as I thought it would be. So it¡¯s all right in the end, I guess.¡±

    He certainly had chosen his words in order tofort Aura, but they weren¡¯t a lie either.

    For the better or worse, he had gotten used to the pressure that he felt when he acted as a representative for the country, so he no longer felt all that mentally tired.

    He had nothing serious toin about in his current lifestyle.

    But especially because of that he absolutely wanted to refuse a ¡°concubine¡±, who would turn this life upside down.

    Of course he would need to find his inner peace with it when, in the worst case, he could no longer avoid it, but he once again vowed to himself that he would at least ¡°not take a concubine¡± until the time he ran out of options.

    ¡°But is there nothing you want to have or do?¡±

    Zenjirou was already used to his wife¡¯s question as she asked it for the nth time, and mused for a moment, then gave a slightly different answer than usually.

    ¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see¡­ Doesn¡¯t have to be right away, but I want to hold Zenkichi.¡±

    His response waspletely different from what Aura had expected, but it was undoubtedly his greatest wish right now.

    After all, he had been unable to visit him in the past few days due to work, and today had been the ruckus with the ¡°Spotted Fever¡±.

    His beloved son was supposed to be healed, but he wanted to hold him with his own hands and feel his warmth in order to erase all doubts within him as soon as possible.

    ¡°Zenjirou¡­¡±

    Even Aura could only make a wry smile in response.

    She had asked him the question, because she had wanted to reward him in some way or other for not voicing a singlein when she had put him through so much trouble, but she suddenly emphasized with his reply.

    ¡°You are right. His illness is already cured, so Doctor Michelle surely will not fuss anymore. Let us go pay him a visit in the near future.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s. Good, the mere thought of it gives me back my power!¡±

    Just as he had said, his eyes were bursting with strength again as he leaned forward on the couch and rolled his shoulders.

    ¡°However, you are not allowed to speak in front of Carlos.¡±

    ¡°Oh,e on! I¡¯ve been studying like crazytely. My pronunciation has gotten better, too, so I wish you would let me say something else than ¡®it¡¯s me, papa¡¯ now.¡±

    ¡°Nope. Your effort isudable, but not so much the oue.¡±

    ¡°Harsh words¡­¡±

    ¡°Fufu, the future of our child is at stake after all.¡±

    The following chit-chat continued happily, recing the gloomy atmosphere from before.

    * * *

    ¡°Prince Francesco, you are being too careless! I cannot believe you demanded to be allowed into the Inner Pce. One wrong step and it would have caused a huge scandal!¡±

    At the same time, Prince Francesco, now back in the south building of the Royal Pce, received a really long lecture from the angry ¡°chaperon¡± woman, like he had expected.

    With the hottest season of the year out of the way, the room should have a rather pleasant temperature, since it was cooled by a magic tool called ¡°Fog Genesis¡±, but Princess Bona¡¯s flushed face was drenched in sweat while she was raising her voice.

    Unlike Prince Francesco, who sat cosily on the couch, she had been standing most of the time with her arms pressed onto the table, leaning forward aggressively.

    ¡°My bad. But don¡¯t you feel sorry for Prince Carlos? He isn¡¯t even two years old yet and had an illness that might have killed him.¡±

    When a royalty, whether from the Sharrow or Jilbell Family, got sick in the Twin Kingdom, the healers from the Jilbell Family immediately used their ¡°Healing Magic¡±. Due to that, the members of the royal families in the Twin Kingdom were not used to dying from an illness.

    In this way the ¡°excuse¡± from Prince Francesco had had cogency, but not enough to convince the diligent Princess Bona.

    ¡°I do feel sympathy for Prince Carlos. However, I have been told that the ¡®Spotted Fever¡¯ is not such a lethal illness. Yet you used the one and only ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ you possess!

    What are you going to do when you yourself catch an illness now! We are not in the Twin Kingdom here. There are no healers around!¡±

    She made a ¡°sound argument¡± as she talked herself into a fury, but to anyone, who knew that the pressed prince was actually a healer himself, it only looked like she was making a fool out of herself.

    Having said that, there was a possibility that he would be unable to use ¡°Healing Magic¡°, because hecked the concentration when his illness suddenly worsened or he suffered an unavoidable wound. Likewise might he be unable to pronounce the incantation properly when he got a hoarse voice in the worst case. Consider that, it really had been careless to give away his one and only ¡°Imbued Stone of Cure¡±.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I already informed my father in the capital with the ¡®Burning Pair Parchment¡¯. He¡¯ll send over a recement at once.¡±

    ¡°Y- You even used the ¡®Burning Pair Parchment¡¯!?¡±

    Princess Bona nearly fainted when she heard his answer.

    The ¡®Burning Pair Parchment¡¯ was a magic tool.

    It had originally been created with the military intentions to lit a fire in far away ces, because one parchment from the bestowed pair of dragonskin parchments burnt exactly the same way as the other when you lit up one. But as soon as they discovered that they could write on it by means of burn marks, it was immediately established as a way ofmunication.

    It hardly needs mentioning that its rate of transmission and secrecy was outstanding, considering that the fastest means ofmunication in this world was usually the ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡±.

    To cite an example: One country could use limited ¡°emails¡± while the others were still using carrier pigeons or mounted couriers. Its value of benefit was extremely high. So high that it was said that its designer was the hidden mastermind behind the rise of the Twin Kingdom as the supreme ruler of the central region of the South Continent.

    On a rted note, magic tools such as the ¡°Sand Pair Box¡±, which tried to generate the same effect with Earth Magic instead, or the ¡°Water Pair Parchment¡±, which used water instead of ink, were developed, too, but never found practical application.

    As a general rule, the ¡°Burning Pair Parchment¡± was so valuable that it was only given tomanders of a fortress near the country border or diplomats in foreign countries for genuine emergencies.

    Yet Prince Francesco had used his so readily, so Princess Bona was at a loss for words about his carefreeness.

    Was it due to the fact that he was a prince of gentle birth?

    That thought crossed her mind for a moment as she was well aware that she had a parsimonious spirit.

    ¡°Yep. My father and grandfather told me to inform them at once if I use the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯. Oh, I asked them to send other stuff we arecking, too. They will bring a support and fixture for your engraving, too. The other day you said you couldn¡¯t find a good fixture here, right?¡±

    ¡°Really? Thank you very much! That has been troubling me. I know I should not be saying this, but the engraving techniques in this country leave a lot to be desired, and the same goes for their tools.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. Kind of loose, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°You noticed it as well? That is indeed the case. How do I put it? It does not properly fixate the metal and every time you apply the graver, it slips slightly out of position. The craftsmen here do not seem to mind it, though, so I cannot bring myself to mention it¡­ Wait a moment, we are getting off-topic!¡±

    Loosing herself in the talk about jewellery, Princess Bona suddenly noticed that she was led astray. She withstood the temptation and got back to the original topic.

    ¡°Let¡¯s say I acknowledge your fellow feeling for Prince Carlos. Could you not have handed the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ to Her Majesty Aura or His Majesty Zenjirou?

    Why were you being so reckless and entered the Inner Pce yourself?¡±

    ¡°The Carpa Kingdom has its own stock of ¡®Imbued Stones of Cure¡¯, you know? But they didn¡¯t use one this time. So I couldn¡¯t be sure whether Her Majesty Aura would use mine, even when I handed her it.¡±

    That was definitely a sound argument from him, but Princess Bona got a bad feeling when she heard his justification.

    ¡°Uhm¡­ Prince Francesco? I do not think it is possible, but I would like to ask just in case: You did not say something simr to Her Majesty Aura, correct¡­?¡±

    ¡°Simr? I practically told her that word by word.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    She put both hands on the table and hung her head so much it seemed it would fall off.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Her Majesty prefers a direct approach and is frank with you about small matters.¡±

    Prince Francescoughed it off unconcerned and appeased her by shaking his hand in denial, but Princess Bona didn¡¯t hear anything of it.

    ¡°I- I personally have to apologize to Her Majesty Aura¡­ No, she must be rather busy, so I should discuss it with His Majesty Zenjirou first¡­¡±

    The fact that she, despite the circumstances, mumbled a constructive n to fix the situation to herself, instead of harbouring a grudge, proved how genuine her diligence and sense of responsibility were, even if she was still hanging her head.

    After behaving like that for a short while, she raised her head, as she had seemingly made a resolve, and spoke.

    ¡°Prince Francesco, I have something urgent to attend to now, so you will have to excuse me. And for the love of God, please stay put.

    Do you understand? If you have to go out, you absolutely have to tell me, okay? I do not need any weird consideration.

    Well then, I will see youter.¡±

    Once she had rattled away, she quickly left the room.

    Her exit was signalized by the quiet ttering of the closing door.

    As if on cue, Prince Francesco then changed his already slovenly posture for the worse andid down on the couch.

    ¡°Puh¡­¡±

    Apparently the previous casual attitude had been his attempt to check himself in due consideration of Princess Bona.

    He yawned shamelessly, then folded his arms behind his head and looked up to the ceiling while showing the usual smile on his face.

    ¡°Man, Bona sure is cute. Somehow I¡¯m getting healed just by looking at her.¡±

    In fact, he had never met a woman before that tired him as little as Princess Bona did.

    ¡°Maybe I would have a wife like her by now, if it weren¡¯t for the way I am?¡±

    Stretching his hands out towards the ceiling, he stared at the magical power emitting from these hands.

    Even amongst royalty, his magical power was exceptional and it was more than twice asrge as Princess Bona¡¯s or Zenjirou¡¯s.

    Due to that, his body had control over the bloodline magic of two royalties without suppressing one. The fact that he could use two bloodline magic didn¡¯t mean that he had two kind of magical powers, but just for fun, he was using his right hand for the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± and his left for the ¡°Healing Magic¡±.

    Prince Francesco continued his monologue while the magic power flickered irregrly on each hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a shame that I can¡¯t get married, but I still like my carefree position. Or at least I don¡¯t really want to be part of the political world with a im on the throne.¡±

    His face showed a bitter smile he would never show to anyone when he honestly gave voice to his thoughts.

    ¡°I wish my father or grandfather would think more like me¡­¡±

    Stillying on the couch, he wordlessly stared at the ceiling for a while.

    ¡°The ¡®Uniting Faction¡¯¡­¡±

    Before long, an unfamiliar term left his mouth quietly muttered.

    ¡°Uniting Faction¡±. Simply put, it was a political group that deemed the current dual system of the Twin Kingdom with the Sharrow and Jilbell Families ruling one country as ¡°unstable¡±, and aimed at uniting both families.

    And although it was called the ¡°Uniting Faction¡± altogether, there were actually rivalling subgroups. Some wanted the Sharrow Family to be the only Royal Family and have the Jilbell Family take a backseat. Others in turn wanted the exact opposite of that. And yet others suggested that both families appointed amon king on a rotating basis.

    One minority group amongst that ¡°Uniting Faction¡± was called the ¡°Absolute Uniting Faction¡±.

    Like the name implied, they propagated the policy to literally ¡°unite¡± both royal families in the future by the means of mandatory marriages between the Sharrow and Jilbell Family.

    In their opinion, the king ought to be someone, who can use both bloodline magic, to serve as a symbol for the united royal family.

    Having said this, it was nothing but a pipe dream, an extreme ideal so to speak, because there had never been such a person in the ¡°past¡±. But ¡°right now¡±, there lived an ideal candidate in the shadows.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I can¡¯t rte to their ideal, but I wish they would keep me out of it.¡±

    Their ideal intended to destroy the long-standing history of the two royal families, who went hand in hand with each other on the surface, butpeted with each other over their authority in secret.

    In simplified terms: It only sounded like they wanted to cause turmoil in peaceful times.

    A truly troublesome issue.

    For that reason, Prince Francesco stopped thinking any further.

    ¡°Well,e what may.¡±

    Saying so, he sat up with a jerk and his face showed his usual innocent smile again.

    * * *

    A few dayster.

    Four royalties of two countries were meeting in a room of the Royal Pce.

    Queen Aura and Prince Consort Zenjirou represented the Carpa Kingdom, whereas Prince Francesco and Princess Bona represented the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell.

    It meant that all the royalties that were currently situated in the Carpa Kingdom were assembled in one spot.

    The official pronouncement entailed an apology for the forceful entrance of Prince Francesco into the Inner Pce and an expression of thanks for his treatment, respectively. That wasn¡¯t the real agenda, though.

    And as a matter of fact, the pretext had quickly ended with Princess Bona saying ¡°My apologies for causing you troubles the other day¡±, to which Aura had answered ¡°No, not at all. I cannot thank you enough for using the ¡®Imbued Stone of Cure¡¯ for my son. I will definitely repay you for it.¡±

    To begin with, the diligent Princess Bona had more or less worked out a conciliation for the incident beforehand through correspondence and Aura had no intention to aggravate the situation, since she knew about the secret circumstances regarding Prince Francesco.

    Therefore their meeting immediately advanced to the next objective.

    ¡°Are we done now? We are, right? Good, then onto my business next.

    This is the finished ¡®Future Compensation¡¯ magic tool. Thank you very much for your cooperation, Your Majesty Aura.¡±

    Saying that, Prince Francesco took a small gold work out of his pocket and ced it onto the table.

    ¡°Oh, wonderful.¡±

    ¡°Wow, amazing.¡±

    Aura and Zenjirou involuntarily leaned over the table and eyed the small magic tool. Zenjirou naturally saw it for the first time, since he hadn¡¯t been involved at all, but even Aura saw the finished product for the first time now, even if she had helped bestow the magical power numerous times before.

    It was barely big enough to bnce it on two fingers. To describe it more detailed: A light blue marble, provided by Zenjirou, was only enclosed by a metal frame in form of a regr octahedron.

    The frame was most likely made out of pure gold, since it sparkled brightly.

    The design was simple, but well done. At least to Zenjirou it looked like the thickness of the frame was coherent. And all eight holes, showing the marble inside, appeared to be regr triangles of the same size, too.

    The handiwork was so perfect, precisely because of its simple design.

    The admiration from Queen Aura and Zenjirou made the satisfied Prince Francesco figuratively give himself a pat on the back while he carried out his exposition of the ornament.

    ¡°Only the transparent jewel from His Majesty Zenjirou on the inside functions as the magic tool. The outside frame is merely a cover for it.

    Spherical magic tools will lose their functionality from the slightest crack, so it was designed with a sturdy framework.

    But it is still breakable, so please be careful with it.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand.¡±

    After listening seriously to his exnation, Aura nodded short and reached out her hand for the magic tool.

    ¡°Oh, so small.¡±

    ¡°Certainly, but it still fulfils almost all of your conditions.

    Magic tools are generally ssified into three types: ¡®Disposable¡®, ¡®Self-charging¡¯ and ¡®Manual Charging¡®, so if anything, this one is a ¡ä¡®Manual Charging¡¯ type.

    In order to use it, you have to directly touch the jewel on the inside with your finger and then chant ¡®I offer the magic of XX days¡¯ in the magguage. By doing so, the jewel will store the effect of ¡®Future Compensation¡¯.

    And like you have requested, it also is possible to ¡®Replenish¡¯ it. So when you apply a day worth of magical power today and again after a week or so, you will have two days worth of magical power at your disposal.

    On the other hand, if you wish to ess the magical power stored through ¡®Future Compensation¡¯, you likewise touch the jewel directly with your finger and say ¡®I invoke you¡¯ in the magguage. You control the magic tool with these twomands.

    I am afraid, though, that it was not possible to make it ¡®release only a part of the magical power¡¯ like you had requested. So when you chant ¡®I invoke you¡¯, it will release its whole pool of stored magical power, whether it is worth just one day or a whole year, so please keep that in mind.¡±

    Maybe he only became serious when he exined about magic tools? Prince Francesco kept aposed expression and a distinct tone so unlike his usual way of talking, for his exnation.

    ¡°Impressive. Seeing such a potent magic tool with such a perfect shape confirms all the rumours about you being a first-rate ¡®craftsman¡¯ and ¡®practitioner of Bestowal Magic¡¯.¡±

    Zenjirou showered him in praise with a polite tone, whereas Prince Francesco

    ¡°Please! You¡¯re putting me on the spot. But it was worth working so hard.¡±

    showed his familiar innocent smile and scratched his head bashful.

    ¡°Yes, it is a wonderful piece. Let me thank you once again, Prince Francesco.¡±

    And although Aura showed an indifferent expression and spoke with a t voice, she admired the power of the magic tool in front of her at heart even now.

    The significance of this magic tool was enormous.

    It might give overly expensive magic like ¡°Time Reversal¡± or ¡°Space Istion Barrier¡± a practical application now.

    Its only shoring was that the stored magical power couldn¡¯t be used bit by bit. If it were able to do that, she could have used ¡°Teleport¡±, the best and most frequently used magic amongst the Space-Time Magic, in all conscience, but life wasn¡¯t always a bowl of cherries.

    (But it will practically the same if we can make more ¡®Future Compensation¡¯ magic tools in the future.)

    Needless to say, the practitioners of Bestowal Magic from the Twin Kingdom would hardly agree to a ¡°mass production¡± of magic tools for the Carpa Kingdom.

    In that case, her n necessarily involved either teaching Carlos the Bestowal Magic or having Zenjirou make a bastard that could use Bestowal Magic.

    The blood from the Carpa Family would be too dominant in a child from Aura, so it was pretty unlikely that it would awaken to the Bestowal Magic.

    It would be so much easier if all her children were blessed with enough magical power to use both magic without problem, like Carlos, but expecting another direct descendant being born with such enormous magical power was seeing things through rose-coloured sses.

    As a matter of fact, Aura only knew of one more person that had a magical power on par with Carlos, namely the blonde prince in front of her.

    Moreover, when you excluded these two, she was, as far as she knew, already regarded as someone with quite a lot of magical power, even though she only had seventy to eighty percent of their magical power.

    Considering all that, it was rather foolish to expect her next children to have equal or greater magical power than Carlos.

    She should try to mass produce the marbles in the future by advancing the development of the ss manufacture.

    At the same time, she should raise practitioners of ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± and ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± by letting Zenjirou take a couple of concubines to make as much bastards as possible to a feasible extent.

    That decision was supposed to be executed without hesitation, if she were only thinking about advancing the influence of her country.

    It hardly needed mentioning that it wasn¡¯t that simple. Various factors needed to be considered, such as diplomatic issues with the Twin Kingdom for practically stealing their bloodline magic or authority ims from other families when Zenjirou took a concubine.

    (Still, I better put up with the fact that my husband will no longer be able to avoid taking a concubine at this point.)

    In the moment Aura drew a conclusion that caused a sharp pain to run through her chest,

    ¡°Excuse me, Your Highness. It is nearly time. Are you ready?¡±

    the door was knocked and a familiar middle-aged man with a slender face entered: Secretary Fabio.

    Unlike the other three, Aura was overwhelmed with duties, so she had coordinated it with them from the beginning that she would leave the meeting ahead of time.

    ¡°Already thiste? Fine. Prince Francesco, Princess Bona, I will excuse myself now.

    Take care of the rest, Zenjirou.¡±

    Saying so, Aura stood up from her chair, whereat Zenjirou also stood up.

    ¡°It has been a pleasure, Your Majesty Aura.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for allocating some time for us out of your busy schedule, Your Majesty Aura.¡±

    Prince Francesco curtly said his thanks with a smile while Princess Bona bowed faithfully like always.

    ¡°Yes, I will, Your Highness.¡±

    Seen off by the respectful words of her husband, which she would never hear in the Inner Pce, Aura left the room.

    * * *

    Letting Zenjirou take care of the rest and leaving early, Aura then headed to the room she was most familiar with in the Royal Pce: The office of the Queen.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    After she had sat down in her usual chair, a gloomy sigh left her mouth reflexively.

    This emotional manifestation of the Queen didn¡¯t escape the Head Secretary.

    ¡°Is something the matter, Your Highness? For you to sigh unbefitting like that¡­¡±

    She hadn¡¯t heard his unblemished way of speaking in a long time, since she had assigned him to Zenjiroutely, so she felt more nostalgic than angry.

    ¡°Oh, well, it turns out that I will have to burden my husband once again. So, to be honest, I am feeling a bit depressed.¡±

    Aura craned her neck with these words and sat back, looking up to the ceiling.

    Her secretary, known for his usual indifferent mask, perked his eyebrows up in reaction to her whining, and said in a teasing tone.

    ¡°Oh dear, enamoured, aren¡¯t we? I reckon, you are that afraid of making him angry?¡±

    Aura narrowed her eyes displeased from his obviously ridiculing words, and spit out her answer.

    ¡°Yes, I am. More than anything at the moment, to be honest. Maybe you do not realize how scary it is to anger my husband?¡±

    ¡°Who knows? People say that rational people like him are beyond control once their emotions gain the upper hand, though.¡±

    On a rare asion, Secretary Fabio avoided a straight answer. Feeling a bit advantageous, Aura denied him.

    ¡°No, no. It is nothing that simple.

    Listen, I will give you an example.

    Suppose that I angered Manuel M¨¢rguez. In that case it does not matter whether I or him are in the right. It will still affect the state affairs terribly when Count M¨¢rguez is in a bad mood. What would you do in my position to lift his mood?¡±

    Secretary Fabio couldn¡¯t quite wrap his head around it, but answered the rather realistic example right away, even if he cocked his head.

    ¡°Lift his mood, you say? Let me see, assuming it has to be resolved quickly at all costs, I believe the fastest method would be to temporarily exempt him from the taxes to the royal family. Because, for the better or worse, Count M¨¢rguez reaches his decisions based on profit.¡±

    Aura nodded once, as his reply satisfied her, and cited another example.

    ¡°Well then, what would you do for Puyol Guill¨¦n under the same prerequisites? Unless you fix the rtionship with General Puyol as fast as possible, the country will suffer. How would you act in that case?¡±

    ¡°I would have no other choice, but to promote him to ¡®Marshall¡¯. He is an ambitious man, but his ambition is directed at his military standing rather than nobility.¡±

    That reply was apparently satisfying as well. A grinning Aura asked him ast question.

    ¡°Well, certainly. And now thest, important question.

    The situation is the same as before. How would you improve the mood of my husband if you had to fix the rtionship as quickly as possible?¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Secretary Fabio remained silent for a while.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    But no matter how hard he pondered, he apparently couldn¡¯t find an answer to that question.

    ¡°I give up. I cannot think of anything.¡±

    Shrugging his slender shoulders, he admitted defeat.

    The grin on Aura¡¯s face intensified.

    ¡°See. You have no clue, right? You cannot think of anything, right? Same goes for me. Now you should know why I am so scared to make my husband angry.

    There is no trump card you can y to at least get him to hear you out when the rtionship got worse by angering him.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I have never met a person, who is so not attached to anything in particr, before.¡±

    He had no choice but to acknowledge that.

    Zenjirou wasn¡¯t after money, nor did he show any ambition towards status. Neither was he some kind of collector that got passionate over a certain something. Although he wasn¡¯tpletely indifferent about women, he didn¡¯t ogle any other women but his wife Aura, and even rejected concubines with all his might.

    ¡°I have no means to soothe him with If I actually were to anger him. Nheless, an impaired rtionship with him will affect the country greatly. Now, is it really such a strange thing to fear putting someone like that off?¡±

    ¡°No. Forgive me, my remark was out of line.¡±

    The secretary honestly apologized to the ring Queen.

    ¡°Well then, what is on the agenda today? It strikes me that I ought to reply to a petition from the eastern nobles?¡±

    Done with the chit-chat, Aura tried to get into business mode, but Secretary Fabio

    ¡°Not quite. That was originally nned, but a ¡®Small Flying Dragon¡¯ arrived this morning from General Puyol, who is on the way to subjugate the Pack Dragons on the Salt Road. Please look through it first.¡±

    corrected her and ced four small envelopes containing thin dragonskin parchments onto her desk.

    The messages of the ¡°Small Flying Dragons¡± were usually all the same, but she still had to read them just in case.

    ¡°General Puyol contacted us with ¡®Small Flying Dragons¡¯? Then something unexpected must have happened.¡±

    Aura clicked her tongue reflexively and took one of the envelopes with a gloomy face. Once she had opened it, she read through it.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    As a result, she screw up her face sullen.

    ¡°Your Highness? Bad news, as you expected?¡±

    She heaved a sigh in reaction to his question.

    ¡°Yes. Bad news indeed.

    Puyol Guill¨¦n failed to subjugate the Pack Dragons. Or more precisely, they fought a battle and he concluded that they are undermanned for the task, so he is requesting reinforcements.¡±

    ¡°Oh no¡­¡±

    When the secretary was clued in on it, he narrowed his eyes to slits and was astounded on a very rare asion.

    Still, his reaction was understandable.

    Puyol Guill¨¦n was leading the elite troops ¡°Dragonback Archery Knights¡±. And to think they failed to subjugate mere carnivore dragons. Any resident of this country would doubt his ears when hearing that.

    Aura tapped the small dragonskin parchment in her hand and shrugged her shoulders a bit.

    ¡°If it is true what is written here, then it is not his fault. I would have requested reinforcements under these circumstances, too.¡±

    ¡°It has some weight to it if you are both saying that. Well, do I arrange for reinforcements?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Prepare them for arge-scale hunt. Anyone with experience will do, but prioritize numbers. Still, we cannot afford to lose a single soldier right now.

    So we should send supply wagons and supplies abundantly in order to ease the burden on the soldiers even for a bit.¡±

    ¡°That will costs us dearly.¡±

    ¡°I know, but it is necessary.¡±

    Secretary Fabio kept quiet for a moment upon her answer, but before long, he epted.

    ¡°Very well. Anyway, I would really like to hear the detailster on. I cannot believe that a simple subjugation of carnivore dragons has gotten sorge-scale.¡±

    ¡°You said it. The phrase ¡¯wishful thinking¡¯ has never been so right on the money as now. What a harsh world we live in.¡±

    Saying so, Aura heaved a sigh as if she was exhaling deeply.

 Chapter Volume 4 Extra

    The working conditions of the waiting maids in the Inner Pce of the Carpa Kingdom actually counted as more than manageable.

    Okay, the amount of maids working there was a bit insufficient for the size of the pce, but they only had to serve Zenjirou and Aura, so the workload for each maid was never too much. (Recently, the new resident Prince Carlos Zenkichi called for a lot of attention, but the wet nurse Cassandra was mainly taking care of him and the waiting maids were simply assisting her, so it didn¡¯t actually increase their workload by much.)

    On top of that, they hardly ever received any sudden tasks, since Queen Aura was practically never present during the day and Zenjirou preferred to be left alone, however weird that may be for nobility in this world.

    Of course there was a lot to be done on a daily basis, such as preparing three meals, cleaning every room and the bath as well as tending to the garden, but they almost didn¡¯t have to worry about being ¡°pushed around by their master¡±, something they normally had to be prepared for when serving nobility or royalty, so they could take it rtively easy.

    Still, that didn¡¯t mean it was roses all the way.

    Naturally there were down sides to having Zenjirou, a man from a different world, as their master, too.

    One very good example would be that the ¡°business hours¡± went up.

    Born and raised in modern Japan, Zenjirou was used to have light by flipping a switch, so his nightssted longer. Needless to say, Zenjirou was always considerate to his surroundings, so he made sure not to stay up toote unless it was absolutely necessary.

    Nevertheless, his habit of staying upte (albeit only up to ten or eleven o¡¯clock at night at best) showed no signs of changing, because he had brought a source of light in form of various LED floormps and a domestic hydropower generator with him.

    As an unavoidable consequence, some of the waiting maids had to remain on stand-by for him.

    Although he rarely did call for their services, the maids were not allowed to ignore their awake master and go to bed by themselves.

    On the basis of a shift schedule, a few maids had to wait patiently in the antechamber ¡°just in case¡± until Zenjirou went to sleep.

    The result was that the young waiting maids developed the same bad habit of ¡°staying upte¡± as Zenjirou.

    It goes without saying that the effect of a bad habit did leave its mark on the ¡°three troublemakers¡± Fay, Dolores and Rethe as well.

    Late at night in the Carpa Kingdom. Or to say it in the terms of modern Japan: The timeframe, where eleven-years-oldined when you told them to go to sleep.

    A faint light and bustle could be picked up from the private room of the ¡°three troublemakers¡±.

    Even in the Inner Pce, the private chambers of Zenjirou, meaning the living and bed room, were the only ces with electricity.

    Hence it was usually an oil pan on a tall stand that illuminated the rooms of the waiting maids from a corner.

    The flickering me of the burning oil was somewhatcking, but their rooms weren¡¯t all that big to begin with, so it shed light on the outlines of the entire room at least.

    Inside such a dimly lit room, the three troublemakers were each enjoying their own way of ¡°staying upte¡±.

    ¡°Good, just three more holes. If I get a Birdie now, I might get to break Zenjirou-sama¡¯s record¡­!¡±

    A petite girl with short curled ck hairy face down on a simple wooden bed and fiddled with the portable game console, looking all serious. Her name was Fay.

    Although she was merrily kicking the bed as shey there, her gaze directed at the game console was the seriousness incarnate.

    Nevertheless, it wouldn¡®t be urate to describe this scene as ?serious¡°, considering she was snacking ?banana chips¡° from a wooden te next to her arm while she was engrossed in the game.

    On a rted note, Fay was currently ying on a non-copsible game console with only one screen. It was a different device from the one she had yed the drop down or cart race games on before. The girls hadn¡®t chosen this game console on their own.

    It had been Zenjirou, who shared the console with them.

    ¡°Damn, these girls are getting really good. At this rate my snacks will vanish in an instant.¡±

    Apparently that had been his reasoning.

    In that case, he could just stop giving out ¡°rewards¡±, but the fact that he didn¡¯t do that was prove that he, too, enjoyed the gamepetition with the maids.

    Incidentally, all his snacks with a rtive short shelf life such as the smarties or regr cookies had already been eaten up by the royal couple themselves or else the ¡°three troublemakers¡±.

    The reward Zenjirou had prepared right now were the canned chocte or biscuits from his emergency pack and as soon as these were consumed, he no longer had any snacks from his world.

    Unaware of these circumstances, Fay simply remained true to her desire andpetition spirit as she tried to beat his score.

    The light from the disy of the game console enlightened her face from below and was reflected in her two prominent big ck eyes.

    She pressed her small lips together and waited for the right timing to press the button. As a result,

    ¡°Argh, no. Why? The wind? Are you kidding me?¡±

    At the crucial point, Fay made a brilliant miss swing out of bonds and forgot that it was currently night, pping her legs and raising a scream.

    ¡°Hey, Fay! Be quiet! Do you want to get into trouble again?¡±

    Her roommate, a tall woman, raised a sharp voice. Her name was Dolores.

    On both sides of this room were the private rooms of other waiting maids. Staying upte was frowned upon, so when one of the other maids, who had probably already went to sleep,ined, they woulde out on the short end.

    ¡°Sorry. But if that had happened to you, you would¡¯ve screamed out too! Man, a Birdie here and I might¡¯ve broken Zenjirou-sama¡¯s record!¡±

    Although she apologized at once and lowered her voice, Fay still kicked her legs frustrated and grunted. So Dolores got up from her own bed and looked at the console in Fay¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Oh, your score was that good? Wait, you¡¯re still using that fat male character? No wonder your swings are forking off. That guy got no control. And I told you to use the blonde female character.¡±

    ¡°But he shoots the farthest¡­ Uhh¡­¡±

    The petite waiting maid with the short hair was seemingly giving herself a challenge already and together with the tall waiting maid with long hair, they continued to discuss the game.

    ¡°You¡¯re too obsessed with the high score. When you¡¯re ying on a course with hazards or fairways with out of bonds left and right, you have to y safe. Your score will be more solid when you only attack on safe fairways.¡±

    ¡°Still, my score always gets ruined by bad control, no matter how safe I y it. I can be as cautious in the first half as I possibly can and it stilles to naught when I miss a swing in thetter half. So I might as well go on the offence right from the very beginning.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re only favouring range and use a character that has bad control.¡±

    Fay admitted her usualck of patience, whereas Dolores gave a weary response.

    Meanwhile not even Dolores noticed that she was changing in various ways by getting in touch with the culture of a different world at the hands of the game.

    The counting system in golf was a bit peculiar to begin with. A par scored 0, a bogey 1 and a birdie -1. The yer with the lowest total score in the end won the game.

    Needless to say, the game console calcted the score automatically. But apparently the three troublemakers had learned to calcte the golf score by themselves, albeit vaguely, while they witnessed the up and downs in their scores during their gamey.

    At the same time that meant that they were beginning to understand the concepts of ¡°zero¡± and ¡°negative¡±.

    Having said that, the girls had no idea how valuable the knowledge was that they were obtaining now.

    ¡°Aw, I knew I would fail. Damn, so frustrating. If not for that mistake earlier, it really might have worked out!¡±

    Having finished the game, Fay plunged her head into her pillow while still holding onto the game console with both hands.

    ¡°Oh, you done?¡±

    ¡°Ya¡­¡±

    She muttered sloppily into her pillow, probably feeling down from her defeat.

    ¡°Well, then turn off the ¡®power¡¯ or it¡¯ll go to waste, since Rethe isn¡¯t back yet.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. It¡¯s her turn next.¡±

    The deration from Dolores made Fay turn only her head towards her and speak to her.

    ¡°Hey, Dolores.¡±

    Just from the sugar-coated voice of her little roommate, Dolores knew what she was going to say and quickly snatched the game console from Fay¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Nope. Abide the order.¡±

    ¡°Aw? Oh,e on. I¡¯ll give it back as soon as Rethees back.¡±

    Dolores pped away the hands that reached out greedily from atop of Fay¡¯s bed.

    ¡°I said no. I know you all too well. If I were to allow that now, you would say ¡®Give me a moment. Only one more hole. One more and I¡¯ll be done, so wait a sec.¡¯ and ultimately y until the end.

    And since Rethe is a good girl, she¡¯ll forgive you with smile.¡±

    While the two of them were conversing like that, a cornered, yet unhasting voice resounded from beyond the door of the room as if she had waited for the right timing.

    ¡°Fay-chan, Dolores-chan, open up~ My hands are upied~¡±

    ¡°See, she¡¯s back.¡±

    ¡°Fine. We¡¯reing, Rethe.¡±

    Dolores and Fay quickly got up from their beds and trotted over to the door in order to let their other roommate inside.

    * * *

    ¡°Puh, that was heavy. Thanks, Fay-chan, Dolores-chan.¡±

    The waiting maid with drooping eyes and big breasts sat down on her own bed after Fay and Dolores took the plentiful luggage off her. Her name was Rethe.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. You worked hard on your extra shift already. Must have been tough.¡±

    ¡°Wow! Presents!? That¡¯s our Vanessa-sama! Hey, Rethe, can I have some?¡±

    Putting the silver alcohol jug and wooden te from Rethe down on the table in the corner of the room, Fay raised the lid on the wooden te of her own ord and eximed joyful.

    ¡°Watch it, Fay! You¡¯re being impudent.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I do not mind. Let us eat it all together. Ah, Dolores-chan, the silver jug is filled with the self-made alcohol from Zenjirou-sama. We are to give our impressions on it after we drink it.¡±

    Dolores reprimanded Fay, but Rethe just smiled softly as always.

    The waiting maids usually worked in a team of three, but the reason why Rethe had been doing work by herself untilte at night was that the Cooking Department Head Vanessa had asked her to help out.

    The young waiting maids in the current cooking shift were all kind of bad at cooking. Moreover, an unfortunate urrence ovepped with their shift: The menu for tomorrow was so borate that they had to start preparing for it tonight.

    Due to that, Rethe had been called in as an emergency assistance, since she had the greatest skills amongst the young maids.

    ¡°Overtimepensation¡± didn¡¯t exist in the Carpa Kingdom yet, so it was practically ¡°unpaid work¡±, but the ¡°helpers¡± in the Cooking Department had an advantage over the other departments, because they got to take back some presents like this.

    ¡°Wait, alcohol? From Zenjirou-sama?¡±

    Truth be told, Dolores had the biggest weakness for alcohol amongst the three of them, so she leaned forward attentively when she heard Rethe.

    ¡°Yes, but it is made entirely new, so it is possible that it turned out bad. If it tastes weird when we drink it, he wants us to stop at once. And he wants to hear our impression on it afterwards~¡±

    The silver jug was filled with ¡°liqueur¡±, the recent project from Zenjirou.

    The base for it was the self-made distilled liquor. Since he had brought along an electronic distillery with an automated temperature control function, it was rtively easy to make distilled liquor, but merely distilled, the alcohol concentration was fairly high and not suited for drinking like that.

    Hence he had improved the taste by adding fruit juice to it like a cocktail, or added it to other alcoholic drinks to boost their alcohol concentration. His newest achievement was this liqueur.

    A lot of people in Japan pursued the making of liqueurs such as plum liqueur as a hobby.

    Its manufacture wasn¡¯t all that difficult. You took the high alcohol-containing distilled liquor, added the right amount of fruits and sugar to it and sealed it hermetically. Then you let it stand in a cold, dark ce for at least one month and it was basically done.

    Normally, the recipe for plum liqueur often included ¡°shuuchou¡±, ¡°plums¡± and ¡°rock sugar¡±, but needless to say, these didn¡¯t exist in this world, so he had substituted it with his ¡°self-made distilled liquor¡±, ¡°a lemon-like fruit¡± and ¡°granted sugar¡±.

    On the evidence of bringing a distillery with him, Zenjirou had intended to make alcohol in this world from the very beginning, thus he had also saved a couple of homepages from the inte that introduced instructions on how to make liqueurs.

    However, he had no way to determine the exact alcohol concentration in his self-made distilled liquor (since he didn¡¯t bring an alcoholimeter), so he was still stuck in the trial-and-error stage.

    Anyway, he had tried to be extra carefully when he sterilised the container with boiling water beforehand, washed and cut the fruits under running water and sealed it hermetically, all in order to avoid getting germs into it, but there was no way to tell if he had seeded in doing so.

    Drinking that trial-and-error alcohol actually signified that they were ¡°testing it for food poisoning¡± rather than having a taste of it, but most of the waiting maids, starting with Dolores, were surprisingly eager to try it.

    As a rule, Dolores usually just tagged along with the ¡°troublemaker group¡±, but this time she took the initiative to get things started.

    The private rooms of the waiting maids were by no meansrge, considering they shared it in sets of three.

    ¡°Okay, Fay, I¡¯m going to move the table, so put the stuff on it away for a moment.¡±

    ¡°Roger that!¡±

    ¡°Can you manage, Dolores-chan? Or do you need help?¡±

    Saying so, Rethe was about to stand up, but Dolores stopped her with a wave of her hand.

    ¡°No problem. It¡¯s easier to do it myself, since it¡¯s dark and narrow here.¡±

    Just as she had said, she smoothly moved the small table to between their beds.

    She had to fumble around a bit, since it was dim, but she seemed to remember the positions of all the furniture, so she got the job done in not time and without a hitch.

    ¡°Good, this should do. Fay, you can put the stuff back on it. I¡¯m going to fetch some cups for the alcohol.¡±

    ¡°¡¯Kay. Oh, I still have some banana chips left over from earlier, so I¡¯ll put them down, too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sure¡­ Wait, you were eating on the bed again!? I told you to stop doing that, because the crumbs get into the sheets!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡±

    Scolded by Dolores, Fay showed no sign of guilt as she jumped onto her bed and gave it a wipe with her hands.

    ¡°Don¡¯t wipe it! What are you throwing it onto the floor for!? That will attract the mouses!¡±

    ¡°Dolores-chan, you are begin too loud.¡±

    A worried Rethe cautioned Dolores, who yelled inadvertently, with a slightly faster way of speaking than usual.

    The angry outburst from Dolores had been rather loud, but fortunately no one from next door came over toin.

    With all the preparations done, the three waiting maids sat down on the beds in ce of chairs and reached out for the food or alcohol on the table as they please.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It does not seem to smell weird at least.¡±

    After pouring some of the liqueur from the silver jug into a wooden cup, Dolores held the cup under her nose and sniffed at it carefully.

    Of course she was being cautious, since she was going to intake an unknown alcohol drink in the dark.

    Thereafter she brought the cup to her mouth and put out her tongue, dipping only its tip into the liquid.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°How is it, Dolores-chan?¡±

    ¡°Does it have a weird taste?¡±

    Dolores screwed up her face a bit, whereupon Rethe and Fay looked at her worried.

    Shaking her head wordlessly, Dolores then

    ¡°No, it¡¯s safe, I guess. Doesn¡¯t taste weird at all. But instead it¡¯s super sweet. At the same time it¡¯s somewhat sour, so it¡¯s not exactly undrinkable, but not really my cup of tea.¡±

    offered a clear opinion.

    ¡°Right, you prefer your alcohol to be bitter~¡±

    ¡°Lemme see¡­ Wow, this is good. I like it. Or rather, this is the best alcohol I¡¯ve ever drunk!¡±

    After hearing Dolores out, Fay drank from her own cup and immediately showed a delighted expression.

    ¡°Yeah, figures. You do love sweet stuff. But be careful. This alcohol is actually pretty strong.¡±

    ¡°No prob, no prob.¡±

    ¡°Why do I even bother¡­ You already emptied the cup.¡±

    Fay was the opposite of Dolores and loved sweet things, so she seemingly took quite a fancy to it. Emptying the first cup with one gulp, she reached out for the silver jar at once, pouring herself another cup.

    On the other hand, Dolores and Rethe were sipping it at best and snacking on the food in the meantime.

    ¡°Are these pickled leaf vegetables? Not a bad choice for a snack to the alcohol.¡±

    ¡°Yes, and these are meat and vegetables on a stick. I got the leftovers, seasoned them with salt and spices, then roasted them. They turned out really good~¡±

    ¡°Hmm, by itself it certainly is good, but it doesn¡¯t really work inbination with the sweet alcohol. In my opinion, the pickled stuff is a better match.¡±

    ¡°Is that so. Too bad. Okay, I will try toe up with a seasoned snack that suits the sweet alcohol.¡±

    Rethe was quite over-ambitious when it came to cooking, so she wasn¡¯t offended by Dolores¡¯ rejection and immediately mused about the next dish while she ate one of the sticks she had made by herself.

    ¡°Oh, gimme one, too. ¡­Wow, this is good! Really good, Rethe. Dolores is just all bark no bite. She can¡¯t even make anything good herself.¡±

    ¡°Same goes for you, Fay.¡±

    ¡°But unlike you, I won¡¯t nitpick over stuff that other people made. I¡¯ll eat it happily.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just because you¡¯re an omnivore. And that¡¯s nothing to be proud of. Well, you might be contended with it, though.¡±

    As always, their conversation sounded like a quarrel, but the pitch of their voices was a positive one that could only be described as harmonious.

    ¡°Geez, Fay-chan, Dolores-chan, stop fighting and enjoy the food.¡±

    Although Rethe was reprimanding them, it didn¡¯t sound real either, as she was aware of the circumstances.

    ¡°Rx. I¡¯m eating, see. Hmm, everything gone already? I can¡¯t see well in the dark. Oh right, Dolores, I¡¯m going to borrow this for a bit.¡±

    Scrabbling about in the deep, wooden te with the pickled vegetables, Fay suddenly remembered something, got onto Dolores¡¯ bed and picked up the game console thaty next to the pillow with her left hand.

    ¡°Good, now I can see.¡±

    She inspected the inside of the te after she had turned on the portable game console, whereas Dolores pulled a weary face.

    ¡°I do hope you didn¡¯t touch that with the same hand you used to pick the food up. That belongs to Zenjirou-sama, we have only borrowed it.¡±

    ¡°Duh. I always eat with my right hand and only used my left hand right now.¡±

    Although she did appear to be presumptuous, Fay was still a full-fledged waiting maid of the Inner Pce. She made sure never to cross the line, albeit treading on it sometimes.

    Even when she had yed the game while snacking the banana chips on top of the bed before Rethe hade back, she had put a damped cloth on the side, using it to wipe her oily and salty fingertips every time before touching the game console again.

    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s really empty. What a shame.¡±

    ¡°Well, we have been eating it with the three of us.¡±

    ¡°Haha, it is better not to eat too much before going to bed, Fay-chan.¡±

    ¡°Oh, speaking of, we should really go to bed soon. What time is it, Fay?¡±

    Asked by Dolores, Fay skilfully operated the game console with just her left hand.

    ¡°Wait, ehm, three minutes past nine.¡±

    She read the disyed Arabic numbers quite naturally, announcing the current time.

    At some point, the three troublemakers had adapted to the twenty-two hour clock. It might merely be a matter of time until they started to say ¡°just five more minutes¡± in the morning.

    ¡°Oh God, we really ought to go to bed then. Let¡¯s tidy up and sleep. We have the gardening shift starting tomorrow.¡±

    With these words, Dolores slowly got up from the bed when Rethe suddenly eximed squealing.

    ¡°Aw, I forgot! I hate gardening work!¡±

    Their shifts were divided into four major domains on a rotating basis: Quarters, kitchen, bath and garden. Needless to say, each waiting maid had her strengths and weaknesses.

    Rethe was the best cook amongst the young waiting maids, but in exchange she was all thumbs for gardening. Or rather, she was generally unfit for work, because she was the ¡°clumsy¡± type. Her cooking skills should be seen as an exception.

    ¡°No worries. I¡¯ll cover for you, Rethe.¡±

    While Rethe whined on top of her bed face down, so that her huge breasts were squished, Fayforted her softly in the course of tidying up the room.

    Despite her petite form, Fay was actually overflowing with stamina and energy, so she had no problem with garden work.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll step in, too, when I¡¯m free.¡±

    Except for a small shoring in cooking, Dolores managed all the other work pretty well, so gardening wasn¡¯t a ¡°weakness¡± as it was for Rethe, but she did ¡°hate¡± it.

    It was just like her to prepare an escape route by saying ¡°when I¡¯m free¡±, because she wanted to do as little as possible for this job.

    ¡°Yes, thanks! In exchange, I am going to do my best when we have the cooking shift again~¡±

    Instead of scrutinizing the motive of her roommate, Rethe honestly expressed her gratitude.

    * * *

    The gardening shift.

    This job was more or less evaluated into two extreme categories by the waiting maids. Namely into either the ¡°best¡± or the ¡°worst¡± of all their jobs. On an rted note, the waiting maids deeming it to be the ¡°worst¡± were overall a majority, whereas those deeming it to be the ¡°best¡± were a minority.

    The reason that made it the ¡°worst¡± was actually quite simple: Compared the other jobs, the gardening shift was an incredible tough job.

    Cooking in front of the stove during the cooking shift was admittedly hot, but nowhere near the heat you exposed yourself to when pulling up weeds in the garden during the hottest season.

    And although the bath was big enough to give you a headache when scrubbing it, it didn¡¯t evenpare to the size of thewn that you had to tend to in the garden.

    Thus, the gardening shift was a strenuously task, evenpared to the other appointments.

    Why then did some of the waiting maids consider it the ¡°best¡± job, albeit being a minority?

    The reason for that was extremely simple as well: It had less working hours.

    As a cooking staff, they had to stand in the kitchen in ordance with the three meals.

    During the bath shift, they had to do theundry in the morning when the weather was good, and in the evening, they had to put more wood on the fire to keep the water in the bath at the right temperature.

    And although the cleaning itself was done rtively quickly, the cleaning crew had to be on stand-by for the rest of the day in case their master suddenly called for their services.

    Compared to that, the working hours of the waiting maids on gardening duty were extremely short. That was nothing out of the ordinary.

    The sun of the Carpa Kingdom was not something you could ovee with just attitude or guts. Then again, they couldn¡¯t really wait for the sun to set to start with the garden work.

    As a result, the working hours of the gardening shift were limited to a rtive short timeframe: Principally from dawn till midday and from evening till dusk.

    So they started early, but got a long break before they called it a day early, too. Considering only the actual working hours, it definitely was an immensely favourable task.

    Despite that however, the majority of the maids imed it to be the ¡°worst¡± job, so it was all too easy to imagine just how tough the assigned duty during that short period was.

    In regards to the ¡°three troublemakers¡°, Dolores and Rethe belonged to the majority faction, whereas Fay belonged to the minority one.

    ¡°The grass has really grown around here. Today we will be focussing on cutting it.¡±

    The loud and firm voice of Emilia, the Gardening Department Head, resounded over the courtyard that was bathed in the only just rising morning sun.

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    Fay, Dolores and Rethe replied with an unusual loud voice.

    That could be attributed to Emilia¡¯s policy as the department head.

    She was not a noble from the Carpa Kingdom, but an ordinary middle-aged woman.

    Her hair was long and ck, her skin brown and her stomach had put on a weight appropriate for her age.

    It would be wrong to call her ¡°fat¡±, though. If anything, she was strongly-built.

    To put it bluntly, she was a corpulent woman of middle age.

    Nevertheless she still moved about agilely, not showing her age.

    Equipped with a thick glove on her right hand and a small one-handed sickle in the other hand, Emilia squatted down on the spot and started to cut the grass first of all in order to set a pattern for the young waiting maids.

    Fay and the others quickly took their sickles and squatted down as well.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The morning sun was already developing its destructive force, casting long shadows from the girls, who had started to cut the grass in silence, onto thewn.

    About one hourter.

    ¡°Ugh¡­ I cannot carry on.¡±

    The temperature in the courtyard suddenly skyrocketed when the morning sun revealed itself. Unsurprisingly enough it was Rethe, who threw in the towel first.

    Still crouched down, she dropped the sickle, straightened herself and repetitively hit her back with her fist.

    In reaction to bending her back rearward, the sweat from her forehead dripped onto her chin and then ran into her cleavage.

    Since they were working outside, they were wearing thick veils on their heads as a protection against the sunlight, but its effect only amounted to ¡°better than nothing¡±.

    ¡°So you¡¯re not good with the sickle, Rethe. Even though the kitchen knife is like an extension of your arm.¡±

    ¡°Fay-chan, this is not a problem of how I use the sickle¡­¡±

    Hanging her head crestfallen, Rethe replied like that to her petite co-worker, who was helping her quite energetically with the sickle in her assigned area.

    Her stamina ran out before the technique even became a problem.

    Rethe had a stiff body to begin with, so she had trouble working crouched for a long time. Moreover, she fell over extremely often whenever she cut the grass, because her huge breasts upset her bnce, which was already impaired from her poor motor skills. On top of that, she was a little, just a tiny bit heavier than the other young maids, so her knees started to hurt when she squatted down.

    In line with this, she was insomuch ipatible with garden work that you might as well call it her nemesis.

    ¡°How pathetic. And you still call yourself the daughter of a knight?¡±

    Not pausing her work, Emilia gave Rethe a harsh tongueshing without turning around to her.

    ¡°Y- You are right. My apologies, Emilia-sama!¡±

    Rethe trembled with fear and quickly picked up the sickle she had dropped before. But still out of breath, Emilia called out to her again before she could resume her work.

    ¡°Hold it, Rethe. Tell me, were you cking off? Or were you taking a break, because you were exhausted?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Eh?¡±

    ¡°Answer me.¡±

    Sweating like a pig, Rethe ripped her dry tongue down from her ptal in order to answer the question.

    ¡°N- No! I was not cking off. I am really worn out.¡±

    ¡°Then do not be shy and take a proper rest in the shade.

    Ditching work is beyond all question and failure is not an option, but neither is overstraining yourself. It will cause a lot more trouble when you pass out from overworking yourself.¡±

    For better or worse, Superior Emilia took the view that ¡°one has to give everything they got¡±.

    So she was merciless towards ckers and expected people with insufficient skills to improve themselves. In the same way, she expected them to make the best of their imperfect skills. And anyone, who tried to work beyond their capabilities, was admonished by her.

    That read well by itself, but it was hell for those, who had troubles with a task.

    When they made a mistake, they were scolded harshly. And when they tried to make up for that mistake by overstraining themselves, they were scolded even worse. So anyone with a sensitive nature would curl up and be unable to move anymore.

    Having said that, Rethe wasn¡¯t a girl with such a delicate spirit.

    ¡°Yes, excuse me then.¡±

    Being told to rest in a harsh tone of voice, Rethe showed a blooming smile and retreated into the shade of a tree, almost crawling off the grasnd.

    * * *

    ¡°The sun is up so high it is bing perilous. Let us stop for now.¡±

    The deration to end the morning shift was met with unanimous approval.

    Each utterance varied slightly, though.

    ¡°Yes~ ¡­We are finally done~¡±

    ¡°Puh, that was a heavy going.¡±

    ¡°Yay, it¡¯s over! Good, now I can y all I want until evening!¡±

    Rethe and Dolores slumped down as if their puppet strings had been cut. In spite of that, the overly energetic Fay jumped around happily all by herself.

    ¡°Oh, reminds me, Zenjirou-sama said we can use the ¡®ser ball¡¯ in our free time. Wanna y, Dolores, Rethe?

    Their colleague with short ck hair turned around with a smile that seemed to say that she had a sh of wit just now, yet Dolores had sought refuge in the shade of the tree by lying down and answered with a husky voice without getting up from the grass.

    ¡°Nah, y by yourself¡­¡±

    As for Rethe, she apparently didn¡¯t even have the power to reply anymore.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    She shook her head weakish without saying anything, barelymunicating her refusal.

    ¡°Okay. Then I¡¯ve got it all to myself, yahoo!¡±

    Fay rushed inside the building to get the ser ball.

    ¡°She can¡¯t be human¡­ She must be half dragon or something¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha¡­ You may be right¡­¡±

    Dolores practically coughed up her words and Rethe agreed to it with a wry smile after she had recovered enough to speak again.

    The hotter the weather was the more activerge reptiles, such as the poikilotherm dragons, got. Of course there was a limit to it, since they were organic creatures, but at the very least the temperatures of the hottest season on the South Continent were nowhere near that limit.

    No wonder that these indigenous creatures prevailed on the South Continent. They adapted way better to their environment than humans, who were nothing but an adventives species.

    Underneath the brutal sun of that very South Continent, Fay was lifting the ser ball in her miniskirt maid dress after she had fetched it on her own. That scene was so bizarre that one definitely questioned whether she was a genuine human or a cross-breeding with a dragon.

    ¡°1, 2, 3, 4! Bam!¡±

    ¡°Hey¡­ Fay-chan, I can see your undies.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not one bit erotic, though.¡±

    Instead of juggling it, Fay rather made a jumping kick at the end while Rethe and Dolores leaned seated against the trunk of the tree and watched over her dumbstruck.

    ¡°Oh my, how pitiful. I am not telling you to be like Fay, but do you not think you should enjoy your youth some more?¡±

    The owner of this gentle voice with a sour undertone was Emilia, who suddenly stood next to Rethe and Dolores.

    Her harsh way of speaking during work had made aplete about-turn into one that oozed kindness and benevolence.

    No one else from the department heads separated business and private as distinct as Emilia.

    In a strict sense, neither the break time, nor the nighttime peace werepletely private, because the waiting maids of the Inner Pce had an omniferous live-in employment, so a more urate description would be that she ¡°was as kind as possible when she wasn¡¯t issuing instructions¡±.

    ¡°You will not recover when all you do is lie there. Here, some drinks.¡±

    Saying so, Emilia held out therge silver water carafe from the refrigerator in the living room and some wooden cups.

    The water carafe contained water mixed with ck sugar and extremely sour fruit juice.

    It was the perfect drink for a time like this, because it simultaneously replenished your requirements of both water and calorie while the sourness made it easier to swallow.

    Simply put, it was a primitive sports drink.

    ¡°Yay! All hail to Emilia-sama! She knows her stuff!¡±

    The very first one to grab a cup and hold it up like asking for a refill was Fay, who had been ying with the ball on the other side just a moment ago.

    ¡°When did you¡­¡±

    Dolores red at her petite co-worker with half-closed eyes.

    ¡°Sure, sure, there is enough for all of you, so no cutting in line. One after another.¡±

    Still smiling gently, Emilia flicked Fay¡¯s forehead with her index finger to make her stand back, then she sat down in the shade, holding down her skirt in the course of it.

    ¡°Here. Be careful not to choke on it.¡±

    With these words, she poured the young waiting maids the drink into their wooden cups from the silver water carafe.

    ¡°Puh¡­¡±

    ¡°Hah¡­¡±

    ¡°That hit the spot¡­¡±

    All three of them downed the cup in one gulp.

    The cold water with a temperature of under ten degree Celsius could only be experienced inside the Inner Pce and during the hottest season of the Carpa Kingdom it really soothed a parched throat.

    ¡°Yum! One more!¡±

    When Fay vigorously showcased her cup, Emilia refilled it with a soft smile.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Emilia-sama, may I ask for a refill as well?¡±

    ¡°Why, yes, of course. Just be careful not to upset your stomach.¡±

    Emilia happily acted as a waitress for the young waiting maids, who sat on the grass and held up their cups in quick session.

    The water carafe was empty in no time. The effect was that even thepletely burned out Rethe had recovered enough to smile brightly like always again.

    Having said this, the three were sweating like crazy all over their bodies, because they had taken in arge amount of water all at once after their bodies were directly heated up by the sunlight, so they practically looked as if water had been poured over their heads.

    The hair of the young waiting maids was glinting zingly and their clothes had be so drenched that its colour was changing. Noticing that,

    ¡°Once you have calmed down, go take a meal inside. But before that, wash off your sweat in the bath and change your clothes. Ines would give you hell if she saw you walking around inside the building like that.¡±

    Emilia made sure to caution them with a smile.

    Taking a bath and changing clothes during work hours.

    At a nce, that sounded a bit too luxurious, even for the maids of the Inner Pce, but instead of a privilege, it was actually more like a duty for them.

    Zenjirou was forgiving towards a lot of things, but when it came to hygiene, he became a different person, so much that you might call him obstinate by the standards of the Carpa Kingdom.

    And that didn¡¯t just apply to himself. He would find it unpleasant when the waiting maids that lived in the same pce were reeking of sweat. In spite of that however, he hated the small of perfume even more, so it was a troublesome issue.

    Of course Zenjirou would never allow himself to show that disgust, much less mention it, but the waiting maids were professionals in that regard.

    Now that they had spent a lot of time with him, they noticed that he was actually ¡°stomaching¡± it.

    Consequently, the maids had assumed the habit to always take a bath and change into new clothes whenever they had worked up a sweat.

    * * *

    The pompous and ridiculous long midday break for a maid came to an end after they bathed, changed clothes, ate and took a nap. Once the rays of sunshine weakened a bit, the evening shift started.

    ¡°This shall do for the trimming. Now we just have to collect the green waste and dispose of it. After that we will water thewn. Understood?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    Just like flipping a switch, Emilia was showing a strict expression once again. The three young maids replied with the same word, said with individual intonations.

    Energetic for Fay, calm and indifferent for Dolores and somewhat drawn-out for Rethe. The individuality in their answers could also be applied to their working habits.

    Fay rushed over to the rakes that were as tall as herself at full speed and started to sweep up the grass they had cut in the morning. In contrast to that, Dolores cunningly went to fetch the handcart and bags for transporting the green waste, because that was the easiest task.

    ¡°E- Ehm¡­¡±

    Rethe on the other hand had missed out on the starting signal and was looking around nervously.

    ¡°What are you doing, Rethe? If you have time to look around, go fetch a rake, too, and sweep up the grass. And you still call yourself the daughter of a knight?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am sorry!¡±

    Scolded at once, Rethe ran off with ate start.

    On a rted note, the majority of the noble families in the Carpa Kingdom had a knight as the head of the family, but not every noble family was necessarily like that. Rethe¡¯s family was actually one of these few exceptions, but it would be pointless to address it now.

    Emilia would only retort with ¡°You better work these hands if you have time to make excuses. And you still call yourself the daughter of a knight?¡±, even if Rethe were to rify it now.

    ¡°Ah, Rethe, start from the other side.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will.¡±

    Fay and Rethe swept the ground with their rakes and gathered the green waste. It was a surprisingly tough job, but since Emilia was keeping a close watch while she was also wielding a rake close by, it would amount to suicide if they cked off.

    When they were sweeping up the green waste, they had to be careful not to dig over the ground unnecessarily, so they were sweating all over their bodies in no time after a few strokes.

    Then Dolores arrived with the handcart loaded withrge hemp bags.

    ¡°Here you go. I¡¯ll start with this pile.¡±

    She grasped the pile of grass with both hands, which were covered by thick gloves, and stuffed it into a bag.

    Once she had filled three bags with grass, she put these bags back onto the handcart.

    ¡° Okay, I¡¯ll go throw this away.¡±

    ¡°Be quick and do not dawdle along.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Giving a short reply, Dolores pushed the cartden with threerge bags and headed towards one corner of the courtyard.

    This handcart, too, originally belong to Zenjirou. He had bought it to transport the domestic hydropower generator for when he crossed over to this world.

    It was convenient to move aroundrge or heavy things, but Zenjirou was hardly ever doing any physical work in this world. Therefore he was generally loaning it to the waiting maids in order to make the best of it.

    In fact, the handcart was a real blessing for the maids in the Inner Pce, because they even had to deal with physical jobs by themselves.

    Supervisory Maid Amanda had been convinced by its utility insomuch that she had discussed it with the passing merchants whether something simr could be mass-produced.

    And because the construction of the handcart was hardly anythingplicated, it would surely be possible to reproduce it, even with the craftsmen of this world.

    In the meantime, Dolores had made a couple of round trips with the handcart, carrying all the bags stuffed with grass to the waste disposal site. The sun was already sinking in the west, bathing the vicinity in a red sunset.

    ¡°Well done. All that is left is to water thewn and we better hurry, because we will not see where we have watered it already once the sun has set.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°¡­Okay.¡±

    ¡°Yes~¡±

    Fay showed no sign of her energy running out any time soon. Dolores unted her exhaustion, even though she had done the easiest task. And Rethe had already depleted the stamina she had recovered during the break. Thus each of them replied with a different tension.

    The finishing touch of the garden work was the ¡°watering¡±. It was a painful job that took its toll on the exhausted body.

    After all, this world didn¡¯t know of aqueducts or water hoses, much less watering cans.

    Therefore they had to scatter the water around with adle after they scooped it with a bucket.

    A little ray of hope was that they were allowed to scoop the water directly from the fountain basin in the middle of the courtyard. Thanks to that, they didn¡¯t have to walk all the way to the far off well.

    ¡°Heave-ho!¡±

    ¡°Hey, Fay! You spattered me with water!¡±

    ¡°Ah, sorry.¡±

    Although Dolores wasining about Fay¡¯s wild swing, she wasn¡¯t actually all that bothered about it.

    Despite the evening time, it was still pretty hot, so it would dry soon anyway, even if she got wet. If anything, it actually felt good to be showered with the cold water.

    Of course there was a trick to scattering the water with adle, but above all, it required muscle power.

    ¡°Heave¡­ ho.¡±

    Already past her limit, Rethe was more like ¡°spilling¡± the water instead of ¡°sprinkling¡± it.

    ¡°Rethe, if you are tired, then take your time. And be extra thorough with each swing instead. So disgraceful. And you still call yourself the daughter of a knight?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am truly sorry¡­¡±

    Her arm, as it held the fulldle, was shaking so much that you even noticed it from a distant.

    Dolores was almost reaching her limit as well, albeit not as bad as Rethe.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Zenjirou-sama have some tools that make the watering easier¡­?¡±

    She grumbled almost whispering, but Emilia didn¡¯t let it slip during her work mode.

    ¡°Dolores, it truly is disgracing, when the daughter of a knight of all people depends on the belongings of her master to lighten her burden. Be ashamed of yourself.¡±

    ¡°! Yes, I very much apologize, Emilia-sama.¡±

    Dolores cowered before her and apologized profusely on reflex, but unknown to her due to the nightfall, Emilia was, contrary to her scolding tone, actually looking preupied.

    It goes without saying that the young waiting maids needed to improve their stamina and skills, but as a matter of fact, Emilia knew that the tasks in her department were putting quite the strain on the young waiting maids.

    If that burden could be lightened at least a bit with some kind of tools, then it was worth considering.

    (Maybe I should consult with Zenjirou-sama discreetfully once.)

    Holding such a thought in her mind, Emilia swung her owndle and continued to water the newly cut grass.

    ¡°Good job. Now we are done for today.¡±

    The courtyard of the Inner Pce had beenpletely overtaken by darkness, when Emilia dered the end of work.

    In reality, it would be more urate to say that it had gotten too dark to continue working instead of calling it the end of the work day. The sun had already set so much that they could barely perceive each other¡¯s silhouettes, recognizing any specific facial expressions was impossible.

    ¡°Yes, thank you for your guidance.¡±

    ¡°Finally¡­ done¡­¡±

    Because of that Emilia only noticed that there was one silhouette missing when only Dolores and Rethe answered her.

    There were one tall and one busty silhouette, but the tiny one was gone.

    ¡°Where is Fay?¡±

    Emilia looked around restlessly and then an agitated voice resounded from behind her.

    ¡°I¡¯m here, Emilia-sama. What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    When she turned around, there stood a really small silhouette. One could only see the outlines, but it was clear that the silhouette aka. Fay was holding heavy buckets in both her hands.

    Apparently she had been gone to fetch more water at the fountain just when Emilia had called it a day.

    What bad timing.

    With her work mode turned off after her announcement, Emilia now smiled somewhat apologetic while she

    ¡°Forgive me, Fay. We are already done for today.¡±

    offered her little subordinate an excuse in a gentle tone.

    Fay¡¯s eyes were already quite big to begin with, but she widened them all the way to boot when she heard that,ining loudly.

    ¡°EHH!? Then I got this water for nothing!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, but could you empty the bucket? If you do not want to return to the fountain, you can just scatter it around here.¡±

    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±

    Not even Fay, a bundle of energy, was able to tolerate that wasted effort. She eximed extremely displeased and put the buckets down with a bang.

    ¡°Well then, I will go on ahead. Please put away the tools orderly. Okay?¡±

    With these words, Emilia disappeared into the darkness first.

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    Fay responded absent-minded, but she had no intention to bring the bucket all the way back to the fountain. So she was left with no choice, but to get over it by scattering it randomly around here.

    In the moment she grasped thedle with this in mind,

    ¡°Sucks to be you. Well, good luck with thest buckets.¡±

    Dolores called out to her with an obviously amused voice.

    That voice was vivid insomuch that you could envision the smirk on her face as she mocked her, even in this darkness.

    Fay plunged thedle into the bucket and with a change of n, she then struck out at the tall, supposedlyughing, silhouette with all her might.

    ¡°Yes, thanks!¡±

    ¡°KYAA!?¡±

    It was too dark to see anything, but judging by that scream, she seemed to have seeded with her n to shower Dolores with water.

    ¡°Ah, sorry. Did I hit you? I can¡¯t see well in the dark.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    This time Dolores was rendered speechless by Fay¡¯s affected apology.

    ¡°You little!¡±

    ¡°Whoops!¡±

    She made a dead set at her from beyond the darkness, but Fay dodged her splendidly with a side step while holding thedle in one hand and the bucket in the other.

    However, Dolores hadn¡¯t been aiming at Fay. She secured the other bucket Fay had set down, scooped some water with adle as well and threw it at her tiny roommate as payback.

    ¡°Take this.¡±

    ¡°Wah!¡±

    ¡°Kyaa!? Sheesh, Dolores-chan, that is cold.¡±

    Apparently the water did not just hit Fay, but also Rethe, who had slumped to the ground behind her.

    ¡°Ah, sorry, Rethe.¡±

    Dolores stopped for a moment to apologize, but Fay wouldn¡¯t be Fay if she let this opportunity slide.

    ¡°Got ya!¡±

    The water smashed into Dolores¡¯ face so hard that it was painful before it was cold.

    ¡°Now you¡¯ve done it! You little shit!¡±

    ¡°Oops! Haha, I¡¯m over here!¡±

    Forgetting about their earlier fatigue, the two of them energetically engaged in a water fight.

    Even though the sun had set already, it was still oppressively hot.

    This being the case, it was anything but unpleasant to ssh each other with water, even if they were still wearing maid clothes.

    ¡°Sheesh. We have to tidy up quickly or Emilia-sama will be angry.¡±

    That assessment was further backed by the fact that Rethe, too, wasn¡¯t moving away while she reprimanded them worried, even though she was getting hit numerous times for a while now.

    ¡°Right. Then I¡¯ll bet everything on thisst shot!¡±

    ¡°Interesting. Bring it on.¡±

    Fay tossed away thedle and heaved the still half-full bucket with both hands, whereupon Dolores did the same and readied herself to attack.

    ¡°There!¡±

    ¡°Eat this!¡±

    The tall and tiny maid duo sshed the remaining water into each other¡¯s faces at the same time.

 Chapter Volume 5 Prologue

    Valentia had the biggest harbour in the Carpa Kingdom.

    This famousrge city was technically ruled by the ¡°Duke of Valentia¡±, but most of the time, it was actually registered to be under the direct control of the monarch.

    And this extended to Aura as well, the current Queen.

    She was the Queen and the Duke of Valentia at the same time.

    After all, Valentia was thergestmercial harbour in the Kingdom as well as an important source area for salt. Depending on the season, it sometimes had an even greater cirction of people, goods and money than the royal capital.

    It stood to reason that the previous monarchs took the view that only an extremely trustworthy somebody with adequate skill and personality could be entrusted with that region.

    Having said this, Aura actually had no one to appoint, even if she wanted to, since all members of the royal family besides her died in the previous war.

    Anyway, the city of Valentia was currently under the nominal control of Queen Aura, because of these circumstances. Needless to say, she was extremely busy with her duties in the capital, so she obviously had no time to take its governance matters into her hands. All affairs in Valentia were actually managed by the appointed ¡°governor¡±.

    Normally the governors of detachednds used their appointments to illegally amass a fortune and build a private army and nothing else, but the Carpa Kingdom was rtively free from that worry.

    After all, the bloodline magic of the Carpa Royal Family was ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±. That meant they could use ¡°Teleport¡±.

    As such, the governor would naturally hesitate to do anything illegal under these circumstances, in which a trusted retainer of the Queen could suddenly drop by at any moment.

    In Valentia the majority of money and manpower was obviously expended to the harbour.

    Numerous piers extended from a beautiful terraformed coast. Each of them was solidly built from stone and were wide enough to allowrge dragon carriages to pass by each other without any problems.

    Moreover, the water was so deep that even the big ships from the North Continent with a veryrge draft could moor with no problems whatsoever.

    And on top of that, breakwaters were constructed off the coast behind one another in a threeyered fashion, so that they were ovepping by turns. That prevented waves from advancing into the harbour, but at the same time, it allowed an easy entry and departure for ships.

    Thanks to that, not a single harboured ship had capsized in the dock of Valentia in thest decades, not even during the typhoons of the rain season.

    Therge lighthouse standing at the edge of a heand topped the whole thing off.

    It was a columnar building, looking like a candle, with an height that would pass into oblivion amongst the buildings of a modern metropolis, but overwhelmed here, since there was nothing on par with it.

    The piers, the breakwaters and the lighthouse.

    All of them were beautifully built from stone to such an extent that anyone, who saw the spent budget and manpower, would feel giddy. It was not for nothing that it was the biggest harbour in the western part of the South Continent.

    Even now, Valentia was overflowing with activity.

    Apanied by a cleared up blue sky and a pleasant sea breeze, a great deal of sailors and dockworkers were shouting and running around sedulous in the harbour.

    ¡°Please let me through, I got an urgent delivery!¡±

    ¡°Hey, are these really the barrels with the dried meat? They¡¯re rather light.¡±

    ¡°You there, no fighting on the pier! Otherwise you get the sack.¡±

    One wrong step in this buzzy atmosphere could lead to a quarrel and soldiers armed with short spears were mediating in loud voices.

    The guards in the capital were only wearing leather armours, too, but in consideration for the nearby sea, the soldiers here just wore shirts and trousers too thin to expect any protection.

    And on a closer look, it became apparent that the spearheads of their equipped spears were not reflecting the dazzling sunlight at all. Most likely, the spears utilized sharpened dragon bones instead of iron.

    When guarding a harbour, they were naturally exposed to the sea breeze, but it was not unusual either that they sometimes got dashed with sea water. Therefore iron would start to rust in no time, unless maintained effortful.

    Roughly speaking, it was a specific equipment for coast areas in a way.

    Another thing worth mentioning was that amongst the dockworkers, who carried stuff around on the piers, were a few that used a ¡°handcart¡±.

    On sale at the merchants of the capital quite recently, that wooden gadget was quite valuable in the harbour, whererge amounts of goods had to be moved around on a daily basis. The ground had to be at least somewhat even to use the handcart, which only had small wooden wheels, but fortunately enough, Port Valentia fulfilled that requirementpletely.

    The handcart was sparsely showing up right now, because of its high prize, but at this rate it might only be a matter of time until it became a regr equipment at the harbour.

    In fact, its usefulness was painfully obvious once you used it. The majority of dockworkers worked up a good sweat by shouldering wooden crates or hemp bags. In contrast, the dockworkers with a handcart easily pushed a multiple of that weight, so its utility was beyond question.

    When the dockworkers were carrying a heavy cargo, they were sweating all over their bodies and could only look in front of them. The handcart dockworkers, on the other hand, could take it easy and look around while they pushed the cart.

    Therefore it was probably inevitable that it was someone pushing a handcart noticed a certain something first.

    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s that?¡±

    The young dockworker looked beyond the horizon and stopped in his track.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯cha doing? Don¡¯t stop dead, it¡¯s dangerous.¡±

    Behind him, a middle-aged worker carrying argo cargo over his shoulders called out to him, whereon the young dockworker started walking again while replying to the man walking behind him.

    ¡°Ah, sorry. It¡¯s just, I saw an unfamiliar ship over there.¡±

    ¡°Huh? An unfamiliar ship?¡±

    Without stopping in his track, the middle-aged worker, incited by these words, looked in the same direction.

    Unfortunately however, he only saw the wide open sea like always.

    ¡°Dun see anything.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s there. It was just a mast appearing above the horizon, though.¡±

    Thereat the middle-aged worker nodded his assent once, still carrying therge hemp bag over his right shoulder.

    ¡°Oh right, you¡¯ve good eyesight.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s my only redeeming virtue. Anyway, it must be one heck of a big ship when I can make out its shape so clearly, even though its barely above the horizon. I¡¯ve never seen such a big ship before.¡±

    ¡°Oho, I see. Then it¡¯s probably arge sailing boat from the North Continent.¡±

    ¡°Large? You mean it¡¯s even bigger than the sailing boats docked here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Whether fore-and-aft sail or square sail, the sailing ships here only have one mast. But you see, the North Continent hasrge ships with three masts.¡±

    In order to prevent the forehead sweat from running into his eyes, the middle-aged dockworker wiped the sweat with the back of his left hand as he said that. Then he narrowed his eyes to slits and looked at the glistening sea to confirm it with his own eyes.

    With his eyesight however, he could barely make a small dot out in the distant sea.

    Left with no other choice, he asked his young co-worker with the superior eyesight.

    ¡°Can you tell?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, from here it¡¯s a bit hard¡­ wait, I see it! Ah! It really has more masts. One, two, three¡­ four? What? It has four, not three.¡±

    The young dockworker tilted his head puzzled as he spoke, whereupon the middle-aged dockworker was baffled.

    ¡°FOUR!? Are you sure!?¡±

    Surprised by the shocked question of his senior, the youngster looked carefully at the ship again, but the number of masts still counted the same.

    ¡°Yes, I am. It definitely has four masts.¡±

    The dockworker of middle age acted fast upon hearing his answer.

    ¡°Here, take this!¡±

    As soon as he said this, he threw the hemp bag from his shoulder onto the wooden crates loaded on the handcart of the young dockworker.

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t do that! The wheels will crack when it¡¯s overloaded! Do you know how many days I¡¯ll have to work for free if the cart breaks?¡±

    The youngster protested desperately, but the old stager was too flustered to pay it any mind.

    ¡°Dun have time for this! I¡¯ve gotta report this to the governor! If it breaks, you can me it all on me!¡±

    ¡°The governor? Doesn¡¯t he have a lookout on the lighthouse? I would say they notice it way earlier than me.¡±

    ¡°Just to be on the safe side. Later!¡±

    After saying that, the middle-aged dockworker ran off at full speed.

    He passed through the crowded pier in no time while repeatedly saying ¡°Please let me through!¡±.

    Left behind, the young dockworker stood in front of his now heavilyden cart with a gaping mouth and no clue about what was going on.

    Who could me him? Unaware of the circumstances, it only appeared to him as if the middle-aged man had abandoned his work in a grand fashion.

    However, anyone, who knew what a rge sailing ship with four masts¡± signified, would sympathize with his action.

    The shipbuilding was kind of inferior on the South Continent, so small ships with one mast were the norm.

    Basically allrge ships with three masts could be considered intercontinental cargo vessels from the North Continent. And even there, the ships were something like a leading-edge product and ordingly expensive. If someone from the plebeain could purchase it, it was because he was a wealthy merchant with influence all over the country.

    On this basis, it was easy to imagine how significant a ship with one more mast, namely four, was. It was truly the cream of the crop and a state property that was not avable to the private sector. Moreover, even on the North Continent, the only countries that could build and maintain these ships were major powers with a development above average.

    And now, such a four-master had appeared in the harbour of Valentia of the Carpa Kingdom.

    At the same time, that meant that a key figure of a major power on the North Continent hade over.

    * * *

    The official name of the four-master that had shown up in Valentia was ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±.

    It was the state-of-the-art ship from the Upps Kingdom, a country in the northern part of the North Continent. Although the kingdom was known for its advanced technology, it had only one more four-master besides the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±: The ¡°Dead Soldier ws¡± was the gship of their naval force.

    Standing on the deck of thatrge ship, Freya Upps seemed moved as well as relieved when sawnd again atst after approximately one hundred and twenty days at sea.

    ¡°Looks like we can finally put ashore again.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mdy. It is a magnificent harbour. Our ship will be able to dock there without problems.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. But you know, Skathi, I am the captain right now, not a princess. Please do not get it mixed up.¡±

    The girl named Freya Upps had her silver-blue hair cut short around her neck and kept her eyes on the port of Valentia before her while she replied to the tall female soldier standing behind her at an angle.

    ¡°Yes, my apologies, Captain.¡±

    The tall female soldier known as Skathi showed a soft smile and bowed a bit.

    Just like her name implied, Freya Upps was a princess from the Upps Kingdom. She admittedly had no im on the throne, because women were not allowed to ascend the throne in the Upps Kingdom, but she was nevertheless a distinguished figure in the country.

    Her straight hair had a silver-blue colour, her ice-blue eyes tended to give off a cold impression and her skin was unrealistically white.

    That mysterious beauty substantiated her dignity as a ¡°princess from a country in the north¡±. She would surely be quite a sight if she were to put on a dress and jewellery.

    But right now, Princess Freya was wearing men¡¯s clothing, which were kind of gorgeous, but prioritized functionality above anything else, and her beautiful hair, which originally had extended to her waist, had been cut drastically around her neck.

    She was ¡°cross-dressing¡± in order to act as the captain of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±.

    ording to the traditional practice, the people of the Upps Kingdom also known as svenskar regarded their ships as women. Bing a captain could therefore bepared with marriage, which made it necessary that the captain was a man. Consequently, a woman always had to ¡°cross-dress¡± on top of the ship if she wanted to be its captain.

    Needless to say, the cross-dressing was nothing but a formality and they did not have to masquerade as a man for real.

    For that reason, Princess Freya simply was a ¡°beautiful girl in men¡®s clothes¡± right now.

    If anything, she was revealing her female curves from top to bottom by wearing the male garments so casually.

    When Princess Freya turned around, she called out to her trusted retainer standing behind her.

    ¡°So, do we know where this harbour belongs to?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Judging by the distance we travelled today and the star constetionst night, we most likely arrived in the Carpa Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°The Carpa Kingdom¡­?¡±

    Princess Freya inclined her small head puzzled, searching her mind for it.

    Information from the South Continent barely reached the Upps Kingdom, since it was situated in the far north of the North Continent. By way ofparison: It was the same as asking an European about Asia during the Age of Discovery.

    Having said this, Princess Freya had be the captain of this ship of her own ord and was more knowledgeable about the South Continent than the average person from the North Continent.

    ¡°If I remember correctly, it is a country in the western part of the South Continent? Seems we have drifted from the course more than we thought.¡±

    Having recalled the matching memory from the back of her mind, Princess Freya discerned that, whereupon the tall female soldier consented with a brief nod.

    ¡°Yes. I have heard that it is a prominent major power there. It is a bit inconvenient that our countries have no direct diplomatic rtions, but I have heard nothing bad about them. At least we can assume that they will honour the ¡®Sea Codex¡¯.¡±

    The ¡°Sea Codex¡± was the conception that those living on the sea supported each other.

    Its contents were nothing special. In short, it epassed things like allowing even unknown ships to dock and embark in an harbour as long as there was free space.

    After all, the seamanship in this world was hopelessly inferiorpared to modern Earth. They technically devised a course before departing, but it was exceptionally unlikely that they travelled ording to n.

    Sometimes they ran out of provisions, because the travel took longer than expected. Sometimes they lost crew members to an illness at sea. Sometimes they got into an unforeseen storm and veeredpletely off course. Things like that happened all the time.

    Due to that, the most important thing was to be allowed into port during an emergency.

    Needless to say that did not apply to recognizable pirate ships or ships from clearly hostile nations.

    ¡°It seems like I will be able to grant my crew a long-awaited shore leave then. They definitely earned it, since I have put them through a lot.¡±

    As the princess was considerate of her crew, the female soldier consented, but also contradicted her.

    ¡°Yes, indeed. However, Captain, please apply the same attention to yourself, too. If I may say so, your stamina rather ranks at the bottom end from all our crewmembers.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Skathi. But I am fine. There is barely anything for me to do on the ship after all.¡±

    ¡°That goes without saying. The ship would be done for if something were to happen to its captain.¡±

    Her answer was by no means aiming to be exaggerating or symbolic.

    The shipbuilding on the North Continent was around the same level as the one on Earth during the Middle Ages, but varied on two points: It had an advantage over Earth, but also a disadvantage.

    The advantage was obviously the existence of ¡°magic¡± in this world.

    Especially the ¡°Drinking Water Treatment¡± magic revolutionized the sea travel.

    Throughout the history of Earth, the greatest problem for sea journeys had always been the provisioning of drinking water.

    In this world however, drinking water could be obtained by treating salt water with magic, so they were truly worlds apart from each other in regards to water matters.

    In case of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±, Princess Freya was casting the ¡°Drinking Water Treatment¡± magic in order to supply water.

    Considering that fact, it became clear that the female soldier wasn¡¯t joking or anything when she said that the ship would be done for if something were to happen to the captain.

    Of course there were other practitioners of ¡°Drinking Water Treatment¡± besides Princess Freya aboard, but even if all of them were to pool their strengths, they would barely treat enough salt water to keep them alive with restraint.

    If something were to happen to herself, the whole crew would die of thirst before long. Princess Freya properly acknowledged that heavy responsibility, so she had paid heed to the warning of the veteran sailors and female soldier, and stayed out of danger during their more than 120-day voyage.

    Due to that, she was not physically, but mentally exhausted, though.

    ¡°Anyway, the sea and sky are really blue on the South Continent.¡±

    Narrowing her ice-blue eyes to slits, Princess Freya gazed at the merging blue colours on the horizon.

    ¡°Certainly. A bit too bright for us, perhaps, since we are used to the northern sea.¡±

    As implied by her, the sky in their homnd, the Upps Kingdom, was covered by massive gray clouds and the sea rarely appeared blue either.

    And the heat was foreign to them as well, even though the people of the Carpa Kingdom no longer conceived it as hot, since the hottest season of the year had passed.

    To say nothing of how they seemed to get dizzy from the heat and force of the sunrays as they exposed themselves directly to it on top of the deck of the ship.

    The refreshing sea breeze was at least a glimmer of hope, so that they had no trouble breathing.

    Except for varying intensities, the tall female soldier as well as the well-built sailors tending to the sails had all dark red tanned skin, but on a closer look, you saw white arms and necks under the sleeves and cors, respectively.

    Amidst that, Princess Freya revealed skin so white that it seemed out of ce. Maybe she rarely ever left her own cabin or she did not tan that easily?

    Her natural white face waspletely untanned while she kept her gaze fixated on the nearing harbour of Valentia the whole time.

    ¡°Amazing. Not even the North Continent has many harbours as imposing as this one.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I never imagined the South Continent to have such an impressive harbour either.¡±

    Princess Freya curtly nodded her assent to the learning-never-stops speech of the female soldier without averting her eyes from the sea in front of her.

    The affiliations of the North Continent and the South Continent could be described as ¡°South-Magic-North-Technology¡±. It meant that the South Continent had magic developed countries whereas the North Continent had technology developed countries.

    On the South Continent a unique ¡°bloodline magic¡± was practically essential for royalty, but on the North Continent, royalty with a ¡°bloodline magic¡± were actually scare.

    As part of the Upps Royal Family, Princess Freya had inherited arge amount of magical power, but there was no special power in their blood, so her family could only use themon ¡°Four-Element Magic¡±.

    But on the other hand, the North Continent had the edge on technology. Be it shipbuilding or ironworking or architecture, they were one step ahead in every department.

    Priding oneself on that entailed ¡°arrogance¡±, whereupon you started to look down on others.

    Princess Freya realized that her thoughts had unknowingly strayed from the right path and she took a deep breath for a change of mind. At that moment:

    ¡°Arge shadow approaching from behind! It¡¯s a Sea Dragon!¡±

    The young sailor in the lookout reported an emergency with a loud voice.

    ¡°Mdy!¡±

    The sudden turn prompted the female soldier to call her master erroneous again, but Princess Freya just ignored it, since she knew how foolish it would be to correct her in such a situation.

    ¡°The stormst night had carried us into his territory, so it must have chased after us.¡±

    A Sea Dragon. It was a major disturbance to seafaring that didn¡¯t exist on Earth.

    Even in the old days on Earth, some ships sunk from colliding withrge whales or people were eaten by sharks after falling off the ship during a storm, but these were no match for the hazard of a Sea Dragon from this world.

    First of all, its size was different. Of course it would be considered small whenparing it to therge tankships or nuclear- powered aircraft carriers from modern Earth, but at least in this world, there was no ship bigger than thergest Sea Dragon yet.

    Moreover, the Sea Dragon had a distinct territorial behaviour, so it was terrifyingly hostile towards anything roughly as big as itself that entered its territory.

    To such an extent that it often got too exasperated and chased after its prey even outside its territory.

    Having said this, it definitely was an exception that it continued its chase until the following day like this time.

    ¡°Mdy, we still cannot use therge crossbow on the poop deck, because of the stormst night.¡±

    Princess Freya made an immediate decision when the female soldier prepared for battle.

    ¡°Yes, I know. The defence forces of the harbour would surely have an easy job dealing with a Sea Dragon of this size, but it would be anything but desirable to cause them trouble right from the beginning.

    You do not need to finish it off, just chasing it off will suffice. Do not be reckless, Skathi.¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡±

    Allowed to engage it, the female soldier saluted with her right fist held up before her left chest, then quickly ran off on the deck.

    The ship was rocking quite a bit, because they were outside the breakwaters, where the waves were still high, but she moved on the deck as if she was on the ground.

    ¡°Bring me my spear!¡±

    The female soldier let the salty air vibrate through her voice and the sailors answered her right away.

    ¡°Yes, Victoria-sama. Here you go!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡±

    She grabbed the spear offered by a bearded sailor as she ran past him.

    The spear was a little bit longer than one metre at best and had a vescent milk-white colour. For its small size, it was actually rather heavy.

    Its colour and weight were proof that this spear was made from a polished tusk of a Sea Elephant.

    A wooden spear with an iron head, like it was used ashore, was extremely unsuited to use for a throwing attack against Sea Elephants or Sea Dragons living in the sea.

    Of course there was the issue with fugacity, because it rusted from the salt water or decayed from sponged water, but the crucial problem was that the trajectory of the thrown spear curved in the water, because the specific gravities of the ¡°floating wooden shaft¡± and the ¡°sinking iron spearhead¡± were too different.

    ¡°Move it. I will handle it.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Please do.¡±

    The female soldier had reached the rear deck in no time and dered that, whereupon the gathered sailors made way.

    Without slowing down in her full-speed sprint, she kicked the ground and jumped onto the poop deck.

    She looked down onto the Sea Dragon as she stood there with the spear in her right hand, and mumbled.

    ¡°So that¡¯s it. Guess I¡¯m lucky. I should be able to deal with it.¡±

    The Sea Dragon raised its broad green back andrge neck out of the blue sea, baring its fangs.

    Its kind was called ¡°Long-neck Dragon¡±. As a blessing in disguise, it was a rtively small specimen of its kind. Considering that one would have to ¡°look up¡± to its head from the deck if they were dealing with arge Long-neck Dragon, they definitely had a stroke of luck here.

    Anyway, the dragon approached quickly by making use of its four fins in the water. It was such an overwhelming sight that even the experienced seafarers familiar with the life-endangering sea travel, winced.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    Standing on the poop deck, the female soldier kept her gaze fixated on the Sea Dragon below her while she grasped her spear near its head and ced its butt end onto the bridge of her right foot.

    On a closer look, it became apparent that her leather shoe had a thick dent, into which the butt end of the spear fitted perfectly. The female soldier then used her right hand to bnce out the spear, so it wouldn¡¯t fall over. Before long, she took away her hand and the spear stood upright on top of the bridge of her right foot without toppling.

    That looked like a street performance taken by itself, but needless to say, this was hardly the time to perform a trick.

    ¡°Puh¡­ Hah¡­¡±

    After bringing her breathing under control with a few deep breaths, the female soldier opened her eyes wide-open and lifted her right foot in a single continuous movement.

    Upwards, forwards, downwards. If you will, it looked like the motion of a high front kick or roundhouse kick from Karate or Kickboxing.

    This sequence of movements raised the spear, standing on the bridge of the foot, tilted it to a horizontal position and thenunched it.

    It was a kicking spear technique, which was passed down from generation to generation in the north of the North Continent.

    Some people say the technique arose from when the people in the north tried throwing a spear with their foot instead of their hand because they wore gloves so thick that they could no longer move the individual fingers. Some others im that it was devised to make up for the shorings in range peculiar to the physically weaker female soldiers.

    Either way, it goes without saying that it was not an ordinary technique.

    Launching the spear deliberately with the foot was ineffective as well as impracticable.

    However, the inherited techniques coupled with the practice of talented people improved the efficiency and made the impracticable practicable.

    The Sea Elephant tusk spear,unched from the right foot of the female soldier, flew straight and faster than an arrow, piercing the head of the Sea Dragon.

    ¡°GRAAAR!¡±

    After a short cry, the Sea Dragon ckened his long neck and let it drop onto the water surface.

    One shot one kill. She truly finished off the Sea Dragon with a single spear.

    The Long-neck Sea Dragon was arge creature, but its head was rtively small and it had been far out at that.

    Hitting that very head with a spear kicked by a foot and even delivering a fatal blow to the skull in one hit was truly a brilliant feat. The ship¡¯s crew went nuts when they witnessed the skills of the female soldier.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s our Victoria-sama!¡±

    ¡°No wonder she¡¯s inherited the name of the Sorceress Skathi!¡±

    Stomping on the deck with their feet, the sailors cheered, whereupon the female soldier turned around, smiled a bit and waved her hand briefly, then she jumped down agile from the poop deck.

    ¡°Well done, Skathi. An impressive feat.¡±

    ¡°You honour me, Mdy.¡±

    As Princess Freya approached her through the crowd of the sailors, the female soldier lowered her head a bit with these words, now that her job was done.

    ¡°Skathi, I told you to call me ¡®Captain¡¯ on the ship.¡±

    Since the emergency was over, Princess Freya reprimanded her with a bitter smile and the tall female soldier, realising her mistake all toote, kept her head down.

    ¡°Oh, my apologies, Captain.¡±

    ¡°I will not bear that title for much longer, so please let me make the most of it.¡±

    When the princess aka captain said this with a rxed expression, even some of the gathered crewmembers started tough.

    Matching with that, the female soldierughed as well while she nodded.

    ¡°I understand, Captain. By the way, what are we going to do with that Sea Dragon? I would say we are allowed to im it, because we have finished it off.¡±

    Saying so, she looked behind her at the sea, where the corpse of the Sea Dragon floated.

    The corpse of a Sea Dragon was a mountain of treasures: Its

    leather was robust and repelled water, its bones were strong, yet supple and the meat was edible, albeit not very delicious. On top of that, its fat was sold at ridiculous prices, because of its nice fragrance when burned.

    However, Princess Freya shook her head without hesitation.

    ¡°No, we better not do that. We almost caused troubles for the harbour, and I do not wish to push our luck in the first harbour we dock at.¡±

    ¡°Aye-aye, Captain.¡±

    Although she replied dutiful like that, the female soldier regretfully nced at the remains of the Sea Dragon.

    Princess Freya knew the meaning behind that nce, so she smiled wryly with a hand over her mouth.

    ¡°Do not be so worried about it. I will talk to them, so that they will definitely return your spear.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you so much!¡±

    The female soldier expressed her gratitude to her master with a red face.

 Chapter Volume 5 1

    By the time a Small Flying Dragon reported the emergency from Port Valentia, Queen Aura was in her office in the Royal Pce and led an endless discussion about a vexing problem with her trusted Secretary Fabio.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, the numbers on the documents will not change, no matter how hard you re at them.¡±

    Sitting on a chair weaved from vines, the Queen slovenly leaned onto the wooden table with her elbows while the middle-aged secretary spoke to her in a t voice.

    ¡°I know that.¡±

    The sharp tone in the answer of the Queen was understandable. The documents at her hands were an estimate of costs for theing ¡°reinforcements for the Pack Dragon subjugation¡±, but the numbers written on there were exceeding her expectation by far.

    It certainly was not so bad that she got the biggest number wrong, but the second biggest number differed insomuch that it could no longer be sugar-coated.

    On a rted note, the documents were put together by the civil servants of the Royal Pce, so the numbers were written in ¡°Arabic numerals¡±.

    At the present time, only the immediate subordinators of Aura knew them, but anyone that was familiar with them could testify the value of the Arabic numerals. Once you were used to them, you grasped the numeric value right away.

    However, that simplification was a bit of a flop right now. Numbers that she did not want to see were practically jumping out at her.

    ¡°The provisions for the soldiers aside, I thought that at least the prices for the military goods were still lower, because of an surplus from the previous war.¡±

    ¡°It seems the supplies were already wrung dry. The merchants are always reacting faster than we think.¡±

    The Queen and Secretary were ratherining than discussing when they assessed the cruel state of things.

    At that very moment, the door was knocked with a dead sound and the voice of a young soldiers sounded from beyond it.

    ¡°Excuse me. We have received an urgent Small Flying Dragon message from Port Valentia.¡±

    An urgent message from a faraway seaport city.

    ¡°?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    That did not ring a bell with Aura, so she just cast a questioning nce at her secretary standing next to her, to which Fabio wordlessly shook his head, too.

    Since her capable secretary with his authentic skills knew nothing of it, it really must be an unexpected urgent message.

    She did not have a good feeling about it, but in her position as the Queen, she was more or less used to such ¡°unexpected happenings¡±.

    ¡°Enter.¡±

    When Aura answered, her face showed not the slightest hint of surprise or worry.

    * * *

    Approximately one hourter.

    Queen Aura was holding an unofficial emergency meeting in the small conference room of the Royal Pce.

    The four attendees were Queen Aura, Secretary Fabio, Royal Archmage Espaldion and Zenjirou.

    Whenever something serious happened, Aura often consulted with her two trusted retainers Fabio and Espaldion, but strictly speaking it was impossible that Zenjirou joined them.

    Except for official events that had to be attended by royalty, the only time Zenjirou came to the Royal Pce was to ¡°work on behalf of Aura¡±.

    Due to that, it was quite rare that they were gathered in the same ce in the Royal Pce.

    The urgency of the matter already became more than clear when such a rare asion happened.

    A meeting attended by the Queen was usually quite excessive, but this time it was just a private meeting with her trusted retainers.

    Aura tossed the little dragonskin parchment delivered by the Small Flying Dragon onto the table, then started to address the matter without ceremony.

    ¡°A Small Flying Dragon arrived from Valentia a short while ago. The information cannot be verified yet, because no other Small Flying Dragon has arrived, but considering the content of it, I dared to call all of you here ahead of schedule.¡±

    Normally the exchange ofmunication through Small Flying Dragons was conducted by sending multiple Small Flying Dragons with the same message in order to increase its reliability. Usually, the receiver also did not regard the information as legit unless three to four Small Flying Dragons arrived from the same direction in order to dismiss the probability of getting misinformation fabricated by the enemy.

    The fact that Aura broke that convention and shared the information, even if only unofficially, indicated that the content of the letter was quite urgent.

    Aura read in the tense expression of her trusted retainers that her intention had been understood and she continued to speak clearly with an unusual low voice for a woman.

    ¡°Two days ago, a giant ship with ¡®four masts¡¯ anchored in Port Valentia. The ship belongs to the ¡®Upps Kingdom¡¯. The captain is a girl in her teens called Freya Upps. She imed to be the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom.

    The governor of Valentia decided that the matter was beyond his capabilities and asked for instructions. If possible, he would like us to send someone over.¡±

    The middle-aged secretary twisted the mouth and the aged magician widened his small eyes in surprise when she mention the giant ship with ¡°four masts¡±.

    Only Zenjirou just looked nkly, showing no signs of surprise. That was no proof of his nerves, though, but rather his ignorance.

    ¡°A ship with four masts is a state-of-the-art ship. Even the North Continent only has a handful of them. If the information is really true, we cannot afford to brush aside the im of the girl to be a princess.¡±

    Knowing the score, Secretary Fabio went out of his way to exin the circumstances in detail in addition to his answer to the Queen.

    Aura seemed to know what her secretary was getting at, so she nodded once, too.

    ¡°Yes. The four-masters all belong to major powers on the North Continent without exceptions. Even a three-master can only be obtained in the private sector by a very wealthy merchant.

    Considering that, it is actually inevitable that the captain of that ship is royalty. Though I do not know why it has to be a young princess.¡±

    She expressed her consent along with an exnation. Then she looked at the aged magician and asked a fundamental question that had bothered her the most.

    ¡°Still, I have never heard of that ¡®Upps Kingdom¡¯. What about you, Espaldion? Do you know anything?¡±

    At that, Zenjirou and Secretary Fabio paid attention to the addressed mage as well.

    The prevailing opinion was that a good magician was also a wise man, but that was not always the case.

    Even amongst the third-rate magicians without inherited magical power or talent for magic, were wise men with a profound knowledge. The same was true for the opposite: Some of the great mages that could use magic freely, had spent their whole life researching magic, so they were surprisingly ignorant about other things.

    Fortunately enough, Espaldion took after the general image: He was an extremely good magician and an extremely wise man.

    The aged mage wrinkled his forehead so heavily that his long eyebrows quivered, and pondered before slowly opening his mouth.

    ¡°Let me think¡­ I am deeply ashamed to admit that I am not as knowledgeable as you believe me to, Your Highness. Still, if I remember correctly, the Upps Kingdom is a country located in the far north of the North Continent.¡±

    Only vaguely remembering the rough location of the kingdom, the elder magician kept his head down shamefaced.

    However, it was already worth of praise that he knew at least something about the Upps Kingdom.

    Considering how vast and informative this world was, his memory was more than reasonable.

    To allege an example: It was the same as asking an Japanese about a country in southeast Asia or the Middle East, before the arrival of the ck ships in Japan. Having heard of its name and knowing its rtive location already counted as ¡°broad knowledge¡± back then.

    ¡°Far in the north of the North Continent? Hmm, then it is no wonder that I never heard of it. But that leaves the question why they woulde here all the way from the north.¡±

    Aura posed such a question, but no one could answer her.

    The North Continent and South Continent were not doing much of intercontinental trading. Moreover, the little bit they were doing was conducted by countries in the north of the South Continent and the countries in the south of the North Continent, of course.

    The Carpa Kingdom was located more or less on the central axis of the South Continent, so they rarely traded with the North Continent directly. Their ¡°intercontinental trading¡± was done through an intermediate, namely an international port in a country north of the Carpa Kingdom.

    Even the southern countries of the North Continent that were trading with them like that, hardly ever came all the way to the Carpa Kingdom, yet a country further in the north had specifically sent a ship with four masts here.

    ¡°Our country could really need some direct trade rtionships with the North Continent. We cannot let this chance slip away, but they surely have an agenda on their own. I imagine it will be a stiff piece of work to negotiate with them in our interest.¡±

    The Queen nodded to the words of the middle-aged secretary, then replied.

    ¡°Certainly. We need to confirm their backgrounds first. It cannot be ruled out that she lied about her royal status. Still, it would be inexcusable when we did not treat her ordingly to her im and it turns out she was telling the truth. Treating her with fair respect without taking everything she says at face value will definitely be a tough task.¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, I would like to add that Royalty on the North Continent do not necessarily have a ¡®Bloodline Magic¡¯. If anything, I have heard there are some royal families that never had one to begin with.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so. ¡­¡±

    The pointer from Espaldion made Aura obviously knit her brows.

    They only had sparse contact to the North Continent through trading, so they knew next to nothing about their cultural customs. For example, it was equivalent to a feudal lord of the Sengoku Era knowing which country of his European trade partners was Catholic or Protestant.

    The fact that Royalty on the North Continent could hardly ever use a ¡°Bloodline Magic¡± was actually disillusioning for Aura.

    On the South Continent, the fastest way to prove your royal status was to disy your ¡°Bloodline Magic¡±. If that method was not applicable, it would take quite an effort to simply confirm the royal origin.

    ¡°In that case, we need a reallypetent negotiator all the more. The question is, who will be up to that important task? Do you have anyone in mind, Your Highness?¡±

    On a rare asion, Secretary Fabio was asking seriously without sarcasm, whereupon Aura nodded briefly.

    ¡°Yes, if you have no objections, I am considering to appoint ¡®Raffaello M¨¢rquez¡¯ for the task.¡±

    All three present men gave a jerk to the name that left the lips of the Queen.

    ¡°Sir Raffaello, you say? His abilities make him more than suited for the task, for sure, but he is still the son of Marquis M¨¢rquez, you know?¡±

    Secretary Fabio was only stating the obvious, but the meaning behind his words was quite weighty.

    Two points would make his appointment problematic: The fact that the M¨¢rquez Family was feudal nobility with their own piece ofnd, and the fact that Valentia was under the direct control of royalty.

    As a rule, the appointment as a governor, an extended arm of the ruler so to speak, for an area under the direct control of royalty was given to nobility of the robe that had no piece ofnd on their own, meaning only top government officials that directly influenced the politics such as Pce Ministers or Generals of the Royal Army.

    Of course that was not legally fixed, and even if it were, the decision of the monarch could overrule thew, so it was possible to enforce her choice, but the Nobility of the Robe was sure to react sharply then.

    Needless to say, Aura had already considered that.

    Still sitting orderly in her chair, the Queen crossed her arms beneath her breasts.

    ¡°I know that. I am not going to appoint him as my ¡®delegate¡¯, but as an exceptional ¡®assistant delegate¡¯. The actual ¡®delegate¡¯ will officially be appointed at his own expenses. That way, I can avoid getting pressured by the nobility of the robe. Needless to say, Raffaelo will actually be doing most of the work.¡±

    She confidentially exined her n.

    ¡°I see. But even if it is in name only, the ¡¯delegate¡¯ should have enough ¡¯impact¡¯ to keep Sir Raffaelo in check, should he not?¡±

    Although he did phrase it as a question, Secretary Fabio had already discerned Aura¡¯s intention. He nced at Zenjirou, who had been silent the whole time.

    Zenjirou may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even he could picture where this was going after so much had been said.

    (Oh, I see. I was wondering why I was called in for an unofficial meeting in the pce, but that¡¯s how they¡¯re going to y it, eh.)

    Aura wanted to appoint Raffaelo M¨¢rquez as ¡°assistant delegate¡±, but that was not an official position. That provided the advantage that he would not be tied to anyws and could reign freely, but at the same time his standing would be quite poor.

    In short, it was something like a private secretary. That definitely was not the kind of position the eldest son of Marquis M¨¢rquez would take, even if temporarily.

    Still, even the standing of a private secretary could raise greatly depending on whom he served.

    There was only one eptable entity for whom the eldest son of the M¨¢rquez Family, a prominent nobility in the Carpa Kingdom, would work as a private secretary: ¡°Royalty¡±.

    And at the present time, the only grown-up royalty in the Carpa Kingdom besides Queen Aura was Zenjirou.

    Zenjirou had urately picked up on the course of events, but he remained silent for that very reason.

    As the Prince Consort, he better kept a ¡°low profile regarding work¡±, even if only the trusted retainers of Aura were present right now.

    The aged magician seemed quite good-natured, but the middle-aged man with the slender face was ncing at him conspicuously for some time now, eager to spot a careless behaviour from him.

    Whether she knew about the inner conflict of her husband or not, the Queen directly looked at Zenjirou for the first time today and slowly began to speak.

    ¡°Yes. Raffaelo M¨¢rquez will only work as a ¡®assistant delegate¡¯ under someone with a higher status. At the present time that is just us ¡®Royalty¡¯.

    At the extreme, I could personally seize the mantle, but it would be quite frightening to be cut off from any information in the pce, even if I can return with my ¡®Teleport¡¯ magic on the same day.¡±

    Even as a practitioner of the ¡®Teleport¡¯ magic, Aura would not receive any information from the Royal Pce while she was working in a detached territory.

    Although they were not at war right now, the Carpa Kingdom had only just now moved on from a great war, so it was about as likely as not that some unforeseen case of need struck.

    In the first ce, there would be no need to appoint an ¡°assistant delegate¡± when Aura went to Valentia herself, since she had sufficient skills in politics and negotiations.

    Any way you looked at it, all signs pointed at Zenjirou for this role.

    Normally, Aura never went about such a roundabout way, neither at an unofficial meeting with her trusted retainers, nor at the discussions with Zenjirou in the Inner Pce. But at an unofficial meeting with both sidesbined, she had to stick to the procedure of ¡°advancing the topic logically while convincing everyone with a detailed exnation¡± to some extent.

    The Queen dered her conclusion without taking her eyes off her husband.

    ¡°As such, no one else but you remains, Zenjirou.¡±

    Called upon, Zenjirou did not flinch, because he has had enough time to prepare himself for it.

    ¡°Me, you say? Well, if that is yourmand, I will not oppose it, of course, Your Highness.¡±

    He smoothly voiced the answer he had prepared in his head, whereupon the Queen frowned a bit affected.

    ¡°Hmm? Do you have any qualms about it? Then do tell.¡±

    As expected of a harmonious married couple, the two of them were smoothly carrying on a conversation as if reading from a script, even though they had agreed upon nothing beforehand.

    ¡°Okay. I am currently carrying out the task of dealing with Prince Francesco and Princess Bona from the Twin Kingdom. I was wondering what would happen to them then.¡±

    ¡°You are right. We cannot turn our back on the obligations towards them as the host. I would undertake that task then.

    It may be impossible to meet with them as frequently as you have, but we can only ask their understanding for it.¡±

    ¡°Very well. I, too, will meet with them once before my departure and apologize for the incontinences in person.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do so.¡±

    Completely different from their usual talks in the Inner Pce, they were obviously conversing as superior and subordinate right now.

    Still, it was nothing out of the ordinary that the same two people talked different to each other depending whether they were at work or in private. Zenjirou was not unustomed to this either.

    He had already envisioned an agreement, but still mentioned all of his worries just in case.

    ¡°But do you not think that the nobility of the robe will oppose my appointment? Is there no one amongst them with suitable skills?¡±

    At the beginning, Zenjirou had taken the view that he was ¡°not interested in any official duties¡± and had secluded himself in the Inner Pce.

    Buttely he had been in the Royal Pce a lot, because he was entertaining Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, and when he now went to a detachednd on behalf of Aura, people would probably start to get suspicious of him.

    His question was born out of that worry, but Aura resolutely shook her head.

    ¡°No, you do not need to worry about that. To be honest, there is someone suitable, but he is already working in a position fitting his abilities.

    Forgive me for saying this, but your temporary absence will affect the governmental affairs least of all.¡±

    Frankly speaking, she was telling him that he was doing the least work here.

    He was in this situation by his own choice, but it was still a bit of a shock to hear it from his wife so straightforward.

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    For a moment, Zenjirou looked hurt. Nevertheless, all concerns had been more or less ovee, if he put his emotions aside.

    Regaining his spirit in no time, he deeply lowered his head conform to etiquette just like he had learned it while still firmly seated in his chair.

    ¡°Very well. I will dly carry out yourmand to the best of my humble abilities.¡±

    ¡°Good. I am counting on you.¡±

    The Queen acknowledged the loyalty of her husband with arge-hearted nod.

    * * *

    ¡°Sorry!¡±

    At evening of the same day. The first thing Aura told Zenjirou when she came back to the Inner Pce was an apology.

    Her point-ck apology came out of nowhere, but Zenjirou did know what she was apologizing for.

    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s fine. You had no choice but to make that call, right? Still, I hope you can exin it.¡±

    He replied with a smile like always, then said down on the couch.

    Following a sudden summoning to the Royal Pce, he was told to go work away from home in a detached royal property by necessity.

    Of course he was not doubting the sincerity of his wife towards him, but this matter definitely needed further exnation.

    No matter how much you trusted someone, it was not a pleasant feeling to be ordered around one-sidedly.

    ¡°Yes, of course I will do so.¡±

    Saying that, Aura sat down on the couch across from her husband.

    Compared to her usual rxed sitting position, she had now folded her hands on her knees instead. The words ¡°regretful¡± and ¡°pious¡± would fit her posture best.

    It also gave the impression that she was somewhat hanging her head.

    In Zenjirou¡¯s opinion, the matter did not really call for standing on ceremony to such an extent, but decided to keep that to himself and voice a question instead.

    ¡°Then let me be frank: Who really was your first choice for the assignment in Valentia? Raffaelo M¨¢rquez or me?¡±

    That had not been an impromptu question. He hade up with it when he ruminated on the matter by himself after the meeting.

    As she had not expected him to bring that up himself, Aura widened her eyes a bit surprised, then answered truthfully.

    ¡°You.¡±

    ¡°I knew it.¡±

    In light of her reply, Zenjirou looked convinced and sighed once.

    ¡°I thought about it and found it strange. If she imed to be royalty from the North Continent, then we normally would invite her to the capital and give her a great wee, right?

    Despite that, you talk about being short-handed and still want to send a certain capable someone with so much status that he was your former marriage candidate, and me, the only other grown-up royalty, there at the same time.¡±

    Even though the situation could be handled easier, she went to almost unreasonable lengths to send valuable human resources away. Even Zenjirou could guess that something was lying behind it.

    ¡°Indeed. Actually, when I received the news, I initially thought that I have to go to Valentia myself to take control.¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment, Your Majesty!! Think of your position!¡±

    The unexpected remark of his wife lead Zenjirou into making an unwitting retort.

    In turn, Aura seemed to have anticipated his reaction, as she just nodded unfazed.

    ¡°Of course reality is different. As such, my second idea was to send you.¡±

    Her way of speaking had regained a bit of her usual tone.

    ¡°Well, at least I get now that you¡¯re attaching quite the importance to this matter. So, why couldn¡¯t we bring the self-proimed princess into the pce?¡±

    ¡°Yes, before I exin that, I want to check your background knowledge.

    Zenjirou, do you know who is in control of Valentia?¡±

    In ord with her slightly strange question, he recalled the summary of the country he had learned from Lady Octavia while answering.

    ¡°Ehm.. The ¡®Duke of Valentia¡¯, if I remember correctly. Right now, that¡¯s you?¡±

    When her husband replied exemry, the Queen nodded pleased.

    ¡°Indeed. Everyone tends to believe that all the pieces ofnd that are usually called ¡¯Royal Domains¡¯ are under the direct control of Royalty, but as a matter of fact, only the capital and a few small resorts are established as property of the crown. All the other ¡®Royal Domains¡¯ have a title of nobility on their own, which is just seeded by royalty. The fundamental difference to amon feudal lord title is that the appointment of a sessor is not done by the titr himself, but instead by the current ruler.¡±

    In other words: The title of amon domain was bequeathed from the parent to the child, from the child to the grandchild and so on. On the other hand, the title of a royal domain was granted by the monarch, which meant that the monarch could appoint a close rtive as its next lord.

    Needless to say, it did not have to be a close rtive, appointing oneself was allowed, too. Due to that, it kind of became a rule that the monarch himself seeded the titles of important domains such as Valentia.

    Zenjirou was already aware of these circumstances, but was not able to rte how that fact prevented them from inviting the ¡°self-proimed princess¡± to the capital.

    Since he tilted his head puzzled, Aura exined it carefully.

    ¡°What is important in this case is that the Capital represents the country itself, whereas ¡®Valentia¡¯ is simply a domain under my direct control.

    The domains are quite self-governing. To the point that the kingdom cannot meddle with them as long as they fulfil their obligation to the country, namely paying taxes.¡±

    That self-government was a real nuisance to royalty, so Aura was making various ns to restrict the authority of the domains, but right now, the self-government yed into her hands instead.

    ¡°Oh, you mean, it will fall within the country¡¯s remit when the ¡¯self-proimed princess¡¯es to the capital, but if she stays in Valentia, it will fall within your remit?¡±

    When her husband pped his fist on his palm and checked with her, Aura assented it with a nod.

    ¡°Yes. For a normal domain it would be treachery to build a friendship with a foreign country without the country¡¯s permission, no matter how much self-governing they are, but we royalty are excluded from that.

    If I manage to befriend the ¡®self-proimed princess¡¯ as the ¡®Duchess of Valentia¡¯, I can ultimately establish close ties with her without much interference from within our country.¡±

    ¡°I see now.¡±

    Zenjirou was finally convinced to some extent.

    It was generally not reallyudable when the monarch prioritized his own benefit over the one of the country, but at times it was inevitable.

    A feudal state was mainly achieved by a power bnce between the feudal lords and royalty. When you only focussed on strengthening the country, but weakened the influence of royalty in turn, it could call forth a rebellion.

    A monarch needed to flourish the country, but at the same time grant the royal family enough power to suppress the enriched nobility.

    ¡°Okay, I get now why you want to deal with them in Valentia. Does that mean you¡¯ve a beneficial deal in view?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And not just in view, it is almost certain.

    Like we talked about this noon, a ship from the North Continent rarely everes directly to our country. Their arrival hence means that they pursue arge goal in our country or have been in an unlucky ident.¡±

    ¡°Mh? What are the odds for it being a whim? Maybe they didn¡¯te especially for Valentia, but rather dropped by after their trip to a harbour in the north of the South Continent.¡±

    Aura denied his simple-minded question by shaking her head.

    ¡°No. We might not be allies with the countries in our north, but we keep at least a friendly rtionship of neutrality.

    If they came to Valentia after a stop in a northern country, we would have been informed of their arrival by the northern country.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    When Zenjirou showed his understanding, Aura continued.

    ¡°If they deliberately came here, there is plenty of room for negotiations. And if they have drifted here due to some ident, we have already won.

    After all, they definitely need repairs at the dock when their ship has met with an ident. Even if it is arge ship with four masts, I doubt that they have so many shipwrights on board to do the repairs by themselves.

    In that case, they inevitably need people from our country to repair their ship. And that will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to study the state-of-the-art ship of the North Continent.¡±

    Befitting for a Queen of a major power, Aura then showed a confident smile and licked her lips.

    ¡°In short, you¡¯re primarily after the blueprints of theirrge ship?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The North Continent has other advanced technologies such as a big furnace that melts iron inrge quantities, but I want the ship first. Once we have arge ship, we can directly trade with the North Continent ourselves in the future.¡±

    Although the fire of royal ambition was flickering in the eyes of his wife, Zenjirou inclined his head and took the wind out of her sails.

    ¡°Hmm~ But will it be that easy? I¡¯m no expert, either, but I think you need the necessary skills first to reproduce a monster like thatrge ship.¡±

    The advance in technology was not so half-hearted that you could copy a new technology right away, even if you had ess to the finished product.

    For example: An intelligent person was able to understand the construction of a carriage by analysing it. However, he would not be able to build the carriage from scratch so easily, even if he understood its build-up.

    A skill to make equally sized wheels on both sides. A skill to make a straight and round axletree. A skill to make axle holders that kept the axletree in ce but also let it rotate without restraint. Along with various other skills, one built a carriage.

    And the same applied to a ship.

    ¡°Yes, you do have a point. But we have master shipwrights on our own and I would like to believe that the technology is not so advanced that it will be impossible to analyse and imitate it.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Aura replied with that.

    ¡°Okay. All right, then. But once I go over there, we won¡¯t get in touch so easily anymore. So I want to write down a list about stuff like an order of priority or negotiating range. May I?¡±

    ¡°Sure. Normally it would be inconceivable tomit such ssified information on paper, but in your case, no one in this world can read your writing anyway, so it should be no problem.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll write the numbers with Kanji instead of Arabic numerals, too, just in case.¡±

    It should technically be next to impossible that a third party or even the negotiating partner caught a glimpse of the memo, but better safe than sorry. There existed a tiny chance that the Arabic numerals could be read, because they were gradually gaining currency, starting with the civil servants in the Royal Pce, but anything else would be written in Japanese and obviously enough, no one in this world could read that.

    ¡°¡­What do I favour in this case?¡±

    ¡°Of course the ship¡®s¡­¡±

    After that Zenjirou and Aura huddled together and had a long discussion, which resulted in a list of ten copy papers that outlined an order of priority about what Aura wanted from the ¡°self-proimed princess¡±, and the allowed negotiation range for Zenjirou.

    Needless to say, the actual negotiations would gravely differ from these predictions, but it surprisingly made all the difference whether you prepared like that or not.

    Especially to Zenjirou, who was bad at ad-libbing and quick to get worried. Ever since his days as a sryman, he had spent a lot of time for these kind of preparations.

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s all I could think of for now.¡±

    Putting his ball pen onto the table, Zenjirou stretched oneself luxuriously while still sitting down.

    Aura unwittingly cracked a smile when her husband rejoiced from having finished one task, but she suddenly remembered that she had something to tell him, so she checked herself once again.

    ¡°Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Mh? What?¡±

    ¡°Forgive me. In the end, I caused you trouble for the sake of the country again.¡±

    Saying so, she lowered her head a bit to him.

    This was technically nothing new, but Aura still felt the need to apologize.

    In the original promise with Zenjirou, she had said that she would meet his desires as much as possible as long as it did not conflict with the country, so it would not be quite right to say that she broke the promise per se, but she certainly felt bad about pinning politics on him every time.

    ¡°Ah, yeah.¡±

    Just as Zenjirou was about to continue withforting words such as ¡°It was inevitable¡± and ¡°It¡¯s not your fault¡± like always, he suddenly thought of something.

    (Huh? Now that I think about it, I always shrug it off as inevitable, but isn¡¯t my situation getting worse and worse?)

    Of course it was not so bad yet that he would mention it aloud.

    Although he was now more often in the Royal Pce during the day for some duties, he always had the time to go back to the Inner Pce for dinner and on one of five days, he couldze around in the Inner Pce.

    And above all, this world did not have the concept of ¡°workingte hours¡±, because there was no light at night. Business hours ended as soon as the sun set, albeit with some exceptions, so from his point of view, the hours of work were not all that great.

    But because of that, he could have some quality time with his beloved wife in the wired Inner Pce after the end of work.

    When he worked away from home in Valentia, though, he would obviously be separated from the electrical appliances, his wife Aura and his son Carlos Zenkichi.

    For a short period of time, it definitely was not something infeasible, but if he were to utter the word ¡°inevitable¡± now, he sensed that it would affect his future.

    As far as possible, Zenjirou replied with harmless words and a soft expression.

    ¡°Hmm, I know your position puts you in bind, but it seems to be especially bad this time. Before I noticed it, it had progressed so far that I could no longer refuse. I was really surprised.¡±

    The Queen was taken by surprise when her husband did not reply with the usual ¡°it was inevitable, don¡¯t worry about it¡±.

    And in the next moment, she realized her own line of thinking and turned red from shame.

    (I am the worst. Even though I apologized, I had already assumed that he would forgive me unconditionally.)

    If her husband had been someone else than Zenjirou, Aura would have taken the easy way out and brought the ¡°self-proimed princess¡± into the Capital to deal with her.

    But in reality, she had made the prompt decision to solve the matter in Valentia and reap all the benefits for the royal family as soon as she had read the letter from the Small Flying Dragon.

    Even though she did not believe that the decision itself had been wrong, it did mean that she had unconsciously regarded Zenjirou as ¡°a pawn that obeyed her unconditionally¡±.

    (Otherwise I would not be so shaken right now.)

    Aura reflected on herself self-aware at heart, then straightened out her expression and faced her husband anew.

    ¡°Yes, I am truly sorry. You have all the right to me me. In the end, everything seems to work out just fine, but that was only possible because you said nothing and went along with my n. I thank you for that.

    I could say now that I will never let something like this happen again, but that will be impossible, so I will at least discuss things with you first from now wherever possible.

    And once you havepleted the job, I want to reward you with something material for sure this time. You do not have to choose right now, but could you give it some thought?¡±

    ¡°Ah, well, okay.¡±

    Zenjirou answered her somewhat vaguely, but approvingly.

    One of the reasons why Aura was so quick to rely on him was definitely the fact that he would not ept a reward.

    Only starting to realize that now, he pondered for a moment.

    ¡°Something I want, eh¡­Hmm.¡±

    Still, no matter how often you asked him about this, he really could not think of anything. To begin with, he had never been the greedy type. The best proof for that was the fact that he had saved up three million yen during his years as an subordinate sryman.

    On the one hand he had been too busy to spent the money, on the other hand he never cooked by himself because he was too busy. Most of his meals had been prepackaged dishes or taken at a restaurant. The only bicycle he owned had been second-hand, too. Except these expenses, he spent no money on hobbies, so he was able to save up as much as three million yen.

    Not to mention that he usually spent all his time here in the Inner Pce or Royal Pce, so he did note across any news that would be an object of desire. It did not help, either, that he was not feeling the need for anything in his daily life.

    Troubled like that, Zenjirou asked Aura instead.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s customary to receive in such a case anyway?¡±

    Upon his question, the Queen looked up to the ceiling and mused for a bit.

    ¡°Hmm, the best bet is money. Lower or mid-level nobility often get paid directly in gold and silver coins, but upper nobility or royalty often receive something that earns them a regr ie such as a title of nobility apanied by a domain or an estate.¡±

    Then she answered smoothly like that.

    The reaction from Zenjirou on the other hand was anything but enthusiastic.

    ¡°Hmm, money, eh. To be honest, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s all that wise to have money at my own disposal in my position.¡±

    Zenjirou was not giving much credit to his own skills, nor to his own personality. He honestly had no confidence that he could resist the temptation to cover up an incident with money, if he were to make some kind of mistake in the future.

    The reward came with such a risk and he was not really keen on it, to begin with. Or at least, it was not something he would immediately jump at for now.

    Zenjirou temporarily put the decision on hold and asked another question.

    ¡°Anything else?¡±

    ¡°Well, some material goods. Normally it is something rted to the achievement. A soldier gets a good spear ornce for military exploits and a civil servant usually gets a dragon bone brush with a detailed pattern or a beautifully polished calction stone.¡±

    The dragon bone brush was, like its name implied, a brush made out of the bones of a dragon. It was a kind of dip pen and the ink was sponged up into slits that were carved into the bone. The design was simr to the ss pens in Japan.

    On the other hand, the calction stone was, again like its name implied, a primitive calction device. On both surfaces of a t stone like the ones used for the game go, rills were engraved in a cross pattern. Depending on how you put down the stone, you could disy the numbers from one to ten.

    An educated person of this world could apply the four basic arithmetic operations by using numerous of these calction stones, but Zenjirou did not know how exactly.

    He had used them once during a lesson with Lady Octavia, but could not really memorize their usage.

    ¡°A brush or stone, huh. Hmm, not really my thing.¡±

    Of course he was not thrilled. In terms of usability, the dragon bone brush was no match for the ball pen, and the calction stone was not even a patch on the hand calctor or the calction software on theputer.

    These presents had undoubtedly a great value as perfect pieces of art, too, but Zenjirou was neither a collector, nor an art enthusiast, so they merely left a ¡°oh, cool¡± impression on him.

    A decision was put on hold here as well. Still, he would not really be troubled by receiving a reward, nor would it affect his surroundings by epting one, so he might as wellpromise on this matter.

    Just in case, he asked yet another question, though.

    ¡°Something else?¡±

    ¡°The permission to marry, I guess.

    The marriages of higher nobles usually requires the blessing of the ruler. In most cases, it is nothing but a formality, but it did happen before that the ruler opposed a marriage between two high-ranking families or between families with a too great difference in status.

    In such cases, you can overrule the gap in ss or inconveniences to the royal family, through military or civil exploits.¡±

    ¡°That got nothing to do with me, though.¡±

    When her husband immediately interjected to remind her, Aura unwittingly showed a wry smile.

    ¡°Well, for now, yes. Another choice would be to simply award a ¡®woman¡¯ as a reward.

    And by that I do not mean a woman that will be your wife, but rather someone, who brings her beauty to market, like a dancer or singer.¡±

    She indifferently mentioned that in aposed tone, whereupon Zenjirou heaved a sigh with a somewhat disgusted expression.

    ¡°Nope.¡±

    That short utterancepletely revealed his mentality.

    Obviously enough, Zenjirou, too, was a healthy young man in body and soul, so he was sometimes driven by the urge to have a woman besides his wife.

    But if anything, that was merely a ¡°fantasy about having an affair¡±, and did not mean that he wanted to bring another woman into his home, the Inner Pce.

    The Queen smiled wryly when her husband was as obstinate as ever about this topic.

    ¡°Okay. That is about all themon rewards I can think of. So, did it help you out?¡±

    While scratching his head with his right hand, Zenjirou replied to her question with a sulky face.

    ¡°Hmm, well, yeah, I guess? If I don¡¯te up with something else, I¡¯ll probably take a dragon bone brush or a calction stone.¡±

    His answer made Aura widen her eyes a bit in surprise.

    ¡°Oho? Did that pique your interest?¡±

    She did not expect his next answer, though.

    He shook his head

    ¡°No. Instead of an interest, it¡¯s more of a harmless choice from all of them.¡±

    and responded without mincing matters.

    As such, Aura unwittingly heaved a sigh.

    ¡°You cannot really call it a reward then, though¡­¡±

    Apparently her unpretentious husband was duteously trying to fulfil the ¡°obligation¡± of epting a material reward. Moreover, he was being extremely careful that it influenced his standing as little as possible.

    Aura massaged her temples with the thumb and middle finger of her right hand in order to suppress a headache, then delivered an admonition.

    ¡°Zenjirou, there is no need to take others into consideration when epting a reward. I will properly refuse you if you should ever wish for something that goes against the country. You just have to be honest to your desire, okay?

    Is there nothing you want? You supported yourself back then in your former world, correct? What did you buy there? You were not so poor that you had your hands full already with basic necessities, were you?¡±

    This time, Zenjirou looked up to the ceiling and mused.

    ¡°Hmm, back in Japan? I wasn¡¯t short on money for sure, but short on time, I guess. I could never spare the time to get something I wanted.

    Ah, but now that I think about it, there were a couple of things I wanted back then.¡±

    Speaking of things that he wanted during his time as a student and working adult, respectively, there dide a few things to his mind.

    For example, a wristwatch.

    He had been in the possession of two wristwatches, a digital one for private use and an analogue one matching his suit, but both of them had been cheap exemrs that did not even cost a thousand yen.

    One day, he really had wanted to own a wristwatch from a higher price level.

    Other than that, he had considered a new car.

    Half a year after joining thepany, Zenjirou had bought a second-hand hybrid car, but that had simply been apromise. The car he had ¡°wanted¡± and perceived as ¡°cool¡± had been a different one. Instead he hadpromised on the hybrid car for its overwhelmingly better gas consumption and second-hand price.

    Because he always went to work on the train (hispany did not have a parking lot) and did his shopping with his bike (his leased parking lot was farther away than the convenience store or supermarket), he practically never needed his car, but did not get rid of it despite that, which disclosed his abnormal fixation on it.

    The only other thing he could think of was a season ticket for the junior league team, whose fan club he had belonged to.

    Money-wise, that had not been out of reach for him, but he did not buy it because his days had been filled with overtime work and he did not have the time to go into a football stadium.

    Anyway, Zenjirou had racked his brain, but still could note up with anything helpful.

    ¡°Hmm, I can¡¯t think of anything. I did wanted a few things back in my old life, but these are no longer desirable here. To be honest, I haven¡¯te across anything in this world that piqued my interest.¡±

    Saying so, he raised his two palms towards the ceiling as if surrendering, and shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated manner.

    Aura knew very well that he really meant what he was saying, hence she was troubled.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Is there really nothing? You can put aside whether it is actually feasible or not for now. Just name something for the sake of it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all very well, but I¡¯m really not inconvenienced. I may be a bit busy with work, but I also got plenty of free time. And I¡¯ve got enough DVDs and games to not get bored. If I had to name something, it would be the inte, but that¡¯s clearly out of the question.¡±

    He previously had discussed with Aura if it was possible to connect to the inte, even if only for a short time, bybining the ¡°Time Reversal¡± and ¡°World Bridge¡± magic, but that had turned out to be impossible.

    ¡°Time Reversal¡± was to be cast on objects, not on airspace, and ¡°World Bridge¡± only deployed its effect for an instant, so his idea of ¡°winding back time of a designed airspace to a date, where the right star constetion allowed the casting of World Bridge, and then connecting with a public hotspot for the inte by evoking World Bridge¡± was impracticable.

    In actual fact, Zenjirou had not been convinced by her exnation. On an intuitive level, he somehow got the feeling that it was possible nevertheless.

    But even if that was the case, he would need to know more about ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± first, and considering that he currently could only use the first magic of it, he still had a long way to go.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Both of them no longer knew what to say next. This happened every time. Whenever this topic came up, they were both at a loss for words at the end for sure.

    However, Zenjirou forced himself to say something in order to break this silence.

    ¡°Well, you know, I¡¯ll be away from the Royal Pce, or rather from the Capital for the first time now, so I might find something interesting over there.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. It might breath new life into your lifestyle on that note. Valentia is a great ce. The sun may be strong there, but the sea breeze makes it chillier than in the Capital. The seafood is quite delicious, too.

    Though no matter how much you will like it, I will not cede the title of ¡¯Duke of Valentia¡¯ to you.¡±

    Her joke caused Zenjirou tough, too.

    ¡°Ahaha. No worries, I¡¯m not that unreasonable.¡±

    ¡°Also, do you not dare to bring the ¡¯self-proimed princess¡¯ back home with you. It will be troublesome regardless of whether her im is true or not.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re such a worrywart.¡±

    Before long, the royal couple wasughing frolicsome together.

    * * *

    A few dayster.

    Zenjirou was having a pleasant conversation with Prince Francesco and Princess Bona in a room of the Royal Pce.

    Like always, the sunlight brightened up the room and they were sitting on couches across each other while enjoying some tea and dried fruits to their talking.

    The only difference was the topic of their conversation: It announced a temporary separation.

    ¡°Oh, rumour has it that you were going to leave the capital. So it¡¯s true then, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    After Zenjirou had told him about his departure to Valentia himself, the blonde prince neatly put his teacup back onto the table and said this.

    ¡°To be honest, I am surprised about the suddenness. But I pray for your safe return.¡±

    The princess with the auburn hair, on the other hand, could not conceal her restlessness and was unconsciously fidgeting with her hands resting on herp.

    Although Prince Francesco had been surprised, he was not concerned, whereas Princess Bona looked just as concerned as she was surprised.

    Their different reactions could be rted to their distinct mental toughness, of course, but the more important factor was their differential positions.

    For Prince Francesco, Zenjirou¡¯s absence only meant the loss of a ¡°yfellow he got along with¡±. In Princess Bona¡¯s case, though, it truly was a matter of life and death, because she lost the person, who ¡°sympathized and cooperated with her the most¡± in regards to her chaperone duty towards Prince Francesco.

    The usual behaviour of the prince, whether it was staged or not, was causing trouble without doubt.

    And the one to be directly affected by that was Princess Bona. Consequently, the one to help her out the most had been Zenjirou.

    Knowing this, it was understandable why Princess Bona felt like crying.

    Zenjirou felt hesitation dwell up within him for a moment upon receiving the pleading look of the young princess, but he was not so thoughtless as to act on that emotion.

    ¡°Thank you very much. I will be going there for the first time, so I am a bit nervous.¡±

    Continuing to put on a friendly face, he coped with it reasonable. Still, no matter how reasonable he might be, it would be all for nothing, if the other party did not ept it.

    ¡°Lucky you! Oh, please keep the souvenirs in mind!¡±

    Prince Francesco, as cool as a cucumber, spoke to the royalty of another country as if a child pestering its father when he left on a trip.

    ¡°Prince Francesco!¡±

    That behaviour of his was nothing new, but Princess Bona still turned pale. She must be rather sincere or sensitive.

    Having said this, it was probably a good thing to have someone with a constant prudence around, because it was an undeniable fact that the behaviour of the princecked courtesy, no matter how used you were to it.

    Her state of mind could by no means be favourable, though, since she had to be attentive around the clock.

    ¡°Please rx, Princess Bona. This is just an informal meeting, so there is no need to be so uptight. I understand, Prince Francesco. I will get you something suitable.

    Hmm, Valentia is a seaport city after all. It may not be much of a business, but perhaps they are selling beautiful pearls or good-looking corals. If I can get my hands on them, I will bring it along for you.¡±

    When Zenjirou responded like that, Prince Francesco rejoiced while his face beamed with joy.

    ¡°Really!? Please do so! Phew, I¡¯m really looking forward to it!¡±

    Both, corals and pearls, were jewellery rtively unknown to the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, because it was andlocked country.

    As a first-rate practitioner of the Bestowal Magic as well as a first-rate jewellery craftsman, it was only natural that Prince Francesco would be fascinated with unfamiliar jewellery.

    And that applied to the girl with the auburn hair sitting next to him as well, because she dedicated her life to jewellery even more than him.

    ¡°Prince Francesco! Even if this is an informal meeting, please refrain from using such a casual manner of speaking!¡±

    While reprimanding the in name only prince of her own country, Princess Bona looked at Zenjirou with her dark brown eyes glittering from desire.

    ¡°A- Allow me to extend my sincere gratitude as well, Your Majesty Zenjirou.

    Corals are superb materials that can be altered in many ways, and although pearls are not suited as a medium for magic tools, their brilliance and shape make them extremely valuable for decorations.

    Prince Francesco would surely produce a masterpiece from them.¡±

    From her choice of words, you would think that she was merelypleting the appreciation from Prince Francesco, but Zenjirou was not dense insomuch that he would fail to notice how her true motive seeped through her forceful tone and sparkling eyes.

    ¡°Yes, I would like to see it once it ispleted. That goes for Prince Francesco¡¯s work, of course, but for yours as well, Princess Bona.¡±

    Hence he explicitly linked the ¡°souvenir¡± to Princess Bona as well, and not just to Prince Francesco.

    ¡°Th- Thank you so much!¡±

    Princess Bona realized what he meant and lowered her head with such vigour that the silver dust sprinkled on her auburn hair scattered around.

    * * *

    Zenjirou departed to Valentia a few days after that.

    The reason for the dy was rather simple: The personnel to prepare for his arrival had to be ¡°leaped¡± to Valentia before him.

    Queen Aura did have enough magical power to use ¡°Teleport¡± numerous times on a single day, but her magical power was considered a trump card for the Carpa Kingdom. They could not risk that she was out of magical power, even if only for a day, in case something happened.

    Therefore, she could only sent one person per day to Valentia with her ¡°Teleport¡± magic.

    ¡°Are you ready, Zenjirou? If so, I will ¡®leap¡¯ you now.¡±

    In view of her question, Zenjirou put down the backpack he was shouldering and spread out its contents.

    ¡°Wait a sec. I¡¯ll check onest time. shlight¡­ check. Pocket knife¡­ check. Distilled alcohol as a present¡­¡±

    His backpack was mainly filled with stuff that he had brought with him from Earth.

    General daily necessities like a change of clothes could just be obtained in Valentia and anything that could not be bought such as his official royal attire was already taken along by the personnel that ¡°leaped¡± before him.

    Frankly speaking, Zenjirou could have gone with nothing but the clothes he was wearing.

    ¡°¡­Okay, everything¡¯s there. I didn¡¯t forget anything.¡±

    After he finished his inspection, he closed the backpack and carried it with his hand.

    Right now, he was d in his third official attire.

    Although he was currently all alone with Aura in the Inner Pce, the government officials, starting with the governor of Valentia, would be waiting for him at the teleport destination, so he was expected to dress ordingly to his status.

    And he definitely should not wear the backpack on his back while dressed like this. It would wrinkle the clothes, which were simr to Japanese clothes, for one, and it would look unbing, too.

    Speaking of, carrying around a backpack was not all that favourable either, but they would have to tolerate that.

    The Queen, wearing a red dress, looked her husband, who stood in front of her with the backpack in one hand, in the eyes again and slowly began to speak.

    ¡°Well then, I will send you to Valentia now. Raffaelo M¨¢rguez is already there, so approach him for any official matters.

    He mayck initiative, but he is very capable in executing orders.¡±

    Raffaelo M¨¢rguez.

    He had been one of the two marriage candidates for Queen Aura.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou was not holding him in high esteem.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll just be a figurehead and leave all the detail work to Sir Raffaelo.¡±

    The Queenughed when her husband contained himself by suppressing theplex feeling of relying on the former husband candidate of his wife, and nodded in return.

    ¡°Yes, do that. You are royalty while he is a vassal. Make the most of him.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. To be honest, I have my troubles with that, but I¡¯ll manage somehow.¡±

    Even during his time at thepany, Zenjirou never got the chance to have a ¡°subordinate¡± at hismand. Therefore, ordering someone around was uncharted territory for him, but like Aura had said, he was ¡°royalty¡± now, so he could no longer talk his way out of it by iming it to have ¡°troubles¡± with it.

    Especially because he had to pose as a powerless royalty without ability and motivation. The skill to ¡°leave matters to others¡± would surely be in demand more often from now on.

    ¡°Another familiar face you will see is Ines from the waiting maids in the Inner Pce. Your residence in Valentia will have maids, too, but they will likely not measure up to your standards.

    To make matter worse, it is your first time spending the night outside the Inner Pce. For your own good, remain at Ines¡® side as much as possible.¡±

    Next up, Aura advised him cautionary.

    His view towards attendants would be regarded as heresy in this world.

    It might go without saying for a citizen of Modern Earth, but Zenjirou was not thick-skinned enough, so that he could rx while an attendant stood wordless at attention in the same room.

    The only ones, who understood his ¡°sensitivity of propinquity¡±, were the waiting maids working in the Inner Pce.

    The difort would not be unbearable if it only concerned the maids, but he also had to live in an environment without his electrical appliances for the first time.

    It was a crumb offort that it was not the hottest season right now, but a lifestyle without refrigerator and venttor, not to mention air conditioning, was surely tougher than he acknowledged.

    ¡°Just stick to Ines in any event. You will be fine if you leave all your private requests to her. Otherwise put, she will tell you if something really is out of the question.

    Knowing you, this will be an unfounded worry, but please try to refrain from any selfishness.¡±

    Forget about selfishness, Zenjirou never demanded more than what was absolutely necessary. Although Aura knew that it would be rude to bring it up, she had to say it just in case.

    Something he had taken for granted so far might now turn out to be unattainable during his stay away from the Inner Pce. It was possible then that he would trouble the waiting maids with an ¡°unconscious selfishness¡± at such a time.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll behave as well-mannered as possible.¡±

    Zenjirou sensed that there was more to her advice of ¡°sticking to Ines¡± than meets the eye, but he just responded affirmative without pursuing that matter further.

    This time for sure, he wouldpletely be separated from the culture of Modern Earth and plunged into the ¡°life in a different world¡±. Zenjirou was positive that she was just that worried about him.

    ¡°Do you have your instruction memo? Do not dare to lose it, you hear? Once you have gone over there, we practically can no longermunicate with each other. Not even a Small Flying Dragon will be able to deliver a letter in a day or so.¡±

    The instruction memo was written at the behest of Zenjirou and listed an order of priority in detail about what Aura wanted from the ¡°self-proimed princess¡± and what he was allowed to promise in return.

    Of course it was written in Japanese, so it would not turn into a disaster, even if it fell into the wrong hands.

    ¡°Yeah, no worries. I got it here. And I remembered everything just in case.¡±

    Answering like that, Zenjirou patted the backpack, where the instruction memo was.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    At a loss for words, the two of them just gazed at each other wordlessly. They had said everything that needed to be said. All that was left was to use the ¡°Teleport¡± magic to send him to Valentia. But neither of them mentioned that and they simply remained silent.

    From the day Zenjirou hade to this world until today, these two had never lift apart from each other. Even if they knew that Zenjirou would be back as soon as the matter was settled, they could not help but feel sad about the separation.

    ¡°¡­Aura.¡±

    Breaking the silence, Zenjirou wrapped his right hand around the waist of his wife in a red dress, gently pulling her closer.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    Aura discerned what her husband was up to from that alone, so she abandoned herself to his arms and flopped onto his chest.

    When their bodies touched, they embraced each other and shared a kiss.

    The kisssted for some time while they remained in a tight caress with both arms put around each other¡¯s back.

    ¡°Mm¡­¡±

    ¡°Mh, Uhn, Mm¡­¡±

    Zenjirou suddenly became weepy when he thought about how he would not be able to relish that sensation for a while now.

    Unlike their usual casual intimacy, they now were connected in a heartfelt embrace and shared a passionate kiss. Then they slowly let go of each other in a natural way.

    ¡°Well, see you soon then.¡±

    Picking up the dropped backpack at his feet, Zenjirou finally said so to Aura with a resolved expression.

    Nevertheless, his left hand was still resting on the shoulder of his wife regretfully even now, so he was not entirely resolved to separate yet.

    Aura gently removed his left hand from her shoulder with her own right hand without wiping the smile off her face, then held up the palm of her right hand in front of his chest.

    ¡°Okay. Here I go.¡±

    After answering like that, she closed her eyes and concentrated her energy. At the same time, her entire body started to emit an overwhelming magical power.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Zenjirou unwittingly closed his eyes, too, and waited.

    With his eyes closed, he could hear the ¡°chant¡± of his wife.

    ¡°Send my chosen person to the ce I envision. Aspensation, I make¡­¡±

    It was neither hot, nor oppressive. A distinct ¡°power¡± simply enveloped his whole body.

    And in the next moment, he felt a bit drowsy, so he shook his head and opened his eyes reflexively.

    ¡°We have been awaiting you, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    Instead of Queen Aura,

    ¡°Wee to Valentia, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    he saw unfamiliar men kneeling down on one knee.

 Chapter Volume 5 2

    ¡°Wow. I was really teleported¡­¡±

    After Zenjirou had briefly greeted the nobility, starting with the prostrating governor of Valentia, he was taken to his private chamber and said this admiring while looking out of the window.

    This was the residence for the Duke of Valentia, sort of the centre of the seaport city.

    As a matter ofmon knowledge, the title Duke of Valentia was inherited by royalty from generation to generation, so the residence was actually almost never used and the administration was in the neighbouring residence of the governor, but right now the residence had been whipped into perfect shape to amodate Zenjirou. One would not believe that it had been deste a short while ago.

    The opened window let in the dazzling sunlight and the salty breeze typical for a seaport city.

    Aside from that, his vision was filled with the stony harbour that reminded him of an old city in Europe he had seen on TV before, and the marvellous vast blue sea.

    Most of the stones used in the harbour were white, so it beautifully contrasted with the blue of the sea.

    ¡°You just have to add the royal red to it, and you get a tricolour. Man, I feel like singing now.¡±

    The colours blue, white and red reminded him of the ser team he had been a fan of in Japan, so he unconsciously mumbled to himself while narrowing his eyes to slits to the reflection of the sun on the water surface.

    At this point, the door was knocked and the familiar voice of a woman resounded.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou, may I have a bit of your time?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes.¡±

    When he permitted it reflexively, an acquainted woman entered as expected.

    ¡°Excuse me, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    The woman was middle-aged and wore carmine red maid clothes.

    Her name was Ines and she was the Head of the Cleaning Department in the Inner Pce.

    Amongst the older waiting maids in the Inner Pce, she was exceptional slender and graceful.

    Like her position suggested, she was in charge of the cleaning in the Inner Pce, but needless to say, that was not the only expertise she was capable of.

    She was qualified enough to lead all the waiting maids in the Inner Pce in ce of Supervisory Maid Amanda without any problems, if she ever felt like it.

    Zenjirou stood with his back to the window as Ines approached him. She dropped an elegant curtsy in front of him and reported the matter.

    ¡°Sir Raffaelo M¨¢rguez requests an audience with you. What may I tell him?¡±

    ¡°Oh, he does?¡±

    He was about to ask her what he should do, but quickly swallowed down these words.

    (Oops. I¡¯m still too used to leave all the decisions to Aura.)

    Self-reflecting, Zenjirou quickly mused on his own.

    He had arrived here in Valentia literally a moment ago, but had done so through Aura¡¯s ¡°Teleport¡± magic, so he was not the least bit exhausted from the trip, to the point that it did not even feel like he had gone to the faraway coast in the west until he had looked out of the window.

    As far as he was concerned, he would have liked to have some time to get ustomed to the climate and customs here, but this was not a vacation.

    It was a business trip, so it was only natural to bring forward work.

    (The question is if I¡¯m risking to be ¡®looked down on¡¯ when I ept his request right away.)

    Zenjirou recalled his lessons with Lady Octavia, but unfortunately could not remember something that was a good match for his current situation.

    In that case, he had to make a decision for himself.

    After pondering for a moment, he began to speak.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll meet him. Prepare a room.¡±

    Since he did not know whether it was right to meet him or not, he decided to abide by his preferences. And his way of proceeding was to get work done as soon as possible.

    ¡°Yes, as you wish.¡±

    The middle-aged maid lowered her head respectfully upon the instructions of her master.

    Approximately one hourter.

    In one room of the residence, Zenjirou met the man, who called himself Raffaelo M¨¢rguez.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Master Zenjirou. I am Raffaelo, the eldest son of Manuel, the current head of the M¨¢rguez Family.

    I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to meet me so suddenly today.¡±

    Smoothly delivering his greeting, the man bowed elegantly. Zenjirou remained seated in his chair as he watched him.

    (So that¡¯s Raffaelo M¨¢rguez. One of Aura¡¯s former husband candidates¡­)

    He was probably in his early thirties and had an average height and build. His looks were personable, but not distinct enough to call him beautiful.

    If anything, his features were too average to leave a bigger impression. At least he was not as rememberable as General Puyol Guill¨¦n, whom you would never forget again after meeting once.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I wanted to talk to you, too. For now, sit down.¡±

    Even after more than one year, Zenjirou was still not used to speak in an haughty tone, but this time he used it with pleasure.

    His dislike for the former husband candidate of his wife made his sharp tongue and condescending manner appear more natural.

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±

    Raffaelo sat down in a chair across from Zenjirou with arge rectangle table in-between them.

    The motion for setting the chair in ce for himself was bizarrely unobtrusive as well. It must have been some kind of ¡°elegant movement¡±. He had internalised to move smoothly without upsetting those, who watched him.

    ¡°Speak up, Sir Raffaelo. Did you already meet with the girl, who ims to be a ¡®princess from the North Continent¡¯?¡±

    Zenjirou folded his hands on the table and asked, whereupon Raffaelo M¨¢rguez nodded a bit.

    ¡°Yes. We only exchanged pleasantries for a bit, though, because I was only ¡®sent¡¯ here by Her Majesty three days ago as well.¡±

    The rumour that a self-proimed princess from the Upps Kingdom had arrived on a ship with four masts, was spreading so fast that probably everyone in Valentia already knew about it.

    And it goes without saying, since there was no way to hide the giant four-master anchoring in the harbour.

    ¡°Give me a brief synopsis. What was the princess like?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, her name is Freya Upps and she is a girl of seventeen or eighteen years. ording to herself, she is the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom, which lies on the North Continent.¡±

    ¡°Any credibility?¡±

    Raffaelo answered the short question from Zenjirou without missing a beat, as if he had prepared his reply beforehand.

    ¡°If my personal opinion is all right with you: I would like to think that she is saying the truth. Her manners were slightly different, probably because of the difference in customs of our countries, but her way of behaving and speaking seemed sophisticated and habitual to me.¡±

    In this case, her youth actually gave her more credibility.

    Admittedly, this world also had clever con artists, who could act aristocratic to the point that even real nobility and royalty were fooled, but these people had inevitably gone through decades of training. The age of Princess Freya made that impossible.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Keeping his expression in check, Zenjirou nodded once.

    Aura had said that they could assume that she was indeed the real deal, because she had arge ship with four masts, and she seemed to be right. Needless to say being a real princess did not rule out the possibility that she was trickster.

    After all, royalty was more or less resorting to deception when negotiating for their country.

    If you underestimated her for being a young girl, you were at risk of losing everything.

    ¡°Since you only greeted her, you don¡¯t know their motive yet?¡±

    ¡°No. I have not inquired about that so far. But she mentioned it was more or less a coincidence that they ended up here. They were indeed heading for the South Continent, but apparently got into a storm on the open sea and veered off course.¡±

    ¡°Aha¡­?¡±

    Zenjirou could not hide his surprise towards the report from Raffaelo, and widened his eyes a bit.

    When they arrived here by chance through a storm, then there ship was definitely damaged. That in turn meant that they could get their hands on some of the know-how of therge four-master by lending a helping hand for their repairs out of ¡°good-will¡± instead of providing something in exchange for it during negotiations.

    Anyway, as long as it was within Aura¡¯s expectations, he had already been instructed on how to act, so Zenjirou did not have to pause for a decision.

    ¡°Then we have to provide the manpower to repair their ship. If the ship¡¯s damaged, we are to do our best to fix it. That¡¯s the will of her Majesty Aura, too.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well. I will act upon it immediately.¡±

    Zenjirou emphasized the fact that it was an intention of Aura as well, and whether he understood the implication or not, Raffaelo simply affirmed it without changing hisposed facial expression.

    (Immediately, eh. Guess he¡¯s exactly the guy Aura said he would be.)

    When Zenjirou heard his answer, he assessed the man sitting across from him with that in mind.

    Aura had described the man known as Raffaelo M¨¢rguez as a ¡°civil servant, who was extremely capable, but also passive beyond help¡±.

    In other words, he would bring about the best results as long as he had received orders, but would never be proactive himself.

    If anything, that type of man was rare in the Carpa Kingdom, where ambitious men were in the majority.

    Aura might have readily epted him as her husband, if his loyalty were to be directed at the country itself instead of his family.

    ¡°Nevertheless, the craftsmen in Valentia do have their own jobs during the day. Of course I will try to make them cooperate as much as possible, but it remains questionable if they alone can repair such a big ship.

    With your consent, I would like to call in some craftsmen from ¡®outside¡¯.¡±

    Raffaelo M¨¢rguez kept a straight face without so much as batting an eye as he proposed that with a calm voice.

    Zenjirou kept cool, too, when responded contrived to the suggestion.

    ¡°Aha. And by ¡®outside¡¯, you mean craftsmen from the County of M¨¢rguez?¡±

    On a rare asion, his words had an obvious tinge of sarcasm, but the sessor to Count M¨¢rguez answered in the affirmative without wiping the smile from his face.

    ¡°Yes. I regret to say that I, despite my advanced age, have hardly ever left my home domain so far, so I am afraid that have rather few connections to others. Fortunately enough, the County of M¨¢rguez is not that far away from Valentia.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡°I would be delighted to get your approval.¡±

    ¡°But you need the permission of the Queen to bring people from other domains into Valentia.¡±

    ¡°Please rest assured. My Father and Her Majesty have alreadye to an understanding in the Capital. Here is the relevant document.¡±

    With these words, Raffaelo pulled out a four-fold dragonskin parchment from his pocket and put it onto the table.

    Zenjirou nced at Ines, who stood at attention next to him. The middle-aged maid recognized the cue, smoothly moved over to the table, picked up the parchment and handed it to Zenjirou.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Zenjirou skimmed over the opened parchment, but much to his sorrow, he could not even read half of it. He did studied a bit every night, but so far he could only understand thenguage used in the Carpa Kingdom as good as a Japanese middle school student understood English.

    For now, he recognized the signs of Aura and Count M¨¢rguez under the document, then returned the parchment to the waiting maid.

    She took it and set it down on the table in such a way that Zenjirou could see it as well. Then she read it out aloud with a clear voice.

    ¡°I will read it now.

    During his appointment as the assistant of Zenjirou Carpa, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez is given free rein in regards to¡­¡±

    The content of the dragonskin parchment read aloud by the waiting maid Ines, was more or less exactly what Raffaelo had said before.

    In short, it registered the right for Raffaelo M¨¢rguez to call in more personnel from outside during the current affair, when there was a shortage of manpower to resolve any circumstances.

    In that case, the M¨¢rguez Family had to shoulder all the expenses for the personnel from outside, though.

    (I see. In other words, the M¨¢rguez get a piece of the cake, too. In exchange, Raffaelo will y the faithful subordinator here and the M¨¢rguez cover a part of the expenses, too.)

    It should go without saying, but Queen Aura and Count M¨¢rguez had already reached an agreement on this matter for the most part.

    The reason that Aura had not told Zenjirou about it directly was that it was part of the advertisement to the M¨¢rguez Family that ¡°Zenjirou was merely a figurehead and Raffaelo in charge¡±.

    Personally speaking, Zenjirou naturally had wanted to be filled in beforehand, but also realized that Aura was way better than him in making such decisions.

    ¡°Fine. You seem to be saying the truth. When Her Majesty has given you permission, I can¡¯t object. Do what¡¯s necessary.¡±

    Zenjirou spoke with a callous tone, as if he had stopped caring.

    * * *

    ¡°Damn, I hardly slept at all.¡±

    On the next day, that honest promation was the first thing Zenjirou said when he woke up after spending the night in the residence of the Duke of Valentia.

    Amidst the faint sunlight that crept in through the gaps of the tightly closed wooden shutters, he stretched himself abundantly on the bed to vitalize his sleepy body.

    ¡°Uh¡­ Ugh¡­¡±

    Technically, his night hadsted longer than usual, but he still felt sleep-deprived.

    Although he had expected to face some inconveniences outside the Inner Pce, he clearly had been na?ve in his thinking.

    The hottest season was already over, but the nights in the Carpa Kingdom were still sultry. And now his body could not adopt to the sultriness, because he had set up the air conditioning in his bedroom at home.

    The only proper light he had was the crank-powered LED shlight he had brought with him from the Capital, so it was not easy to stay up doing something, either.

    His cell phone could be charged through that crank-powered shlight, so he had brought it with him as a clock, but his game consoles were all left at home. Zenjirou was regretting his choice a bit now.

    Because he was ying less and less with the game consoles these days, he had not felt the need to bring them along, but now that he had spent a night in Valentia, he noticed that he had a lot more spare time than expected.

    Thinking back, the reason why he recently no longer yed games at night was that he spent his time either discussing things with Aura or training his magic.

    But needless to say, neither Aura, nor hisputer, which reyed the spells with the correct intonation, were here right now.

    Admittedly, he could practice his control over the magical output, even without such a yback device, but Zenjirou was not blessed with enough patience to just keep staring at his own hands for hours while increasing and decreasing the emission of magical power, respectively.

    As a result, he had not known what to do with his free time, so he had turned off the lights and gone to bed early, even though he had not been sleepy.

    ¡°Man, I was a bit too na?ve. I¡¯ve got to try harder to limatize here.¡±

    Dressed in his blue pyjama, he said this and quickly got out of the bed.

    For his pyjama as well as his leisure wear and underwear he had brought along the clothes from Earth.

    Aura had reminded him that he would have to wear the official attire non-stop for his duties during the day, and advised him to wear somethingfortable in private at least or he woulde to regret itter. Taking her piece of advice to heart, he had packed a considerable amount of clothes and it seemed to pay off.

    Even in his familiar pyjama he had slept badly. If he had worn the traditional nightwear, he might have not gotten a wink of sleep.

    ¡°Back then during business trips, I could sleep just fine in the provided bathrobe of the hotels, though. Guess I can¡¯tpare a hotel in Japan with a residence in a different world.¡±

    While saying that, he fumbled around to open the wooden shutters.

    ¡°! Gah, the sun sure is bright here.¡±

    When the morning sun flooded the room, Zenjirou narrowed his eyes to slits.

    At that moment, the door was knocked.

    Like always, he wanted to respond with ¡°Yes,e in¡± at once, but swallowed down these words in the nick of time.

    This was not the Inner Pce. The casual tone he always used there never got him into trouble, because he could trust the waiting maids of the Inner Pce to keep their mouth shut up about it.

    Normally it would not be well-received when he interacted casually with the waiting maids as royalty. Not only would it damage his own reputation, it could possibly have a bad influence on Aura as well for taking such a man as her husband.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Zenjirou varnished his way of speaking and expression for public appearance, then spoke to beyond the door.

    ¡°Y- Yes, excuse me for disturbing your rest. I brought your change of clothes.¡±

    As expected, an unfamiliar voice of a nervous young waiting maid resounded from the other side of the door.

    ¡°Enter.¡±

    Although Zenjirou was a bit fed up with having to use a stage phrasing in his own room as well, he bluntly gave his permission.

    ¡°Yes, excuse me.¡±

    The door opened with these words and three young waiting maids entered the room.

    The first maid opened the door, the following maid carried the third formal attire for male royalty in her hands and thest maid closed the door behind her.

    Their demeanour indicated sophistication as servants beyond their years, but the tanned faces of the girls were pitifully ravaged by nervousness.

    Well, no surprise. Zenjirou was the third most, if not second most important person in this country. The waiting maids in the Inner Pce had gotten to know him, but the people of Valentia had only heard rumours about him, so to them he simply was a ¡°man with enough power to easily execute them if he felt like it¡±.

    Foolish nobility that punished their servants for fun was a minority in the Carpa Kingdom, no doubt, but at this point, the girls did not even know enough about Zenjirou to judge whether he belonged to that minority or not.

    ¡°Good morning, Master Zenjirou. We havee to help you get changed.¡±

    The three young maids bowed towards him, whereupon Zenjirou tried his best not to sound friendly in his reply.

    ¡°Good. Go ahead.¡±

    He put forth an effort to appear calm and understanding in order to ease the unfounded nervousness of the girls while maintaining a dignity, so he would not be called a failure as royalty.

    That act was rather tiring, but he told himself that it was also part of his job. Still in his pyjamas, he spread his arms a bit and waited for the maids to approach him.

    From his point of view, it was rather embarrassing to have young girls help him get changed, but he still could not put on the ¡°third formal attire¡± by himself, because of itsplicated dressing method and tieing strings.

    Of course he could take off the pyjama by himself, but there was no meaning in doing only that by himself when he could not continue afterwards.

    So he had spread his arms resigned and expressionless. Thereupon the three waiting maids skilfully took off his pyjama and dressed him in the third formal attire.

    Feeling bashful about posing as a dress-up doll without saying anything, Zenjirou broached an harmless subject.

    ¡°Actually, where¡¯s Ines?¡±

    The maids flinched for a moment when their temporary master suddenly called out to them, but one of them answered him right away.

    ¡°Mrs. Ines has gone to the kitchen to issue instructions. Afterwards, she wanted to arrange today¡¯s schedule with Sir Raffaelo and Sir Damian.¡±

    In the Inner Pce, Ines had only been in charge of cleaning, but here in Valentia, she was the Supervisory Maid in effect and kind of acted as a secretary for Zenjirou at the same time. In a way, she was busier than Zenjirou, the nominal delegate, and Raffaelo M¨¢rguez, the actual delegate.

    After the waiting maids finished dressing him, Zenjirou briefly looked at himself in the big ss mirror from the Inner Pce and then checked with the maids.

    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to meet Princess Freya after breakfast, but when do I head to the dining room?¡±

    ¡°The cooking staff is preparing breakfast right now. As soon as it is done, someone wille for you, so please wait here until then.¡±

    His calm tone and facial expression seemed to have eased a bit of their nervousness, since the young waiting maids now answered smoothly and clearly.

    ¡°I see. Fine. You¡¯re dismissed until then.¡±

    But the maids looked a bit troubled at each other when he said that. A person of noble rank with servants usually did not mind the presence of maids in the room.

    If anything, it was the custom to have at least one servant around for the purpose of issuing demands at any time.

    Going by thatmon sense, it was notmendable to dictate their retreat now. Zenjirou was aware of that, but it would suffocate him to be attended by maids all day long.

    Even if it seemed dubious, he had to insist on this selfishness.

    ¡°You¡®re dismissed.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    ¡°Please call for us if you need anything.¡±

    When he gave them the order again, the waiting maids obedientlyplied, albeit perplexed.

    Too unsettled to savour the breakfast he took together with the Governor of Valentia and Raffaelo M¨¢rguez, Zenjirou was then going to meet with the ¡°self-proimed princess¡± atst.

    The meeting took ce in the hall of the residence of the Duke of Valentia. In terms of the Royal Pce, this room equalled the audience chamber.

    It did not have an elevated throne like the audience chamber in the Royal Pce, but they had prepared a chair in the back of the room that visualized the authority of the Duke of Valentia.

    Needless to say, only the Duke of Valentia was allowed to sit down in that chair.

    The governor was always staying in his own residence next door for government affairs in Valentia, and it surely would not be tolerated that Zenjirou sat down in that chair, either, even if he was vested with a special authority.

    Having said that, it would be too disrespectful to make a royalty stand, so they quickly had set up an equally imposing chair next to the Duke¡¯s chair, on which Zenjirou was sitting now.

    Acting as dignified as possible, Zenjirou prevented his legs from shaking from nervousness with all his might while he sat on the chair in question. On his right stood Raffaelo M¨¢rguez and on his left Ines, the maid.

    Raffaelo was the eldest son of a very influential noble family in the country, whereas Ines was nothing but a mere maid, yet they stood practically on the same level. That was necessary, though, since Raffaelo was officially assigned as ¡°Zenjirou¡¯s personal assistant¡± right now.

    As they stood there, the door was pushed open before long and the awaited person entered.

    Beyond therge door that had been opened by the two guards serving in the residence of the Duke of Valentia, appeared the figure of a single girl.

    (So that¡¯s the ¡®self-proimed princess¡¯? She definitely got the aura of a royalty, just like Raffaelo said. But she doesn¡¯t have a lot of magical power. And is that a female bodyguard behind her? Looks like she almost got the same amount of magical power as the princess. Maybe the princess is limiting her magical power deliberately?)

    Still sitting on the urately carved wooden chair, Zenjirou carefully observed the two women approaching him.

    In ordance with the report from Raffaelo, the one walking in front must be the ¡°self-proimed crown princess of the Upps Kingdom¡±: Freya Upps.

    Just like he had mentioned, she looked like she was in herte teens.

    The first thing that caught his eye when he saw Princess Freya was her hairstyle.

    With its blue-tinged silver shade, the hair had a mysterious colour and was cleanly cut at a length around her nape.

    Whatever the case may be on the North Continent, but a woman with short hair was extremely rare on the South Continent. There was one girl with short hair in the Inner Pce, but she had no other choice but to keep it short, because its strong tendency to frizz when letting it grow made it impossible tob into ce.

    However, Princess Freya had obviously morous straight hair. To the point that it was a waste to cut it short like this.

    (Maybe a short haircut is nothing special on the North Continent?)

    Zenjirou considered that for a moment, but her attire was far from normal as well.

    Simply put, Princess Freya was wearing ¡°clothes for a captain¡±. The bottom half consisted of white trousers and overknee boots, whereas the upper half was made up of something like a white shirt and a zer-like jacket above it, which was held together by a leather belt.

    It was a strange outfit that looked like abination of a navy officer uniform from modern times and a senior sailor uniform from the Age of Discovery. Either way, it obviously looked like it was made for men.

    (She cut her hair short and wears men¡¯s clothing. Is she ¡®cross-dressing¡¯? But she definitely called herself a ¡®princess¡¯, so she¡¯s not really thorough in her disguise.)

    Pretty much as his inner monologue said, Princess Freya was wearing clothes for men without a doubt, but it was honestly unthinkable that she was trying to hide her true gender through that.

    Her chest, covered by a blue scarf around her neck, was by no means bountiful, but still showcased soft bulges that made it impossible to personate a man. And the tightly strapped belt around her waist actually highlighted the womanly curves from her hips to her bottom.

    As the cross-dressing girl advanced, she was stopped from the side by an utterance from Valentia¡¯s Governor Damian.

    ¡°Please stop right there. Excuse us, but we are going to venture to subject you to a body search now.¡±

    His words made the tall female soldier behind the princess argue forcefully.

    ¡°What insolence! Who do you think you are dealing here with!¡±

    The atmosphere suddenly turned grim.

    But that was not the fault of either side. If anything, both side were in the right.

    Princess Freya was the crown princess of a country, so it was only natural that her bodyguard snapped when they wanted to subject her to a ¡°body search¡±.

    From the point of view of the governor on the other hand, it had only been his duty to clear up any doubts before letting an unverified ¡°self-proimed princess¡± near one of only three royalty of his own country.

    ¡°I am well aware of my act of discourtesy. Nheless, I cannot allow even the slightest possibility of Master Zenjirouing to harm, to be unregarded. You have my assurance that we will definitely make amends for it in some kind of wayter on. As such, please obey us.¡±

    ¡°Then you should have done so while we waited in the other room! Why do you need to put the princess to shame here!¡±

    ¡°That would have hardly ruled out all the doubts.¡±

    Even if she had been subjected to a body search in the next room and nothing had been found, it could not be ruled out that she somehow obtained some kind of weapon on her way here. That was what the governor must have wanted to say, but to Zenjirou it sounded a bit like hair-splitting.

    (Maybe he wants to straighten out the ¡®hierarchy¡¯ right from the beginning by doing a body search here?)

    Inferring like that, Zenjirou nced at Raffaelo M¨¢rguez standing next to him, but his temporary assistant kept aposed expression and made no signs to intervene.

    In that case, it was hardly his ce to say anything, since they expected him to be just a ¡°figurehead¡± unless it called for a final decision. With that train of thought, he rxed his shoulders and decided to wait and see what happened for now.

    The Princess Freya in question remained silent while her bodyguard continued her critique.

    ¡°Two can y at that game! I am the bodyguard of the princess, so I have the duty to keep her out of harm¡¯s way as well!¡±

    Saying that, the tall female soldier clenched her fist, which was exceptionalrge for a woman. At that moment,

    ¡°Pardon me. It falls on me to conduct the inspection of Her Highness.¡±

    Ines stepped forward from her position next to Zenjirou before the female soldier was at daggers drawn, and lowered her head deeply.

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    In spite of the exaggerated outburst of the bodyguard, Ines kept her head lowered as she exined.

    ¡°Needless to say, I will do my utmost so as not to harm Her Highness. Everything will be undertaken behind this and you are included as well, so please watch over Her Highness.¡±

    Ines looked to the side, where four waiting maids were waiting with a piece of cloth in their hands that looked like arge ckout curtain.

    It meant that they were going to conduct the body search within that curtain, well out of sight of others.

    Although it was a body search, she would not have to getpletely naked. They would strip her to her underwear at best and then frisk her for hidden weapons, but even if it was done by a woman and away from the eyes of others, it was still quite humiliating.

    ¡°B- But!¡±

    As the female soldier still did not give in, she now was reprimanded by Princess Freya, who had been silent so far.

    ¡°Leave it be, Skathi.¡±

    ¡°But, Mdy!¡±

    The snow-white skin, which was out of the ordinary after travelling by boat for so long, in her face flushed a bit when Princess Freya looked at her faithful bodyguard and spoke with aposed tone.

    ¡°I am standing here without any actual credentials to who I am. Their wariness is by no means mistaken.¡±

    Instead of saying she had no credentials, it would more urate to say that there was no one around, who could attest the authenticity of her credentials.

    On their ship, the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±, they had things like a treasured sword with the family crest of the Upps Kingdom, or a tiara with a blue sapphire that was only bestowed to female royalty. But the people of the Carpa Kingdom neither knew the family crest of the Upps Kingdom, nor their customs, so they would only tilt their heads puzzled, even if they were shown these things.

    Of course they would understand that she was no ordinary girl when they saw the brilliance of therge jewel or the marvellous ornaments on the sword, but it still would not prove her ¡°noble birth¡±.

    ¡°Much obliged, Your Highness. Excuse us then. Girls.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Upon the order from Ines, the four waiting maids took therge ckout curtain and concealed Ines, Princess Freya and the female soldier.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Unexpectedly, everyone outside the curtain kept quiet.

    Due to that, it was possible to not only hear the rustling sound of clothes as Princess Freya and the female soldier took off their clothes, but also the faint pping sound as they were frisked.

    Before long, Ines said ¡°okay, we are done. Thank you every much for your cooperation¡± and the waiting maids quickly withdrew the curtain.

    Coming back into the picture, Ines took one step forward and bowed respectfully.

    ¡°Please forgive my discourtesy. Nothing did state a problem.¡±

    Following these words, the governor of Valentia likewise offered an apology.

    ¡°I beg your pardon, Princess Freya. Pleasee forward now.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. You merely did your duty.¡±

    Keeping a dignified facial expression, Princess Freya told him that without breaking eye contact, then gracefully stepped forward.

    When she did so, Zenjirou mused for a second, then ¡°stood up¡± from his chair to wee the approaching princess of the other country.

    He was a Prince Consort, whereas Princess Freya was a crown princess. In normal circumstances, his status did not require him to stand up from his chair, even if her im to be a crown princess was legit. Likewise, it did not really cause a problem when he stood up, because they were nearly on the same level, but by doing so without having the need to, he wanted to express an apology he was not allowed to put into words.

    The cross-dressing princess and her female bodyguard stopped at the assigned position. Still standing, Zenjirou looked at them and began to speak, extra carefully that his voice did not quaver.

    ¡°I am Zenjirou Carpa, the husband of Her Majesty Aura, the Queen of the Capra Kingdom. By rights, Her Majesty would be here as the Duchess of Valentia, but she cannot leave the capital at the moment. Thus, I am here as her representative. A pleasure meeting you.¡±

    He reeled the speech he had preparedst night off word by word, whereupon the cross-dressing princess took a step back with her right feet and bowed.

    ¡°I am Captain Freya of the ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯, the eight ship in the fleet of the Upps Kingdom.

    It is a great honour to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty Zenjirou.

    Also, as the crown princess and second child of Gustav V, the current king of the Upps Kingdom, I do wish that this meeting will be a good opportunity for our two countries to grow closer to each other.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I hope so, too.¡±

    While giving an appropriate response, Zenjirou went through the greeting of Princess Freya in his head once more.

    (She introduced herself as a captain first, instead of a princess. Does that mean she wants to be treated as a captain here rather than royalty?)

    As he was bad at improvising, he certainly did not approve of this unexpected turn of events.

    (Ehm, I was actually supposed to change my way of speaking as soon as her title was on the table, but I guess I¡¯ll carry on as before.)

    Coming to that conclusion, Zenjirou shifted his gaze to the female soldier standing behind Princess Freya.

    ¡°Well then, why don¡¯t you introduce her as well? She seems quite capable.¡±

    Of course that was nothing but a bluff. Zenjirou was definitely not able to judge the skills of a soldier from just a nce.

    During breakfast this morning, Sir Damian had told him that she had killed a Sea Dragon with her throwing spear in one hit.

    Furthermore, he was told that a Sea Dragon had really thick skin and a high vitality, so it was technically impossible to kill it with one hit, even if you hit a vital spot by chance, unless you threw the spear with quite the force.

    Seeing as the female soldier had aplished exactly that, it proved that she was a first-rate soldier without doubt.

    Princess Freya smiled proudly and looked at her retainer standing behind her at an angle, then spoke.

    ¡°Yes. Let me introduce her:

    Victoria Kronkvist. A proud warrior of our country and my bodyguard.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Being introduced, the female soldier bowed her head stiffly without saying a word.

    ¡°I see. Quite the reliable bodyguard you have there.¡±

    While saying that, he looked at the female soldier¡ª at Victoria Kronkvist again.

    She looked like she was in herte twenties. Her long blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, her eyes were auburn and her skin seemed to have originally been white, as it was usual for people on the North Continent, but right now it waspletely tanned from the sun at sea.

    However, none of these colours caught the eye of any beholder first.

    (So tall¡­)

    Zenjirou unwittingly looked up to the face of the female soldier.

    Even though he stood at a distance, he could not see her face unless he wittingly put his head back. That was how tall she was.

    (She¡¯s even taller than Fatima, not just Aura. And she isn¡¯t as delicate as Fatima, at that.)

    If his senses could be trusted, Princess Freya in front of him would be around one hundred and sixty centimetre tall. The female soldier stood even further afar, behind the princess, but she still looked half a head taller than her, so her height must be at least one hundred and eighty-five centimetre.

    Moreover, her body was so well-trained that you could tell even through the leather armour she was wearing. Because she had more or less sloping shoulders, which were also rtive small for her height, she did not have such an imposing physique as Aura, but her arms, tights and bottom were definitely those of a versed soldier.

    If he had wanted to see a woman of her calibre on modern Earth, he would have had to go to a world tournament of women¡¯s volleyball or basketball.

    (Still, she doesn¡¯t stand out despite this. When she¡¯s just standing there, Princess Freya is actually attracting more attention.)

    Instead of the female soldier being in, it rather meant that Princess Freya had so much more of something that made herself conspicuous.

    Anyway, Zenjirou addressed a point that had bothered him in the introduction just now.

    ¡°Victoria Kronkvist, I see. But, did you not call her by a different name earlier, Princess Freya?¡±

    When faced with his question, Princess Freya showed a proud expression as if to say ¡°I am d you ask¡±, while she answered.

    ¡°That is a title given to her. Our country has the custom to bestow the name of a past Hero onto a proud warrior.

    ¡®Skathi¡¯ was the name of a female soldier, who has made a name for herself as a valiant and excellent sorceress in the olden days.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The practice of bestowing a special name as a title to outstanding warriors was not a rare event on Earth, either.

    He did not know how important the name ¡°Skathi¡± was, but considering that she was appointed as the bodyguard of the princess, she definitely was one of the top soldiers in her country.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Nevertheless, she was only here as a ¡°bodyguard for Princess Freya¡±. Unless the princess was in danger, she was going to remain silent, so it was not really necessary to pay any attention to her for now.

    Determining that, Zenjirou shifted his gaze again, this time from the female soldier back to the cross-dressing princess.

    ¡°Okay. Princess Freya, I wee you and yourpanions as guests in the Carpa Kingdom, here in the residence of the Duke of Valentia.

    We prepared a guest house for you, so you can move in there today. And of course your ship is allowed to stay in the harbour.

    I, Zenjirou Carpa, guarantee your safety in the name of Her Majesty Queen Aura.

    Consult my assistant for the details. Raffaelo.¡±

    He turned to the side with these words, whereupon the oldest son of Count M¨¢rguez standing next to him bowed respectfully.

    ¡°Yes, very well. Princess Freya, from now on I will be at your disposal for anything, so please feel free to call upon me anytime.¡±

    ¡°Pleasure.¡±

    Raffaelo bowed his head deeply, whereas Princess Freya spoke in a polite tone without lowering her head. If anything, she was jutting her chin forward a bit when she responded.

    * * *

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    Zenjirou heaved a sigh of relief only after he had went back to his own room and was all alone with Ines.

    ¡°Are you alright, Master Zenjirou? If you are feeling ufortable, you may take off some clothes. I can help you put them on again by myself.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thanks.¡±

    Unable to resist the temptation, he ruthlessly loosened the sash and strings of his trousers and slumped into the couch.

    The only times he was allowed to drop the dignified act of royalty was either when he was all by himself or when only Ines was with him.

    Except for the period before retiring to bed, Zenjirou was hardly ever alone during the day. Ines was quite busy as the temporary Supervisory Maid, but she tried to stay with him as much as possible, so he was really grateful to her.

    ¡°Princess Freya and her group have moved into the guest house without problems.¡±

    ¡°Mh. I gotta thank Sir Raffaeloter. Are we doing everything to make the princess feelfortable?¡±

    ¡°We are not.¡±

    ¡°Wait. Not?¡±

    Zenjirou eximed surprised when the middle-aged maid admitted it so bluntly.

    And he had all reason to be surprised. He had acknowledged Princess Freya as ¡°royalty from the North Continent¡± and she and her group were honoured guests now. It would be bad if they were not doing everything for their well-being. At least they should be obliged to do as much as possible.

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±

    Leaning forward on the couch, Zenjirou asked her, and Ines replied with a little wry smile.

    ¡°Well, I did phrase that a bit infelicitous, but to be honest, she ¡¯cannot stand the heat¡¯.¡±

    ¡°O- Oh¡­ That¡¯s nothing we can fix, though.¡±

    Upon the answer of the maid, Zenjirou slumped back into the couch convinced.

    ¡°Espaldion said they¡¯reing from the far north of the North Continent after all. In terms of Earth that would mean they¡¯reing from somewhere around Northern Europe or Greend. Hm, and we¡¯re something like Africa near the equator or South India?¡±

    He roughly ssified the different climates of the Upps and Carpa Kingdoms and sympathized with Princess Freya from the bottom of his heart.

    Actually, his knowledge about it was only half-baked. In reality, some cities in Northern Europe did experience a summer with temperatures over thirty degree Celsius, but luckily for him, the ¡°Upps Kingdom¡± of this world was really a cold region that rarely ever saw days with temperatures over twenty degrees even during summer.

    Thus his concern had been valid.

    Although the hottest season had already passed, the maximum temperature around here still often went beyond thirty-five degree at noon.

    It was understandable that Princess Freya and her groupined about that heat.

    ¡°At least see to it that they have enough water. And listen to their requests for food as much as possible, too.¡±

    That was all he could think of, though. Separated from his electrical appliances in the Inner Pce, he was way below his best.

    ¡°Very well. I will instruct them to refill the water drums as often as possible. If feasible, I would like to get more personnel for that, so I will consult with Sir Damianter on.¡±

    Ines bowed curtly, then said in reply.

    There were a couple of wells around the guest house as well, but still too few, considering the size of the residence, so water drums were ced at ces too far away from the wells, where they then could scoop water.

    Compared to the well water directly taken from underground, the water would inevitably turn lukewarm in no time after it had been scooped into the drums. Therefore it was necessary to exchange the water regrly, but needless to say, that was no easy job, not even for a grown man. So it was no surprise that Ines requested an increase in personnel.

    ¡°Mh, good. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be a stiff piece of work, but do your best, so that they have it asfortable as possible. Or at least, I want them to see we¡¯re in earnest.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    It was still unknown how the negotiations with Princess Freya would turn out from now on, but Zenjirou wanted to put her into a good mood first, since they already had put her to shame through that ¡°body check¡± earlier on.

    He realized that it probably had all been part of the n and as a quasi outsider, he had no intention to interfere, but personally speaking, he rather wanted the negotiations to be in all earnestness.

    ¡°Thanks. By the way, what does my schedule say forter?¡±

    Changing the topic, he asked this, whereupon the capable maid responded right away.

    ¡°As scheduled, they will be talking of actual business for a while now, discussing demands andpensations, so you will not meet with Princess Freya directly anymore.

    Sir Raffaelo will lead the negotiations and report the progress to you in the evening. Except for that, you will be off duty for the rest of the day.¡±

    Although he did have the final say in matters, they were not expecting him to probe the partner and strike a deal profitable for both sides.

    As long as the business meetingsted, he had a rtivelyrge surplus of free time.

    ¡°Damn. I should¡¯ve bought a game console to kill time after all.¡±

    He was well aware of the fact that, no matter how bored he may be, he would impose on everyone if he were to take a walk to kill time.

    ¡°Boredom¡± was a troublesome condition that became more painful the longer itsted, so he should quickly think of a way to kill time without bothering others.

    For now, Zenjirou suggested the idea he hade up with during breakfast this morning to Ines.

    ¡°Say, there are lot of ¡®mussel dishes¡¯ here, right? Do you know what they do with the shells?¡±

    Bewildered about the sudden and vague question of her master, the middle-aged maid gently tilted her head, but answered honestly nevertheless.

    ¡°I would say they are tossing them away, because there is no real use for them.¡±

    Getting the reply he had expected, he smiled a bit.

    ¡°Good. Can you get the shells for me? I also want an hammer, a stone mortar and some people that know how to use them. Oh, I want some coast sand, too. If possible, the sparkling white one.¡±

    And requested these things. It goes without saying that he was trying to make ¡°ked lime¡± and ¡°silica sand¡±, which were the basicponents for making ss.

    The ked lime and silica sand that had been used for the ss production experiments so far, had been made from freshwaterke shells and ind sand. They never tried any shells or sand from Valentia.

    Ines did not understand what he wanted to do with all that, but assessed that it would be no problem to obtain it, so she consented to it.

    ¡°Understood. I will prepare it at once.

    However, it might be better to send a Small Flying Dragon and let Her Majesty Aura send a few waiting maids of the Inner Pce over here, if your undertaking is going to take longer.¡±

    Zenjiroupletely agreed with her idea.

    ¡°Yeah, that would be great, even if it¡¯s going to trouble Aura and the maids. I just can¡¯t rx around the maids here.¡±

    For Ines, it was a wee development as well. There were enough waiting maids here to manage any manualbour, but Zenjirou could not interact as honest with any of them as he did with the waiting maids of the Inner Pce.

    Having said this, it would hardly take any pressure off Ines, even if the waiting maids of the Inner Pce were toe here, since Aura had instructed her to stay close to Zenjirou as much as possible.

    ¡°Well then, I will write up a letter for the Small Flying Dragon. Please sign itter.¡±

    ¡°Mh, sure. Thanks.¡±

    Still slumping into the couch, Zenjirou gave a short nod to Ines when she uttered that.

    * * *

    Around the same time in the guest house of the residence of the Duke of Valentia, Princess Freya was talking with her trusted retainer, the female soldier, in arge room after things had settled down a bit.

    ¡°It is a nice room. These ¡®slippers¡¯ are quite intriguing as well.¡±

    Saying that, Princess Freya ungraciously dangled her feet while sitting on the couch. She was no longer ¡°cross-dressing¡± and wore a light-blue long dress now.

    Although she did not wear many essories, the beautifully glittering dress and applied make-up made her look exactly like a ¡°secluded beauty¡±, to the point that her short hair no longer mattered.

    The tall female soldier on the other hand frowned in light of the assertion of her master.

    ¡°I cannot bring myself to like them. This sorry excuse for a show will prevent me from getting a good foothold in crucial times and a shield bearer can easily immobilize me in one hit by stomping my toes.

    Mdy, may I switch to my leather shoes? I will even wipe the soles properly.¡±

    Apparently the Upps Kingdom had no house shoe culture. Princess Freya shook her head with a smile to the troubled female soldier.

    ¡°You must not, Skathi. When onnd, do as thendsmen do. When on the sea, do as the seamen do. Do not cause ripples here.¡±

    The saying ¡°when on thend, do as thendsmen do. When on the sea, do as the seamen do¡± was the equivalent to the Earth saying: ¡°When in Rome, do as the Romans do¡±.

    The female Soldier¡ª Skathi replied affirming with ¡°yes¡±, albeit reluctantly.

    Then she took a stance in the slippers in order to test how good she could fight in the current condition.

    ¡°How is it? Think you can fight?¡±

    When Princess Freya asked her, Skathi tried out a few more moves.

    ¡°Yes. It is not as disturbing as I thought it would be. Presumable because it has a leathern sole. I think this will work somehow.¡±

    Then she said this and pped the steel sword hanging on the left side of her waist with a confident expression.

    The scabbard was made of leather and was reinforced by iron at the top and bottom. The corresponding sword was in without any decorations, but it was definitely sharper and more durable than any sword forged in the Carpa Kingdom.

    The Upps Kingdom was a prominent technology developed country on the North Continent. The average amount of magical power of its citizens was low and its royalty did not have a bloodline magic, either. The reason that they could preserve their independence despite that was their technology level.

    ¡°Really? d to hear. I doubt that they will do anything rash, considering their earlier behaviour, but better safe than sorry. I am counting on you if needed, Skathi.¡±

    ¡°Yes, leave it to me. I will not let anyoney a finger on you, Mdy.¡±

    The tall female soldier kept her left hand attached to the sword on her waist and proudly threw out her chest.

    ¡°Good. Anyway, I did expected it already, but I guess we really cannot prevent the technology of our ship to be figured out.¡±

    After she showed her trusted retained a wry smile, Princess Freya broached a serious subject with a stern expression.

    The tension of her master seemed to have affected the female soldier as her expression turned demure as well.

    ¡°Yes. I am not well-versed about ships, either, but the damage we suffered during that storm seems to be grave. Our own shipwrights say that repairs are possible, but it is going to take quite a lot of time and manpower.¡±

    She cited the current state of affairs.

    The ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± had ovee a long journey from the northern part of the North Continent to the central part of the South Continent. The umted wear and tear of such a long trip plus thetest damage of the storm might not be recognizable by an amateur, but the practiced eye of an expert could tell at a nce that the ship was badly affected.

    At any rate, a long voyage like between continents was not be taken lightly.

    Princess Freya could unwind around her retainer, so she heaved a deep sigh.

    ¡°Indeed¡­ We are not even in a position to negotiate about that. Sir Raffaelo did offer to help us repair the ship in every department for free, but we probably can consider ourselves lucky for that.¡±

    ¡°A truly transparent offer.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that it is.¡±

    Needless to say, the transparency applied to the intention of Raffaelo M¨¢rguez or rather the Carpa Kingdom.

    By lending a hand in the repairs of a ship that they could not build themselves, they were trying to steal the know-how for the huge sailing ship.

    But, just like Princess Freya had said, she and her group did not even have the option to turn down the helping hand from the Carpa Kingdom, even though they knew about their ulterior motive.

    Unless their ship got repaired, they would never get back home. Well, not really, but in the worst case, they would have to travel north on the South Continent bynd to a country that had trade rtions with the North Continent and board a trading ship there. In this case, they would get indebted to at least two countries: One country on the South Continent with a harbour and one country on the North Continent with a trading ship.

    Instead of doing that, it was wiser to just cooperate with the Carpa Kingdom, even if a bit of their technology was stolen in the progress.

    ¡°It is pretty likely that our ship technology will be taken one-sidedly, so we might as well cooperate with them and oversee a shipyard for huge sailing ships right here.¡±

    When her master put a hand on her chin and muttered bold ns for the future, the female soldier turned pale.

    ¡°Mdy, that is going to far.¡±

    ¡°Of course I have no intention of proposing something like that of my own ord. I am merely saying that such an oue would still be tolerable depending on the circumstances.

    Skathi, I find it hard to picture that our country will be able sustain the scale of our current fleet in theing years if nothing changes.¡±

    Princess Freya lightly bit her lip and said this cautionary with a stern expression.

    Known for their excellent iron manufacture, the Upps Kingdom was an exporting country for iron goods. The country was so cold that it was covered by snow half of the year and yet, they were a maritime nation, whose harbours never froze over because of the sea current.

    The charcoal used for iron manufacture came from trees, the firewood used to drive away the cold came from trees and the main building materials for ships were trees as well.

    One did not need to cut down a full-grown tree to get firewood or charcoal, but without any consequences in ce, themon people rather banded together, cut down nearby big trees and chopped them into pieces in order to get their firewood and charcoal, instead of going all the way up the mountain to gather firewood.

    By the time the royalty noticed the decrease in forest area and issued a verdict, it was almost toote.

    Of course the remaining big trees were forbidden to be cut down at once and a reforestation in the whole country was making progress.

    However, it was obviously questionable whether these protected trees were enough resources until the reforestation got positive results.

    Amongst their various goals for sea travel, the acquirement of wood was especially important.

    ¡°I guess it really is impossible to transport the timber for the ships itself?¡±

    The words of the female soldier sound more like a confirmation than a question. Princess Freya answered her straightforward.

    ¡°Yes, impossible. There were more Sea Dragons on the way than we thought. Transporting suchrge wooden beams will greatly impair the bnce and speed of the ship, regardless of whether you drag them along behind the ship or stack them on the deck.

    We would never make it home, that is for sure.¡±

    The Upps Kingdom was in dire need of long and thick timber that they could use as the backbone aka. keel of the huge sailing ships. ordingly, the beams were nearly as long as the ship itself. It would be absolutely crazy to travel the rough open sea for more than hundred days while pulling these or stacking them onto the deck.

    True, they had known from the beginning that the probability was low, but their actual voyage had made them realize that it was in fact impossible, so they were a bit dejected.

    But Princess Freya did not let the frustration show on her face and dered to her trusted retainer with aposed pronunciation.

    ¡°Well, we can still purchase the necessary wood from the neighbouring countries on the North Continent for a while, if needed. For that reason as well, we need to establish our own trading rtions with this continent and make a profit.¡±

    ¡°Trading rtions with the South Continent, you mean? The safest way would be ¡®sugar¡¯ and ¡®spices¡¯, I guess?¡±

    Both sugar and spices were ordinary goods on the South Continent that evenmoners consumed daily, but on the North Continent even a pinch of it was paid for with silver coins.

    ¡°You are right. Also, dragon leather and bones. I am d that our freight did not get damaged.¡±

    ¡°Certainly. The partial damage to the furs, wool fabrics and iron goods from the storm is insignificant. We should be able to make quite a profit if we get to exchange them for the usual intercontinental trade rate.¡±

    The North Continent almost had norge dragons, whereas the South Continent on the other hand had almost norge mammals. Due to that, the bones and leather from dragons fetched a high price on the North Continent, whereas wool fabrics and furs were in great demand on the South Continent.

    Having said this, a lot of countries on the North Continent had an exceedingly small demand for dragon bones and leather due to certain circumstances, but fortunately enough, the Upps Kingdom was an exception to that.

    ¡°Maybe there will be something unique from this country that is otherwise hard to obtain through normal intercontinental trade, but for now, that is all.

    Anyway, I put my dear father and brother through a lot, so that they allow me to take this ship. I cannot afford toe back without results. Skathi, I know it will not be an easy path, but please lend me your strength.¡±

    ¡°Of course, my life is yours tomand.¡±

    The utterance from the princess prompted the female soldier to attach her left hand to the sword at her waist again as she stood at attention and swore solemnly.

 Chapter Volume 5 3

    Noon of a certain day.

    Zenjirou was having his second meeting with Princess Freya in one room of the residence of the Duke of Valentia.

    A few days had passed since the initial greeting. His temporary assistant Raffaelo M¨¢rguez had already inquired about the concerns of the princess.

    Officially speaking, they were having lunch together to cement their friendship, but in reality it was more of an unofficial meeting for a final endorsement.

    Of course Zenjirou had no intention to make the efforts of Raffaelo and Princess Freya so far go down the drain, but he did have the authority to annul everything, if he felt like it. Because of that, everyone present was quite nervous in their seats, even if they were showing smiles on their faces.

    ¡°I see. Intercontinental travel is far more dangerous than we thought. I apud your courage and determination to sail that sea, Princess Freya.¡±

    Zenjirou noddedmendatory while using his fork and knife to eat his meal, sliced raw fish with a citric dressing.

    Since he had already acknowledged her as a ¡°princess from the North Continent¡±, he was now using a polite manner of speaking. It was a wee change to him, because he was more used to it than using a condescending tone.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Your Majesty. But I merely did what I wanted to, and in all honesty, that is not really all thatmendable. In fact, my dear father and brother are always criticising me for it.¡±

    Spooning the spicy soup with dragon meat that wasmon in the Carpa Kingdom, Princess Freya responded like that and yfully stuck her tongue out for a bit.

    From the point of view of her family, she was a problem child without doubt.

    The princess of their country took a ship by herself and travelled to another continent. It was easy to imagine how the royalty of her country tore their hair out.

    Having said this, she definitely did not convey that impression when she smiled charmingly in her light blue dress.

    ¡°Still, your actions will ultimately bring about a gain for your country. No one will be able to deny that fact.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I certainly hope so. When we got into that storm at sea, my heart was in my mouth, but now I do think it was the grace of God that we drifted here.¡±

    The northern princess was delighted at the stroke of good fortune in an exaggerated manner, whereas Zenjirou just nodded with his stic smile.

    ¡°Certainly. Both our countries could not wish for a better oue than establishing trade rtions with each other.¡±

    The report from Raffaelo had revealed that her home country, the Upps Kingdom was in the same position as the Carpa Kingdom regarding intercontinental trade.

    Situated in the far north of the North Continent, the Upps Kingdom had not conducted any intercontinental trade by themselves so far. Their intercontinental trade was only done through an intermediary country in the southern part of the North Continent.

    And since the Carpa Kingdom, situated in the central part of the South Continent, was doing intercontinental trade through an intermediary country in the northern part of the South Continent, the two countries were practically in same situation, just mirror-inverted.

    It would be of incalcble value if the Carpa Kingdom and Upps Kingdom were to establish a direct trading rtion with each other.

    ¡°But an unavoidable obstacle gets in the way of a direct trade between our countries.¡±

    Despite this, Zenjirou dared to point that out with a serious expression, whereupon Princess Freya titled her head a bit puzzled and disagreed.

    ¡°You really think so? I personally believe that our countries have the least obstacles as trading partners of all.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Zenjirou and Princess Freya paused eating and gazed at each other wordlessly.

    The ¡°obstacle¡± Zenjirou spoke of was different from the ¡°obstacles¡± Princess Freya was referring to.

    Frankly speaking, his envisioned ¡°obstacle¡± was the distance between the Carpa Kingdom and Upps Kingdom.

    The North Continent and South Continent in this world were not directly connected like North America and South America on Earth, nor were they separated by a calm internal sea like the one between Europe and Africa.

    A vast ocean that wasrger than half of the South Continent itself expanded between the North and South Continent. Moreover, the northern part of the South Continent was arge desert, so the shortest route, meaning from the southernmost part of the North Continent to the northernmost part of the South Continent, was of no use, either.

    Due to these circumstances, the rather modest intercontinentalmerce was mainly carried on by countries in the south of the North Continent and countries in the north of the South Continent.

    The seaway between the south of the North Continent and the north of the South Continent was already dangerous as it is. Its danger would only multiply if they were going to extend that seaway by the range from the Upps Kingdom in the north of the North Continent to the Carpa Kingdom in the central area of the South Continent.

    It would be crazy to tackle that route unless one had a ship of the calibre of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± from Princess Freya.

    ¡°Yes, we certainly will have hardly anything stand in our way as long as we can resolve the simplest, yet most troublesome problems first.¡±

    Zenjirou eded to Princess Freya, even though he did heave an affected sigh to express that it was not what he had actually meant.

    ¡°I am d you understand.¡±

    The ¡°obstacles¡± from Princess Freya were referring to trade frictions with neighbouring countries.

    For the Carpa Kingdom it would be much shorter to work together with a country in the south of the North Continent instead of going all the way to the Upps Kingdom in the north of the North Continent. Likewise, a country in the north of South Continent was a bit shorter to the Upps Kingdom than the Carpa Kingdom in the central area of the South Continent.

    But needless to say, the countries in the south of the North Continent and North of the South Continent were already carrying on intercontinental trade.

    If the Carpa Kingdom or Upps Kingdom wanted to participate in that as well now, they would inevitablypete over the pre-existing shares.

    And in that case, they would naturally get the short end of the deal, because they were joining inter.

    But if they were to pass over these trading countries and establish direct trading rtions with each other, they could reduce the troublesome foreign affairs of trade friction to a minimum.

    The Carpa Kingdom was a prominent major power on the South Continent and the Upps Kingdom was well-known as a technology developed country on the North Continent, too, so they were satisfactory trading partners for each other.

    The only problem was, just like Zenjirou had mentioned, whether an actual trade route would be achieved.

    ¡°Anyway, we will make sure to repair your ship well. When you make it back home safely, it will more or less prove the fact that a passage between the Carpa Kingdom and Upps Kingdom is possible. I hope it goes well.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I cannot thank you enough for your kindness, Your Majesty.¡±

    Upon his assertion, Princess Freya put her spoon on the side and lowered her head a bit.

    It had already been decided in the previous negotiations with Raffaelo that the Carpa Kingdom would repair the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±.

    Of course the shipwrights of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± were going to lead the whole work sequence, but the shipwrights from the Dukedom of Valentia and the County of M¨¢rguez would do the manualbour.

    It was practically a given already that the Carpa Kingdom would figure out the technology for the huge ship with several masts.

    Nevertheless, it would take years of trial and error until they could sessfully construct a huge ship by themselves and even then, it would take even more time and money to train a crew that could sail such a huge ship without problems. Still, it did not change the fact that the technology from the North Continent would be leaked to the South Continent.

    ¡°It was nothing. In any case, should your cargo really remain stowed on the ship, now that the repair of the ship has been decided?¡±

    After the validation of the repairs for the ship, Zenjirou swallowed the sliced raw fish and then moved on to the next topic.

    Incidentally, the ¡°sliced raw fish soaking in citric dressing¡± was a delicacy in Port Valentia, but not highly regarded by people from out-of-town, so Zenjirou was the only one eating it right now.

    Princess Freya kept smiling and straightened her back for a bit upon his question.

    ¡°You are right. Leaving the physical transfer of the goods aside for now, it should be alright to go ahead with a transfer on paper.¡±

    ¡°I have heard that you have ¡®iron¡¯ and ¡®wool fabric¡¯ on board?¡±

    His inquiry was met with a nod from Princess Freya.

    ¡°Indeed. But primary ¡®wool fabric¡¯. The ¡®iron¡¯ is sparse at the rate of the whole cargo.¡±

    Amongst the exports from the North Continent, the wool fabric fetched a rather high price on the South Continent.

    Like its name implied, ¡°wool fabric¡± was a fabric made out of wool from animals. Animals like sheep or goats, which were kept for their wool, were extremely rare on the South Continent, so the wool was a luxury good on the South Continent by necessity.

    On the other hand, it was not impossible to obtain iron goods on the South Continent, too, as long as quality did not matter, because the only advantage the North Continent had was its superior technology for it. Considering the permissible maximal weight of the cargo, the wool fabric had the better profit margin.

    The memo with the instructions from Aura did say how Zenjirou should handle the cargo and he did discussed it with Raffaelo M¨¢rguez beforehand, too.

    ¡°We will buy up your whole cargo. If you want to exchange it for sugar or spices, we will give you a better exchange rate than on the market.¡±

    As such, Zenjirou proposed that without hesitation. Raffaelo had already arranged a number in great detail with Princess Freya for the exchange rate and Zenjirou had been informed about the exact number as well.

    Just in case, Zenjirou had let Damian, the governor of Valentia, show him the prices for sugar and spices in Port Valentia from thest three years, and the difference had not been all that great.

    The rate did seem a bit too favourable, but they wanted Princess Freya to convince her father and brother back home through this deal in order to make the trade route between the Carpa Kingdom and Upps Kingdom permanent.

    In light of that secondary object, the price was more than warrantable.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou considered such a bonus to be one-of-a-kind, since their supply for sugar and spices was limited and they had topensate the ind demand as well as maintain the intercontinental trade through mediating neighbouring countries.

    Completely oblivious to his mindset, the princess from the North Continent showed a soft smile on her snow-white face and bowed briefly so that her short silver-blue hair fluttered.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Your Majesty. Then I would like to get silver coins for a tenth part of our cargo. The rest will be exchanged for said rate.

    Of course I will take the sugar and spices, but if possible, I hope you can provide some dragon leather and bones as well.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, dragon leather and bones, you say?¡±

    Although he already knew about it, Zenjirou looked slightly bewildered about her statement.

    Even Raffaelo had been puzzled when she had brought it up during the previous negotiations.

    On the South Continent, the dragon leather and bones were used for a lot of things, starting with armour, but there had been a bizarrely low demand for them on the intercontinental market so far.

    Only Princess Freya wanted them as bad as the people from the South Continent.

    What was the difference between her and everyone else on the North Continent? Raffaelo had suggested that they should not make an explicit promise as long as they did not know the answer to that question, and Zenjirou had agreed to it.

    ¡°They never sold well as goods for export, so I am afraid that we currently do not have the amount and quality you seek at hand.¡±

    ¡°Is that so. That is a real pity.¡±

    Princess Freya did not dwell on it any further either and withdrew her request by only saying that.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    For a while, only the faint clinking of the silverware could be heard. Lady Octavia had done her best so that Zenjirou learned the vital necessity about royal etiquette, but he stillcked theposure to fully savour his food in such a situation.

    ¡°By the way, Princess Freya, how do you like the food here? I hope it suits your taste.¡±

    Zenjirou decided that it would be bad to stay silent as the host, so he broached an harmless food topic.

    Princess Freya answered adequately

    ¡°Yes. Everything is a new experience for me and very delicious.¡±

    while she skilfully fillet the spice fried meat with her knife and fork.

    Her answer was not a lie.

    Still, even the best cooking could not suit the taste of everyone. In fact, Zenjirou was eating the raw fish delicacy from Port Valentia with relish, but Princess Freya and herpany had not touched it at all.

    Even if the food posed no problem so far, she would start to miss the cooking of her home country when she had to eat the food here for a long time. It belonged to human nature.

    ¡°Do you not miss the cooking of your home country? I dare to say that the food here ispletely different from the North Continent.¡±

    When Zenjirou asked that, Princess Freya slightly shrugged her white shoulders that peeked out from her light-blue dress.

    ¡°I appreciate your consideration, but I am fine. Our ships carries goats and chicken, and we have our own cooks onboard, too. If needed, they can more or less recreate some dishes from our home country. Vegetables are out of the question, though.¡±

    The ship held goats and chicken.

    Hearing about that for the first time, Zenjirou reacted surprised.

    ¡°You have goats and chicken on board? I mean, living ones?¡±

    Princess Freya was a bit surprised at first when he showed surprise and expectation, but then she seemed to understand and said deratory with a smile.

    ¡°Yes, they are alive, of course. I am afraid, though, that these goats cannot be sheared for wool. The species we take along to the South Continent has poor growth of hair and is unsuited for wool fabrics.¡±

    This was the first time the Upps Kingdom had sent a ship directly to the South Continent, so she only knew about it from hearsay, but a lot of people on the South Continent seemingly wanted to get their hands on living goats.

    If they managed to breed them in their countries, they could produce wool fabrics by themselves. It was only natural to hit on that idea.

    But like Princess Freya had said just now, it was not that easy.

    Goats were originally living in cold hignds, but they had the strongest ability to adapt to their environment amongst herbivores and were not even picky about their food.

    In principle, the kind of goats that were raised in cold hignds tended to have a luxuriant crop of hair.

    The goats they crammed into the ship and took along to the South Continent were from a species, whose fur was practically worthless.

    But Zenjirou was not taken aback by that exnation.

    ¡°I do not mind. The milk is what I am after.¡±

    He had heard that the milk from goats tasted and smelled different from the milk of cows, but it should be good enough as a recement. Instead of the milk itself, he had the milk products he could make from it in mind.

    In the old days, he had seen a mail orderpany sell butter made from goat milk on the inte, so it should be possible to make milk products from goat milk.

    Having said this, Zenjirou did not actually know how to do it, so he would have to rely on Princess Freya again for that knowledge.

    But contrary to his delight, the princess looked somewhat wary for a moment.

    ¡°Your Majesty, do you mean to drink the goat milk?¡±

    Confronted with that question, Zenjirou had the creeping horrors, because he thought that his desire had been irresponsibly, but it was toote to take back his words. Fortunately enough, this was only an unofficial meeting for lunch.

    He decided to brave it out as his ¡°personal liking¡± and answered while he tried to look as unaffected as possible.

    ¡°Yes. Could it be that it is notmon to drink the milk from goats in your country?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. It is an important source for nutrients and all themoners ingest it. Naturally it will be drunken as it is, but milk products like butter, cheese or filmj?lk are essential for the winter as preserved food.¡±

    For the people of the Upps Kingdom it was only natural to consume goat milk. Princess Freya had been surprised, because Zenjirou, an inhabitant from the South Continent, had said it.

    The South Continent had no mammal livestock, so its people did not have the chance to consume the milk from mammals, much less any milk products made from it. Due to that, they even had developed a strong aversion to consuming the milk from animals.

    In addition to it, the majority of people even repudiated the meat of goats with ims like ¡°it stinks¡± or ¡°not to my liking¡±.

    Because of that, Princess Freya had concluded that the ¡°goats with unusable fur¡± were worthless on the South Continent, but it seemed that she had been wrong.

    (This reminds me of his background¡­)

    She recalled the rumour she had heard about his origin a couple of days before and suddenly thought of one possible exnation.

    (I should probe into it a bit more.)

    Without so much as batting an eye about her ns, the princess of the north continued with a smile.

    ¡°Livestock is a lifeline for seafarers, but if you insist, I am not averse to relinquish a few to Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Thank you! I know it is a impudent request, but I would be d when you could spare enough males and females alike, so that they can be mated here, if at all possible.¡±

    ¡°I believe that can be arranged. We do have enough specimens of both.¡±

    The goats that were chosen as livestock for the long voyage had a rtively small physique, no fastidiously diet and a good adaptive capacity for their environment.

    Their weakness on the other hand was a short lifespan. Normally a short lifespan and hence faster growth would be more of an advantage for livestock, but it made it somewhat troublesome for livestock in milk.

    In this world, a goat became fertile half a year after its birth at the earliest or one year after its birth at thetest.

    It was also the timeframe for actation and meant that the dam stopped producing milk after half a year.

    Long sea voyages could sometimes even take a year or more. If they were to put only females on board for their milk, the goats would stop producing milk after half a year.

    To prevent that from happening, they took along some males for procreation, too, and periodically let them breed. The newborn kid was raised into a next dam or breeding goat if the situation allowed for it, or s, killed for its meat if the situation did not allow for it.

    ¡°I am d to hear that. Then please allow me to buy them in a private matter. I willpensate you sufficiently for sure.¡±

    Fortunately enough, Zenjirou had priorly received a budget at his own disposal from Aura in order to buy something for himself that might catch his eye.

    Modest as always, he had refused it as soon as he had seen it, saying he only needed enough to buy the souvenirs for Aura and the two royalty guests at home, but Aura had more or less forced it onto him.

    In retrospect, epting the budget had been the right thing to do, so Zenjirou heaved a sigh of relief at heart.

    ¡°With pleasure, Your Majesty. If you are going to breed them, then rtively young specimen will be the best choice.¡±

    Although they were only talking about animals, their conversation contained graphic words such as ¡°mating¡± or ¡°breeding¡±, but despite her petite appearance, Princess Freya was not averse to the topic and showed no signs of disgust or shame. She kept remarking unconcerned with a smile.

    (Oh, shit. What the hell am I discussing with a princess during lunch.)

    Zenjirou realized that the conversation gradually slipped into a territory unsuited for ady, so he cleared his throat with an affected cough and tried toe up with a way to change the topic nonchntly, but before he could think of anything, Princess Freya continued happily.

    ¡°Nici was the most passionate about reproduction on our ship, but it certainly would be a bad idea to hand him over¡­¡±

    ¡°M- Mdy¡­!¡±

    No longer able to stand by and watch, the female soldier sitting next to her, raised a small voice and interrupted her master, well-aware that she was being rude. By the way, ¡°Nici¡± was not the name of a goat. He was a young crew member of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±.

    Now even Princess Freya realized what udylike things she had uttered. Her cheeks turned red and she ducked her head embarrassed.

    ¡°Oh my, how clumsy of me. Please forget what I said.¡±

    Lucky under the circumstances, the problematic of her utterance was not understood, because no one but Princess Freya and her female bodyguard knew about the true identify of ¡°Nici¡±.

    Not sure about what was going on, Zenjirou still sensed that it was better not to inquire any further, so he pretended that the earlier statement did not happen and carried on.

    ¡°I cannot make any grand promises to you, since this is a personal request, so I would like to pay for the livestock with silver coins. I am aware that it is a bit crude. Please do tell if you are taking issue with it.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I would agree to sugar or spices as well, though.¡±

    Princess Freya easily picked the new topic up, but Zenjirou had to shake his head with a smile.

    ¡°I am afraid that these goods are exceeding my power. Her Majesty Aura has only put silver coins at my disposal, so I can only pay with them.¡±

    After that he noted resolutely like that.

    ¡°Oh, you do not say.¡±

    Still smiling, Princess Freya simply left his statement hang in the air with her response, but the female soldier sitting next to her darted an obvious scornful look at him for a second.

    Well, that was more than understandable. Right now, Zenjirou had practically admitted that he could do nothing without the permission from his wife and could only spent as much as the allowance she gave him.

    Coming from the husband of the Queen and male royalty with a bloodline magic, it truly was a pathetic statement.

    But even though the female soldier regarded him as hopeless, her master at her side continued to make conversation with a smile.

    ¡°Speaking of Her Majesty Aura, I have heard that you two have a child?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The moppet is a real blessing.¡±

    ¡°Oh my. My congrattions! Did he have his first birthday yet?¡±

    ¡°No, not yet. It has not even been half a year since he was born into the world.¡±

    ¡°In that case, allow me to present you the goats as a bted celebration of his birth. In our country it is a custom to give away livestock when a child is born. Right, Skathi?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are right.¡±

    Suddenly drawn into the conversation, the female soldier was a bit surprised, but still affirmed the words of her master without a hitch.

    And in fact, it wasmon practice in the Upps Kingdom to give away livestock in celebration, just like Princess Freya had said. Having said this, goats were given as presents by wealthymoners. Royalty more likely gave away a riding horse or destrier.

    Anyway, it would be rude now to reject it, since it was a ¡°celebration gift¡±.

    ¡°Thank you. I will make sure to bring your courtesy to Her Majesty Aura¡¯s notice.¡±

    When Zenjirou said this with a smile, Princess Freya brightened her smile a bit and replied.

    ¡°It was nothing. If anything, I regret to have nothing better at hand. Normally, I would have given you a precious sword forged by a cksmith of our country.

    Do you happen to have a preferred weapon, Your Majesty?¡±

    Zenjirou answered the somewhat delicate question with a wry smile.

    ¡°No. As shameful as it is, I am not really a fighter. I have no experience with any weapon.¡±

    He did not really feel shameful about not being able to fight, since he was still clinging to the moral values of modern Japan, but in this world, the majority of young men from nobility or royalty had received a military training.

    The atmosphere was about to turn awkward for a moment, but Princess Freya spoke on before that happened.

    ¡°Is that so. Pardon my asking.

    Anyway, did you know that surprisingly many soldiers in our country have a partiality for knitting? Many of them are fishers on the side, but there are a lot of days during the winter, where the ships cannot set sail, so they inevitably engage in things they can do at home as a hobby.¡±

    Speaking of, it was the custom in the Upps Kingdom to maintain your own armour, so the soldiers were mending leather armours or chain mails by themselves. That experience also made them proficient in dealing with sewing and knitting needles. Surprising for sure, but a fact nevertheless.

    ¡°I see. That sounds interesting. I take it that the ships are unable to set sail in winter, because the harbours are frozen over?¡±

    Zenjirou noticed that Princess Freya wanted to gloss over her slip of tongue, so he dly reacted to the new subject. It certainly was interesting, when he imagined how a tall and bulky svenskar soldier was neatly knitting at home, just like the knitting bear he had seen in a picture book as a child.

    ¡°No. Thankfully the harbours do not freeze over. So the trade shipsmute as always even during the winter, but it does not change the fact that it is extremely cold. Because of that no one goes out fishing in winter unless the sea is really calm.¡±

    In a situation, where the ambient temperature was twenty degrees below freezing point and even the sea water had a temperature below zero, the sea spray and breeze alone could be lethal already. Not to mention that it would be difficult to work with all theyers of clothing against the cold. And if someone were to fall into the sea by ident, he would probably die from a shock before actually drowning.

    ¡°I guess you have such reliable soldiers, because they can withstand these harsh forces of nature.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much. It has been brought to my attention that the Carpa Kingdom has plenty of brave soldiers as well. And that they have performed splendidly in the previous war.¡±

    ¡°Certainly. I was not here yet during that time, so I only know about it from hearsay, too, but they are truly valiant soldiers.¡±

    ¡°The adversities of that war could even be perceived all the way in the north of our continent. I have heard that many people lost their viges and that death wrenched the parents from many children.

    I wish I could do something for them.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your sentiment. But all these disced people and orphans are still precious subjects of our country. The Carpa Kingdom aka Her Majesty Aura will assume full responsibility for them, so please rest assured.¡±

    Both Princess Freya and Zenjirou kept smiling and elegantly ate their lunch while they chatted happily.

    ¡°I see. Please forgive my impertinent remark.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I am really touched by your empathy. Still, Her Majesty has decreed that the country will take full care of every subject without exception and nothing will change that decision. Please do understand.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. I am awed by the great passion of Her Majesty Aura.¡±

    And then, an harmonious atmosphere filled the room until the end of the lunch.

    * * *

    After the lunch meeting, Princess Freya immediately went into the bath as soon as the returned to the guest house, and took a cold bath.

    She still regretted a bit that she had to cut short the silver-blue hair she had been so proud of for the position as the captain, but after a bath like this, she realized how much of a blessing the short hair actually was.

    Ever since she had moved into the guest house, she had started to refresh herself in the bath three times a day. If she still had the long hair till her waist, it would have not been so easy to take a bath.

    With an absorbing cotton cloth wrapped around her hair, Princess Freya sat down on the couch in her room.

    She just wore a in one-piece dress with no sleeves over her underwear and left her feet shoeless.

    Her rough outfit and rxation were only tolerated, because she was alone in the room with her trusted retainer, the female soldier. Princess Freya spread her legs as much as good manners allowed her to and heaved a deep sigh.

    ¡°This country really feels like a sauna. Now I understand why they walk around barefooted or with cloth sandals indoors.¡±

    ¡°Some water, Mdy.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Skathi.¡±

    She emptied the silver goblet with water given to her by the female soldier in one gulp. It was not reallydy-like how she gulped down the drink by throwing back her head, but she could not resist the appeal of the just scooped cold water from the underground well.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    Now that she had taken a cold bath and cooled off her body from the inside as well by drinking some cold water, the Princess from the North Continent breathed a long sigh as though she felt relieved atst.

    ¡°For the time being, the repairs of our ship and the basis for trading have been provided.¡±

    ¡°Yes, congrattions, Mdy.¡±

    When the princess started to talk about the meeting at dinner, the female soldier sat down on the couch across from her.

    The female soldier¡ª Skathi was a bodyguard for Princess Freya, but at the same time her trusted retainer. When no one else was around, they could sit down across each other and talk at eye level like this.

    Having said this, their statuses were too different, so even if they sat together like this, it was to inappropriate say that they were on an equal footing.

    ¡°I have heard stories about it, but I must admit that I never thought that the intercontinental trade would be so rigorous profitable. Going by that exchange rate, it would still be worthwhile even if only one of three ships returns.¡±

    ¡°Sugar and spices are luxury goods on the North Continent after all, and so are wool fabrics on the South Continent.¡±

    Buying cheap and selling dear were the basics ofmerce, but the difference between the buying and selling price in intercontinental trade was exceptional. Of course the prices would drop before long once a trade route had been established and the demand was satisfied in time, but there was plenty of time until that happened.

    Princess Freya crossed her legs as she sat on the couch in her short one-piece dress.

    ¡°It is practically a given that they will get their hands on the technology of our huge sailing ship now, but there is nothing we can do about it. And I would have liked to get some dragon leather and bones to strengthen our military, but they politely brushed me off after all.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Who would have thought that the damn influence of the ¡®Church¡¯ was reaching this far. It has nothing to do with our country, though.¡±

    The female soldier frowned, whereupon Princess Freya showed a wry smile.

    ¡°That makes no difference to the people on the South Continent. I could have cleared up the misunderstanding through exining it in detail, but it is a topic I would rather not spread around.¡±

    The ¡°Church¡± was a wide-spread religious organisation on the North Continent and they worshipped the ancient dragons that were said to have lived in this world long ago.

    The doctrine of the ¡°Church¡± said that the current dragons were the descendants of the ancient dragons and thus divine beings. Due to that, very few soldiers in countries under the influence of the Church got permission from them to wield weapons or armours made from dragon leather and bones.

    Moreover, the Church identified the people on the South Continent as the ¡°descendants of banished sinners that had evoked the anger of the grand ancient dragons¡± and forbade that the advanced technology of the North Continent was taught to them.

    Either way, it was without any reason, but for some reason, it was a rather popr belief on the North Continent, to the point that the Church had even more authority than the king in some countries.

    But the homnd of Princess Freya, the Upps Kingdom was an exception. The influence of the ¡°Church¡± was extremely small there. ordingly, there was no opposition to importing dragon leather and bones on arge scale, but the people of the South Continent did not know about that fine distinction. Because of that, all the countries under the influence of the ¡°Church¡± as well as the Upps Kingdom were lumped together as ¡°countries of the North Continent¡±, even though the Upps Kingdom worshipped the spirits.

    ¡°Yes, it would certainly take a long time and negotiations to make them understand our situation.¡±

    ¡°And then the question is whether the dragon materials are worth all that. The good news is that we have some time until our ship is repaired, so I will try to speak with His Majesty Zenjirou in the meantime.¡±

    The reasoning of the princess took the tall female soldier by surprise and she looked baffled.

    ¡°His Majesty Zenjirou? Not Sir Raffaelo?¡±

    She must have expected the question from her trusted retainer. Princess Freya smiled a bit and rectified her error with a meaningful tone.

    ¡°Yes, His Majesty Zenjirou. Skathi, do you actually believe that he is ¡®only a figurehead¡¯?¡±

    Looking at the suggestive smile of her master, it was already obvious that she was not regarding him as such, but there was no need to mince words now, because they were all alone.

    ¡°Yes, I do. I believe he is merely a figurehead with royal blood and the title of husband of the Queen. At the very least, he did not appear clever or ambitious to me.¡±

    The female soldier dered bluntly.

    In the back of her mind floated the smile from Zenjirou when he had unashamedly admitted that he could not fight. ording to her values, there was no bigger w than that.

    Receiving the answer she had expected, Princess Freya slowly shook her head.

    ¡°You are wrong. His Majesty Zenjirou is definitely no ordinary man. And by that I do not mean that he is a ¡®man of great calibre¡®, but rather that he literally is not ¡®ordinary¡¯, for better or worse.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    The female soldier knew all too well that the princess looked like a quiet girl, but in reality, she really liked to put on airs, so Skathi asked without losing herposure.

    ¡°The origin of His Majesty Zenjirou is not a normal one. I am sure you have heard the rumour as well, namely that he does not hail from the Carpa Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Yes. If I remember correctly, Her Majesty Aura has summoned him from a faraway ce with her bloodline magic.¡±

    Looking at the ceiling, the female soldier recalled the rumour to mind and answered.

    In general, it was not really known that Zenjirou came from ¡°another world¡±. They were not hiding that fact deliberately, but it would be difficult to exin the concept of ¡°parallel universes¡± to the uneducated masses of the Carpa Kingdom.

    Due to that, Zenjirou was more or less perceived as a ¡°man that had been summoned with magic from a ce so faraway that it could not be reached within a lifetime¡±.

    ¡°Indeed. I also dismissed it as a fraud at first, but it seems to be the in truth.

    He certainlyes from a country with a different culture than the South Continent. The best proof for it is his desire for goats in order to drink their milk.¡±

    ¡°I see. That makes sense.¡±

    The exnation from Princess Freya seemed to have convinced Skathi now, seeing as she agreed.

    Once you reached a certain age, your bias for food became permanent and did not change anymore.

    The livestock on the South Continent consisted of dragons, meaningrge reptiles, without exception. Because of that, the people on the South Continent were not used to ingest the milk of livestock. Needless to say, that applied to dairy products as well.

    But Zenjirou had curiously jumped at the information of ¡°living goats¡±, so it was highly likely that he grew up in a culture, where milk and diary products were consumed favourably.

    ¡°And I have more proof. Do you remember the conversation about his child? I asked him whether his child had its first birthday yet, and he cheerfully replied that it was yet toe because it had not even been half a year since his birth.¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    When Princess Freya pointed that out, Skathi waspletely taken by surprise now and eximed flustered.

    ¡°That certainly is strange. Everyone on the South Continent is supposed to count the year of birth, too.¡±

    ¡°In addition to it, no one here should know about the number ¡®zero¡¯. However, His Majesty was of the opinion that he was not one-year old yet, because not even half a year had passed so far.¡±

    ¡°So he is at least counting the years of age more like on the North Continent than on the South Continent. And maybe even the calendar years.¡±

    On the South Continent, the year of birth was generally added to the age. You were one-year old at birth and with every year that passed, you added one more year to it.

    Therefore it was fundamentally impossible that ¡°your first birthday was yet toe¡±.

    Princess Freya ced a hand against her chin and mused.

    ¡°We cannot rule that out. He really might have been raised in the North. Do you remember how he spoke about our harbours freezing over as if it goes without saying?¡±

    In the Carpa Kingdom it was practically summer all year long, but there were some really tall mountains ind, so the concept of ¡°snow¡± and ¡°ice¡± was not unknown to them. Still, it only applied to mountains high enough to get altitude illness, and the idea of ¡°harbours freezing over¡± was not something a person from the Carpa Kingdom would ever think of. Even in the southern part of the North Continent, many people did not know that harbours could freeze over.

    ¡°I see. I did not pay it any mind, because the conversation with His Majesty went so smoothly, but now that you are mentioning it, his knowledge and education certainly seem strange. At the very least, I do admit now that he is not an average man.¡±

    Even while the female soldier said that, the look in her eyes did not indicate that she was viewing him in an altogether different light now. Apparently not even a little bit of education improved the evaluation of a man that was neither brave, nor ambitious.

    The princess cracked a smile, because she knew how her trusted retainer felt, and added a remark.

    ¡°Of course there is more. His Majesty Zenjirou is definitely the most important figure during these negotiations. He has the final say in everything after all.¡±

    But the female soldier only tilted her head with a puzzled look on these words.

    ¡°That I do know, but that is nothing more than a formality, is it not? In the earlier meeting he merely acknowledged what you have negotiated with Sir Raffaelo priory. The deal with the livestock may be an exception, but not even that did strike me as all that clever.¡±

    Strictly speaking, Skathi made a reasonable im, but Princess Freya did not agree with her regardless.

    ¡°Yes, I do admit that His Majesty does not seem to have a remarkable wit.

    Nevertheless, he fully caught on the content of our preceding negotiations. He has a good apprehension and judgement as well as the authority to have the final say, so we have to take ount of him the most.¡±

    In reality, neither the evaluation from Skathi, nor the one from Princess Freya were entirely urate in regards to Zenjirou. But at the same time, they were both scratching the surface of the truth.

    Just like Princess Freya had said, Zenjirou did have the authority to make a final decision in regards to this matter. But by the same token, his authority was probably just a formality and unless something went horribly wrong, he would affix his ¡°signature¡± to the document in the end, just like Skathi had said.

    Zenjirou himself had decided to be the ¡°spokesman for Queen Aura¡±. His words were the words of Aura. His will was the will of Aura.

    He would fulfil his role just as his wife expected him to. But he would avoid taking the credit for himself and did his utmost, so that others would not regard him aspetent.

    That approach of his was abnormal on the South Continent as well as on the North Continent. Of course Princess Freya and Skathi could not understand it, since they had only met with him a couple of times yet.

    Still, Princess Freya deduced a few things from their meeting at lunch.

    ¡°His Majesty inherently has a fine judgment. I say this, because he epted my offer when I declined his payment for the livestock and made it a present instead.

    He does seem to have gotten the permission from Her Majesty Aura to spend a certain amount of money at his own disposal, but it is a different matter to ¡®receive a present¡¯ from guests from another country like us. I assume that they were not expecting something like that to happen.

    Nevertheless, he immediately epted my offer like it was nothing. I believe he did that after estimating the advantages and disadvantages of epting or declining such a ¡®present¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­I would say he simply leapt at it the opportunity, because you said you would give him something he wanted for free.¡±

    Princess Frey did not deny the still doubtful words of her trusted retainer.

    ¡°Of course that is a possibility as well. But I think it is safer to overestimate an enemy or negotiation partner instead of underestimating him.¡±

    It would be best to estimate your counterpart urately without over- or underestimating him, but that was a very difficult thing to do. Thus, Princess Freya generally preferred to overrate her opposite until she was certain of hispetence.

    ¡°Very well. To be honest, I do think that is overdoing things, but we cannot be careful enough in our position after all.¡±

    The female soldier consented for now with these words.

    When you overestimated your opponent, you did not have to worry about being outwitted, but in exchange, you might not have a shot at a good opportunity, because you were not taking risks. Still, Princess Freya and her group were in a situation, where their ship, the only way to get home, could not be repaired without the help of the other party.

    If they were too greedy, they might end up in a desperate plight, unable to go anywhere.

    Princess Freya then wiped the smile off her face, narrowed her eyes to slits and cleared her throat.

    ¡°Besides, he properly delivered a blow to me as well. In light of his repartee, I am certain that His Majesty is anything but a mere figurehead.¡±

    Saying that, she recalled the ¡°chitchat¡± they had at the end.

    During that chitchat, the princess had implied that the Upps Kingdom was ready to take in the war orphans or disced people from the previous great war, but Zenjirou had quickly discerned her motive and declined it as in as it can be.

    ¡°If we could have managed to bring some people of the South Continent with their favourable amount of magical power back home, we would have been able to ease up the declining average amount of magical power in our country to some extent.¡±

    Princess Freya heaved a regretful sigh from the bottom of her heart.

    The Upps Kingdom faced various problems of importance, but one of them was the declining average amount of magical power of their citizens.

    A lot of theories tried to exin the reason for it, but Princess Freya was of the opinion that it was be attributed to the shift of opinion from the people that magic was less important now that their technology had progressed.

    The amount of magical power was inherited just like height or looks. That was amon fact on the South Continent as well as on the North Continent.

    For that reason, magicians were in great demand on the South Continent and all doors were open to excellent magicians. There marriage was already worthwhile when each partner had an high amount of magical power.

    On the other hand, the North Continent had developed technology instead and magicians were in little demand, so people generally did not take the amount of magical power of the partners into consideration when marrying.

    Commoners had valued character and reliability, soldiers had valued courage and physique and royalty had valued pedigree and sociality rather than the amount of magical power for marriages over decades. As a result, their average amount of magical power was greatlygging behind the one on the South Continent, where the amount of magical power was prioritized. Or at least that was the opinion of Princess Freya.

    She had no evidence to back it up, but she believed that she was getting close to the truth.

    ¡°In view of his reaction, they will surely sever all ties with us already if we were to try to take some of their people back home. What a shame.¡±

    Princess Freya recalled how Zenjirou had professed that Queen Aura would not forgive anyone, who took away a subject of hers, and breathed another sigh.

    It was most unfortunate. On the bright side, they had packed enough food for the long journey to cope with the home trip, even without their livestock, as a matter of prudence.

    They could leave all the livestock on the ship behind if it meant that they could get their hands on the ultimate resource in the shape of people from the South Continent.

    And if they were to return with the cargo area loaded with as much people as possible instead of the livestock, the voyage would have been more than profitable from just that. Then Princess Freya would surely get praised by even her father and brother, who had been reluctant to let her go.

    ¡°Truly a shame.¡±

    She grumbled still regretfully precisely because she firmly believed in that.

    * * *

    Around the same time, Zenjirou was having a meeting with his temporary assistant Raffaelo M¨¢rguez in the office of the residence of the Duke of Valentia after lunch.

    It was tiring to have another meeting without rest right after the strenuous discussion with Princess Freya, but the earlier lunch had officially been his midday break, so his schedule did not appear all that packed on the paper.

    There were three people in the office: Zenjirou, Raffaelo and Ines the maid.

    The Carpa Kingdom was admittedly hot, but now that the hottest season of the year had passed, the temperatures no longer surpassed the body temperature. Along with the bright sunlight, the refreshing sea breeze blew in through the opened windows and somewhat cooled the face and neck of Zenjirou dressed in his formal attire.

    He sipped the cold tea Ines had poured and slowly began to speak.

    ¡°Now the contract with Princess Freya is as good as cut and dried. Are there any problems right now?¡±

    Raffaelo immediately answered his question with a soft smile as always.

    ¡°No, none at all. Owing to your efforts, the proceedings will be a lot easier from now on. Thank you very much.¡±

    When Raffaelo bowed politely, Zenjirou heaved a sigh of relief at heart while he replied to him without changing his facial expression.

    ¡°I see. That means the ship of the princess can be repaired without problems?¡±

    If they could not do that, all their ns would go down the drain. That applied to their main objective of learning the blueprints for the huge sailing ship as well as the future prospect of joining the intercontinental trade.

    So when Zenjirou erred on the side of caution, Raffaelo replied confidently.

    ¡°Everything is okay. The shipwrights of the ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯ have already briefly discussed the matter with our shipwrights. They said it will be possible to repair the ship in the docks of Valentia. It will most likely hazard three regr repair docks, though.¡±

    That should be no problem. In the end, neither Zenjirou, nor Raffaelo were knowledgeable about ships. They had no choice but to believe the words of the shipwrights, if they gave their okay, because they were experts on that field.

    ¡°Would you like to take a look at the ship before the repairs start?¡±

    Although Zenjirou was aware of hisck of that knowledge, he could not bring himself to decline the suggestion from Raffaelo right away, because he did have quite an interest in the huge sailing ship.

    It was a wooden ship that had sailed between continents. Of course it was intriguing.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it disturb the workflow if I were to show up there?¡±

    This opinion arose from the awareness of his own position.

    When an important figure like the Prince Consort showed up without warning, it surely would be a huge bother for all the persons concerned.

    But Raffaelo dismissed his concern with a smile and shake of his head.

    ¡°No, that will not be a problem. They only just have finished the preliminary discussion and are still examining the ship before beginning with the repairs. There is no specific work going on around the ship for now.

    The shipwrights will be at the dock for sure, but as long as you do not interrupt them, the schedule will not be affected.¡±

    In view of their level of civilization, the Carpa Kingdom attached rtively much importance to rationality. Zenjirou was not aware of it, but the workers in the Carpa Kingdom were allowed to prioritize their work as long as they were not directly called upon, even if Royalty paid them a visit.

    Zenjirou could no longer suppress his curiosity when he received that exnation.

    ¡°Okay. Then I¡¯ll go take a look. Find me a day, where the least work is going on.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    It somehow seemed to Zenjirou that Raffaelo was giving him a slightly patronizing look, but that was probably only his delusion.

    Either way, there was no point in worrying about such trivia. Zenjirou immediately shook off the thought and moved on to the next topic.

    ¡°I guess the ¡®furnace¡¯ negotiation was no good?¡±

    The instruction note from Aura had not listed the blueprints for the ¡°furnace¡± as a must, but as desirable if feasible.

    Aura was currently concentrating the efforts on the ss manufacture, so the know-how for a ¡°furnace¡± that could withstand high temperatures would be of incredible value.

    It was a well-known fact that the North Continent had an overall better technology than the South Continent. Moreover, the Upps Kingdom was the brand leader for iron production on the North Continent, if the words of Princess Freya could be trusted.

    In that case, they should have more advanced furnaces than the Carpa Kingdom, too.

    However, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez heaved a small sigh with regret and shook his head.

    ¡°Sadly, yes. To begin with, the ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯ only has some people onboard that can repair weapons or make arrows at best. They did not bring a genuine cksmith along.

    Besides, even if they had one, he would surely specialize in forging iron goods instead of smelting iron ore or building a smelting furnace.¡±

    In all objectivity, that goes without saying. The more advanced technology got, the more subdivisions emerged.

    Amongst the thousands of craftsmen, some eager foremen coordinated the construction of the furnace themselves, smelted the ore under their watch and forged the tools with their own hands, but needless to say, they were so rare that they could be called a national treasure.

    At the very least, no one like that would be aboard the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±. And even if they did establish a trading route with the Upps Kingdom in the future, it probably would still be out of the question that one of them crossed over to the Carpa Kingdom.

    ¡°In the future, when the intercontinental trade is initiated, there is a chance that it can be achieved, but for now, please consider it impossible.¡±

    Raffaelo said resolutely in a calm tone.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    It was unfortunate, but Zenjirou had not expected much, so he was not really let down, and epted the point of view from Raffaelo.

    ¡°Then put the negotiations for the furnace on hold for now. It¡¯s not a question of a day or two anyway. I¡¯ll personally consult with Her Majesty Aurater ande to a decision.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    When Raffaelo responded briskly, Zenjirou looked at him and thought to himself.

    (Man, he really ispetent. So much that it strikes me that I¡¯m thepetent one here, even though I¡¯m just using him. That¡¯s a bit scary.)

    After all, he easily produced results in a short time when you ordered him with stuff like ¡°negotiate about this and that¡± or ¡°find out about this and that¡±.

    Having said this, not all the negotiations could go well, nor could every information be obtained.

    But in such a case, Raffaelo always provided an urate forecast, such as ¡°the other party has no intention to cave in any further¡± or ¡°I am afraid that they will realize what we are up to when I probe into it any further¡°, and asked for further instructions.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou was provided with a couple of simple choices along with urate predictions for each choice.

    The only thing he had to do was to pick the choice thatplied to Aura ¡®s wishes the most.

    This certainly was not something as extravagant as diplomatic negotiations. It was more like an adventure game with a hint function.

    (He doesn¡¯t look like it, but he got the negotiation skills, keen wit and fine judgement. The problem is, hecks determination. No, not quite. It¡¯s more like he¡¯s desperately trying not to take responsibility?)

    Zenjirou evaluated the high-ranking nobility standing before him like that at heart.

    An ¡°extremely capable civil officer¡±, if you will.

    He did his given work to perfection, but did not act on his own unless he was told so from his superiors. And he always made sure that someone else would shoulder the ultimate responsibility.

    ¡°Anything else? No? Then immediately report to me when something unforeseen happens. I personally will get in touch with Her Majesty in the Capital for further instructions.¡±

    Zenjirou emphasised that, but it was more or less a lie. Unless something really drastic urred, he actually did not need further instructions from Aura.

    They had prepared carefully in the Capital beforehand and Zenjirou was capable of making prompt decisions on his own for anything that was written on his memo.

    But it would cause a lot of trouble if people were to ¡°misunderstand¡± that Zenjirou was a man of sane judgement and had the authority to make such calls, so he pressed the point to the public that he had to consult with Aura in the Capital.

    ¡°Yes¡­ As you wish.¡±

    Whether he knew about these secret circumstances between the Queen and the Prince Consort or not, Raffaelo was still smiling softly and politely bowed once.

 Chapter Volume 5 4

    ¡°Wow. This is quite impressive¡­¡±

    On this day, Zenjirou went to the harbour for the first time, since his arrival in Valentia, and eximed in awe when he looked at therge sailing ship with four masts.

    The name of the harbouringrge ship was ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±. Although it was called arge sailing ship, it merely conformed to the standards of this world. In reality, it was only half asrge as the ferry Zenjirou had boarded during his field trip in elementary school. Still, it definitely had an overwhelming appearance with its four imposing long masts.

    From the hold to the deck, everything was made out of wood. You would think they had prioritized utility when they built it, but it actuallybined utility with beauty and fascinated anyone, who looked at it.

    His enunciation must have let on his admiration for it.

    ¡°Yes. Please take a good look, Your Majesty. This is the pride of our country, the state-of-the-art ship ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯.¡±

    Princess Freya, standing next to him, threw out her chest and bragged about her ship without concealing the proud smile on her face.

    The sea breeze carried over a sense of chill, but it was still pretty warm, because the immediate sunlight and the reflection from the white stones were quite strong. Despite that, Princess Freya showed no signs of being affected by that heat right now.

    ¡°It is quite striking. Does it have fore-and-aft sails and square sails by twos?

    ¡°In normal circumstances, yes. But the advantage of the ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯ is that the sails can be exchanged in a rtively short time, even on sea, if necessary.¡±

    Keeping their eyes on the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±, Zenjirou and Princess Freya conversed with each other.

    ¡°Then it is possible to have four fore-and-aft sails for when there is a headwind and four square sails for a tailwind?¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Although it is possible to change the sails on sea, it does require time and manpower. And above all, the work carries a great risk, so two sails of each kind usually stay in ce, unless you are absolutely sure that the wind direction will not change any time soon.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    At this point, Zenjirou finally took his eyes off the ship and looked at Princess Freya standing next to him.

    ¡°By the way, I see that you are dressed like this again today. I guess it is because you are near the ship?¡±

    Right now, she was dressed as a ¡°man¡± like she had when they met for the first time.

    Her outfit consisted of trousers for men, a fancy white shirt with a wide cor, a long jacket worn over it and a thick leather belt. The only difference to before was that there was a small curved sword hanging down from that belt now.

    Although she did was dressed like a man, it merely applied to her choice of clothes. The clothes in question did by no means conceal her womanly curves and on a closer look, you could see that she was wearing make-up, too. The ¡°cross-dressing¡± was as half-baked as before.

    Previously, Zenjirou had missed the chance to ask why she was wearing such clothes and now, Princess Freya seemed to read that question in his eyes, because she answered with a smile.

    ¡°Truth be told, my country has the custom to consider a ship as female. Because the ¡¯captain¡¯ is practically the partner for the ship, only males are allowed into that position.

    Due to that, a married male captain has to divorce his wife only for the sake of form before setting sail, and a female captain always has to wear men¡¯s clothing like myself, when approaching the ship.¡±

    ¡°Now I understand. That is quite the strange custom. Oh, please do not misunderstand. I did not mean to make fun of your country.¡±

    Zenjirou realized that his words could be interpreted as though he was ridiculing the deep-rooted rite of another country as superstition, so he quickly added an exnation as soon as he had uttered it.

    Princess Freya chuckled a bit, probably amused by his panicked attitude.

    ¡°No offence taken. In fact, I, too, know that it is nothing but superstition. There are a lot of sailors¡® superstitions, but as they say: old habits die hard.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are right. And sometimes you are better off keeping them up, if the crew believes it. Otherwise they might make mistakes they usually do notmit, because of uneasiness.¡±

    His remark prompted the princess to nod extensively as if to say that he had a point.

    ¡°Indeed. Sometimes the captain is the most superstitious of them. While the men go out to the stews at the port of arrival, the captain stays all alone in her cabin and has tofort¡­¡±

    ¡°M- MILADY!?¡±

    Caught up in the moment, Princess Freya was about to say something unseemly for ady again, but the tall female soldier standing behind her intervened with a pale face.

    Even as her trusted retainer, she broke the rules by disrupting a conversation between royalty, but she must have concluded that the harm would be even greater if she let her master finish that sentence.

    In reality, it had already been toote, but the well-mannered Zenjirou pretended to have not heard it.

    Princess Freya also blushed all toote.

    ¡°Forgive me, Your Majesty. The long time on sea has worn me out. I would be grateful if you could forget what I just said.¡±

    Zenjirou cast a nce at the crew of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± standing behind Princess Freya and was convinced at heart.

    The men standing there were all sturdily built, befitting the description ¡°sea roughneck¡±.

    Most of them were taller than Skathi, who was already exceptional tall for a woman. The colours of their hair and eyes were light, as it wasmon for people from the northern part of the North Continent, but all of them had their skin tanned ckish-brown. Their hair was not really tidy either and their beards were left to themselves, too. All that, coupled with their clear-cut eyes that were more hollow than those of the people from the South Continent, gave the men a vigorous appearance that practically spelled ¡°bad guy¡±.

    She had spent over a hundred and twenty days with these rough guys on the same ship, so it was no surprise that even an elegant princess would somewhat be affected by them and pick up some vulgar knowledge.

    (In her case, though, I would say she never really was the ¡®sheltereddy¡¯ to begin with.)

    Zenjirou recalled the conversation he had with her during lunch before. At that time, she had been the perfect negotiator. Unlike himself, who left all preliminary negotiations to Raffaelo and merely picked simplified options, Princess Freya had done all the negotiations by herself.

    That was not something a normal princess under twenty years old could aplish.

    Just as Zenjirou reminded himself of that at heart, it happened.

    DONG, DONG, DONG. The loud and shrill sound of a bell prated his ears as it resounded all over Valentia.

    Oblivious to the exact meaning of the bell, Zenjirou still realized at once that this uproar marked an ¡°unexpected happening¡±.

    ¡°Damian! What¡¯s that sound!?¡±

    Startled by the sound as a reflex, he turned around to the man most knowledgeable about this city, Governor Damian, and asked him.

    The middle-aged noble stepped forward at once when the Prince Consort called out to him, and said with a slightly pale expression.

    ¡°Yes, that bell is signalizing an ¡®attack¡¯. It ising from the east, so something must have happened in the mountain rather than the sea.¡±

    Valentia was a seaport in the western part of the South Continent. The sea was to the west, but in the east there was a mountain, or more precisely an elevated thick forest. When the bell was rung from that side, some kind of emergency must have happened on the mountain.

    ¡°In the mountain?¡±

    This incidentpletely came out of the blue. Still, Zenjirou did not hesitate to make a quick decision at a time like this, even if there was not much he could actually do.

    ¡°I¡¯m going back to the residence. Damian, you are in charge. Raffaelo, you are my liaison to Damian, but if he needs your help, your report to me can wait. Either way, attach enough guards to the residence.¡±

    In other words, he was saying that he was going to hide in the residence, so they are to take care of things and protect him with all their might.

    It was a pretty blunt statement, but Zenjirou was aware of the fact that he would only cause trouble, when he butted into the situation with his upper-ss title and amateurish knowledge. The best he could do was not to get in the way of the others.

    In fact, Governor Damian looked obviously relieved, when he heard the deration from Zenjirou.

    ¡°Very well. I will excuse myself then.¡±

    Leaving these words behind, the governor quickly went away.

    ¡°I will apany you, Sir Damian. I will be going, too, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Thereupon even Raffaelo wiped the usual calm smile off his face and followed after the governor of Valentia with a stern expression.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Left behind, Zenjirou watched the two men going away with swift steps for a while and then faced Princess Freya.

    ¡°As you can see, we are in a state of emergency. I will be returning to the residence. Please apany me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand.¡±

    Princess Freya answered him with aposed voice.

    * * *

    At evening of the same day.

    In one room in the residence of the Duke of Valentia, Zenjirou finally heard a report about the incident from Raffaelo M¨¢rguez.

    ¡°Please pardon my dy, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I did tell you that the report can wait. The situation seems more or less to be under control, so brief me on the matter.¡±

    Even though he straightened his back on his chair to assume an air of importance as much as possible, Zenjirou had long reached the end of his patience inwardly.

    He had withdrawn into the room at the farthest end of the residence, like his guards had rmended, but he still had been able to hear the outside ruckus.

    Voices had shouted ¡°Say what!?¡± or ¡°That can¡¯t be!?¡± and scraps of conversations had sounded like ¡°We are moving the injured!¡± or ¡°How many died?¡±. Only an idiot would have failed to realize that something dangerous had attacked the city of Valentia.

    To reinforce that impression: The guards had exchanged their usual handy ¡°self-defence weapons¡± such as curved swords or short spears for full-fledged ¡°battle weapons¡± such as bows and long spears while they stood sentinel in the garden.

    To be honest, Zenjirou already considered it a great achievement that he did not press the panic button and screamed like a little girl.

    Anyway, Zenjirou swallowed once and listened to the long-awaited report from Raffaelo.

    The fact alone that the always smiling Raffaelo had put on a solemn face now, disyed how grave the situation must be.

    ¡°To make a long story short: The reason for this ruckus are ¡®Pack Dragons¡¯ that appeared in the farmingnd of Valentia.¡±

    As expected, the report from Raffaelo really did not bode well.

    Valentia was a supplier of salt, an important fishing port and the biggest trade port in the Carpa Kingdom. Needless to say, an enormous number of people was thus living there. And it needed enough food to feed all these mouths.

    Consequently, there were numerous farms in the vicinity of Valentia.

    One of these farms had now been attached by ¡°Pack Dragons¡±.

    ¡°The coteral damage?¡±

    ¡°Devastating. So far we have already confirmed twenty-one dead people. Almost the entire livestock, mainly the small Meat Dragons, was wipe out and nearly half of all the working animals, namely the Hulking Dragons, were killed as well. The farm in question can no longer sustain itself.¡±

    The human causalities were grievous, of course, but in a way, it was more shocking that the entire livestock had been wiped out. A farm could not function without livestock. At this rate, even the surviving farmers would die from hunger and poverty.

    This world had nows that secured citizens a remuneration for when they suffered losses through natural disasters. It depended on the decision of the Lord of the Domain, if there would be any help in such cases. In this particr case, it applied to either Aura, the Duchess of Valentia, or Sir Damian, the governor.

    (Hmm? Could it be that I have that power right now?)

    Zenjirou remembered his position as the fully authorized representative for the Duchess of Valentia and considered his idea for a moment, but discarded it shortly afterwards.

    The current situation had not calmed down enough yet to already speak ofpensations for the victims.

    ¡°What about our counter-attack? You had the time to report to me, so I guess the matter has quieten down a bit, but from what I heard, I doubt the situation has been resolved already.¡±

    Raffaelo agreed with him.

    ¡°Yes. Frankly speaking, our counter-attack has not made it in time. The soldiers rushed to the scene bymand of Sir Damian, but they could only get a glimpse of the already retreating Pack Dragons in the distant. They pursued them until the edge of the forest, but it was not enough to engage them.¡±

    In other words, the Pack Dragons had hidden in the forest after their attack on the farm. Meaning that nothing had been resolved yet.

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    The room fell silent for a while as Zenjirou mused.

    Before long, he asked in a verifying tone.

    ¡°Raffaelo.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Have you heard about the trouble on the ¡®Salt Road¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Marquis Guzzle had brought it up. I have heard that his son Sir Xavier was in charge at first, but General Puyol was dispatched with his armyter on.

    And then General Puyol had deemed that he had not enough soldiers for the task and requested further reinforcements from Her Majesty Aura.¡±

    Apparently Raffaelo M¨¢rguez knew as much as Zenjirou about the matter. Zenjirou questioned him further.

    ¡°It seems a pack of Pack Dragons lead by an unprecedented huge Pack Dragon was responsible for the interruption on the Salt Road.

    Do you think it¡¯s rted to our incident?¡±

    ¡°I believe that there are too many parallelisms to dismiss it as a coincidence. Pack Dragons blocked the Salt Road. And Pack Dragons appeared here, too. Furthermore, I was told that packs with over twenty-four or thirty-four dragons are extremely rare. The norm seems to be around fourteen dragons. Despite this, we have a witness that says the attack this time was staged by almost a hundred Pack Dragons at once.¡±

    ¡°A whole hundred?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Well, it was the testimony from a farmer fleeing for his life and with no military education, so it is not all that credible. But considering that all of the survivors mentioned an ¡®extremerge number of dragons¡¯ or ¡®overwhelming pack¡±, I think it is safe to assume that there were at least more than twenty-four of them.¡±

    Counting the exact numbers on a nce could be considered a proper special skill and was not something amon farmer was able to do while he was running for his life.

    And although the testimony of one or two people might not be all that meaningful, it was self-evident to proceed on the assumption that it had been a considerable number of dragons, when the majority of the surviving farmers attested so.

    ¡°The pack from the Salt Road apparently had a considerable size as well. Instead of assuming that two different packs of such a size appeared in two different ces at the same time, I believe it is more likely that the pack from the Salt Road came over here.

    Still, the ¡®Salt Road¡¯ connects the Capital with the March of Guzzle and Valentia is pretty far away from it.

    Even on a straight course, they would need to cross over two or three mountains. If you ask me, I really doubt that they would undertake such a far journey.¡±

    Raffaelo honestly answered the question from Zenjirou like that.

    On the ¡°Salt Road¡±, General Puyol and Xavier had already taken measures to report that ¡°the Pack Dragons had retreated deeper into the forest as a result of their hunt and that all dragons in the forest might now be fighting arge strife over territories¡±, but that information had not reached the Capital yet.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou and the others in Valentia had no clue about it, either. This world obviously had no inte or telephone lines, but it did not even have a proper post system.

    Before the great war, the Carpa Kingdom did have an informationwork effectively superior to the ones of modern science, namely an emergencywork consisting of numerous practitioners of the ¡°Teleport¡± magic, but unfortunately, Queen Aura was currently the only one left that could use the ¡°Teleport¡± magic.

    ¡°Okay. For now, I¡¯ll send Her Majesty a ¡®Small Flying Dragon¡¯. The Capital might know more than we do, and even if not, we absolutely have to report the situation anyway.¡±

    ¡°Yes, certainly. Still, the situation calls for a quick decision. I am afraid it would be dangerous to wait for an answer from Her Majesty Aura.¡±

    Raffaelo made a valid point, when he spoke outright on a rare asion. With every passing minute, the situation continued to change. Even if Aura was intelligent, there was a timeg until the information reached the Capital, so she could not give out urate orders.

    Zenjirou understood what Raffaelo was getting at and agreed with him while he hid his nervousness behind an inexpressive mask.

    ¡°Right. It¡¯s probably better when we act on our own decisions and only exchange information with Her Majesty in the Capital. At the present time, I am the person ultimately in charge of both civil and military matters here in Valentia. Am I right in assuming that?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is correct. Normally, Sir Damian would have the authority tomand the troops of Valentia as its governor, but right now, you temporarily have taken over the full authority as the representative of the Duchess of Valentia.¡±

    To be honest, Zenjirou had asked that question in the hope that it would be denied, but Raffaelo affirmed it readily.

    Sir Damian upied the position of a ¡°governor¡±, whereas Zenjirou currently was appointed as a ¡°fully authorized representative¡±. These two posts were worlds apart.

    The ¡°governor¡± only took over a portion of the authority from the Duchess of Valentia, the original lord, and acted at the behest of her. On the other hand, the ¡°fully authorized representative¡± temporarily assumed all the authority, like the name implied.

    Put simply: As the legitimate Duchess of Valentia, Queen Aura could immediately overrule an order issued by the ¡°governor¡±, if she was against it, but that was impossible when it was issued by the ¡°fully authorized representative¡±.

    The reason being that Aura temporarily lost her authority as the Duchess of Valentia, when she appointed a ¡°fully authorized representative¡±. So if she wanted to stop an action from the ¡°fully authorized representative¡±, she first needed to strip Zenjirou of that title.

    It was a bitplicated, but the current jurisdiction was like this: Aura, the Duchess of Valentia, had temporarily conferred all the authority of the Duchess upon Zenjirou, who in turn was appointing Sir Damian as the governor of Valentia.

    In other words, Governor Damian was a direct subordinate of Zenjirou.

    Zenjirou pondered while fighting the stomach caused by the responsibilities.

    (Normally, I would just call Sir Damian, let him handle everything and be done with it. But the problem is that Princess Freya is here right now.)

    Princess Freya and her group would soon get to know that Pack Dragons were causing a ruckus near by. And then she would obviously request that her people were allowed to wear weapons.

    Although the people from the North Continent did not know much about dragons, they would naturally get wary, when they heard that Pack Dragons were on the rampage.

    It was pretty unlikely that she would obediently put up with it, when they told her that they would take care of it and she should sit back and do nothing.

    Nevertheless, Zenjirou could not allow a foreign delegation to arm itself in Valentia so easily.

    Since Princess Freya was acknowledged as royalty, her guards had been allowed to carry weapons for ¡°self-defence¡±, but permitting full-fledged equipment for ¡°battle¡± was a different matter altogether.

    (The easiest solution for their armament would be to have them cooperate in the ¡¯Pack Dragon Subjugation¡¯. It would give them a legitimate reason to carry weapons. But from her point of view, it would be putting the cart before the horse, if all her guards are send to the frontlines¡­)

    Having thought of apromise for now, Zenjirou checked with his temporary assistant, who stood at attention before him.

    ¡°Raffaelo.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that Princess Freya has already heard about this incident, too. So it¡¯s quite likely that her guards will request to be allowed to arm themselves in order to protect their master.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I believe so as well.¡±

    Once he had gotten the consent from Raffaelo, Zenjirou continued.

    ¡°But from our point of view, we cannot allow a foreign group to arm itself within a royal domain, even if they are from a friendly nation. It would require a valid reason to allow that.¡±

    ¡°Certainly.¡±

    ¡°Let me be frank, Raffaelo: Would it cause trouble to allow the guards of Princess Freya to participate in the Pack Dragon Subjugation?¡±

    The sharp-witted Raffaelo easily figured out what Zenjirou was getting at.

    ¡°To be perfectly honest, yes, it would cause immense troubles. The warriors of the North Continent are admittedly sturdy, but they do not have any experience fighting dragons.

    Besides, even if they had that experience, their fighting style is far to different from ours. They use different weapons, different formations and different codewords. I am afraid that the soldiers on the battlefield would rather have them on the opposing side than having them fight alongside us.¡±

    Even if he turned him down like this, Raffaelo then proposed thepromise Zenjirou wanted to hear.

    ¡°Still, we can keep the inconveniences to a minimum, when we let them take care of a whole area by themselves, instead of incorporating them into our troops by hook or by crook. Of course we will have to assign some ¡®guides¡¯, because they do not know their way around here.¡±

    Needless to say, these ¡°guides¡± would also ¡°keep an eye¡± on them.

    These conditions were more or less presentational to them. Zenjirou had been quite worried that their soldiers would get constricted for political reasons, so he spoke with an obvious relief.

    ¡°I see. That sounds practicable. Raffaelo, I know you¡¯re busy, but report the current situation to Princess Freya, too.

    Afterwards I¡¯ll go and officially ask her for her ¡®cooperation¡¯ in the matter.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will arrange everything ordingly.¡±

    Raffaelo politely bowed in response to the order from Zenjirou.

    * * *

    Late at night of the same day. In the same room, where he had listened to Raffaelo at evening, Zenjirou was now meeting with Princess Freya.

    In order to invite ady over at night, the room was bristling with silver candle sticks on which numerous candles flickered.

    Ever since he arrived in Valentia more than one month ago, Zenjirou had been separated from his life with electronic appliances in the Inner Pce, so it was his first ¡°bright night¡± after a long time. He had bought the crank-powered LED shlight with him to Valentia just in case, but it had poor coverage, even if its light was bright. The white light was perfect to illuminate a spot around your hands or feet, but was unsuited to brighten up a whole room.

    Compared to it, the light from a candle flickering on a candle stick was a rather weak source of light, but there were numerous of them set up around the ce, where Zenjirou sat, so the whole room was bathed in a faint glow.

    Amidst that glow, Zenjirou looked at the girl in a blue dress sitting mannerly across him on the couch, and opened his mouth.

    ¡°I am sure Raffaelo already told you about it, but we are currently facing an unforeseen event.¡±

    ¡°Yes. He exined that a pack of medium-sized dragons called ¡®Pack Dragons¡¯ has attacked.¡±

    Princess Freya was not shaken at the unexpected happening and answered with a calm facial expression. For a girl, who was forced to take shelter without knowing what was going on after she had heard an rm bell in a foreignnd, she was a bit too calm, actually.

    Well, she did sail off on a voyage of unknown length and no guarantee for survival. It would be foolish topare her courage to the one of a normal girl.

    ¡°Are there no Pack Dragons on the North Continent?¡±

    In order to stimte the conversation, Zenjirou inserted some small talk, whereupon the girl with short silver-blue hair adopted at once.

    ¡°None at all. There are very few dragon species on the North Continent to begin with. And the few we have are allrge species and live deep in the mountains, where humans hardly ever set foot in, so the majority of our people has not seen a dragon, besides the Sea Dragon.¡±

    Speaking of, the Church, which was worshipping the Ancient Dragons as gods, imed thend, where these dragons were living, as ¡°Sacred Ground¡±, so it was difficult for people to go there.

    Having said this, Princess Freya had no intention to exin theseplicated circumstances, so she omitted the troublesome part in her story.

    ¡°Is that so. Anyway, Valentia will be under emergency rule for a while, because of these circumstances.

    I know this will cause some inconveniences to you, but I ask for your understanding.¡±

    Princess Freya had already heard the details from Raffaelo and understood the reason for adjustments. She was not so stupid to be selfish now.

    ¡°I certainly understand. If there is anything I can help you with, please do tell me. I may not be able to do much, but you can be assured of my support.¡±

    Considering how smoothly she offered her help, she obviously must have prepared that answer in advance.

    Zenjirou, too, answered somewhat contrived.

    ¡°I am d to hear that. There is nothing more reassuring than having your courageous seafaring men as support.

    Then I would like to take you up on your offer and borrow about half of your soldiers. I am ashamed to admit this, but under the current circumstances, we are in need of every talented soldiers we can get, on the frontlines.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that will be quite alright. Nevertheless, they are not legendary warriors immune to fatigue, so I would like to rece the group with the other half of my soldiers in due time. Will that be alright with you?¡±

    ¡°Why, of course. Your foresightedness deeply impresses me.¡±

    The Prince Consort and Princess smiled at each other, happily sealing the deal.

    These conditions had been proposed by Zenjirou through Raffaelo and Princess Freya had epted them.

    Half of her guards would be sent to the frontlines. The remaining half of her soldiers would continue to guard the princess, but they were supposed to ¡°relieve the other half¡± on the frontlines, so they would already wear their full-fledged ¡°battle equipment¡± during the guard duty.

    Needless to say, the benefit for Princess Freya was that the guards on ¡°stand-by duty¡± were allowed to wear their full equipment.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou did not need to be in fear of his life, because his remaining guards in the residence of the Duke of Valentia could easily oppress even the heavily armed guards of the princess, if necessary, since their numbers had been halved. Likewise, they had an excuse to allow soldiers of a non-allied nation to fully arm themselves in the royal domain, when they assigned them as reserves for the Pack Dragon Subjugation.

    Not to mention that it really did help them that Princess Freya dispatched her soldiers.

    The destroyed farm was not the only farm outside the walls of Valentia.

    In order to protect all the farms that were widespread around the walls, they needed as many soldiers as possible. That desire was by no means insincere.

    Having reached a conclusion, Princess Freya looked at the female warrior standing at attention behind her and gave her simple instructions.

    ¡°You heard it, Skathi. Divide our soldiers into two groups at once. You will lead one group and choose the leader for the other group.¡±

    The order seemed to take the female warrior by surprise for a bit.

    The tall woman widened her eyes

    ¡°Mdy, I¡ª¡±

    and wanted to say something, but Princess Freya cut in without letting her finish.

    ¡°No worries. I will be a good girl here, so you go and show them what you are made of.¡±

    From the tone of her master, she discerned that the order would not be retracted.

    ¡°¡­Very well.¡±

    The female soldier pulled herself together and obediently epted the mission.

    * * *

    In spite of what Princess Freya had said to her, the guards were going to be sent to the frontlines in two groups, so for today, Skathi still kept her duty as the bodyguard of Princess Freya and stayed in the same room in the residence of the Duke of Valentia as her master in order to protect her at night, together with her beloved spear.

    Princess Freya sat on the bed, dressed in a rtivelyfortable one-piece dress that did not impede her movements, whereas Skathi was on the couch with one knee up, still dressed in her leather armour and holding the short spear with a tusk of a Sea Elephant in her arms.

    Both of them were dressed in a way that they could leave at any moment in an emergency. Apparently they intended to sleep in that outfit until the situation was resolved.

    Normally, they would already be asleep at this time, but the me of the oil pan on the table still flickered reddish.

    The faint glow of the me revealed the princess rxing on her bed and gave her silver-blue hair a slightly reddish tinge.

    Her appearance as she breathed regrly on the bed with only a soft one-piece dress covering her body, showcased a fairytale-like beauty.

    But the words leaving the mouth of that fairytale beauty were down-to-earth to the core.

    ¡°Skathi, what kind of wild card do you think I can expect, when you perform well in the uing dragon hunt?¡±

    Of course she was counting her chickens before they hatched, but that kind of anticipation was actually a given in her position.

    It could happen that you missed the right chance to y the joker, when you only started to think about it once it fell into your hands.

    Asked by her master like that, the female warrior squeezed her spear

    ¡°Hmm, I can only specte, but I would say that you can ask for ¡®advanced¡¯ negotiations, when we defeat the boss of the Pack Dragons, for example.¡±

    and replied in a calm tone.

    ¡°Advanced negotiations, you say? You mean I might be able to take my objective to the ¡®Capital¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    When Princess Freya checked with her, the female warrior affirmed it curtly with a t voice.

    In the negotiations so far, Freya had more or less figured out that Zenjirou or rather Aura, the mastermind behind him, wanted to close the negotiations in Valentia and monopolize the external rtions to the royal family.

    As a fellow royalty, Princess Freya understood where Aura wasing from, of course, and she would have done the same in her position. However, from her point of view, she preferred to strike a deal with the lords from all over the Carpa Kingdom, instead of just the royal family.

    She would be able to beat down the price, when there was apetition between numerous suppliers, and some feudal lords of the Carpa Kingdom might be able to get their hands on products that the royal family had trouble obtaining.

    In order to negotiate such goods directly with the feudal lords without mediation from the royal family, she really wanted to get into the Royal Pce in the Capital.

    ¡°Well, establishing the trade route is my first priority for now. If I am too greedy, I might lose out on everything in the end.¡±

    ¡°Yes. His Majesty Zenjirou struck me as a sensible person, who will repay good will with good will. I believe it would be wise not to get onto his bad side.¡±

    The northern princess widened her eyes, when her trusted retainer evaluated Zenjirou different than before, and asked surprised.

    ¡°Oh my? He seems to have really risen in your esteem? What changed your mind?¡±

    The question from her master had a somewhat teasing undertone, but the female soldier nodded affirmative without being bothered by it.

    ¡°Yes. Judging by his conversations with you and his actions so far, he really seems to be making the decisions on his own after all.

    So I thought it would be bad to still speak ill of him.¡±

    Skathi had be certain of that during the recent ruckus with the Pack Dragons.

    It had been inevitable that he left all the precise details to others, when the rm bell rang in the harbour or when he met the princesster at night, but he had definitely been the first one to give out orders to everyone during that emergency.

    A genuine figurehead without any decisional power would have waited until some told him to return to the residence, because it was dangerous, and obediently obeyed it then.

    But Zenjirou had taken charge of the situation,manded Governor Damian to take care of the matter and dered his return to the residence by himself.

    Otherwise put, it was the best proof that he was aware of his own position and had the ¡°intention¡± of being a cooperative figurehead as much as possible.

    Princess Freya nodded satisfied, since she had never thought poorly of him to begin with.

    ¡°Indeed. It is very fortunate for us that such a sincere and straightforward person is ultimately responsible for the negotiations with us. I say we keep a conservative mindset until the end this time.¡°

    Zenjirou was only thinking of finishing his given role eptable. He neither wanted to betray the expectation from Aura, nor did he want to make a name for himself and damage his rtionship with Aura.

    The eptable aplishment of his work would also be eptable to Princess Freya, his negotiation partner, since she considered herself to be in a ¡°weak position¡±.

    If they felt like it, the Carpa Kingdom could take the damaged ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± by force and constrict her freedom.

    Compared to that worst case scenario, it would be a huge sess already, when she could just establish an ¡°eptable¡± trading route and return to her homnd.

    ¡°Certainly. Anyway, please go to bed now, Mdy. Rest assured. I will definitely protect you, whether it be from a southern dragon, a foreign soldier or whatsoever.¡±

    Squeezing her beloved spear, the trusted retainer vowed low-voiced, whereupon the princess gave her a soft smile andy down on the bed without an argument.

    ¡°Thanks, Skathi. I trust you.¡±

    And before long, Princess Freya peacefully entered thend of dreams, like she had asserted.

 Chapter Volume 5 5

    Three dayster. Zenjirou looked down on the short young man kneeling before him, and kept an inexpressive look, although he had to strain all the muscles in his face in order to hide his inner nervousness.

    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Master Zenjirou. My name is Xavier, the third son of Marquis Guzzle. I am terrible honoured to be given the opportunity to be acquainted with you.¡±

    The young man¡ª Xavier offered his greeting clearly, but still somewhat awkwardly. Zenjirou continued to look down to him from his chair as he slowly began to speak.

    ¡°I am Zenjirou, the husband of Queen Aura I. Raise your head.¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡±

    When Xavier looked up to him so intensely that you could practically cut the tension with a knife, Zenjirou felt the urge to back off for a moment, but managed to suppress it.

    (Hmm, I haven¡¯t seen anyone as straightforward as him in a while.)

    His first impression of the young man was quite positive, but unfortunately, Zenjiroucked theposure right now to let it show on his face.

    Xavier Guzzle was the appointed sessor to Marquis Guzzle.

    The mission to resolve the problem on the Salt Road had initially been given to him.

    Together with a bearded hunter, he had been sent over to Valentia by Aura with the ¡°Teleport Magic¡±. Zenjirou knew exactly what they were here for, since he was not an idiot.

    Precisely because of that, his heart was currently beating so fast as though he had finished a full marathon just now.

    If his assumption was correct, this young man hade to Valentia with extremely bad news for Zenjirou.

    Nevertheless, he had to hear him out.

    ¡°So, why did Her Majesty send you over here?¡±

    On the surface, it looked like Zenjirou was asking casually, but deep inside he was sweating bullets. Xavier then briskly took out a sealed document from his pocket.

    Needless to say, the wax seal on it belonged to the Carpa Royal Family.

    ¡°Please look at this.¡±

    With these words, Xavier humbly held the parchment out and the waiting maid Ines took it from him after a signal from Zenjirou. Once she had confirmed that it had not been tampered with, she opened it in front of Zenjirou.

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    Under normal circumstances, the dragonskin parchment would be handed to Zenjirou, so that he could read through it, but regrettably, he still was not proficient enough in thenguage to read it by himself.

    It looked a bit embarrassing, but Ines spread the letter so that Zenjirou could see it and read it out aloud while tracing the words with her right index finger, just like a mother reading her child a picture book.

    ¡°Then allow me. On this asion, I nominate Xavier Guzzle to be put in charge of the Pack Dragon Subjugation. He shall fulfil his task as a direct report to Zenjirou Carpa, the current ¡®fully authorized representative¡¯ of the Duchess of Valentia.¡±

    At the bottom stood the name of Queen Aura in her typical handwriting.

    (I knew it.)

    His presentiment proved to be true, so Zenjirou was seized with a pain that made him feel like he was going to ck out. But well aware of the fact that it would be quite bad to let on about his mental state here, he pretended to be calm as he answered.

    ¡°I see. All right. The troops of Valentia were already dispatched to protect the nearby farms, though.

    We will discuss the details tomorrow, when the other officers are back. Understood?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    Xavier responded loud and clear, since he had no clue of the turmoil inside of Zenjirou.

    * * *

    ¡°Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. What do I do now¡­¡±

    Back in his own roomter on, Zenjirou chased out all the acquainted waiting maids from the Inner Pce, starting with Ines, and broke out in a cold sweat once he was all alone in the room.

    The problem that gued him was obviously Xavier Guzzle, who had been leapt here with ¡°Teleport¡± earlier.

    His arrival taken by itself was truly a godsend. Xavier had actually encountered the Pack Dragons various times on the Salt Road, so he could confirm whether the Pack Dragons that had attacked Valentia were the same pack from the Salt Road and the ¡°bearded man¡± he had brought with him, was a professional hunter, someone Zenjirou hadcked in his line-up.

    His knowledge about dragons and his observant eyes would surely be a great help to the Dragon Subjugation. Aura must have thought the same, since she had used her precious magical power to cast ¡°Teleport¡± twice on the same day.

    However, her consideration had put Zenjirou in quite the political bind now.

    ¡°We already send out a Pack Dragon Subjugation Party at my behest. And I even put Raffaelo in charge of it already. But now Aura¡¯s interfering from the Capital. This won¡¯t end well.¡±

    At the time when he had sent a ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡± to the Capital, the Subjugation Party had not been formed yet, so Aura obvious had no way of knowing about his further actions. It did not change the fact, though, that this situation was bad.

    ¡°Well, Aura did wrote that she¡¯s just ¡®nominating¡¯ him, so maybe I can overlook it? Nah, that would be bad. It would turn into a big mess, if the Prince Consort ignores a personal nomination from the Queen.¡±

    Zenjirou was mumbling away to himself.

    Then, what would happen, if he were to ept her nomination and put Xavier in charge of the Pack Dragon Subjugation? That would actually be even worse.

    After all, Zenjirou was the ¡°fully authorized representative for the Duchess of Valentia¡± right now and Queen Aura had no longer any authority as the original Duchess of Valentia, because that was what it meant to ¡°represent the full authority¡±.

    Thus, Zenjirou was practically the Duke of Valentia now, albeit representative, and Queen Aura was ¡°interfering¡± in his business.

    It was an unmistakable intervention from the Monarch into the self-government of a Feudal Lord¡¯s domain.

    ¡°Argh, hasn¡¯t Aura noticed anything? I doubt it¡­ She probably thought the ¡®Small Flying Dragon¡¯ from me was asking for further instructions, instead of just exchanging information.¡±

    The Capital and Valentia were too far away. Even if they made full use of the Small Flying Dragons and the ¡°Teleport Magic¡± from Aura, an exchange of information still took three days.

    It would inconvenience everyone at the scene, when you asked someone for help, who needed three or even four days to respond. Therefore, Zenjirou had only intended to report the matter, when he sent a ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡±, but apparently, Aura had interpreted in such a way that he was waiting for instructions from her.

    General Puyol had been worried that the ¡°simplified message from a Small Flying Dragon could cause a misunderstanding¡± and as chance would have it, it proved to be true in this case.

    But who was to be med now? Zenjirou? Because he did not wrote in the letter word by word that he merely wanted to exchange information and did not require further instruction?

    Or was it Aura? Because she assumed that her husband in a farawaynd was waiting for each order like always?

    Or maybe Zenjirou after all? Because he usually acted passive and pretended to be ipetent as much as possible, yet he forgot all about that, since he was shocked by all the causalities around him, and acted quickly for a change?

    ¡°¡­Guess it¡¯s mainly my fault after all.¡±

    Zenjirou tended to put the me on himself as a matter of principle, so he ultimately reached such a conclusion and hung his head in low spirits. In practical terms, Xavier and his bearded hunter were a valuable asset to the Pack Dragon Subjugation.

    He could also understand what Aura had in mind. Marquis Guzzle had brought the original incident of all this on the table in order to let Xavier, the next Marquis, make a name for himself. When Aura had seemingly met with Xavier personally, he must have left such a good impression on her that she was willing to lend him a hand in that matter.

    In other words, Aura had sent Xavier to Valentia in order to do him and Zenjirou a favour. A duplicate goodwill, so to speak.

    But in reality, her good intentions were driving Zenjirou into a tight corner.

    ¡°No use crying over spilt milk. I get a sinking feeling, but I¡¯ll make it work out somehow.¡±

    He realized that he could not avoid a political ¨¦t in its entirely, no matter what he did, so he pped his cheeks with both hands and settled on that conclusion.

    * * *

    In the early morning of the next day, all the important figures in regards to the Pack Dragon Subjugation were assembled in therge conference room in the residence of the Duke of Valentia and sat around a long table.

    Zenjirou had taken seat at the head of the table and looked into the faces of the gathered people as he spoke frankly.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hear your report first, Raffaelo.¡±

    First of all, he called the name of the ¡°current¡± person in charge of the Pack Dragon Subjugation: Raffaelo M¨¢rguez.

    The addressed Raffaelo stood up on the spot and began to exin.

    ¡°Yes. Like before, the five units from the army of Valentia as well as the borrowed unit from the guards of Princess Freya have guarded the farmsst night again. Fortunately enough, the Pack Dragons did notunch an attack.¡±

    Zenjirou heaved a sigh of relief in light of that report.

    Today was the fourth day after the initial attack. The Pack Dragons had alreadyunched one more attack two days ago. For the second attack the Pack Dragon Subjugation Party had properly been prepared, so their counter-attack had made it in time and they managed to kill a couple of dragons while human causalities had been kept at zero.

    However, it did not change the fact that a farm had been raided. The loss of livestock, mainly Meat Dragons, was quite severe again. If attacks of this kind continued to happen, all the nearby farms that provided meat and wheat for Valentia, would be demolished by the Pack Dragons.

    Zenjirou put on a saturnine look and said.

    ¡°Good. I¡®m d to hear that they didn¡®t attack, but the current situation won¡¯t improve unless we exterminate the Pack Dragons. It¡¯s important that we figure out how to wipe out the Pack Dragons while protecting the farms from them at the same time.¡±

    He was only pointing out obvious facts by now, but everyone present nodded wholehearted on their seats.

    Seeing their reactions, Zenjirou concluded that the right timing hade to introduce the two people standing behind him.

    ¡°And for that, we need detailed information about the Pack Dragons. The good news is that Her Majesty Aura has sent us a reliable support, because she had been worried about my ignorance on the matter.

    Let me introduce him to you: Sir Xavier Guzzle.¡±

    On the cue, the short young man took a step forward and introduced himself with flushed cheeks from nervousness.

    ¡°Th- Thank you for your kind words. My name is Xavier Guzzle. I have participated in the subjugation of the Pack Dragons on the Salt Road. And while I may still be wet behind the ears, I do hope that my experience can be of use to you somehow!¡±

    Xavier was a prominent noble, who was appointed as the sessor to Marquis Guzzle. Due to that, only Zenjirou, the Prince Consort, had a higher status than him amongst all the men gathered here. But he was still young and never really left his home domain before, so it would be kind of unreasonable to expect him not to be nervous in this situation.

    Having said this, the bearded hunter standing next to him was even worse off on that note.

    ¡°And the man next to him is Mr. Antonio, a talented hunter from the March of Guzzle. I doubt you will find anyone more knowledgeable about Pack Dragons than him.

    He was especially enlisted as an adviser, because of that.¡±

    ¡°M- My¡­ My name is Antonio! N- Nice to make your acquaintance!¡±

    Although he still looked like he could faint at any moment, he somehow managed to introduce himself. That effort was quite praiseworthy.

    The middle-aged man was nothing but a mere hunter in a room with over ten noblemen, including one royalty. The normal reaction was to curse one own¡¯s luck, instead of considering it an honour.

    ¡°Sir Xavier has encountered the Pack Dragons numerous times on the Salt Road and it goes without saying that Mr. Antonio is an expert on the field. I would like to hear their opinion on the matter.¡±

    No one dared to reject the proposal from Zenjirou.

    Around then minutester, Zenjirou witnessed another good point of Raffaelo M¨¢rguez.

    ¡°I see. Then there is no doubt that the Pack Dragons from the Salt Road have fled here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir Raffaelo. We surrounded the hill we identified as their hide-out from the east in a semi-circle, so if they escaped from there, they had to run west. Valentia lies in the west of the Salt Road, so it does match up.¡±

    Completely freed of his nervousness, Xavier confidently answered the question from Raffaelo.

    ¡°I see. Then is it possible that the Pack Dragons have crossed some mountains in a few days to get here, Mr. Antonio?¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes. It¡¯s definitely possible. No one can beat them, when ites to running through a thick forest. But if it really are the Pack Dragons from the Salt Road, it means they kept losing out in the territorial fight inside the forest, like I mentioned earlier. And when they lost so often in such a short time, I¡¯m not sure they still function as an organized pack¡­¡±

    The bearded hunter on the other hand was still a nervous wreck, but at least, he could vocalize his own opinion without problem now.

    It seemed that the man called Raffaelo M¨¢rguez was a ¡°good listener¡±.

    Practically paralysed with nervousness at the beginning, Xavier and the bearded hunter gradually regained theirposure now while they talked with Raffaelo, who kept a soft tone and expression up the whole time.

    Anyway, the brainstorming session about the Pack Dragons that attacked the Salt Road, and the Pack Dragons that were currently attacking Valentia, was going well thanks to that.

    ¡°Then it really may be better to assume that the Pack Dragons that attacked Valentia, were the same from the Salt Road.¡±

    Raffaelo drew such a conclusion.

    ¡°Your reason being?¡±

    Zenjirou asked for an exnation with this short utterance.

    ¡°Certainly. The main reason is that we found ¡®blood from Pack Dragons¡¯ at the first raided farm. Our troops did not manage to get there in time, so it raises the question who actually harmed the Pack Dragons? But it makes sense, when it were the Pack Dragons fleeing from the Salt Road.¡±

    The blood of Pack Dragons was red like the one of humans, but it was extremely viscous and sticky, so it could easily be differentiated in daylight.

    But the rification from Raffaelo only created more doubt for Zenjirou instead.

    ¡°Hmm? You mean the wounded Pack Dragons from the Salt Road crossed a few mountains and came to Valentia while bleeding all the time? Isn¡¯t it more likely that they die or the bleeding stops at some point?

    When Zenjirou pointed out the obvious, the bearded hunter dered a different belief.

    ¡°Th- That is most likely attributed to the spears and arrows still stuck in them. They do heal quite fast, so even if an arrow remains stuck in their back, the wound will close after a while and the bleeding stops.

    But since the arrowhead is still there, the wound will open again every time they move around too much, spilling some blood now and then.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The coherent exnation from the hunter convinced Zenjirou for now. However, one of his doubts remained.

    ¡°Still, if it really is the same pack, why was the ¡®Huge Pack Dragon¡¯ never sighted during the two attacks here at Valentia?

    The first attack aside, the subjugation party did fight the dragons during the second attack. Did the Huge Pack Dragon already die?¡±

    It was Xavier, who responded to that question this time.

    ¡°Ah, no. Even on the Salt Road, the Huge Pack Dragon only got close enough to engage him once. It was always just giving orders from the back and kept himself safe deeper in the forest.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. We did receive a report from a soldier that the Pack Dragons retreated into the forest on their second attack after a ¡®deep howl¡¯ could be heard from inside the forest.¡±

    Raffaelo testified like that so as to affirm the assertion from Xavier.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Zenjirou inadvertently frowned in light of that reasonable exnation. If their information and spections were right, the Huge Pack Dragon wasrge, strong and smart, yet also a coward. It made their chase all the more troublesome.

    ¡°It would be easy to subjugate them, though, if we could immobilize them somehow.¡±

    A captain of the Valentia Army grumbled like that by ident. His irritation was understandable.

    As a matter of fact, the Pack Dragons were admittedly tough opponents for unarmed vigers or trade caravans with only a few guards, but they were hardly a challenge for a well-trained army.

    The problem was their quick legs.

    ¡°How about we dig a pitfall?¡±

    ¡°A Pack Dragon can jump as high as I am tall from a standing position. It would be pointless unless the hole is quite deep.¡±

    ¡°What about using something like bird lime then?¡±

    ¡°They have quite strong legs, so they will just break free from it. To begin with, they have an excellent noise as well, so it is quite likely that they will not even be trapped by it anyway.¡±

    ¡°Sheesh, how do they even move about so purposeful in the thick forest? If they just came over from the Salt Road, they shouldn¡¯t be familiar with the area here.

    Man, wild animals sure are unreckonable.¡±

    The bearded hunter gave theining captain a wry smile while answering dutiful.

    ¡°Well, that is because of the ¡®scent¡¯. They urinate in various ces or rub themselves against tree trunks in order to leave their own scent behind as a waymarker.¡±

    ¡°Their ¡¯scent¡¯?¡±

    Zenjirou had only listened carefully so far, but that word called something to his mind.

    ¡°Then what would the Pack Dragons do, when we erase that scent?¡±

    The sudden question from the Prince Consort seemed to confuse the bearded hunter, but he responded honestly nevertheless.

    ¡°I- It would throw them off. Or at least, they would halt and loiter for a while. ¡­But, Master Zenjirou, your idea is not feasible. For one, their scent is pretty dominant. Secondly, they have a really good sense of smell. You cannot get rid of their scent so easily.¡±

    Having discerned the n from Zenjirou, the bearded hunter spoke apologetic, but Zenjirou was not put off by it.

    ¡°But since you know about it, there must exist a precedence, where the Pack Dragons were mislead by erasing the scent, no? How did that take ce?¡±

    ¡°It was andslide. An heavy rain during the rainy season washed away the whole trees on a slope. Then the Pack Dragons no longer had any waymarkers and made a ruckus, when they ended up in apletely different ce.¡±

    That certainly was not an easy method to erase the scent. An artificialndslide could not bee up with just like that.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Even so, Zenjirou was still confident that the n to ¡°erase the scent¡± had a chance of sess.

    He looked at everyone and spoke.

    ¡°Can we somehow utilize it, if there actually is a way to erase the scent?¡±

    Raffaelo was the first to speak up in response to that.

    ¡°If what Mr. Antonio said is true and we really have a way to deliberately erase the scent, then we may be able to control their route to some extent by getting rid of some of the waymarkers beforehand.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. And when we establish a unit with a method to erase the scent, we could detain the attacking dragons by erasing the scent on their escape route.¡±

    Following this, Xavier also brought up an idea he had thought of.

    Then the captains of the Valentia Army joined the discussion, too, encouraged by the ideas of the two men.

    ¡°Certainly. Our problem is how they always get away. So as long as we can dy their escape even for a bit¡­¡±

    ¡°But isn¡¯t it toote, when they have already entered the forest? We can¡¯t use our ¡¯Raptorial Dragons¡¯ there. A pursue would be difficult, even if the Pack Dragons have lost their way for a bit.¡±

    ¡°The biggest concern is the Huge Pack Dragon, isn¡¯t it? Once we defeat it, the rest will drop like flies. There¡¯s no way such arge pack with over hundred dragons will stay organized after that.¡±

    One of the captains said so with a confident expression. During the first attack, they could not get an urate grasp on their numbers, but they properly engaged them on the second attack and a lot of soldiers turned in a report.

    A normal pack usually consisted only of around ten dragons, so it could be called a cmity, when it suddenly consisted of a whole hundred dragons.

    ¡°Arge pack with over hundred dragons? Are you sure about that?¡±

    Xavier eximed surprised, when he heard that.

    ¡°Y- Yes, I am. Is there a problem?¡±

    At this point, Xavier finally noticed that there was a discrepancy between their information.

    All the information Valentia got about the ¡°incident on the Salt Road¡± was passed on from Zenjirou and Raffaelo. They both had heard that ¡°arge pack lead by a Huge Pack Dragon was blocking the Salt Road¡±, but they had not been told any details about it.

    That was only natural. No one had expected that the ruckus with the Pack Dragon would escte all the way to Valentia back then, when Zenjirou was ¡°leapt¡± here.

    Xavier realized that it was his duty to inform them about the details, so he revealed everything he knew while being extra careful not to cause a misunderstanding.

    ¡°The pack that attacked us on the Salt Road consisted of around fifty dragons. We engaged them several times and always killed some of them, but their numbers still amounted to fifty, when they attacked the next time.

    General Puyol conjectured from that fact that they must keep a number of dragons separated from the main force as reserves.¡±

    And that conjecture proved to be true.

    Although they did not encounter the main force, the hunt with reinforcements revealed in the end that the pack did not consist of a petty number like fifty, judging by the abundant evidence (such as feces or w marks) they found all around.

    The bearded hunter had assumed that their numbers amounted to ¡°at least two hundred, or at worst, to over five hundred¡±.

    Despite that, the number of dragons attacking Valentia added up to over one hundred.

    ¡°What does that mean? Did they stock up the main force, because the battlefield here is wider than on the Salt Road?¡±

    It would be the absolutely horror, when the dragons even took the size of the battlefield into consideration and adjusted their force ordingly, but considering the judgement of the Huge Pack Dragon so far, it could not be ruled out and that was a terrifying thought.

    However, the one with the best knowledge about dragons and mountains, namely the bearded hunter, came up with apletely different opinion after musing for a while.

    ¡°No¡­ The pack is most likely stretched to its limits.¡±

    ¡°Stretched to its limits?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    The somewhat optimistic remark from the hunter threw everyone present into a dither.

    From his humble point of view, the nobles and officers of the Royal Army looked at him ted, so the bearded hunter did flinch, but somehow managed to voice his idea.

    ¡°W- Well, I meant to say that the one hundred dragons that attacked, are thest hundred dragons of the pack.

    It had bothered me from the beginning that the Pack Dragons would cross the mountains and yet again attack us humans on the other side, when they just had fled from the very humans on the Salt Road.

    It¡¯s a bit weird that they would attack a different ¡®nest¡¯ of humans after they just escaped from them.¡±

    The captains inadvertently looked at each other.

    Now that he mentioned it, it certainly made sense. The dragons had escaped from humans deep into the forest, so why would they next cross the mountains and attack humans again?

    With all the gazes focused on him, the bearded hunter continued his exnation nervously.

    ¡°The forest has its own hierarchy. Each powerful dragon species has its own territory and the weak species have no choice but to live in the space in between. But dragons are pack animals, so they need a wide territory.

    Furthermore, the pack of the Huge Pack Dragon consisted of way above a hundred dragons. If they retreated deeper into the forest, they were bound to cause a ¡®fight over territory¡¯.

    The winner takes the territory and the loser flees in search for a different territory. Now I believe that the Pack Dragons have lost like this inside the forest over and over again,ing as far as to Valentia.¡±

    ¡°You mean, there are dragons deep in the forest that can defeat arge pack with two or three hundred dragons on every asion?¡±

    Zenjirou, sitting on his chair, unconsciously looked into the direction of the forest. Needless to say, they were in the conference room in the residence of the Duke of Valentia, so all he could see was an aged stone wall, but in his mind, he pictured a monstrous dragon breaking down that wall with ease.

    Born and raised in the Carpa Kingdom, Raffaelo and the others seemed to share that sentiment, albeit a bit stronger, so a chilly silence hung over the conference room for a while.

    Still, no matter how monstrous it might be, they did not need to concern themselves with it right now as long as it did not suddenly came out of the thick forest. It was more important that they focussed on the given threat now.

    Raffaelo was the first to regain hisposure and he checked with the bearded hunter in order to get the discussion back on track.

    ¡°Mr. Antonio, you are basically saying that the dragons that are currently attacking Valentia, are the ¡®remnants of a defeated force¡¯, correct?¡±

    In response, the bearded hunter nodded with a confident expression as his intention hade across.

    ¡°Yes. I think their numbers gradually lessened, when they lost one fight over territory after another. It goes without saying that a fight over territory took ce once they went deeper into the forest and since they came all the way to a human settlement, I would say it¡¯s also beyond doubt that they kept losing. In that case, the size of the pack must to have decreased for sure.¡±

    That theory sounded all too favourable to them, so it was to be taken with a grain of salt, but it certainly made sense.

    It was hard to believe that dragons with an own territory inside the forest would let several hundred Pack Dragons pass through without a fight. Besides, the Pack Dragon had crossed several mountains covered with a thick forest at full speed in such a short time span, so it would be more natural to think that they simply left behind those, who could not keep up physically.

    While such ideas were exchanged, Xavier remembered that he still had not revealed one more piece of information.

    ¡°Speaking of, the force of fifty dragons that attacked us on the Salt Road had no female dragons amongst it. It proved that we were dealing with their main force, but how was it here? Were there any females amongst the hundred dragons that attacked here?¡±

    This question was answered by a young captain of the army as he raised his hand.

    ¡°Yes, indeed. We finished off several dragons during the second attack and one of them was certainly female.¡±

    This strongly backed up the assumption from the bearded hunter.

    ¡°It seems we have reached a conclusion.¡±

    Raffaelo said this and nodded convinced.

    ¡°The abnormal aggressively of the Pack Dragons certainly makes sense then, too. Instead of calling them aggressive, it would be more urate to say that they were merely desperate for food.¡±

    If they kept losing the fights over territory while they passed through the thick forest, it meant that they had one fierce battle after another and no time to properly search for food.

    In that case, it would also make sense why the actually smart Huge Pack Dragon made a dangerous choice like attacking a human settlement. If they did nothing, they would starve. Before that happened, they might as well take a risk to get some prey. That had probably been its train of thought.

    It was a bit sad that the powerful enemy raiding their farms turned out to be a concerned animal from the fights over territory, but a wee fact, nevertheless.

    The case would be closed, when they ughtered the offensive one hundred dragons.

    ¡°Good. Looks like we all agree on it. Then we now have to speak about how toy thesest hundred dragons to rest. Your ideas, Gentlemen?¡±

    Taking his cue from these words, Zenjirou started to discuss a concrete battle n with Xavier and the others.

 Chapter Volume 5 6

    On the next day, the Pack Dragonsunched an attack for the third time.

    The first attack came out of nowhere, so one farm was devastated, but on the second attack, the retaliation made it in the nick of time.

    And now, on the third attack, they had learned from the past and killed more Pack Dragons than during the second attack, sessfully repelling them.

    The biggest achievement during the third attack was the fact that Xavier Guzzle and his subordinate, the bearded hunter, were able to attend the battlefield.

    Seeing the Pack Dragons attack in flesh, they confirmed that the pack was the same as the one that had wreaked havoc on the Salt Road.

    The bearded hunter testified that he had recognized ¡°several dragons with the same skin pattern and colour he had seen before¡±. It truly was the viewpoint of an expert, but the reason why Xavier was convinced of it was even simpler.

    They had found a dragon that had an arrow stuck in its back. Once they killed that dragon and pulled out the arrow, it turned out that this arrow was shot from a ¡°Dragon Bow¡±.

    Since the ¡°Dragon Bow¡± was far superior in force and rangepared to an average bow, it also used special arrows that were geared to pration.

    Not even a single soldier in the army of Valentia was using a ¡°Dragon Bow¡±.

    In other words, that arrow was shot by the ¡°Dragonback Archery Knights¡± from General Puyol.

    It proved that the pack attacking Valentia was the same pack that had caused a turmoil on the Salt Road.

    Furthermore, the bearded hunter had also confirmed that nearly half of the attacking dragons had been female.

    It seemed that all his spections had been spot on.

    In that case, they only had to carry on like nned.

    In order to make the fourth attack thest one, the army of Valentia ¡°led by Zenjirou¡± started working on their final move.

    The thick foresty east of Valentia. As themander, Zenjirou had entrusted a part of the army of Valentia to Xavier Guzzle, who faithfully pursued the mission given to him inside the forest.

    ¡°Absolutely do not draw your weapons until I say so. We want to leave as little metal scent as possible in the forest.¡±

    Xavier wasmanding soldiers, who he had met for the first time yesterday, instead of the well-known soldiers of his own domain, so his face revealed more nervousness and fervour than necessary.

    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    However, the soldiers of the Valentia army were obediently following the orders of their fledglingmander on their first mission with him for now, since he apparently won their favour by disying a zest for action despite being young and inexperienced.

    As far as Xavier could tell, the Valentia soldiers were just as disciplined as the soldier from the March of Guzzle he had led before.

    Thus, he was ¡°neither thrilled, nor put off¡± by them. Having said this, it would be foolish to face them with the same mindset as the soldiers from his domain, since their numbers were admittedly the same, but the mutual trust between them was nowhere near the same.

    (Still, Her Majesty Aura had said she would put me in charge¡­)

    Inside the dim forest, Xavier watched over the soldiers checking tree after tree, while he harboured such thoughts.

    His current position was a frontlinemander under the directmand of Zenjirou, the suprememander of the army of Valentia.

    All the soldiers of Valentia participating in the dragon subjugation were assigned to Xavier, except for one unit, so he did was in charge of the subjugation in essence.

    But the Prince Consort Zenjirou was the suprememander, albeit just for show, and Raffaelo M¨¢rguez held the title of ¡°staff officer¡±.

    Raffaelo was only leading one unit consisting of the personal guards from Zenjirou, but he had an equal standing to Xavier on the paper.

    Moreover, the soldiers from the Upps Kingdom of the North Continent were participating, too, even if only a few of them, but Xavier had no authority over them as well.

    (I wonder if I be able to fulfil my duty properly, when the real fight starts.)

    It was understandable that Xavier was gued by such a worry.

    Still, nothing would change for the better, when he became pessimistic now.

    He shook his head and tried to focus on the task at hand, when he suddenly heard the well-known voice of the bearded hunter.

    ¡°Master Xavier, we found it! There is no doubt! The Pack Dragons have ¡®marked¡¯ the tree here.¡±

    ¡°Really! Good, then begin as discussed!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±

    Once Xavier gave the order, two soldiers took a wooden barrel and headed for the tree that the bearded hunter had identified as a ¡°waymarker¡±.

    ¡°Okay, down on three. One, two, three!¡±

    After setting down the barrel in the scrub, one soldier wiped the sweat from his forehead and heaved a sigh of relief. Following this brief rest, the soldiers opened the lid of therge barrel and scooped its content with a longdle.

    Therge barrel was filled with white powder.

    ¡°Well then, please scatter it evenly around this tree.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°Be careful not to get any into your eyes. If you think it happened nevertheless, stand back and wash out your eyes with the water from the water barrel.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Here I go!¡±

    The soldiers scattered the white powder they had scooped with thedle, on the tree pointed out by the bearded hunter, and its surroundings.

    The dark brown trunk of the tree and the deep green scrub were painted white in no time.

    ¡°Still, will something like that really fool the noses of the Pack Dragons?¡±

    ¡°Who knows, but we might as well try.¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. We¡¯re just following orders anyway.¡±

    The white powder the sceptical soldiers were scattering was actually ¡°ked lime¡±.

    Once Zenjirou had found out that most dishes in Valentia made use of ms, he had grinded the seashells with a stone mortar after burning them at an high temperature, in order to present it to Aura for the ss manufacture.

    The burnt lime gained from the scorched seashells was an hazardous substance. It would suddenly heat up several hundred degree, if it came in contact with water.

    When you let the burnt lime react with water once, it turned into ked lime after the reaction subsided.

    ked lime was a deodorant that was often used in Modern Japan as well. Since it erased smells while being rtively harmless to the human body or nature, people used it in their garden for example, to erase the smell of the excrements of their pets in order not to bother the neighbours.

    Nheless, Zenjirou was an amateur in this field. It remained to be seen if the ked lime he created would work properly. He had put it into a wooden barrel and sealed it for what it was worth, but the reaction might have continued, turning it into calcium carbonate. The ked lime admittedly worked against the smell of excrements from dogs and cats, but it was questionable if it would work all the same against the excrements from Pack Dragons. Andstly, it was unknown whether this deodorant was strong enough to fool the nose of the Pack Dragons, since the bearded hunter had imed that they had a ¡°strong sense of smell¡±.

    There were a lot of open question. But unfortunately, there had been no better idea to manipte the movements of the Pack Dragons.

    Thus, they had concluded that it was at least worth a try.

    ¡°Can we really affect the Pack Dragons with this?¡±

    Xavier had given all the necessary orders, so he walked over to the bearded hunter and asked him that thiste in the game.

    The hunter scratched his thick beard.

    ¡°Hard to say. If this deodorant really works like Master Zenjirou has said, then I would say it is possible.

    Later we just have to find a simr tree, rub some skin and urine of the Pack Dragons against it. Yes, I say it has a good prospect of sess.¡±

    The skin was taken from the Pack Dragons they had defeated during the third attack and the urine was secured along with the urinary dder dissected from the same dragons.

    They would mark different trees with them in order to deceive the Pack Dragons and lure them onto a battlefield prepared by them.

    That was the substance of the Pack Dragon Extermination Strategy from the Valentia Army.

    Incidentally, it had been Zenjirou as well to suggest that they use the skins and urinary dders from the defeated dragons. Once upon a time, he had watched a TV show, where the fur and urine of a bear had been used to ward off boars and monkeys, since it made them believe that the area was the territory of a bear.

    Anyway, it drastically raised their chance topletely annihte the Pack Dragons, instead of just repelling them, if they managed to drag them out onto a pre-prepared battlefield.

    ¡°We will definitely settle the score in the next battle.¡±

    Xavier muttered as if to convince himself.

    Needless to say, the ulterior motive of this strong resolve was to make a name for himself as the next Marquis of Guzzle by concluding this incident with his own hands.

    Regardless of how, the prey had already escaped once from General Puyol. It would definitely go beyond the credit of a mere Dragon Subjugation, if he defeated them.

    Still, he could not deny his genuine desire to help the involved victims as well as fulfilling his given duty at the same time.

    ¡°I will not let it drag on any longer.¡±

    His small stature trembled from a sense of duty and a desire to fight.

    * * *

    Around the same time, the farm that had been chosen for the final sh was quickly remodelled into a battlefield.

    The chosen farm was rtivelyrge and located near a river.

    It had been chosen for three reasons. Number one being its sufficient distance to the thick forest.

    The second reason was that it was located in a rtive lond in with small hills south and north of it.

    Andstly, the rtive recent foundation of the farm provided the third reason.

    The first reason, namely the distance to the thick forest, made it more difficult for the Huge Pack Dragon to give out orders from within the forest. Even the cautious Huge Pack Dragon would have toe out of the forest in that case.

    It would be somewhat problematic, if the Huge Pack Dragon insisted on staying inside the forest by all means, but they had a countermeasure for that as well, just in case.

    The importance of the second reason, namely the lond in with a small hill, goes without saying. They would leave the livestock, mainly Meat Dragons, at the farm and deploy the soldiers on top of the hills. This turned the whole farm into a nice trap.

    As for the third reason, it was linked to the second one. Since the whole farm was bing a trap, they temporarily had to evacuate the farmers behind the stone walls of Valentia.

    A newly established farm meant that its elder inhabitants were originally born and raised in the city of Valentia. These elders would teach the rest about the rules of the city without the officials having to, so it would cause less problems, when the refugees came in.

    ¡°Sir Raffaelo! We have finished setting up the stake wall at the entrance of the farm!¡±

    ¡°The foxholes on the southern hill arepleted, too.¡±

    ¡°Same goes for the northern hill.¡±

    While listening to the reports from the soldiers, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez issued all the orders with his usual calm smile.

    ¡°Understood. When you are done with your work, escort the farmers back to Valentia. Do not lower your guard until you are there.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±

    Of course the soldiers could not do all the work by themselves, so they had rounded up the farmers, mainly young men, to help out.

    The helpers had to be paid for their work. The livestock for the trap had to be bought up. And the seized farm itself had to bepensated for as well.

    All this money required for the operation came from the pocket of Zenjirou. The very money Aura had given him to ¡°buy anything he took a fancy to¡±.

    Fortunately enough, Princess Freya was giving him the desired goats for free, so he still had all the money at his disposal.

    Thanks to that, everything could be funded without problem so far, but he also had to pay for the livelihood expenses in Valentia of the farm refugees.

    If this operation dragged on, the funds would run out. Of course the treasury of Valentia, which was said to be even greater than the one in the Capital, had enough capacities, but Zenjirou absolutely wanted to bring the incident to an end without using the money for which Aura had given no permission.

    As a matter of fact, Raffaelo understood his inmost intention the best.

    ¡°He really is the person my dear stepmother described him as.¡±

    As he had no more orders to give right now, Raffaelo cast a nce at the distant walls of Valentia and muttered to himself.

    His stepmother was Lady Octavia and she was working as a private tutor for Zenjirou. Due to that, she previously had told Raffaelo all kind of things about him, but after meeting him in person, Raffaelo was once again reminded of how urate his other mother could judge people.

    Lady Octavia had said the following:

    ¡°He is extremely intelligent, down-to-earth and resolute. And above all, he harbours a genuine affection and faithfulness towards Her Majesty Aura.¡±

    Well, his mother had the tendency to exaggerate thepliments more than necessary, when evaluating someone, but putting the ¡°extremely¡± aside, Raffaelo had noticed during their short acquaintance that Zenjirou indeed possessed an adequate wisdom, reasoning and determination.

    Despite that, Zenjirou never took action by himself, neither in the Royal Pce, nor here in Valentia. That was because he was well aware of the fact that any rash assertive moves from him might sabotage Queen Aura instead.

    Although he voluntarily discredited himself as ¡°ipetent¡± and ¡°effeminate¡±, he always did everything in his might to make things convenient for the Queen, so it was undeniable that his affection and faithfulness towards her were anything but normal.

    ¡°Then the current situation must be rather unpleasant for him.¡±

    Even if it was in name only, Zenjirou did get involved with the Dragon Subjugation as the ¡°suprememander¡±. Raffaelo urately reasoned about that worry of his as well.

    The current situation obviously deviated from his usual policy to stay in the background and appear ipetent without taking credit for himself as much as possible.

    Originally, Raffaelo had been put in charge, but Xavier Guzzle had barged in from the side as he was sent from the Capital.

    As a result, the roles had been reassigned. In name only, Zenjirou himself was in charge, whereas Raffaelo and Xavier were practically equals working under him, but Xavier was leading eighty percent of the troops.

    Raffaelo was the ¡°staff officer¡± and granted just as much authority in the nning of the operation as Xavier, but he would have almost no chance to fight a real battle.

    Thisplex ranking was literally crying out for a desperate attempt to right some kind of grave discrepancy between Aura in the Capital and Zenjirou in Valentia.

    ¡°It might prove to be an interesting ¡®story¡¯ to report to my fatherter on.¡±

    Mumbling that, Raffaelo showed the usual calm smile on his face.

    * * *

    At around the same time in the residence of the Duke of Valentia in the centre of Valentia, Zenjirou confronted the passionate persuasion from Governor Damian, with a stern face.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou, would you please reconsider?¡±

    The middle-aged man appealed almost pleading, but Zenjirou answered brusque while giving him an indifferent look.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Master Zenjirou¡­¡±

    Sir Damian was choking back his tears and while this would have workeding from a beautiful maiden, it was nothing but annoying, when an middle-aged man did it.

    ¡°Frankly speaking, it is utterly insane that you want to go out on the battlefield yourself, Master Zenjirou. If something were to happen to you, I would not be able to face Her Majesty Aura in the Capital again.¡±

    Nheless, Sir Damian still tried to persuade Zenjirou with these words.

    The matter that gued him was the fact that Zenjirou was going to lead the soldiers onto the battlefield himself.

    ¡°You¡¯re exaggerating it. I¡¯ll be nowhere near the actual frontline.¡±

    Zenjirou intended to deploy himself and the soldiers far away from the trap vige, where Xaviery in ambush.

    They were supposed to be on stand-by just in case the guidance of the Pack Dragons went wrong and they would have to protect the other nearby farms that had not been evacuated.

    Of course Zenjirou had no idea how to lead an army, so Raffaelo M¨¢rguez would actually give out the orders as the ¡°staff officer¡±. In other words, Zenjirou would be a mere figurehead there as well.

    Because of that, Sir Damian imed that there was no need for Zenjirou to leave the walls of Valentia and should just stay in the residence of the Duke of Valentia while leaving everything else to Raffaelo.

    As a matter of fact, his opinion waspletely warranted, if you only took the efficiency at the scene into ount.

    Even Zenjirou himself had not the slightest desire to expose himself to danger and was well aware of the fact that he would be nothing but a hindrance on the battlefield.

    (I hope he would stop trying to persuade me so passionately. To be honest, I¡¯m already starting to doubt my decision.)

    Oblivious to Zenjirou feeling weak at the knees, Sir Damian continued to reason with him.

    ¡°A battlefield is unpredictable. Permit me to remark that your safety is far more important than the safety of Valentia.¡±

    At the present time, Zenjirou was one of only three royalty in the Kingdom that inherited a ¡°bloodline magic¡±. Furthermore, he was the only grown-up male from them.

    From the point of view of simply increasing the practitioners of the ¡°bloodline magic¡±, it would be no exaggeration to say that he was even more important than Queen Aura or the infant Prince Carlos.

    Zenjirou was able to rte to that, so he started to question his own decision, when he was told all that.

    But he shook off the thought.

    ¡°No. It¡¯s a great chance to win fame with barely any risk. Why should I pass on it?¡±

    Zenjirou spoke like a short-sighted person obsessed with fame to get rid of the protest from Sir Damian.

    Needless to say, he had not the slightest intention to win fame for himself. If anything, he nned toy the groundwork as much as possible in order to dere that he had been nothing but a figurehead, when this incident was resolved safely.

    Then why did he insist on leaving the safe stone walls, although he knew that he would be a hindrance? Because this incident was a ¡°subjugation¡± of the dragons.

    For a defensive mission with the purpose to ¡°protect¡±, it was eptable that themander stayed behind the walls and gave orders, but that was not the case for an offensive mission.

    In such a case, the person giving orders on the frontline was acknowledged as the highest ranking person for the mission, automatically assuming that the superior officer behind the walls had ¡°entrusted all authority¡± to themander on the frontline.

    And like the ¡°subjugation¡° part implied in the current Pack Dragon Subjugation, it was a full-fledged offensive mission. Technically, it could also be seen as a defensive mission to protect the city of Valentia from the threat of the Pack Dragons, but in the Capital, Aura had acknowledged the mission as a resumption from the subjugation on the Salt Road, so it was officially recorded as an offensive mission.

    (If Xavier ends up as the highest ranking person, they¡¯ll believe that I, the fully authorized representative for the Duke of Valentia, have epted the intervention from Queen Aura and changed the personnel.)

    It would mean that Queen Aura had meddled with the self-governance of the domain, when Xavier was appointed as the highest ranking person. Likewise, it would mean that the Prince Consort had ignored the orders from the Queen, when Xavier was not appointed as the highest ranking person.

    Either decision would cause problems. After wracking his brain over it, Zenjirou hade up with this desperate workaround.

    He himself would be the highest ranking person in name only. In the field, though, Xavier was obviously the highest ranking person. And Raffaelo, whom he had initially put in charge, would be an equal to Xavier on paper as the ¡°staff officer¡± andmand his bodyguards, giving him at least the necessary authority in the field.

    Xavier would have to put up with being the ¡°highest ranking person in the field¡±, although he was promised to be put in charge by Queen Aura. Raffaelo would have to put up with being the ¡°highest ranking person for strategic nning¡±, although he had been put in charge once before. And Zenjirou would reluctantly act as the ¡°highest ranking person in name only¡±, although he originally had intended to do nothing.

    Thispromise in staffing slightly differentiated from the respective expectations all three of them have had.

    (Rather thanpromising, I get the feeling we¡¯re walking a really fine line here.)

    Zenjirou inwardly suffered from a stomach.

    Still, a following political scandal could not be avoided wholewise, so this was the tamest solution Zenjirou had been able toe up with.

    The problem was that others would think that the ¡°Prince Consort showed signs of ambition¡±, but he had no choice but to deal with thatter on by discussing it in length with Aura.

    ¡°B- But what are we going to do about Princess Freya? If you take your guards with you, she will be all alone here with her own guards.¡±

    Damian still refused to back down, whereupon Zenjirou evaluated the middle-aged governor at heart as someone, who was really passionate about his duty, even if part of it was due to self-preservation.

    ¡°No need to worry about that. I have already discussed it with Princess Freya. She readily agreed to apany me. Needless to say, that goes for her guards, too.¡±

    Although he spoke about it so casually, the matter was hardly to be taken lightly.

    ¡°Sh- She will¡­ No way¡­¡±

    Damian was finally at a loss for words.

    No surprise. After all, not only Zenjirou, one of the three most important people of the country, was going out on the battlefield, but also Princess Freya, an acknowledged royalty from overseas. Any sane person would only take that for a joke.

    As a matter of fact however, there was no way that they could leave Prince Freya behind all alone in the residence of the Duke of Valentia, when Zenjirou left with all his guards.

    Once his guards left the city, the only troops remaining in Valentia would be the coast guards and the city patrols.

    That fighting force was a bit too unreliable to stop Princess Freya, if she were to act malicious in an unlikely event. Thus it was better for their peace of mind to remove that very anxious altogether by taking Princess Freyaplete with guards along with them.

    ¡°The decision is set in stone.¡±

    ¡°¡­Very well.¡±

    When Zenjirou spoke resolutely like that, Damian abandoned the persuasion atst and hung his head disappointed.

    * * *

    Two dayster then.

    The Pack Dragonsunched their fourth attack.

    Their target was the farm near the river, where Xavier was waiting with his troops afterying a snare. With one attack alone, it could not be said whether the idea from Zenjirou had sess or if it was a mere coincidence, but either way, the important fact right now was that this oue was ying right into their hands.

    ¡°The Pack Dragons areing!¡±

    ¡°Good. All hands, take your position! All orders from now on will be given by hand signals until the battlemences. Do not make a single sound in the meantime!¡±

    Xavier gave thest order like that and alsoid down prone in the shallow hole they had dug on the hill.

    His whole body from head to toe was rubbed with nt sap and mud in order to erase the body odour, which in all honesty, was not really a fascinating sight.

    The wet mud stuck to his scalp and made it itchy. Apparently some of the mud also had gotten into his ears, when he applied it, so the inside of his ears felt sandy. Every time he licked his lips, he tasted a bitter and acrid vour, since there was nt sap around his mouth.

    The whole situation was just disgusting, but even so, Xavier suppressed that instinctual disgust and simply waited for the right time.

    (So far, everything is going as nned. We will definitely put an end to them here.)

    He persuaded himself like that and strongly crunched with his back teeth from the bitter nt sap taste in his mouth.

    More than anyone else, Xavier knew how lucky he actually was.

    The original mission had been prepared by his father Marquis Guzzle for him in order to ease his worry about seeding the title of Marquis. Because of ack of forces, he had given up the leading role once, though. And even though he had called General Puyol for reinforcements, he was now, at the end of the road, entrusted with the fullmand over the decisive battle.

    If he were to fail here now, he would never be able to face his father, General Puyol and Queen Aura again after they had such a high opinion of him. Eager or quasi zealous at heart, Xavier clenched his fists and then the Pack Dragons finally appeared.

    ¡°GII GII!¡±

    ¡°GII!¡±

    There was an enormous number of them. They definitely amounted to almost a hundred. The first rough estimate from Xavier counted around ny-four, which seemed a bit too few. During the second and third attack, some dragons had been defeated, so that might be the reason they no longer filled up the hundred.

    The attacking dragons stopped at the entrance of the farm for now.

    A fence of trees with sharpened tops blockaded the entrance. Its height only extended to around the shoulder of a human at best, though.

    ¡°GII GII!¡±

    That height was no challenge for the Pack Dragons to skip over. The bunch of Pack Dragons leaped over the fence one after another. Instead of skipping over it, some well-built dragons even dared to jump against the fence, destroying it in the progress.

    The fence was not slowing down the Pack Dragons in the slightest, but that did not affect the strategy of the battle.

    To begin with, it had been built to prevent the ¡°Meat Dragons¡±, which were left inside the farm as bait to lure in the Pack Dragons, from escaping, instead of defending against the Pack Dragons.

    The height of the fence was a piece of cake for the two-legged Pack Dragons with their superior jumping power, but for the four-legged Meat Dragons with their short legs and plump bodies, it proved to be an insurmountable obstacle.

    ¡°PIGI!¡±

    ¡°PII PII!¡±

    The Meat Dragons screamed and scattered in all direction, when the carnivores suddenly appeared.

    Speaking of, where was the Huge Pack Dragon?

    That thought suddenly crossed Xavier¡¯s mind and he took a small peek out of the hole on the hill, observing the entrance of the farm. But its silhouette was nowhere to be seen.

    (That means he is noting out of the forest, not even at this point.)

    It was a bit disappointing, but not really a problem in itself. They did choose this farm, because there was enough distance between it and the thick forest.

    When the boss did note out of the forest despite that distance, it meant that they had seeded in separating themander from its troops.

    The Pack Dragons had always been so annoyingly quick to retreat, because their boss, namely the Huge Pack Dragon, had made all the calls. The Huge Pack Dragon had developed an abnormal intelligence, but all the other Pack Dragons were not even smart enough to go against their wild instincts.

    The chance of sess for the battle had gone up drastically with this.

    Xavier licked his lips, which had gotten dry from nervousness, while the cruel game of hide and seek between the Meat Dragons and Pack Dragons in the uninhabited farm entered its final phase.

    ¡°GII GII!¡±

    ¡°PII!¡±

    ¡°GROWL!¡±

    Normally, the Meat Dragons would have no chance of escaping from the Pack Dragons, but that would have been inconvenient to Xavier and the others, so they had set up round logs vertically between the buildings like clothes poles to stop the Pack Dragons.

    With their four short legs, the Meat Dragons could easily slip through under the logs at the heights of a human chest, but the two-legged Pack Dragons were taller than a human, so it was the perfect height for a blockade, forcing them to jump over it.

    As a result, the majority of the Meat Dragons managed to escape death and fled to the open square of the farm. Chasing after them, the Pack Dragons reached the square a bitter.

    Having said this, the open squared belonged to a small farm. It was not wide enough to umte all of the almost one hundred Pack Dragons at once. Nheless, Xavier wanted to kill as much of them as possible on their first strike, so he suppressed his urge to give the order to attack right away and waited for the right timing.

    All of the Pack Dragons had already entered the farm without exception and around forty percent of them had gathered in the open square so far.

    Needless to say, not all of the Meat Dragons could escape, so some Pack Dragons could be seen here and there how they happily feasted on the unlucky Meat Dragons that had been caught, but it was still on a tolerable level.

    (Okay, now is the time!)

    The time was ripe. Sensing it, Xavier simply raised the staff ofmand in his right hand while still lying prone on the hill. The nearby soldiers could be heard swallowing hard from the tension.

    The soldiers on the other hill across were supposed to see it, too. At this point, there was no way to tell, if they really had, though.

    Xavier took courage and quickly swung down the staff ofmand in his right hand.

    In the next moment, all the soldiers around him sprang to their feet, drew the longbows in their hands and shot the arrows.

    Several hundred arrows shot through the air with a whing and hailed down on the Pack Dragons chasing their prey in the farm below.

    Three hundred archers had hidden on the hill and another three hundred on the other side. That made a volley of six hundred arrows in total.

    ¡°GYA!?¡±

    The Pack Dragons that could scream were still better off. Most of dragons were hit by the rain shower of arrows from above and died without knowing what was going on.

    The physique of a dragon was usually beyond the imagination of man. An arrow or two would not kill them and depending on the impact point, they would not even notice that they had been hit. However, it was a different matter, when six hundred arrows rained down on less than one hundred Pack Dragons.

    Moreover, the bows from the soldiers of the Valentia army were longbows. Its range and pration power was on apletely different level from the short bows, which the soldiers from the March of Guzzle led by Xavier had handled.

    Of course they were still no match for the ¡°Dragon Bows¡± used by the ¡°Dragonback Archery Knights¡±, but the terrain made up for it. The archers were shooting from a hill down on the gathered Pack Dragons below.

    Under these favourable conditions, the longbow demonstrated the same pration power as the ¡°Dragon Bow¡± on a in.

    As a matter of course, it would be a miracle, if they could only aim at the Pack Dragon and spare the Meat Dragons at this distance. Since that was not the case, the Meat Dragons were caught in the crossfire and wiped out after they had splendidly fulfilled their role as bait.

    A sad, but necessary sacrifice.

    Anyway, one volley was certainly not enough topletely wipe out the almost one hundred Pack Dragons. Some dragons were even unhurt, since they had taken cover behind the buildings.

    ¡°GIIII!¡±

    A dozen of the surviving Pack Dragons chose to attack the humans on the hill instead of running away.

    The little slope was nothing for the powerful legs of the Pack Dragons. Utilizing their two thick hind legs and even thicker tail, they rushed up the hill, where the archers stood, with a speed no human could ever hope to achieve.

    However, Xavier and his men had anticipated this development as well.

    ¡°Archers, fall back. Spearmen, forward!¡±

    Upon the order from Xavier, the archers stood back and in exchange, the soldiers with long spears stood atop the hill.

    Their spears were almost twice as long as the wearer himself was tall. Needless to say, an average soldier could not wield such a long weapon at will.

    But they only had to point the tip of the long spear towards the Pack Dragons running up the hill.

    ¡°GII!¡±

    ¡°GI!?¡±

    No matter how strong the legs of the Pack Dragons were, they definitely could not make a jump on a steep hill. The Pack Dragons ran straight into the risen spears and did not advance any further.

    Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for humans to stop the charge of a Pack Dragon, but the advantage of the terrain bore fruit here as well.

    The soldiers pointed the spears down from atop the hill and the Pack Dragons were running up the hill from below. It usually was difficult to upset the collision between these two, but the higher ground made their momentums barely equal, if not inverting their initial situation.

    ¡°GUGI!¡±

    A few Pack Dragons slipped and fell down the hill, whereas the reorganised archers shot the dragons that were still barely standing, with arrows through the gaps between the spearmen.

    ¡°GI!¡±

    Before long, the few attacking Pack Dragons had kicked the bucket without achieving anything.

    Although Xavier was themander, he observed the battle unfold from a distant point of view as though it did not concern him.

    ¡°Wow¡­ Is this what General Puyol meant?¡±

    He recalled the words of the general in the back of his mind.

    ording to General Puyol, the strength of humansy in technique, weapons and cooperation.

    Back then, the general himself had pushed a Pack Dragon to the ground head-on right after saying this, so Xavier hadughed it off, but the im of the general certainly felt vindicated, when he saw it in action now.

    The army from the March of Guzzle had been pressed for a though fight on the Salt Road, because of its limited space. During the following hunt in the forest, even the ¡°Dragonback Archery Knights¡± led by General Puyol had to put forth an effort to finish off a couple of Pack Dragons.

    The difference in the battles was overwhelming, now that they outnumbered them and had the advantage of the terrain.

    They had exchanged the short spears meant for the thick forest and the short bows meant for even terrain, with long spears and long bows and instead of leaping into enemy territory, they had drawn the enemy onto a battlefield prepared by them, attacking at the same time with the whole force.

    Just by doing that, the result was outstanding.

    Somehow calming his excitement, Xavier now watched over the battlefield below him.

    The battle was practically over, but they still had to finish off the remaining dragons. Xavier suddenly felt a temptation, when he saw the scene below.

    At this point, it would be alright for him to participate in the battle himself, would it not? He did not want to brag, but Xavier was confident that his skills with the bow were at least as good as the skills of the soldiers around here.

    With that in mind, he readied his hands, but noticed that he was holding a certain ¡°something¡± in his hands instead and turned red with anger.

    His hands were holding the ¡°staff ofmand¡±. It was not his favourite bow or spear, but rather a small wooden stick that had literally no offensive power.

    (Oh right. My duty is not to y Pack Dragons with my own hands. I have to give the right orders, so that the soldiers finish off as many Pack Dragons as possible while as few of my subordinates as possible die.)

    Reminded of his given role again, the youngmander overviewed the whole battlefield and then gave an order.

    ¡°Near the river on the north side. Four dragons on the run. Stop them before they can jump into the river!¡±

    In the end, only very few Pack Dragons had been able to escape from the trap under Xavier¡¯smand.

    * * *

    Some time earlier.

    When Xavier and his men hadid in wait on the hills with bated breath, an exceptionalrge Pack Dragon stood in the thick forest.

    Its size would surely mess up your perception of distance, when you were somewhat familiar with the animal called Pack Dragon. At the very least, it was twice as big as a normal Pack Dragon. In actual fact, the Pack Dragon was ssified as a medium-sized carnivore dragon, but this dragon was an expectation,rge enough to be called arge-sized carnivore dragon.

    But the top brass of the Carpa Kingdom had not been worried about the mere ssification of this Huge Pack Dragon. The problem with this huge carnivore dragon was that it had gained wisdom over the years and in ordance with it, a thoughtful judgement.

    Even while its subordinated Pack Dragons charged the farm as hungry as a wolf, only the Huge Pack Dragon had obstinately not taken a single step outside the thick forest.

    Of course it could afford that privilege, precisely because it was the boss and the other dragons would bring it a part of the spoils, but its prudence was still abnormal. One might as well call it a coward.

    And right now, it was disying that very prudence again.

    It was at the very time, when Xavier swung down the staff ofmand on the hill and unleashed the all-out attack against the Pack Dragons.

    Six hundred arrows cut through the air and then rained down on the subordinated Pack Dragons, whose death cries reached all the way to the forest, to the ears of the Huge Pack Dragon.

    ¡°GROWL¡­!¡±

    The sounds were not descriptive enough to allow an urate grasp on the situation.

    But the Huge Pack Dragon concluded that it was ¡°bad news¡± based on instinct and experience.

    Should they retreat? The exceptional developed brain of the Huge Pack considered that option.

    However, the already fighting Pack Dragons would not hear the Huge Pack Dragon, even if it were to give the order with its loudest voice. Still, running away by itself and abandoning its subordinates was not an option for the Huge Pack Dragon, either.

    Over the years, the Huge Pack Dragon had grown bigger and umted wisdom, but in exchange, it also had lost various things. The first being its agility and the second being its tolerance for simple food.

    Having grown too big, the Huge Pack Dragon could no longer make small turns in exchange for its superior strength, making it unsuitable for hunting. Yet hisrge body needed a great deal of food to survive.

    As a result, the Huge Pack Dragon could no longer live without subordinates that provided it with food.

    In a way, it was a ¡°parasite¡± inside the pack.

    ¡°GRR¡­¡±

    After a moment of pondering, it seemed to have reached a decision. The Huge Pack took one step outside.

    Between the forest and the farm extended a in without any ce to hide.

    Unless its crossed at least half of that in, its orders would not be heard by the dragons attacking the farm.

    After advancing for a while, the Huge Pack Dragon stopped, when it noticed a shadow ahead.

    ¡°GROWL?¡±

    It was fully armed human soldier. The Huge Pack Dragon was well aware how scary an armed human was. With a hundred of them, the Huge Pack Dragon would surely abandon its subordinate and run away. Not quite, it would probably already turn on its heel with just ten of them, considering there was no ally in the vicinity.

    The leader of the Pack Dragons was that cautious and that cowardly. This cowardice had assured its survival until now and had even given it this irregrrge body.

    However, there stood no hundred men before the Huge Pack Dragon right now. Not even ten. Only a single human blocked its path.

    Considering the difference in their physiques, the expression of ¡°blocking its path¡± seemed more than ridiculous.

    The blocking soldier aka. Victoria Kronkvist let her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail wave in the wind while she looked at the nearby Huge Pack Dragon with an unconcerned expression void of any fighting spirit.

    ¡°Oho, that¡¯s the Huge Pack Dragon? It certainly is huge.¡±

    Saying that, the female warrior drew her favourite short spear.

    Xavier was taking on the main force of the Pack Dragon with the main body of their army while Zenjirou and Princess Freya stood on stand-by with their troops at a distant point in case the deception of the Pack Dragons went wrong.

    When they had decided on this tactic, the first problem that came up was how they were going to deal with the boss aka. the Huge Pack Dragon.

    The farm, where they lured the dragons to, was far enough away from the thick forest, so even the Huge Pack Dragon should participate in the battle this time without staying behind in the forest.

    That was what they had predicted, but a prediction was nothing but one possibility. Even this time, the Huge Pack Dragon might remain in the thick forest again.

    What would they do in that case? It was a no-brainer. They just had to prepare a special forces against the Huge Pack Dragon.

    But it was difficult to appoint people to it. After all, they were anticipating that the Huge Pack Dragon would likely appear at the farm. In other words, the special forces would end up not being needed, if everything went ording to n.

    But in the other unlikely event, they would get the biggest achievement of defeating the Huge Pack Dragon. Furthermore, it was already an established fact that the Huge Pack Dragon was good at running away.

    It was a delicate appointment that would be useless, if everything worked well, but earned the biggest credit otherwise. Moreover, the position required the ability to prevent a possible escape of the Huge Pack Dragon.

    It was a tough choice. So much that Raffaelo M¨¢rguez wanted to do it himself at first.

    But then Victoria Kronkvist had volunteered for the position as she had been present at the strategy nning.

    She had confidently dered: ¡°I have the means to stop the Huge Pack Dragon.¡±

    ¡°The Huge Pack Dragon will choose to flee once the odds are against it. What are you supposed to do then, if you want to defeat it without it running away?

    The answer is: Confront it with as few people as possible, so that it will not consider the situation as disadvantageous. Simple as that.¡±

    The female warrior mumbled that as if it did not concern her and closed the distance to the Huge Pack Dragon with movements that seemed to suggest she was being unwary.

    Any sane person would hardly ever call that ¡°simple as that¡±, more probably ¡°crazy¡±.

    To begin with, a human was not capable of fighting a dragon one on one.

    The Pack Dragon was a weak species amongst the carnivore dragons, but it would take three average soldiers to barely take down one of them head-on without projectiles.

    Even most of the well-trained ¡°Dragonback Archery Knights¡± would lose a singlebat against a Pack Dragon with a spear or sword.

    Not to forget, the Huge Pack Dragon was an abnormal existence that went beyond the scope of a Pack Dragon. It was cautious and quick to run, but that did not equal being weak.

    No surprise. Wild animals would not follow a weak leader. The Huge Pack Dragon had lead up to five hundred dragons, so it was capable of ripping an average soldier to pieces without using its fangs, if it felt like it.

    ¡°GRRR!¡±

    And right now, the Huge Pack Dragon was totally up for it.

    It only feared an organized group of humans. When a single human faced it head-on, the Huge Pack Dragon had not such a low self-esteem to fear her.

    But the absence of fear in the female soldier was in no way inferior to the dragon.

    ¡°The mighty ¡®Sorceress Skathi¡¯ is rumoured to have in an evil ck dragon all by herself. As the sessor to her name, I must at least be able to take out a mere dragon, or I will not be able to face His Majesty again after he bestowed the name ¡®Skathi¡¯ onto me.¡±

    Saying that, the female warrior aka. Skathi pointed the short spear in her hands straight at the Huge Pack Dragon.

    ¡°GRAH!¡±

    Although Skathi was exceptional tall for a woman, she was still no match for the dragon. Most likely, the Huge Pack Dragon only considered the height difference between a normal woman and Skathi as a ¡°variance of error¡±.

    The ground shook a bit as the Huge Pack Dragon approached and Skathi waspletely covered by its shadow. But the woman from the North Continent showed not the slightest sign of disturbance.

    On the contrary, she quickly confronted the approaching dragon and suddenly swung the spear in her hands to the side.

    ¡°GYA!?¡±

    Suffering a vertical wound at the chest, the Pack Dragon turned furious and exerted its two short front legs like crazy.

    Needless to say, it was a in attack without any tricks. But thereiny hidden a destructive strength that not even a broadsword swung at full power by a trained soldier could attain.

    Skathi stopped that very attack with her spear.

    Well, she did not exactly stop it. Instead, she skilfully deviated the attack at the right timing and angle with her spear, when the ws came down on her from above.

    While she did that, she did not retreat a single step backwards.

    ¡°What strength. As expected of a dragon.¡±

    Going by her words alone, it sounded like she was wary of the attack from the dragon, but in reality, she stood in front of the Huge Pack Dragon and brushed off its attack head-on.

    Moreover, she did not stay on a one-sided defence. With every two attacks from the ws of the Huge Pack Dragon, Skathi used her spear for an offensive as well, albeit only once.

    And while she deviated all the attacks from the dragon, she managed to cut the thick skin of the dragon with every swing of her spear, making it spill deep red blood.

    The green in was dyed red in no time with the viscous blood of the Pack Dragon.

    ¡°GII!¡±

    The Huge Pack Dragon raised a voice of anger as the battle did not go as expected. These kind of wounds were still no threat to it, but the Huge Pack Dragon was frustrated about the fact that none of his attacks connected while it one-sidedly was cut up, so it forgot its long-standing experience and went on the full offensive.

    ¡°GRR¡­ GUU!¡±

    The Huge Pack Dragon stopped attacking with its ws as if to boast that she would no longer be able to deviate them, and struck out at Skathi with itsrge body this time.

    And certainly, not even Skathi could stop or deviate its attack now. But she made no exaggerated evasive moves.

    ¡°Now.¡±

    Knowing that the charging Huge Pack Dragon could not make any small turns, the female warrior took a small sidestep to the right. They passed by each other at such a close distance that the left leg of the dragon barely bruised the right shoulder of Skathi.

    Needless to say, Skathi did not choose such a risky evasion just for fun.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    In the very moment they passed by each other, she single-handed swung her spear diagonally upwards.

    Along with the shrill sound of metal, the tip from the long tail of the Huge Pack Dragon was cut off.

    ¡°GYAA!?¡±

    The cut-off part was not really all that long, not even ten centimetre. But losing a part of its body certainly caused an intense pain for the Huge Pack Dragon.

    The dragon screamed so loud that any timid person would have fainted just from hearing it.

    Of course Skathi was theplete opposite of timid: She was an Amazon.

    Forget about even flinching from the scream, Skathi became even more offensive as if jumping at a ¡°chance¡±.

    ¡°GYA! GI, GIGI!¡±

    And then the same procedure as before repeated itself. The Huge Pack Dragon flung its front legs and Skathi made precise counterattacks while parrying its attacks.

    On a closer look, the ratio of attacking and defending was even inclining in favour of Skathi.

    Earlier she had thrusted her spear once for every two w attacks from the dragon, but now, she managed to swing her short spear once for every attack from the Huge Pack Dragon.

    Naturally, the fact that Skathi deviated all the attacks from the Huge Pack Dragon and hit it with all of her attacks, did not change.

    The difference from before was the cut-off tail.

    For any animals with a tail, not just dragons, the tail always fulfilled the important role of bncing out their bodies.

    That was even more so the case for two-legged animals like the Pack Dragon, so it naturally affected its movements, when the pivot of its bnce was cut off, even if it only was a ten centimetre part from the tip.

    The Huge Pack Dragon might get over the disability with time, but Skathi was obviously not giving it that time.

    ¡°GYA, GYA, GYAA!¡±

    As the Huge Pack Dragon continuously attacked at random without sess, its screams gradually sounded more rushed.

    Skathi diverted the wsing from above with the spear head of her short spear and even added an attack, when the Huge Pack Dragon showed an opening.

    Her attacks were limited to shallow shes. A thrust with the spear or a deep sh for more damage, came with the risk of getting stuck. The situation would reverse in an instant, if she were to take even one hit. No matter how advantageous she got, the seasoned female warrior never forgot that fact.

    Even small wounds sped up the loss of blood, if there were enough of them. The battleground had already turned into a red puddle from the body fluids of the Huge Pack Dragon.

    If Skathi were to trip in that viscous red puddle, the battle would turn out differently, but she had foreseen this development from the very beginning, so she wore special made shoes that had short nails worked into the soles.

    Even in a pool of slippery blood, these nails pierced into the ground beneath it and stabilized her footing, making it almost impossible to slip.

    ¡°GYAA!¡±

    Anger turned into impatience, impatience into timidness and the timidness finally turned into fear.

    This little creature was strong. Even just one of it was stronger than itself.

    The Huge Pack Dragon realized that fact all toote. And hesitation came along with that realization.

    ¡°GII!¡±

    No matter how intelligent it had gotten, the Huge Pack Dragon still felt no manlike emotions like shame or honour, so it turned on its heels and quickly ran towards the thick forest at full speed.

    It was more sluggish than before, because of the blood loss and damage to its tail, but it was still a lot faster than a human in full sprint.

    At this rate, all the effort to corner it would be in vain, when it escaped.

    But even now, Skathi still showed no sign of worry on her face.

    Her unchanged cold eyes looked at the back of the escaping Huge Pack Dragon while Skathi gripped her short spear near the spear head, raised it to her face and chanted.

    ¡®Grant me a me that even burns the ground. Aspensation, I make one hundred and eight offerings of magical power to the fire spirit.¡¯

    The chant took effect immediately. The spear head of the short spear in Skathi¡¯s hand was engulfed in a bright red me.

    Any spectator would surely be astonished again by the audaciousness and calmness Skathi exhibited.

    Because it was that difficult to evoke magic on the battlefield.

    Evoking magic required the ¡°correct intonation¡±, the ¡°correct amount of magical power¡± and the ¡°correct perception¡±. The problematic part from evoking magic on a battlefield was the ¡°correct perception¡±.

    Although it was only for a brief moment, one had topletely bear the ¡°magic in its activated state¡± in mind in order to evoke it.

    In that state, you were quite vulnerable. Frankly speaking, you quasi fell into a ¡°deep microsleep¡± that left you almostpletely defenceless on the battlefield.

    Moreover, you deliberately had to assume that vulnerable demeanour. A normal person could not help but worry about its own situation, thus failing topletely focus on it.

    But it seemed to be no challenge for Skathi in particr.

    Once she confirmed that the magic had activated correctly, she grabbed the spear burning at the tip with both hands, resting it on her shoulders behind her head.

    Then she started to spin on the spot. One step, two steps, three steps. After exactly three steps, she had made aplete turn and used the motion of that spin tounch the short spear after the fleeing Huge Pack Dragon.

    It was more like a discus throw than a javelin throw. Furthermore, her motion did not stop at that. Right before releasing the spear from her hands, she made another half a turn with her right foot, kicking the end of the flying spear in a backwards roundhouse kick motion.

    elerated from the spin, the spear was further sped up by the kick at the end and swiftly darted at the Huge Pack Dragon.

    The discus throw certainly raised more momentum than a normal javelin throw, not to mention the kick at the end. But that throwing technique naturally sacrificed some uracy.

    Still, that worry was of no concern to the superhuman female warrior, either.

    ¡°GII!?¡±

    The spearunched by Skathi pierced the head of the Huge Pack Dragon faithfully.

    It easily prated the thick skin and even thicker skull and perfectly struck the inside of the head.

    That alone was hardly ever lethal, since dragons had a rtively small brains, but it had been no ordinary spear.

    The tip of the spear was burning with a magical me.

    That me ignited the inside of the head, toasting the brain.

    ¡°G¡­ GUU¡­¡±

    The Huge Pack took onest step toward the thick forest and at the end of its tether, it copsed on the spot with a dull thud noise.

    ¡°Seems I finished it off alright.¡±

    Finally softening her facial expression, the female warrior casually strolled over to the Huge Pack Dragon she had just killed herself. Just in case, she drew and held the curved sword from her waist in her right hand. It was typical of Skathi that she stayed cautious at all times.

    But before she could reach the corpse of the Huge Pack Dragon, there came rustling sounds from within the thick forest and in the next moment, several silhouettes approached the Pack Dragon.

    ¡°Wow, she really killed that ridiculous hugend dragon all by herself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s our Victoria-sama! Common sense doesn¡¯t apply to her.¡±

    ¡°Is she really a woman?¡±

    ¡°You mean, is she actually human?

    It were the soldiers from the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± that had hidden in the forest by order of Skathi.

    Even Skathi had not been so arrogant to guarantee for sure that she was able to kill the Huge Pack Dragon all by herself.

    Therefore she had let the men hide in the forest to cut off its escape while the Pack Dragon was distracted by the singlebat with her.

    Needless to say, she would have given a signal at once, if the Huge Pack Dragon was beyond her strength, and tackled it together with the help of these men.

    Fortunately enough, it turned out to be an unnecessary worry. But that only became apparent in hindsight.

    Skathi had not the slightest intentions to bite the dust and leave her sworn princess behind in this foreign country.

    When she arrived at the corpse of the Huge Pack Dragon, she picked up some stones lying on the ground and threw them at the still opened eyes of the dragon just in case.

    Seeing as there was no reaction, Skathi could be sure that it was really dead, so she put a foot on the ridiculous huge head of the dragon and drew out her beloved short spear.

    ¡°Fuh!¡±

    Although the spear was stuck in the hard skull, Skathi had no trouble pulling it out, because of her outstanding strength and skills.

    The thick and warm cerebrospinal fluid spilled out from the resulting hole.

    ¡°Guess it needs some sharpening again.¡±

    Skathi quickly got away, so that the fluid did not get on her feet, and mumbled that, when she looked at the tip of the spear she had pulled out.

    Even the magnificent spear made from the tusk of a Sea Elephant needed some maintenance after the fight to the death with the Huge Pack Dragon.

    ¡°I just hope I can get a good recement until its done.¡±

    Muttering to herself, Skathi then looked at her subordinates for the first time and said with a small smile.

    ¡°Okay, roll call. If everyone¡¯s present, we¡¯re going back. The princess is waiting for our report.¡±

    The soldierspletely trusted Skathi, even though she was a much better soldier than them despite being a woman.

    ¡°Aye~¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Although their answers were not in unison, the robust men obediently followed the female warrior and left the ce.

    * * *

    While Xavier eliminated the main force of the Pack Dragons and Skathi defeated the Huge Pack Dragon in singlebat, the other forces under themand of Zenjirou stood by for any emergencies in some ce far away from the battlefield.

    To be honest, the term stand-by was only for show and in reality, they were actually set apart from the battlefield.

    Of course Zenjirou himself was aware of that fact more than anyone and was not even discontent about it. If anything, he was grateful that he ended up having nothing to do, considering what would happen if a real emergency actually were to take ce.

    The reason he had deployed in name only waspletely political. From a practical perspective, he was nothing but a hindrance.

    Hence Zenjirou felt a bit small in the presence of the girl standing next to him, who he had made y along with his political scheme.

    Dressed in a leather armour that suited him even less than the official attire, he called out to Princess Freya next to him.

    ¡°Are you okay, Princess Freya? If you are tired, I can get you a chair.¡±

    The princess from the Upps Kingdom smiled gracefully in response to his concern.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Your Majesty Zenjirou. But please do not mind me.¡±

    She answered him like that with a more practised expression than him.

    Even if the chance of Pack Dragonsing all the way here was pretty low, it was still far more dangerous here than inside the city of Valentia.

    Still unable to shake off his anxiety, Zenjirou asked Princess Freya a silly question in order to distract himself.

    ¡°You appear to be rather calm. Could it be, you are quite ustomed to situations like this one?¡±

    His question seemed toe as a surprise to her, though, since she widened her ice-blue eyes.

    ¡°No, not at all. It is my first time lying in wait like this. So, to be honest with you, I am rather excited. Did I really appear that calm to you?¡±

    ¡°Well, what can I say? You are more spirited than you look¡­¡±

    He could have rted to it, if she had said nervous, but excited? She was one hell of a princess.

    Princess Freya showed an elegant smile on her white face, which showed no signs of tanning even under the sun of the South Continent.

    ¡°But I have to say, who would have thought that you really tamednd dragons here? I have heard the stories, but seeing them with my own eyes really impressed me.¡±

    While she said that, she looked at the ¡°Raptorial Dragons¡± ridden by the knights.

    ¡°Are dragons rare on the North Continent?¡±

    The casual question from Zenjirou was met with an honest answer from Princess Freya.

    ¡°Yes. We really have very fewnd dragons living on our continent. Although dragons per se are not that rare, since our seas are filled with Sea Dragons as well.¡±

    ¡°I see now. Unlike the continents, the sea is one big continuous environment after all.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. That is why waterways on the North Continent are said to be so much more dangerous than thend routes. In reality, though, it is not all that dangerous anymore these days thanks to the advance in ships and sea travel.¡±

    It happened while Zenjirou had such a casual chat with Princess Freya.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Inmand of this unit in ce of Zenjirou, who was nothing but baggage in this operation, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez approached him.

    Maybe Zenjirou just imagined it, but his smile looked brighter than usual.

    ¡°What¡®s up, Raffaelo?¡±

    Asked curtly like that, Raffaelo broke the goods news to him with a bright smile.

    ¡°Just now, the unit of Sir Xavier and the unit of Victoria-sama have finished their missions almost simultaneous.

    Sir Xavier has engaged the main force of the Pack Dragons and pretty much wiped them out without any causalities.

    Likewise, Victoria-sama has engaged the Huge Pack Dragon at a different location and defeated it.¡±

    Zenjirou could not hold back his delight at the long-awaited report.

    ¡°Oh! They did it!¡±

    ¡°Congrattions, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    On the other hand, Princess Freya congratted him on it with aposed smile, as she had expected this oue.

    ¡°Thank you. It is thanks to your cooperation, too. Your guards are truly excellent warriors.¡±

    From the earlier report, Zenjirou had misunderstood that the whole unit from Skathi defeated the Huge Pack Dragon rather than Skathi by herself, so he spoke praise like that.

    ¡°Thank you very much. I am sure she, too, will be pleased to hear that.¡±

    Princess Freya however had been told in advance that it would be a singlebat, but she dared not to clear up the misunderstanding and simplyughed it away with a polite smile.

    She was sure that her trusted retainer had defeated the Huge Pack Dragon one on one, but Skathi had mentioned that she would ¡°immediately call the others for help if things looked grim¡±. It would shame Skathiter on, if she carelessly assumed wrong facts now.

    ¡°Your Majesty Zenjirou, Your Highness Freya. As I reported, the battle is now over. I know ites at a short notice, but I would like to depart for Valentia at once. Do you mind?¡°

    Raffaelo asked that and Zenjirou did not object, of course.

    ¡°Not at all. We can move out as soon as the preparations are done.¡±

    ¡°Yes. ording to the report from Sir Xavier¡¯s unit, very few Pack Dragons escaped here and there. I am sure these dragons will flee into the forest for now, but we are better safe than sorry.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    A cold shiver ran down his spine, when Zenjirou heard the exnation from Raffaelo. The city of Valentia was located between them and the battlefield, where Xavier and his men had engaged the main force of the Pack Dragons, so it was close to impossible that the scattered surviving dragons woulde here, but Zenjirou just not feltfortable in his skin, when he it was brought to his attention once again.

    Raffaelo probably noticed his unrest.

    ¡°Rest assured, Master Zenjirou. Even in the unlikely event that the Pack Dragonse all the way here, we will be able to take care of a dozen of them.¡±

    He smiled at Zenjirou with these words.

    ¡°I know!¡±

    Zenjirou answered a bit overhasty, as he somehow sensed that he was seen through.

    Zenjirou was a surpassing slow walker and could not even ride a Raptorial Dragon, so Raffaelo had prepared a dragon carriage drawn by two Raptorial Dragons. The rtive small carriage was originally intended for four people, but right now, it only carried three.

    Namely: Princess Freya, Zenjirou, and his attendant, the waiting maid Ines.

    Zenjirou sat next to Princess Freya while Ines sat across from them.

    Riding the carriage was admittedly better than walking, but it had no proper suspension, so it was by no means afortable ride, when it ran over an unsealed in.

    If you were not careful, you could bite your tongue. Zenjirou had experienced that painful fact first hand, so he refrained from speaking inside the carriage.

    For that reason, the dragon carriage advanced inplete silence. Not really bothered by his behaviour, Princess Freya added to the silence by keeping her mouth shut of her own will as well, but that only made it even more awkward.

    The silent passage continued for a while. When they had covered about half of the distance, the dragon carriage came to a halt.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Zenjirou spoke again inside the stopped carriage after a long time and Princess Freya answered him.

    ¡°I guess we are taking a small break? The soldiers will have to answer the call of nature after all.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡±

    He was convinced, when she mentioned the call of nature.

    In short, it was a toilet break.

    The soldiers were certainly told to ¡°endure the number one and just leak the number one¡° in the midst of a battle, but it distinguished a goodmander, when he issued a break like this during a peaceful march.

    Needless to say, the mentioned ¡°goodmander¡± did not mean Zenjirou, who was just a figurehead. The effectivemander was Raffaelo M¨¢rguez.

    ¡°I will excuse myself for a bit as well, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Saying that, the waiting maid Ines stood up from her seat across from him, but Zenjirou was not that insensible to ask her for the reason now.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    He permitted her leave with as few words as possible.

    Then it was time to wait.

    While Zenjirou waited inside the carriage, he believed to hear boisterous voices outside.

    ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°I wonder? It does seem a bit noisy outside.¡±

    Both, he and Princess Freya, cocked their heads wondering.

    Since his body had gotten stiff from sitting inside the carriage for a long time, too, Zenjirou decided to get off for now.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Did something happen?¡±

    It goes without saying that several soldiers were positioned around his carriage as guards.

    The apparently highest ranking soldier of them quickly came running over, when Zenjirou get out of the carriage, and exined with a slightly agitated voice.

    ¡°Yes, Milord, your waiting maid has discovered Pack Dragons a moment ago.¡±

    ¡°WHAT!? Is Ines alright!?¡±

    From that reaction, the soldier noticed that his exnation had been insufficient, so he quickly corrected himself.

    ¡°Oh, my apologies. I did not exin myself properly. What she found were the corpses of Pack Dragons. They were apparently already dead, when she found them. There are a total of three corpses lying near by.¡±

    Needless to say, Ines was a woman and could not do her business in the same ce as the soldiers. In search for a ce, where no soldier could see her, she had gone further afar and discovered the corpses of three Pack Dragons.

    The soldier reasoned that the Pack Dragons had barely escaped with their lives after they were wounded in the battle against Xavier¡¯s troops, but sumbed to their grave injuries aftering this far.

    ¡°I see. Thanks for the report.¡°

    Assured of Ines¡¯ safety, Zenjirou replied to the soldier like that while he, too, headed over to where the noisy onlookers had gathered.

    Although he had heard that she was unhurt, he was still a bit worried about Ines, considering the woman had discovered the corpses all by herself. And he also wanted to see the reason for all the ruckus in the country with his own eyes, even if only as a corpse.

    ¡°Ah, please wait, Master Zenjirou!¡±

    nked by the guards that hastily followed after him, Zenjirou went over to the scene to find the waiting maid Ines standing in arge circle of soldiers that had turned into onlookers.

    ¡°Ines.¡±

    When he called out to her, the crowd of onlookers split.

    ¡°Oh, Master Zenjirou. It seems I was a cause of worry to you. Many apologies.¡±

    Ines lowered her head deeply with these words. As far as he could tell, there was nothing wrong with her.

    ¡°No, as long as you are all right. Must have been tough. Are you hurt?¡±

    While saying that, Zenjirou looked at ¡°it¡± lying behind Ines.

    ¡°No. I was surprised and dirtied my clothes a bit, but fortunately, I am not hurt.¡±

    Just like she had said, red bloodstains could be seen here and there on the hem of her long skirt, on her chest and in her hair.

    ¡°I see. Better get a change of clothes, when we are back in Valentia.¡±

    Although he replied like that, his attention was no longer on Ines.

    (So this is a Pack Dragon¡­!)

    Overwhelmed by the first sight of a carnivore dragon, albeit dead, Zenjirou was actually the shocked one.

    It was not all that much bigger than a ¡°Raptorial Dragon¡±, but the biggest difference were its front leg ws and fangs.

    The ws were as long as his upper arm and the longest and thickest fang was even bigger than his palm.

    On a closer look, all three dragons had deep vertical cuts at their ¡°throats¡±. The wound was so deep that any normal animal would have died immediately without even being able to utter a death cry.

    The Pack Dragons had fled all the way from the battlefield up to here with this kind of wound?

    Apparently, the will to live from wild dragons was way beyond Zenjirou¡¯s ken.

    Looking at the dead dragons like this, he suddenly realized something.

    (Oh, I dered a battlefield with a hundred of these monster as ¡®barely risky¡¯ and walked out against all opposition.)

    Never mind that he had guards, he finally recognized what an outrageous thing he had done. His mind went ck, his feet and hands turned cold and his heart skipped a beat.

    He had to admit that he had admittedly understood the danger of this world in theory, but had not experienced it physically so far. Governor Damian had been a faithful subject without doubt. It might prove to be difficult to apologize to him face-to-face as royalty, but he wanted to reward him in some kind of way for his warning.

    (I won¡¯t ever do something this stupid again. I will never leave the city walls again, even if it causes a political disgrace or trouble for Aura.)

    As the Prince Consort, Zenjirou vowed that to himself and that very vow might turn out to be the biggest achievement from the Pack Dragon Subjugation.

 Chapter Volume 5 Epilogue

    Seven dayster.

    In the residence of the Count of Valentia stood a personality superior to Zenjirou.

    There was currently only one person in the Carpa Kingdom with an higher status than the Prince Consort, namely Queen Aura.

    Initially, it had been arranged that Zenjirou would return to the Capital in the prepared dragon carriages with all the others, but apparently even Queen Aura had been astonished by the detailed report of the ¡°Pack Dragon Subjugation¡± delivered by the Small Flying Dragon in advance.

    To such an extent that she was even willing to use up all three possible applications of the ¡°Teleport Magic¡± for one day.

    Having leapt to Valentia with that Teleport Magic, Queen Aura was first greeted by Raffaelo M¨¢rguez.

    ¡°My, my, Your Majesty. This is a rather sudden visit.¡±

    The former husband candidate of the Queen seemed to have anticipated this development to some extent as he simply widened his eyes a bit in surprise, but showed no further surprise, when he greeted the Queen with a smile.

    ¡°I am here for unofficial business. After taking my husband, I shall leave again at once, so do not waste your breath.¡±

    ¡°Yes, very well. Then allow me to walk you to Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Saying this, Raffaelo immediately went off to lead Aura.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    The pair advanced along the floor of the residence of the Count of Valentia with a slightly faster pace than normal.

    Before long, they arrived in front of Zenjirou¡¯s room, where a middle-aged waiting maid wearing carmine red maid clothes graciously seized her skirt and did a curtsy.

    ¡°Wee, Your Majesty Aura. Master Zenjirou is waiting inside.¡±

    ¡°Good. I heard you ¡®helped out¡¯ my husband quite a bit. You have my thanks.¡±

    ¡°It was a pleasure.¡±

    As Ines and Aura exchanged a hushed greeting, Raffaelo bowed once with the words ¡°I will excuse myself now¡± after he had Aura guided so far, and left the ce.

    ¡°Wait, Raffaelo. You seem to have done great as well, so thank you, too.¡±

    ¡°You are giving me too much credit. The ¡¯wise judgment¡¯ from Master Zenjirou has aided me the whole time.¡±

    With these words, Raffaelo disappeared from the view of Aura.

    ¡°¡­Tch.¡±

    Her face distorted somewhat displeased, when Raffaelo called Zenjirou ¡°wise¡±, but there was no time to concern herself with that right now, so she faced the door of her husband¡¯s room anew.

    Aura winked at Ines, whereupon the maid replied with ¡°understood¡± and ably knocked the door twice, calling in.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou. Your ¡®escort¡¯ is here. May I let her in?¡±

    A slightly doubtful voice answered from beyond the door.

    ¡°My escort? Who could it be? Oh well, yeah, let her in.¡±

    Upon his reply, Ines slowly opened the door and Aura entered the room at the same time.

    The royal couple met face-to-face. In order not to bother them, Ines closed the door from the outside.

    ¡°Eh, no way. Aura!? Why!?¡±

    Zenjirou uttered in surprise.

    ¡°Ines just told you. I am here to pick you up. I do not have much time, so I am going to ¡®leap¡¯ you right away.¡±

    Right after her deration, a boisterous ttering could be heard.

    ¡°Eh? Leap me? Now? Wait a sec. I haven¡¯t packed my stuff yet.¡±

    ¡°Just take what is absolutely necessary. The rest will be transported to the Capital in the carriages with Ines and the others.¡±

    ¡°O- Okay. Just a moment. Uhm, my change of clothes, my shlight¡­ Huh? Where¡¯s my pocket knife?¡±

    ¡°You ready? Good. I am going to leap you. ¡®Send my chosen person to¡­¡¯¡±

    ¡°Wha¨C Already? I¡¯m not ready yet!¡±

    Soon the voices had vanished from the room.

    Once the room had fellpletely silent, Ines waited for a bit longer, then knocked the door lightly and opened the door a tiny crack, peeking inside.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou? Your Majesty?¡±

    Although she called out to them, there was no reply.

    The scent and warmth of a person still lingered inside the room as if to emphasise that someone had lived in there until a moment ago, but its inhabitant had suddenly vanished.

    ¡°It seems they have returned without a hitch.¡±

    Ines walked into the room that had suddenly be deserted and said that with a soft smile.

    * * *

    The return was just as sudden as the arrival. He could not fathom the distance between the Capital and Valentia like that.

    Practically abducted by his wife, Zenjirou had returned to the Capital, but apparently Aura had spoken the truth, when she said that she had no time, since she headed to the Royal Pce as soon as she had leapt Zenjirou into the Inner Pce. As a result, they could only have a proper meeting once the sun hadpletely set.

    ¡°Puh, it goes without saying, but home sweet home!¡±

    Enjoying a meal and bath in the Inner Pce after a long time, Zenjirou slovenly sat down in the couch in the living room while wearing afortable pyjama.

    The six LED floormps bathed the living room into a bright white light.

    Even at night, he drank a cold fruit drink from the refrigerator inside the bright room.

    Since he had been separated from this room for a while, the convenience of an electrical powered room really captured his heart.

    Having said this, it was not the time for rxation only. His beloved wife¡ª Queen Aura said across him and they needed to have a talk.

    Seeing her after a long time, his wife was still as charming as ever.

    When he looked at his wife in her negligee-like red nightgown from close up, he wanted to toss away the troublesome discussion and head straight to the bedroom, but the bitter fate of royalty did not allow for that.

    He should just get over with the bothersome stuff in a jiff and buy time for some happy, embarrassing and fun quality time between them.

    Resolved like that, Zenjirou corrected his slovenly sitting posture by straightening his back and faced Aura across him at eye-level.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get started.¡±

    ¡°Yes. First off, exin yourself. Just what has happened? What prompted you to leave the city walls and lead the army yourself? Please tell me the details.¡±

    As she used him like that, her expression was stern and looked like she was suppressing a strong emotion.

    This matter could not beughed off with a joke. Zenjirou had never intended to do that anyway, but in face of that very reality, he, too, put on an unprecedented stern expression and started to talk.

    ¡°Well, where do I start? The matter with Princess Freya and the Pack Dragon Subjugation are basically two different things, but they do ovep each other a little bit. Well, at the beginning¡­¡±

    Like that, he initiated the quite long exnation.

    ¡°¡­Although it were only corpses, I finally realized what danger I had put myself in, when I saw them. So, I think that covers everything.¡±

    One and a half hour had passed by the time Zenjirou finished talking about all his experiences in Valentia.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    At first, Aura had listened to him with a somewhat using look, but over time, her expression had gradually changed and when she heard that he had already put Raffaelo M¨¢rguez ¡°in charge of the Pack Dragon Subjugation¡± by the time she sent Xavier Guzzle to Valentia, she had turnedpletely pale in the face.

    Nevertheless, she regained herposure after a bit of time and calmly listened to the end, as it was expected of a Queen.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the gist of it. Back then, I was the fully authorized representative while you temporarily lost your authority as the Countess of Valentia, right? So I thought it would be bad, if I just followed your instructions blindly. Don¡¯t tell me I was overthinking it?¡±

    Zenjirou asked timidly, whereupon Aura shook her head with an inexpressive look.

    ¡°No, you did the right thing without doubt. If you had done like I said, namely dismissing Raffaelo M¨¢rguez and appointed Xavier Guzzle instead, I would have definitely been put through the meat grinder by the feudal lordster on.¡±

    ¡°I see. Good to know.¡±

    Zenjirou smiled a bit happily, when Aura told him that his own decision came more or less in her favour.

    ¡°But I¡¯m just the Prince Consort while you¡¯re the Queen, so I thought it would be bad, too, to ignore your instructions in its entirety. The only thing I coulde up with after I took your orders and Raffaelo¡¯s prior appointment into consideration as much as possible, was that I had to be the top dog.

    I¡¯m sorry that I did something so stupid and caused you trouble.¡±

    When her husband lowered his head ahead of time, Aura shook her head wordlessly.

    ¡°No¡­ I should be the one to apologize. You sacrificed yourself to make up for a mistake of mine.¡±

    In fact, the matter would have definitely escted into something even more troublesome, if he had chosen anything else but putting himself at the top.

    If he had put Xavier in charge like Aura had wanted, the feudal lords would not have stayed quiet about it like she had mentioned earlier. And if he hadpletely ignored her instructions instead and left Raffaelo in charge, Aura would have ended up breaking her promise with Xavier. Since Marquis Guzzle was backing Xavier, there was no way he would simply ept that and depending on the circumstances, Aura would have had to punish Zenjirou in some kind of way.

    Of course the countermeasure from Zenjirou was notpletely wless, but it was still a lot less harmful than the previous mentioned instances.

    It was definitely a masterstroke from Zenjirou.

    But Aura spoke to her husband with a serious expression, despite acknowledging that.

    ¡°Still, listen up. Never do something like this again. Yes, you did the right thing this time. You achieved the best conceivable oue. I do thank you for that.

    But if you expose yourself to danger in the progress, it would still be more eptable that I admit having made a mistake or that a political unrest takes ce in the country.¡±

    She was definitely not saying that from just a sentimental point of view. At the present time, Zenjirou was the only grown-up male that had inherited the bloodline magic, so his life was truly this important.

    A political blunder could always be correctedter on and even if the lords were causing some ruckus, they would calm down in time. But if Zenjirou were to die, the Carpa Kingdom would fall at least one generation behind its great goal of expanding the royal family.

    The practical reason aside, Zenjirou became painfully aware of the fact how much his wife cared about his wellbeing, so he had no choice but to obediently nod in agreement.

    ¡°Okay, I get it. I¡¯ll never do it again.¡±

    ¡°Good. I hope so.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    For a while, silence prevailed.

    It was up to Zenjirou to break that silence.

    ¡°On a different note, the trade negotiations with Princess Freya went well, or should I say eptable?¡±

    Thinking back on it now, Zenjirou had originally gone to Valentia to deal with the princess that hade over from the North Continent. Overshadowed by the ruckus with the Pack Dragons in thetter half, that purpose had faded a bit into the background, but unlike the resolved dragon incident, the negotiations with the princess would only start for real from now on.

    ¡°Hmm, an intercontinental trade treaty with a country from the Northern Continent that has no connections to any other countries on the South Continent. That sounds indeed promising. And I take it that you also managed to get involved with the repair of the ship, like we had nned?

    I need to consult an expert about it first, but if everything goes well, we might even be able to already start buildingrge sailing ships by ourselves in my regency.¡±

    Saying that, Aurapletely changed the prior look in her eyes to an ambitions one.

    ¡°Well, this is just my impression, but I think that Princess Freya is no ordinary princess, so better be careful. I get the feeling she¡¯ll pull us over the barrel, if we get careless.¡±

    Zenjirou did not miss out on warning her like that.

    On the surface, Princess Freya certainly appeared like the typical elegant and friendly princess. But considering that she had set out on an intercontinental travel by her own choice, she definitely was anything but normal.

    She herself had imed that she wanted to enrich her homnd through the intercontinental trade, but it remained to be seen if that was really her only motivation. They had no means to tell if she had any ulterior motives like exploiting them for the sake of her own country.

    ¡°Hmm, okay. I will be careful. Still, she gave you some livestock called ¡®goats¡¯ in celebration of Carlos¡¯ birth, right? I will have to thank her for that, if I ever meet her.¡±

    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s my biggest achievement this time. Ah, but I left them in Valentia. I need to get them to the Capital somehow.

    And I need to find someone to look after them. We don¡¯t have any people in the country that know how to take care of mammals, do we?¡±

    He had heard that it was rtively easy to farm goats, but it surely was not something aplete novice could handle.

    As Zenjirou wrecked his brain, Aura answered him with a smile.

    ¡°Then I just have to send some people to Princess Freya and have them learn how to take care of them. It is the first time you ever wanted something. I will be d to lend you a hand.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Aura!¡±

    She was not lying, when she said she would dly lend a hand. As a matter of fact, her husband had desired something in particr for the first time, since they had gotten married. As long as it was feasible, Aura wanted toply with his wish.

    ¡°I also made some silica sand and ked lime from the coast sand and seashells in Valentia. Ines and the others will bring it over, so use it for the ss manufacture, if you want.¡±

    Having said this, the ked lime had generously been used to erase the scent of the Pack Dragons, so there might not be any left. Aura smiled happily, when Zenjirou told her that.

    ¡°Oh, a ¡¯souvenir from Valentia¡¯, if you will so. Great, I am looking forward to it.¡±

    A souvenir from Valentia. These words triggered something within Zenjirou.

    ¡°Yeah, do¡­ that¡­ Mh? It feels like I have forgotten something?¡±

    It was the disturbing feeling you got, when you only remembered the fact that you had forgotten something, but not what exactly.

    gued by that feeling, Zenjirou tilted his head puzzled and tried to remember what he had forgotten.

    ¡°Forgotten something? Really? Was it important?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I wonder? I forgot about that as well. The souvenir you mentioned just seemed to have rung a bell.¡±

    ¡°The souvenir? Do you have someone besides me, whom you are going to give a souvenir to?¡±

    Aura then joked around by saying that having an affair was not allowed and that he should rather take a concubine before cheating on her, but Zenjirou was no longer listening to that part.

    ¡°I remember now¡­¡±

    A pale Zenjirou mumbled with a dry voice.

    ¡°The pearl and coral souvenirs for Prince Francesco and Princess Bona!¡±

    Yes. Before his departure, he had promised the prince and princess from the Sharrow Royal Family to bring back some jewellery materials from the port town as souvenirs.

    But he hadpletely forgotten about it once he was there.

    ¡°Oh damn. What do I do? It was a promise between royalty! Sorry, Aura, but can you leap me back once more tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Calm down. You can buy pearls and corals in the Capital, too.¡±

    When Auraforted him, Zenjirou shot back.

    ¡°No way! That would be like buying overseas souvenirs at the Narita Airport! That defeats the purpose of souvenirs!¡±

    ¡°Hey, keep calm. I have no idea what you are talking about. Then just ask Ines or Raffaelo with a Small Flying Dragon to buy them, as they are still there. I cannot use the ¡®Teleport Magic¡¯ for something so trivial!¡±

    ¡°Oh god! Even though souvenirs are meant to be bought by the giver at the destination! Forgive me, Prince Francesco, Princess Bona!¡±

    Turning a deaf ear to the perplexed Aura, who tried to reassure him nevertheless, Zenjirou continued to indulge himself in regret and repentance.

 Chapter Volume 6 prologue

    The calendar on the South Continent, including the Carpa Kingdom, was a lunisr calendar based on the moon phases with a leap month.

    Their lunisr calendar did not have three-hundred and sixty-five days per year, but rather had three-hundred and fifty days as a rule, except for when a leap month was added every four years; then the year had three-hundred and eighty days.

    Zenjirou had been used to the sr calendar, so it was extremely confusing to him, when some yearssted a whole month longer.

    Anyway, the terminology for the beginning and the ending of a year obviously did exist, since there was a basic parameter for one year, probably a sr year, and the custom to celebrate these days obviously did exist as well.

    The New Year Festival in the Carpa Kingdom in particr had a lot inmon with the New Year in Japan.

    Of course that did not mean that they were ringing a bell in the night of thest day of the year, nor were they eating Soba on New Year¡¯s Eve.

    Neither did they have the custom to celebrate the first sunrise of the year, nor the custom to visit the shrine first thing in the new year.

    Considering all that, it might be a bit of an exaggeration to say that they had a lot inmon.

    Nevertheless, the general procedure revealed simrities, seeing as they calmly did a major cleaning at the end of the year and then celebrated extensively for three days starting with the New Year¡¯s Day.

    The end of the year was spent fasting and cleaning.

    The first day of the new year was spent lively at home without going out much.

    And on the second day, the first big event took ce.

    The people bought a lot of things on that day, because a myth said that ¡°anything you buy on the second day of the new year willst longer¡±.

    Of course the clever merchants did not miss out on that opportunity. All the merchant houses across the country acknowledged that day as the busiest time of the year and prepared all kind of attractive products.

    As a result, all the famous shops in the Capital were obviously crowded with customers on the second day of the new year, but even the stalls on the streets and parks, especially authorized for that day alone, were redundant with customers.

    ¡°Table wares! Buy your table wares here! Just look at this wild grain and greasy gloss! It pushes the price a bit, but they willst forever!¡±

    ¡°Miss, if you are looking for textiles, I am the right man. Take a look at this cotton cloth. Despite its firmness, it is not the least bit ufortable on the skin. I can guarantee you that it will make great trousers or shirts that willst a long time!¡±

    ¡°Kitchen knives, normal knives or pots! Do not forget to buy your ironware today! After all, today the Space-Time Spirit gives their blessing to usmoners as well! If not buy it now, then when?¡±

    It was nothing special for the coarse street merchants, but even the famous shop owners, who were usually picky about their customers, had staff stand in front of their shop today and let them attracted customers with loud voices.

    Just like the advertisement had promoted, a myth of the Carpa Kingdom said that the Space-Time Spirit, which usually was only benevolent to the Royal Family, was giving its blessing to all living things in the Carpa Kingdom on the second day of the New Year. It was the reason why it was said that anything you bought on that day wouldst longer.

    Of course there was nothing to prove it, but with a history of hundreds of years, it was no longer a superstition, but rather a myth. Moreover, the myth was extended in the recent years by saying that the blessing of the Space-Time Spirit should be even stronger in the Capital, where the Royal Family resided, since the Spirit was their Guardian. That far-stretched rumour sounded so usible that more and more people came all the way to the Capital on the second day of the New Year, just to do their shopping.

    Thanks to that, the economy of the Capital was flourishing, but the soldiers guarding the Capital got the short end of the stick in exchange for it.

    ¡°Hey! No fighting on the street! Or do you want to spend the long-awaited New Years in jail!?¡±

    ¡°The street is getting crowded! Stop haggling over the price! The Spirit won¡¯t bless the miser!¡±

    ¡°No pushing. No pushing¡­ I SAID NO PUSHING! Stop it or I¡¯ll nab ya!¡±

    The leather armoured soldiers were shouting at the top of their lungs while sweating all over.

    Trying to hold their temper, the soldiers fended off the pushing crowd with wooden clubs in their hands.

    Normally the guards of the Capital would equip a short spear with an iron tip, but they were holding a blunt wooden club just for today.

    The usual short spear acted as a ¡°deterrent¡±, but on the day of the first shopping, they needed an utterly ¡°practical¡± weapon.

    Words alone were just not enough for a couple of soldiers to fend off a bustling crowd. So far, the soldiers were just holding the clubs sideways and pushed away the people, but it was not always that harmless. Sometimes they had to resort to using them as the very ¡°impact weapons¡± they were.

    Sellers and buyers alike became hot-blooded during the dealing and fellow customers quarrelled over the same product, iming stuff like ¡°I touched it first¡± and ¡°No, it was me¡±, not to forget all the drunkards at daytime, since it was a festive day after all.

    It was the job of the soldiers to put these people in their ce, yell at them or literally punch some sense into them in the end.

    If they were carrying an iron-tipped spear for that, it would not end well for sure.

    It was one thing to use it against soldiers of a hostile nation or wild beasts, but shing sharp metal at merely drunk people of the own country was out of the question.

    Thus, they carried a weapon with a rtive low power on days like this, where they were bound to make straight use of it.

    Having said this, the club was still a proper weapon, even if it had less attack power. It could easily break bones, when swung with all its might, and depending on the spot, it could even end up being fatal.

    But that only applied for when a minimum of discipline could no longer be ensured. Otherwise, the Capital was just imbued with a chaotic turmoil today.

    ¡°Hi there. We are here to relieve you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, wow. You guys are sweating like crazy. Here, a towel.¡±

    A pair of soldiers, who had fought off the masses, turned around, when they were called upon by their fellow shift workers from behind.

    ¡°Oh, thatte already?¡±

    ¡°Phew. We somehow made it¡­¡±

    The well-built soldier in his mid-twenties was sweating to such an extent that it would not be strange to see his whole body give off steam, but he could still maintain aposed facial expression to a certain degree. His partner, a young soldiers in his teens, on the other hand could barely stand anymore and looked like he had narrowly escaped death.

    The young soldier had rtive few muscles for a hard-workingbatant and stumbled over to his recing colleagues like a newborn fawn.

    ¡°It¡¯s all yours¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure thing.¡±

    ¡°You okay? That sounded more like ast will. You better wash of that sweat with some cold water before taking a rest.¡±

    As he no longer had the energy to respond to the joke of his co-worker, the young soldier just nodded once, wrapped the offered towel around his neck and staggered into the distance like a ghost, all the while keeping his mouth half-opened and a nk look in his eyes.

    ¡°Oh God¡­¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how we¡¯ll look after our shift¡­¡±

    The soldiers from the shift change turned all pale, when the almost soulless appearance of their workmate reminded them of their own fate a few hourster.

    ¡°You okay? Here, some water.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Thanks¡­¡±

    Relieved from the most arduous task for now, the two soldiers walked down a small alley separated from the main street.

    All the people were gathering in themercial district, so once you got away from there, the Capital became unbelievable deste and quiet.

    The task of standing watch on the congestedmercial district was one part of their job. The other part was to patrol the almost deserted living district.

    In the forlorn living district urred as many burries as quarrels in themercial district.

    Unfortunately enough, it was the way of the world that some shady characters considered it a ¡°great opportunity for burry¡± while everyone was engrossed in the New Year Shopping.

    ¡°So, you calmed down a bit?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Thank you. I thought I had been prepared for it, but it seems I was too na?ve¡­¡±

    Finally back on his feet after the consideration of his senior workmate, the young soldier reflected on his gullible resolution.

    The other soldier gave his dejected junior a shrewd smirk.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not your fault. You aren¡¯t even from the Capital. It would be ridiculous to expect you to anticipate this ruckus beforehand. Anyway, you learned now that the Capital Guards are by no means a breezing division.¡±

    ¡°And the hard way, at that¡­¡±

    The young soldier agreed, using his wooden club as a crutch.

    Unlike the other divisions, the Capital Guards Division suffered seldom if ever any casualties. After all, they were entrusted with the mission to guard the Capital, so even if war broke out, they would not be sent to the frontlines, nor would they get dispatched for a dragon subjugation like the soldiers based in the other Royal Domains.

    The division dealt with ¡°real battles¡± least of all, but once a year, they had to go through this pandemonium, so it was not really a convenient division.

    And even more so, if you considered the fact that they had to deal with a lot more criminal incidents in the Capital than in the other domains, because of its dense poption.

    Even without an enemy force, it was so much more work to protect an exceedinglyrge amount of citizens than to face an unorganised enemy in the field.

    Anyway, the two soldiers patrolled the living district of the Capital while their clubs made dull noises every time they touched down onto the cobble-stone pavement.

    The noisy touchdown of their clubs as well as their more or less loud conversation were on purpose. They were drawing attention to the fact that the ¡°Capital Guards were patrolling¡±, prompting any potential criminals, who were up to no good, to behave themselves.

    Under that pretext, the soldiers casually chatted with each other.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gotta say, it¡¯s rather chilly now. Back there, it was as stuffy as during the hottest season.¡±

    The young soldier had almost choked from the sultriness in themercial district, so he took a deep breath once again and spoke slowly in order to savour the fresh air.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯re already in the ¡®Vibrant Season¡¯. I would be damned if it were still hot.¡±

    The senior soldier shrugged his shoulders a bit and replied like that.

    Unlike Japan, the Carpa Kingdom divided the year into three major seasons, namely the ¡°Rainy Season¡±, the ¡°Hottest Season¡± and the ¡°Vibrant Season¡±.

    Based on the seasons in Japan, the ¡°Rainy Season¡± would be Spring, the ¡°Hottest Season¡± Summer and the ¡°Vibrant Season¡± Fall and Winter alike.

    In other words, the ¡°Vibrant Season¡± covered half a year. The first part of it, namely the Fall equivalent, was ¡°a bit hot, but not a hindrance to work¡±, whereas thest part, namely the Winter equivalent, was chilly in the morning as well as in the evening and mild during the day, so it was the mostfortable season of the year.

    ¡°True enough, but you tend to forget the seasons in there.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. That crowd really makes you feel like the Hottest Season hase around again.¡±

    When the soldier in his teens said so in a weary tone, the soldier in his twenties agreed with a wry smile.

    Although the people of the Carpa Kingdom were used to the heat of the Hottest Season, they apparently could not stand the heat generated by a dense crowd of people.

    ¡°The event onlyes once a year. You can¡¯t really tell them to restrain themselves.¡±

    ¡°Duh. If possible, I would have taken part, too. But I know what you mean.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you are after something?¡±

    ¡°Well, you might say that.¡±

    It had been a casual question, but the young soldier flushed his cheek and averted his gaze in response.

    The other soldier seemed to have an idea and showed a somewhat sly smirk.

    ¡°Oho, let me guess: A present for a girl. Right?¡±

    He jerkily bumped the younger workmate with his right elbow.

    The younger soldier apparently resigned himself to the fact that he was not able to avoid giving an answer, so he looked down with his cheeks still flushed

    ¡°Yes. I want a ring for my lover in the countryside¡­ If possible, a bronze one.¡±

    and obediently admitted it.

    Bronze was an alloy from copper and tin. Depending on the mixture ratio of the copper and tin, the bronze could have a brown, golden or silver colour.

    Since the metal was cheaper than gold or silver, it was popr amongstmoners to be used for essories like rings or bracelets.

    Nevertheless, it was quite an expensive item for the still young soldier and not something you bought to simply impress a girl you fancied.

    Instead, it was much more a present for an important person with whom you were going to share a future. Realising that, the soldier did no stop the questioning of his junior.

    ¡°You mean matching rings? You know, these ¡®Wedding Rings¡¯ that aremon talk right now.¡±

    Zenjirou had given Aura a Wedding Ring. That custom had spread throughout the Kingdom at an rming speed in the past two years. The purveyor to the court, who had ess to the Inner Pce, where Zenjirou lived, had deliberately passed on that information.

    A first-rate merchant would never miss out on such a profitable opportunity.

    And as expected, evenmoners with enough saving, not just nobility, had picked up the custom of ¡°Wedding Rings¡± as ofte.

    Apparently the young soldier was also one of the people, who were eagerly epting that new custom.

    ¡°Yes. I can¡¯t afford anything fancy with my savings, but I should be able to buy two of them, if I count every penny. Besides, they really add to a proposal.¡±

    When the young soldier said this with his typical for a citizen of the Carpa Kingdom dark-skinned face bright red, even the other soldier nodded heartily.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s for sure. I would have had it so much easier, if I had something like that back in my days.¡±

    The man was apparently already married and showed a bitter smile, as he remembered how he had asked for the hand in marriage of his now wife.

    It was definitely more reassuring to have pair rings for a proposal than to do it empty-handed.

    Seen in this way, it was a ¡°reliable weapon¡± for the proposing man and the proposed woman would not be averse to get a ring as a present, either. Needless to say, the craftsmen or merchant selling the rings were delighted, too. Everyone profited from the custom.

    ¡°Certainly. The story of the Wedding Rings has reached my home vige, too, so she should know what I want, when I give her the ring by just saying ¡®Please ept this¡¯.

    I mean, it¡¯s way easier to say ¡®Please ept this¡¯ than ¡®Please marry me¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Just be careful that she doesn¡¯t mistake it for a simple present, though.¡±

    The senior soldier threw cold water on the passionate speech of his junior, but at heart, he was convinced that it was not possible to imagine a Carpa Kingdom without the custom of ¡°Wedding Rings¡± in the future.

    * * *

    The second day of the New Year was celebrated during the day with the ¡°First Shopping¡±, whereas the end of the day was celebrated with the ¡°Night Festival¡±.

    The people brought out lights and lightened up the night streets to the utmost, as if to assist the small waxing crescent moon, which finally started to regain its brightness, from the ground.

    That obviously applied to themercial district, which had been crowded with people, since the morning for the ¡°First Shopping¡° on the second day of the New Year, but all the other districts such as the living district, the craftsmen district or even the shanty town, where nobody but the residents ever went to, were also illuminated with countless fires, banishing the night.

    If you could look down on the Capital from above now, you would see that the whole town was illuminated like an excessively decorated Christmas tree.

    The brightest spot amongst all was the front yard of the Royal Pce.

    Just for tonight, the yard was opened to themoners and many residents of the Capital were swarming to the ce.

    Although it was opened to the public, it was still the Royal Pce. An hustle and bustle like in themercial district was not allowed and the gathered people were behaving themselves under the watch of the Royal Household Guards.

    The Carpa Kingdom mainly used oil pans orntern with fluid vegetable oil as a general light source, but right now, the front yard of the Royal Pce was illuminated by ¡°candles¡± held up by the gathered crowd.

    Compared to the vegetable oil, candles were a lot more expensive, but were all the more safer, because they were a solid fuel.

    Due to that, it was mandatory to buy a candle at the entrance, if you wanted to participate in the ¡°Night of me Festival¡± of the second day of the New Year in the front yard of the Royal Pce.

    Even if it was only an investment once per year, it still could only be afforded by people with a certain flexibility in their finances.

    Consequently, all the people gathering in the front yard were from rtively wealthy families in the Capital.

    The front yard was illuminated by countless mes lit by countless people.

    Zenjirou witness that scenery from atop the balcony on the second floor of the Royal Pce together with his wife Aura.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡±

    When her husband from a different world breathed this utterance of admiration, the Queen put on a smile and said proudly.

    ¡°I know, right? It is like a starry sky on the ground. I am looking forward to this sight every year fraught with tension.¡±

    Numerous people held up numerous lit candles.

    There was no regrity in the point of lights, because they were not arranged beautifully, but just like Aura had said, it showcased the same unconstrained beauty as the starry sky.

    ¡°Yes, it is truly beautiful. Quite the privilege we have here.¡±

    Considerate to his surroundings, Zenjirou replied affirmative to Aura with an humble tone while his gaze was clued on the starry sky imitation on the ground. It was no ttery or courtesy. He was truly fascinated by the sight below from the bottom of his heart.

    It was indeed appropriate to call it a ¡°privilege¡±.

    There was now that forbid to watch the ¡°Night of me Festival¡± from above, but as a matter of fact, the balcony on the second floor of the Royal Pce was the only ce in range from where you could oversee the front yard from above.

    Sitting next to the Queen on these special seats on the balcony and looking down on the countless lights below, gave him the worrisome illusion that the gathered crowd was worshipping them.

    The countless lights banished the night and illuminated the Capital like during the day.

    It was passed down that the year had more daytime and less night-time, when the night was disced by the ¡°Night of me Festival¡± like this.

    In this world, the terms ¡°daytime¡± and ¡°night-time¡± were not just referring to the time, when the sun or moon were out.

    The daytime was seen as the time of prosperity and the night-time as the time of misery. It brought good luck to the year, when they fought against the symbol of absolute negativity, namely the night, with as much light as possible and acquired a prosperousness in form of the sunrise.

    (Technically, I¡¯m seeing this for the second time, but I¡¯ve no recollection of the event fromst year¡­)

    Experiencing his second New Year aftering into this world, Zenjirou was puzzled at heart.

    But he soon hit upon the reason after a bit of pondering.

    (Oh, right. Last year, I was still too flustered to recognize this sight as ¡°beautiful¡±.)

    Unless there was a solid reason, royalty absolutely had to attend the ¡°Night of me Festival¡± on the second day of the New Year. The official event was that important.

    Last year around this time, Aura had been pregnant with the Crown Prince.

    Zenjirou had been worried about his pregnant wife and attended a major event of the country for the first time, so it was no surprise that he did not have the leisure to enjoy the festival.

    Right now, he was not wearing the third formal attire, which he had gotten rtivelyfortable withtely, but rather the first formal attire, which he had only worn a handful of time so far.

    A turban waspletely wrapped around his head and was held together by an essory simr to a crown, heavier and more pompous than a brooch could ever be.

    The first formal attire had a lot of ornaments and golden threads worked into it in all ces, so his whole body was shining brightly as the me from candle stand next to him illuminated it.

    It worked for Aura, since she was a beauty to begin with, but to Zenjirou it only lookedical and degrading instead, when a boring guy like him was dressed up with these ornaments. That might just be his Japanese value judgment preserving, though.

    Queen Aura seemed to sense his gaze on her, when Zenjirou looked at his wife sitting next to him, so she turned to him and gave him a smile.

    Needless to say, Aura was wearing her first formal attire as the Queen as well. As a rule, she often wore a dress-like attire that had been introduced by the North Continent, but her formal attire was the traditional dress of the Carpa Kingdom, simr to the clothes of the people of South-East Asia.

    The crimson cloth was wrapping around her body gracefully and had even more ornaments than the clothes from Zenjirou. Unlike him, she looked as radiant as the jewels on her clothes, though.

    Her appearance was so stunning and elegant that you were under the illusion that Aura herself was causing the glistering brilliance that actually came from the me. It was the authentic embodiment of the notion called Queen.

    The Queen noticed that her husband was looking at her with semi-closed eyes as if dazzled, and happily intensified her smile.

    Through an upright effort, Aura had lost the extra kilos from her pregnancy with Prince Carlos and finally regained her initial weight as ofte.

    It was truly refreshing that she could proudly hold the gaze of her husband again without feeling startled.

    The main reason they had refrained from making a second prince so far had been the fact that she could not afford to dy the state affairs due to continuous pregnancies. That much was true, but she could not deny either that a part of her had been ¡°reluctant topletely reveal her fleshed out body¡± to him.

    (My weight is back to normal and Carlos is already two years old. It might be time to consider a second child for real soon.)

    Aura averted his eyes from her husband and looked down on the starry night sky of candles below the balcony while she harboured such a sentiment.

    By the way, their child Carlos Zenkichi was not present here, as it was expected. ording to the counting method of the Carpa Kingdom, Prince Carlos was already two years old, but going by the conventional counting method, he was still an infant under the age of one. To be precise, he was about seven months old.

    That difference came into existence because their counting method set the age to one at birth and added one year on each New Year instead of the birthday, whereas the conventional counting method set the age to zero at birth and added one year on each birthday.

    That discrepancy was especially harming in the early years. It made little difference whether you were twenty-seven or twenty-nine years old, but it made a world of difference whether you were thirteen or fifteen years old. And it was practicallyparing apples to oranges, when you were either under the age of one or two years old, like Carlos right now.

    Anyway, it was by no means wrong of Aura to seriously consider a second child soon.

    Even if they were to start trying tonight, it would take at least nine month in the best case until the child was born.

    In other words, Carlos and the second prince would have an age difference of one and half year ording to the conventional counting method, or a one to two year difference ording to their counting method.

    It was not really a bad timing for the Queen to have a second child. And considering the fact that more inheritors of the ¡°bloodline magic¡± meant more influence in this world, it did no harm to have a lot of children.

    It always came at the risk of causing problems with the line of session, though.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..?¡±

    Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled for a moment, when he sensed an overtone and sex appeal in the smile of his wife, but they were in the middle of the ¡°Night of me Festival¡± right now. A little private chat might still be tolerated, but they certainly could not afford to ignore their surroundings and immerse themselves in a lengthy conversation.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    And then, the Queen and her Prince Consort silently kept watching the countless mes of the citizens gathered in the front yard until the sun dawned in the eastern sky.

 Chapter Volume 6 1-3

    <strong>Chapter 01: The Marriage of the General</strong>

    The ¡°Vibrant Season¡± was the equivalent to Fall and Winter in Japan. This season covered half of the year and like its name implied, it was the most vibrant season of the year.

    During this season, the people on the South Continent worked busily as if to make up for the lost time they had spent quietly inside the house during the ¡°Hottest Season¡±, where just standing in the sunlight could make you faint, or the ¡°Rainy Season¡±, where it rained at least once per three days.

    The previous war had also mainly been waged during the six months of the ¡°Vibrant Season¡±. There had been a few skirmishes in the ¡°Hottest Season¡± and ¡°Rainy Season¡±, but otherwise it had generally been a ceasefire during these two seasons.

    The same applied for the peaceful times.

    Of course some merchants considered it a good opportunity to do business, when everyone else was not working, and natural disasters or dragon attacks paid no mind to the circumstances of humans, so the activities during the ¡°Hottest Season¡± and ¡°Rainy Season¡± never really came to a dead stop.

    But it was only natural to wait with any activities that could be postponed due to these circumstances, until the Vibrant Season.

    The best example for such an activity was a ¡°Marriage Ceremony¡±.

    It goes without saying that a ¡°Marriage Ceremony¡± was a major event for the wedding couple, but for their families it was just the same.

    Especially for weddings, where the family business was inherited, be it nobility ormoners. All rted parties gathered from all over the country, celebrated the marriage and familiarized themselves with the new family members.

    That involved a long travel, so it was practically a matter of course to hold the ceremony during thefortable ¡°Vibrant Season¡±.

    Going by that logic, the marriage of Zenjirou and Aura had been an exception, since it had been held during the ¡°Hottest Season¡±.

    Due to these circumstances, there were a lot of marriage ceremonies during the Vibrant Season.

    And it was not really irrelevant to Queen Aura, when a marriage ceremony was held.

    After all, thew in the kingdom stated that the tieing between high ranking nobility required the permission of the Monarch.

    In most cases, her secretary prepared the necessary documents and Aura just put her sign on it, but even that could get tedious, when there were a lot of documents to sign. Moreover, she personally had to write up something like a ¡°Wedding Wish¡± for when it concerned important nobles.

    Sometimes the Royal Family was even expected to give money as a Wedding Gift. It could turn out to be a worrying task to set an amount for that, becausevishness was not an option, but at the same time, it had to be enough so as not to shame the Royal Family.

    Nevertheless, that minutely treatment was still better than the worst case, whereof two existed.

    The first being a marriage between nobles so high ranking that Royalty themselves had to attend the ceremony.

    The other being a marriage between nobility so influential that it could not be permitted so easily.

    And right now, Aura was looking at the worst possible request for a marriage thatbined both of the above mentioned conditions.

    The request concerned Puyol Guill¨¦n, the current head of the Guill¨¦n Family, and the eldest daughter of the Guzzle Family.

    Queen Aura sat on the couch in her office with that document in hand and looked at the two men sitting on the couch across from her.

    The men in question were Puyol Guill¨¦n and Xavier Guzzle.

    Even seated, the giant General was as tall as a standing petite woman and the young sessor to the March was somewhat small for a man.

    That height difference was not the only contrast between them. General Puyol was assuming an air of confidence to the point of calling him ¡°brazen¡±, whereas Xavier next to him was straining every nerve, so that his tension was recognizable at a nce.

    The Queen smiled at heart, when she saw the fledgling noble so flustered, but showed not the slightest hint of it on the surface while she deliberately spoke with a voice free from emotion.

    ¡°Wee, General Puyol, Sir Xavier. Let us get straight to the point.

    I am holding the marriage request for Lady Lucinda and you here, General. Is that inpliance with both families?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°That is correct. I, Xavier Guzzle, testify that on behalf on my father, the head of the Guzzle Family.¡±

    The general answered Aura with aposed tone. Following that, Xavier also answered, but with a tone that did not conceal all of his tension.

    Aura nodded a bit affected, then continued.

    ¡°Okay. Very well.

    So you are getting married, General. It definitely is desirable for the kingdom as well, when the head of the Guill¨¦n Family gets married.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty.¡±

    It was perfectly in ordance with the etiquette, when General Puyol put his clenched right hand against his left shoulder and lowered his head while seated.

    But even so, the giant soldier only gave off the impression that he was ¡°brazen¡±.

    It must surely be in his nature. Aura once again gave the appearance of being inexpressive in order to conceal her dissatisfaction and inquired further.

    ¡°And your partner will be Lady Lucinda from the Guzzle Family. Seeing as Sir Xavier is here, I guess it is rted to the earlier Pack Dragon Subjugation?¡±

    General Puyol disyed a brazen smile and Xavier shivered nervously in reaction to the words from the Queen.

    ¡°Indeed. During this incident, I had the chance to acquaint myself with Sir Xavier here. Since he went to the Capital for a reportter on, I took it upon myself to bring his men home to the March of Guzzle.¡±

    ¡°Right. The General has been a big help back then!¡±

    After General Puyol exined so without ruffle or excitement, Xavier expressed his gratitude to him with a tone so vivid it could be called ingenious.

    The Pack Dragon Subjugation took ce on the Salt Road of the Carpa Kingdomst year. In the end, the incident was resolved at the seaport city Valentia, far away from the Salt Road.

    Xavier Guzzle had originally been put in charge, but due to turns and twists, he had to leave his troops for a different mission, so General Puyol took it upon himself to lead the troops from Xavier back to the March of Guzzle.

    A general of the Royal Army had been entrusted with the soldiers from a feudal lord, so it was unthinkable that he would leave right after bringing the men back to the border of the domain.

    His responsibilities entailed that he led them all the way to the mansion of the feudal lord (in case of the border region, it was more like a fortress than a mansion), consigned themand to the person in charge there and waited for the troops of the domain to disarm.

    It was perfectly normal that General Puyol would get acquainted with Lucinda Guzzle on that asion.

    Aura equally looked at both men sitting across from her while she once more recalled the information about Lucinda Guzzle she had looked into beforehand, in her head.

    (Lucinda Guzzle is the oldest daughter of the Guzzle Family. She made a name for herself as a warrioress, when she assumed the role of the proxy lord in ce of her elder brother during the previous war while her father was away, and took care of the domain and her baby brother.

    But in exchange, she wasted her prime time and is still unmarried. I can rte a bit.)

    The most suitable age for a woman to get married in this world was from around fifteen to twenty years old. Going by the standards of a modern Japanese like Zenjirou, it meant that a girl at the age of thirteen to fourteen would be ¡°nubile¡± and a girl at the age of neen to twenty would be ¡°past her prime of life¡±,

    since they were calcting the age differently here.

    Yet Lucinda Guzzle had wasted that important time span to protect her family from the turmoil of war.

    She was already twenty-five years old, so she had long passed her golden age and counted as a middle-aged woman. Her age made it almost impossible to find a suitable family to marry into, even with the powerful backing of her family.

    ¡°Have you discussed it with Marquis Guzzle already?¡±

    So just in case, Aura asked that, but she more or less knew what they were going to say.

    ¡°Yes, the Marquis has fortunately given us his blessings, too. Sir Xavier is even jumping the gun and calling me ¡®Brother-inw¡¯ already.¡±

    ¡°B- Brother-inw! You are not supposed to mention that in front of Her Majesty!¡±

    General Puyol replied as expected and Xavier Guzzle eximed in panic.

    Aura heaved a sigh at heart in response to that.

    It was not difficult to imagine how great of a worrisome topic the marriage of his eldest daughter was for Marquis Guzzle.

    After all, his daughter missed out on her chance to marry, because he went to war and abandoned his domain. Her younger brother Xavier must have felt guilty, too, since she had assume the mother role during that time.

    And now, General Puyol had proposed to her.

    Xavier was still too young and innocent to understand it, but Marquis Guzzle should be well aware of the intentions the general had.

    When the Guill¨¦n and Guzzle Families were to be tied together through this marriage, General Puyol might get to incorporate the fortune and military strength of the Guzzle Family into his own. That ulterior motive was more than obvious, but every noble had more or less that kind of ambition.

    No marriage would ever be achieved, if every single ambition like that was cut off.

    Besides, it was by no means such a bad deal for the Guzzle Family to team up with the Guill¨¦n Family. As prominent nobles of the border region, the Guzzle Family was known for its fortune and military strength, but they had few connections to the hearnd. The Guill¨¦n Family on the other hand had a lot of authority in the hearnd.

    (For that reason, I would normally never allow such a marriage, though.)

    The nobility of the hearnd with a lot of influence in politics and the nobility of the border region with a self-governing domain would team up by the means of marriage. It goes without saying how much of a threat to the Royal Family it was.

    In the future, that marriage might bring out an even more influential power within the Kingdom than the Royal Family.

    Having said all this, it proved to be very difficult to stop the marriage this time. Aware of that, Aura smiled to the best of her ability as she answered.

    ¡°Hahaha, now that is what I call rushing your fences. But Lady Lucinda was raised in the bordend. She might not be able to ustom to the life in the Capital.¡±

    ¡°No worries about that. She has told me that she would go anywhere as long as she is with me. The men in our country must be blind, when a woman like her can stay unmarried for so long.¡±

    ¡°Bro¡ª I mean, General Puyol, you honour the efforts of my sister so far by saying this.¡±

    Xavier was inly speaking from joy, but the words from General Puyol were a deration that even the bride herself had given her consent.

    The Queen kept smiling, but her cheek twitched.

    ¡°Oho? Lovestruck already? That will not do. We cannot have the important general of our Royal Army getting his teeth out of him. Guess I will have to make a heartless decision here for the general welfare.¡±

    It was nothing but a yful ¡°pickoff attempt¡±, but a certain young man was too tense in body and soul to catch that obvious nuance.

    ¡°Y- Your Majesty! Please take mytest achievement as the price for your permission then!¡±

    In response to the reckless utterance from the overhasty young man, the giant general disyed a bitter expression that seemed to say ¡°Oh no¡± for a moment. It goes without saying that it was quite difficult to talk your way out of something you had imed in front of the Queen.

    Even more so, when the Queen herself would not give you such a chance to begin with.

    For the first time today, the Queen registered a weak spot and intensified her smile a bit.

    ¡°Oh? I hope you do realize what you just said?¡±

    She followed up on it with a threatening remark.

    ¡°Y- Yes.¡±

    Xavier agreed knee-jerk, but her question could not really be denied now anyway.

    Paying for the marriage permission with a military achievement. Taken by itself, it was nothing umon.

    The problem this time round was that it meant that the supposed reward for his military achievement would not have to be paid.

    For the Pack Dragon Subjugation Xavier Guzzle himself had led an army from the March of Guzzle. The soldiers received a wage, the food for the soldiers and dragons did cost money and so did the depleted arrows and broken equipment. And although they were only a handful of them, the families of the fallen soldiers needed to be reimbursed as well.

    Normally all these expenses could be added on to the ¡°reward¡± paid by the Royal Family.

    But in this case, where the ¡°achievement was used as the price for the marriage permission¡±, they were obviously not paid a single coin.

    That kind of money admittedly meant no financial ruin for a wealthy family like the Guzzle Family, but it was still a burden, when they had to pay the whole sum all at once.

    (There is no way the sessor to the family name can make a decision about the reward money all by himself. That means, Marquis Guzzle must have already given his approval. So they are that desperate to marry Lucinda off, eh.)

    If she were to forcefully crush this marriage, she would not only get on bad terms with General Puyol, but also with the Guzzle Family.

    Reasoning like that, Aura realized that there was no way to prevent this marriage.

    In that case, she ought to make the best of allowing this marriage for the Royal Family. After Aura had asked him again, she heaved an affected sigh with a stern face, then proimed to the giant general and young sessor to the March.

    ¡°¡­Fine. If you are willing to go that far, I shall not be an heartless monster, either.

    In light of Sir Xavier¡¯s consideration for his sister, I will allow the marriage between Puyol Guill¨¦n and Lucinda Guzzle by way of exemption.¡±

    ¡°Th- Thank you very much, Your Majesty!¡±

    Xavier almost jumped off the couch in his effusive delight, whereupon Aura gave him a nk look for a moment, but then she shifted her gaze back to General Puyol.

    ¡°Well, it is also my fault that you have stayed single until today. I amplying with your wish as an exception to the exception here, but it also allows me to finally clear my conscience towards you, when you have found a partner.¡±

    She casually added that.

    General Puyol was the current head of the famous Guill¨¦n Family, but even after more than thirty years, he was still single. The only reason for that was that he had been a marriage candidate for the Queen. Due to that, Aura had been in a bad position to refuse his marriage request to begin with.

    By emphasizing on the fact that it was an exception to the exception, she was indirectly saying that she pensated him for leaving him in abeyance all these years, by allowing this marriage, and that they were even with each other now¡°.

    She was going to push the financial burden of the Pack Dragon Subjugation onto the Guzzle Family and clear off the debt to the Guill¨¦n Family for restricting General Puyol all this time.

    By doing so, she could squeeze at least a little profit for the Royal Family from the marriage between two prominent families, since it was difficult to prevent it altogether.

    Aura had racked her brain over this and while the young Xavier might ept it, General Puyol was not the kind of man to surrender this without a fight.

    ¡°Yes, I am most grateful for your exceeding kindness, Your Majesty. Following this, I would like to issue the invitation to our marriage ceremony in the March of Guzzle.

    I know you are busy, so I will not go as far as to ask you toe in person, but there would be no greater honour, if you could favour us with your congrattions on the special day.¡±

    Aura raised an eyebrow in response to the words of General Puyol.

    ¡°Oh? ¡­You are holding the ceremony in the March?¡±

    Xavier failed to noticed the subtle change in Aura and burst out happily.

    ¡°My father and sister said the Capital would be just fine, but General Puyol insisted on holding the ceremony in our domain. Thanks to him, my sister will make a final nice memory at home!¡±

    In the Carpa Kingdom, it was the custom to hold the marriage ceremony at the home area of the family the marriage partner effectively left. Meaning: At the home of the wife, when she married into the man¡¯s family, or at the home of the husband, when he married into the woman¡¯s family.

    Since marrying into a different family meant that ¡°you cut all ties with your birthce and became a member of the other family¡±, the custom signified that you get to have one final memory in your home.

    Having said this, it was nothing but a general principle and there were plenty of exceptions.

    Especially in cases like this one, where one partner hailed from the Capital, it was not all that unusual to choose the Capital for the ceremony regardless of the family situation.

    On second thought, the Capital was certainly a better ce to amodate the guests than a domain in the bordend, and the Guzzle Family could use the ceremony as an excuse to go sight-seeing in the Capital, so it would be by no means a bad idea.

    Despite that, General Puyol was going to hold the ceremony in the March of Guzzle instead of his birthce, the Capital. Needless to say, there was a reason behind it.

    And Aura immediately discerned his reasoning.

    (In my position, I cannot afford to leave it at mere congrattions for his marriage ceremony. I would at least have to send a representative, or worse, attend it myself.)

    General Puyol was a former marriage candidate for Aura. If she were to respond to the marriage of her former marriage candidate with only the bare necessities, it was more than likely that a rumour would spread, saying that she was still ¡°emotionally attached¡± to him.

    That would definitely be bad news. When a man took an interest in other women than his wife, he was called ¡°authentic¡±, but when a woman was making eyes at other men than her husband, she was called an ¡°adulterer¡± and there was no greater scandal than that.

    Aura knew that and General Puyol knew that, too, of course, so he had chosen the March for the marriage ceremony.

    (In other words, I have no other choice but to either attend it myself or ask my husband to go in my stead.)

    It made no difference whether Aura herself went there and gave them her blessing or she sent Zenjirou there to give the blessing in her stead, when she wanted to avoid a scandal. In short, they just needed to give the appearance that Aura and Zenjirou congratted the general on his marriage from the bottom of their hearts. Either royalty would go all the way to the bordend especially for his marriage ceremony. That fact gave General Puyol the perfect ¡°prestige¡±.

    And that was surely what he was after.

    Aura had two choices. But in effect, she could not afford to leave the Capital for long as the Queen. So she basically only had one choice left.

    (I will have to impose on my husband yet again.)

    She grew desperate at heart, because she kept breaking her promises to himtely, but replied to General Puyol in order to squeeze even the tiniest bit of profit from this matter.

    ¡°I see. You are quite the virtuous man, General. Of course Royalty cannot be absent at the marriage ceremony of the general we entrust the safety of our country to.

    Unfortunately, both my husband and I are extremely busy. As you may know, we are currently hosting three members of the Royal Families from two countries in our Kingdom.¡±

    Prince Francesco and Princess Bona from the Twin Kingdom were obviously already here, but Princess Freya from the Upps Kingdom woulde to the Capital soon, too.

    Aura had wanted to keep her in Valentia and finalize the intercontinental trade negotiations for just the Royal Family, but that turned out to be impossible. After all, the female warrior under themand of Princess Freya had defeated the leading Huge Pack Dragon in the earlier Pack Dragon Subjugation.

    Moreover, her achievement had already gotten around to the point that even the Capital was singing the praise of it.

    With so much publicity, Aura could not afford not to invite them to the Capital for a reward in her role as the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom.

    ording to the schedule, Princess Freya would arrive with her retainers in the Capital in the next few days. Rumours were saying that they were going to enter the Capital with the skull of the Huge Pack Dragon on disy, so the castle town wasing level with a festival.

    ¡°For that reason, we both have no time to spare. It would be a different matter, though, if the next ¡®budget meeting¡¯es to an end early.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    This time it was General Puyol¡¯s turn to fall silent with a stern expression.

    Her intention was not that difficult to understand.

    She was saying that he ought to ¡°approve her budget proposal in the next meeting, when he wanted either royalty to attend his weeding¡±.

    The next budget meeting was dealing with the question, wherefrom they shouldpensate the rued cost for the recent Pack Dragon Subjugation.

    The finances of the Carpa Kingdom were hardly in any shape to have something to spare, even less when you took the previous war into consideration. So whenever unexpected expenses arose, one department would have to absorb the losses and that very department would strongly object to it.

    When Aura enforced a decision, the affected department would obviously be angry at Aura, but if General Puyol were to stand up for her, that anger would mainly be directed at him.

    To put it bluntly: She proposed that General Puyol should take the me she was originally supposed to take.

    However, it was not a bad deal for General Puyol, either.

    He never really concealed his strong ambitions, so he had a lot of enemies. It would make no real difference, when he earned a bit of resentment on top of it now. On the contrary, he might actually rise in the esteem of the military, if word got around that he was willing to ¡°earn the resentment from other nobles in order to secure the budget for the Royal Army¡±.

    Once General Puyol quickly finished calcting the pros and cons in his head,

    ¡°Understood. If that is the case, I am more than willing to lend a hand.¡±

    he gave his consent.

    * * *

    After Puyol Guill¨¦n and Xavier Guzzle had left her office, the Queen called out to her trusted retainer, who had silently stood at attention behind her so far.

    ¡°Fabio. You saw what happened. Tell me your opinion without reserve.¡±

    The middle-aged secretary put his right hand against his small chin and spoke to the Queen after a moment of thinking.

    ¡°Okay. Long story short, you are going to send Master Zenjirou as your representative to the marriage ceremony between General Puyol and Lady Lucinda. In exchange for that prestige, General Puyol will wholly support you in the uing meeting.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    Narrowing his eyes to slits as ifughing with just his eyes, the middle-aged secretary nodded short and replied.

    ¡°Seems alright to me. It was pretty much a given that General Puyol would get his way in one way or another, since the Royal Family was at a clear disadvantage in regards to his marriage to begin with. Taking that into consideration, you still managed to clear the debt to General Puyol and averted the outstanding reward for the Guzzle Family from the previous Pack Dragon Subjugation, by allowing the marriage.

    I would say the profit from the deal is satisfactory for the Royal Family.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The Queen rxed her shoulders in light of his assessment. But her secretary continued snappish as if to throw cold water on her hope.

    ¡°Well, Master Zenjirou ising out on the short end, though. But that should prove to be no problem, either. He would never refuse such a well thought out deal.

    He requires no wage and listens to everything you tell him. And above all, he would never dare to betray you. I doubt you could find a more faithful ¡®pawn¡¯ than him. You made quite the catch there, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    On the receiving end of his irony, Aura almost lost control, when she mmed her right hand onto the table while bending over, but she pulled herself together in the next moment.

    ¡°¡­Are you saying I am treating my husband like a convenient chess piece?¡±

    Aura ced her bottom back onto the chair with a sigh and asked her retainer in a somewhat feeble tone.

    ¡°If I may be frank: Yes, I cannot see it any other way, when I look at your recent treatment of him.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Aura heaved another deep sigh in response to the words from Secretary Fabio.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Leaning back in her chair, Aura shut her eyes tightly and shook her head unruly a few times.

    The reason she lost her temper and even sung small afterwards was precisely because it had rang a bell with her.

    Lately, she had taken it for granted that she could entrust trivial matters to Zenjirou without a problem.

    The Queen shuddered all toote in light of her altered train of thought, which ¡°naturally¡± assumed that her husband was going to obey her unconditionally.

    But the slender-faced secretary added indifferently, when he saw his master like this.

    ¡°Is something the matter? If I may say so, Master Zenjirou is not really offended by your one-sided distribution of work. So you are just feeling guilty on your own and that is not only meaningless, but also ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°You are as blunt as ever¡­¡±

    The Queen gave her subordinate secretary a mixed look of anger and bitterness, but did not feel like forbidding him to speak.

    To begin with, this man was her trusted retainer precisely because he could give tongue to painful fact like this.

    Still, Aura did not take his whole statement at face value.

    After rolling shoulders extensively and taking a deep breath, the Queen objected with a resolute face.

    ¡°You do have a point, but it is a fact that I am relying on my husband. And unless I admit to it, the reliance will only go out of hand.¡±

    ¡°A praiseworthy mindset, indeed. But you two are a married couple. I dare to say it is also unnatural, when the wife does not rely on her husband at all. Right now, you are constricting yourself a bit too much, which makes the whole situation unnatural instead.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Being told that, Aura was at a loss for words. It certainly was not good for the rtionship of a married couple, when they only made allowances for each other all the time.

    As a matter of fact, Aura was somewhat annoyed by theck of desire in Zenjirou. It admittedly was quiteudable to not cause trouble for others to the best of your ability, but when it started to concern people of your family, it gave off the impression of being ¡°distant¡±.

    The middle-aged secretary kept an inexpressive mask on his slender face while he warned the pondering Queen.

    ¡°Having said this, your worry that Master Zenjirou might get upset, might not necessarily be unfounded this time round.

    After all he will need to take a different partner, when he attends the marriage ceremony without you.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yeah. You are right.¡±

    The Queen contorted her face, when the pointer of her retainer hit the bullseye.

    In the Carpa Kingdom it wasmon practice for an adult to attend a wedding ceremony with a partner of the other sex.

    A married man would just take his wife with him and all was well, and when his wife was tied up with matters, he would ask a female rtive. On the other hand, it was generally considered a confession of love, when an unmarried man asked someone to be his partner for the wedding ceremony.

    Zenjirou was married alright, but he was going as the ¡°representative of Aura¡± this time, so his wife could not apany him as his partner.

    As a consequence, Zenjirou needed to ask a different woman to be his partner. The chosen woman would then be seen as the leading candidate for a concubine without doubt.

    The other matters aside for now, Aura was certainly reluctant to tell Zenjirou about this particrity, seeing as he was taking an obvious adverse stance on epting a concubine.

    ¡°Oh well. I will be pushing my luck, but I guess I will ask Beldam Pascu to apany him.¡±

    Pascu was the wife of the Royal Archmage Espaldion and an old woman at the age of almost seventy years.

    If an married old woman were to be his partner, she would hardly been seen as a future concubine candidate.

    ¡°Will the other nobles really put up with that? I mean, it is the perfect opportunity for them.¡±

    ¡°Probably not. We will have to push it through with some kind of specious story. And if that should fail¡­ he really will get a concubine this time round. I just hope my husband will somehow ept it.¡±

    Aura heaved a gloomy sigh.

    The slender-faced secretary spoke a bit amused, when he saw his master depressed.

    ¡°Your Majesty really turns into a coward, when ites to your husband. I have known you for a long time, so this is a refreshing sight.¡±

    ¡°Silence!¡±

    Aura raised her voice as expected and red at her trusted retainer.

    But as a matter of fact, she herself acknowledged that she acted like a coward, when it involved Zenjirou. He was giving her a pure andpletely untarnished love, so she unconsciously felt a strong aversion to taint that love even a little bit.

    Sitting in her chair, Aura closed her eyes and tapped the surface of her desk with the index finger of her right hand resting on the table while she mused.

    ¡°¡­Still, I have no other option, but to send my husband as my representative. I guess I will have to have a heart to heart talk with him.¡±

    ¡°I believe that is the right decision. Even in the unlikely event that Master Zenjirou will be offended by it, he fortunately will receive something that lifts his spirits in a few days.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡±

    Suddenly, Aura¡¯s facial expression took a change for the better.

    That something to lift his spirits was nothing else but the ¡®goats¡¯ from Princess Freya.

    The goats itself had been a present from Princess Freya for the birth celebration of Prince Carlos, but they would obviously asion expenditure.

    After all, they were the first mammal livestock in the Carpa Kingdom.

    The goats needed an enclosure in the Royal Pce, the greenstuff needed to be cultivated for their food and people needed to be trained to take care of the goats.

    All of this required a not insignificant amount of money.

    Since the goats were not all that picky about the food and had a sturdy build, it was rtively easy to take care of them, but the people of the Carpa Kingdom had no experience with mammals down to the present day, so it was hardly a simple task.

    By way ofparison: It was like asking a Modern Japanese milk farmer to raise iguanas now.

    There was no other way but to rely on the subordinates of Princess Freya for everything in the beginning. And her subordinates would surely not lend a hand for free, either.

    It was a troublesome undertaking that took time and money. Moreover, it was actually superfluous. Frankly speaking, Zenjirou was ¡°having his way¡± with this project.

    ¡°It is kind of troublesome that the reception of Princess Freya coincides with the reception of the triumphal female warrior, who defeated the Huge Pack Dragon, but it is not really unfeasible. It will be a bit bothersome, but it is for the sake of my husband after all.¡±

    Mentioning how much of a pain all this was, Aura was showing an unbefitting smile despite all that. After all, her husband had been selfish for the first time after never breathing a wish all this time. She could not help but feel extremely happy about granting him that wish.

    Her secretary said a bit sarcastic, when he saw his master like that.

    ¡°You look like an overly doting grandmother that gets all excited about choosing a present for her first grandchild.¡±

    ¡°¡­Can you not say mother at least?¡±

    The reproachful voice of the Queencked the usual edge, maybe because she was thinking the same.

    ¡°A mother would be a little bit stricter with her love.¡±

    ¡°Muh¡­¡±

    The brusque objection from her secretary rendered the Queen speechless and she puckered her lips.

    * * *

    At night of the same day.

    In the living room of the Inner Pce, the royal couple sat next to each other on the couch aftering out of the bath and was touching sses.

    The four LED floormps, positioned in a circle around the two couches with a wooden table in-between, glittery illuminated the red and blue Kiriko sses from Zenjirou and Aura.

    The sses were filled with an almost transparent alcohol. It was the long-known ¡°distilled liquor¡±, but it was not made by Zenjirou himself this time.

    The construction of a distiller was not all thatplicated and the craftsmen of the Carpa Kingdom had been able to reproduce it, since they were rtive adept at crafting copper ware.

    Keeping the appropriate temperature had been a problem, but by trial and error, they apparently found a more or less urate solution. Of course it was far more inefficient than the distiller from Zenjirou, which had an electronic hotte that could heat up urate to a degree, but for now, it was a working alternative.

    That very distilled liquor from the distiller that the people of this world had built, was filling the sses of Aura and Zenjirou right now.

    Zenjirou swallowed the experimental alcohol after savouring it slowly and nodded curtly.

    ¡°Yep, tastes nice. It¡¯s as good as mine. Well, that doesn¡¯t mean muching from me, though. To begin with, I don¡¯t know if I should call the taste ¡¯nice¡¯, when it tastes just like my amateurish try.¡±

    Likewise holding a ss, the Queen gave a smile to the words of her husband.

    ¡°Yes, I liked it as well. Good. Looks like we can proceed with arge-scale production.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, you sure? If we really want to mass produce it, we would need to make bigger distillers and it¡¯s more than likely that unforeseen problems arise with arger version.¡±

    Zenjirou imed that from a rather negative viewpoint, but Aura kept her smile up.

    ¡°We cross that bridge when we get to it. Trail-and-error is an integral part of starting a new business. Besides, I cannot allocate that much personnel to it for now anyway. We will just pay particr attention.¡±

    The Carpa Kingdom was still recovering from the previous great war at the present moment. There was ack of personnel everywhere, so it would be quite difficult to reallocate people for a new business, even for the Monarch.

    But the distilled liquor had already been well received, when it was served to the nobles at the night banquet in the Royal Pce. Aura was of the opinion that it was only a matter of time until the initial investment waspensated for, as soon as they had a superstructure for the mass production ready.

    ¡°Well, it is no use discussing the distilled liquor any further now. Instead, Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Mh?¡±

    Zenjirou felt a cold shiver run down his spine, when his wife wiped the smile off her face and looked him straight into his eyes from beside him, and tilted his head puzzled.

    ¡°I want to discuss something slightly¡­ no, something rather serious now. Okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    He gave his short okay and in order to underline his words, he put the blue Kiriko ss with the distilled liquor back onto the table and stood up from the couch to sit down on the other couch across from the Queen.

    ¡°First off, I have to tell you that Puyol Guill¨¦n and Lucinda Guzzle, the eldest daughter of the Guzzle Family, will soon get married.

    As such, I would like you to attend their marriage ceremony as my representative. The ceremony will be held in the March of Guzzle.¡±

    ¡°Mm, okay.¡±

    When the Queen told him that with a stern face, Zenjirou nodded acknowledging with a likewise stern face.

    ¡°¡­.Eh? That is all you have to say?¡±

    In light of her exaggerated preamble, Zenjirou had steeled himself for the worse, but he now cocked his head disappointed, since the matter did not sound all that grave to him.

    Aura on the other hand heaved a small sigh at the sight of the poor reaction of her husband, and assumed a bitter smiling expression.

    ¡°I hate to admit it, but it seems that Fabio was right. Do you see nothing wrong with this?¡±

    ¡°Wrong?¡±

    When Zenjirou still cocked his head perplexed, Aura eased her tension and exined carefully.

    ¡°Be it the matter of sending you to Valentia before or the matter of sending you to the March of Guzzle now, I am always deciding on matters without consulting with you in advance. Fabio said I am treating you like a ¡¯convenient pawn¡¯. And to be honest, I cannot deny it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Seeing his wife look down dejected, Zenjirou pped his hands together as he finally understood.

    He recalled how he had given his wife a small rebuke, when she one-sidedly had decided on his trip to Valentia. But this and that were two different matters.

    ¡°Now that you mention it, that really seems to happen a lottely. But I know that politics sometimes call for a prompt decision, so I¡¯m fine as long as you give me a convincing exnation afterwards.¡±

    Aura had expected that answer from him. Or to be precise, Secretary Fabio had expected and told her about it at noon.

    ¡®Master Zenjirou is not really offended by your one-sided distribution of work.¡¯

    These words of his had been the truth.

    Zenjirou was not the least bit offended, even when she imed to ¡°treat him like a pawn¡±.

    ¡°You never get angry. Are you fine with being ¡®treated like a pawn¡¯?¡±

    Aura bluntly asked him that.

    Of course the Carpa Kingdom also had some people, who did not protest about being ¡°treated like a pawn¡°. For example, the knights sworn to Aura actually took pride in being the ¡°pawns of the Queen¡±.

    But if they were to be ¡°treated like a pawn¡± by their peers, they would surely be up in arms against it, too. The reason Aura could treat them like pawns without a problem was because of the clear hierarchy between the Queen and the Knights.

    So it would make sense, when Zenjirou mentally ¡°subordinated¡± himself to Queen Aura, but when they sat across each other like this, it was obvious at a nce that his attitude was at the same level as hers.

    His wife was being honest with him, but her husband from a different world kept his head cocked to the somewhat vague question from her. Still, he answered to the best of his abilities.

    ¡°Ehm, I guess everything¡¯s fine for now? But I would like to know now, why I¡¯m being sent to the marriage ceremony, of course, and I¡¯ll certainly get angry, if your exnation doesn¡¯t sit well with me.¡±

    In his mind, he was not really seeing Aura treating him like a ¡°pawn¡±. On the contrary, he often cursed his own inability to help his wife, who was having a hard time with her duties.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Still not convinced by the answer of her husband, Aura breathed an anxious sound.

    ¡°Besides, you¡¯re the Ruler here and I¡¯m just your husband, so I think it¡¯s only natural that you decide some things for me?¡±

    Zenjirou simply considered it ¡°situation-dependent¡± to ¡°obey the orders from a peer¡±.

    In middle and high school, he had obeyed a junior in regards to his position during the matches of the ser club, and as a working adult, he had witnessed a couple of meetings, where the project members obeyed the instructions of their even-aged project leader. Needless to say, the situation could go into reverse on the next project, when someone else became the project leader.

    Zenjirou only knew the Japanese way of thinking and amidst that, the moral concept that everyone was equal was not contradictory to the fact that there needed to be two kind of people, namely one giving orders and one following orders, in order to effectively and smoothly run an organisation.

    Aura on the other hand was raised in a world with the moral concept that the hierarchy also constituted the line ofmand par for par, except for a few exceptions, so she might have trouble understanding it.

    ¡°¡­I see. Well, as long as you are fine with it. But we have already diverged from initially promised outlook quite a bit by now. Thus, I deemed it necessary to have a proper talk with you.¡±

    ¡°The initially promised outlook?¡±

    ¡°Yes. When I summoned you, I told you that I would ask you for nothing but your cooperation in making a child, right?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that.¡±

    Zenjirou sped his hand understanding in response to the reply from Aura.

    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to worry about that. I never expected you to keep that promise anyway.¡±

    ¡°Huh!?¡±

    For the first time since they had met, the Queen looked hurt from the bottom of her heart, so her husband quickly corrected himself.

    ¡°Ah, no! That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s not what I meant, Aura! It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t trust you. I just wanted to say that the conditions were too good to be true and I never expected to be a full-time sponger, because the Prince Consort is still royalty after all. Nothing more than that!¡±

    As the fruit of his earnest exnation, Aura¡¯s expression took a change for the better.

    Seeing that, Zenjirou heaved a sigh of relief while he continued.

    ¡°So I might bete in saying this, but Ipletely agree with your idea to discuss everything in honesty. We should forget all about ¡®what is currently right¡¯ and about being ¡¯considerate¡¯ or ¡¯reserved¡¯. Let¡¯s justy bare our genuine wishes.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I guess we have to start from there.¡±

    With her intent finallying across, the Queen leaned forward while remaining seated on the couch, in response to the answer from Zenjirou.

    ¡°Then let me hear your wish first of all. What do you want to do, Zenjirou? How do you want to live your life from now on?¡±

    The serious question from his wife prompted a slightly overwhelmed Zenjirou to clear his throat affected once before he slowly framed an answer.

    ¡°Hmm, okay. Then I¡¯ll just list my wishes as I think of them. It might sound a bit inconsistent, though.

    Here I go: I want more time with you. I want to live together with Zenkichi. I want all three of us to sleep together in the same bed. But sometimes it would be good, when it¡¯s just us two in the bed. We wouldn¡¯t be sleeping then, though.

    On the other hand, I don¡¯t want any woman beside you. The Inner Pce is my home, my family, so I don¡¯t want anyone from outside the family in it.

    What else¡­ Oh right, I¡¯m starting to miss the food from Japan. And I want to do something about the shampoo that¡¯s almost used up.

    I¡¯m curious about how the ser team I supported is doing. I want to y some ser, even if it¡¯s just on a sandlot. I want to listen to the new songs from my favourite band. I want to ess the inte on myputer.

    And I¡¯m bored to death in the afternoon, so I want to do something productive. Making the distilled liquor was fun, for instance.

    But I don¡¯t want to shoulder any heavy responsibilities like foreign policies. And I absolutely hate to attend parties, where countless nobles try to push concubines onto me at all times.¡±

    As expected, even Zenjirou had some pent-up frustrations. In the beginning, he had made some petty demands, but over time, his wishes started to get more and more selfish, finally escting into voicing his grievance.

    Hearing that gush of words, Aura kept aposed expression on the surface, but heaved a sigh of relief at heart.

    (I was right to bring up the subject. It seems he really has bottled up quite the frustration without knowing it.)

    Zenjirou was an understanding man with a high tolerance limit. Even if there was something he would like to do, he would soft-pedal, when there was a legit reason not to do it. And he would do something against his will, when the situation called for it.

    Because of his nature, Zenjirou himself tended to misunderstand it, but he in fact piled up the dissatisfaction about not doing what he wanted to do, and the frustration about being made to do something against his will.

    His mindprehended the fact that he could not avoid doing it, but his heart had trouble keeping up with that reasoning. Without even realizing it themselves, people would thus store a pool of negative emotions and be more irritated towards trivial things, answering with sarcasm.

    Fortunately enough, Zenjirou was rtively broad-minded, so these symptoms had not surfaced yet, but listening to him made it clear how much frustration he had built up.

    ¡°Well, I know I¡¯m just being selfish here, but that¡¯s it.¡±

    Zenjirou went red in the face, as he became embarrassed about having thrown a demanding tantrum like a child, but he also looked somewhat relieved.

    Her husband had uttered his desires outright for the first time. Of course Aura held an opinion about it.

    But for now, she showed no reaction in particr to his words and voiced her own wishes like they had agreed on in advance.

    ¡°My wishes can be arranged in two categories: What I wish for as your wife and what I wish for as the Queen of this Kingdom.

    The first category is unproblematic. As a woman, I want to monopolize you as well. Likewise, I want us to spend more time with Carlos. In that point, our wishes coincide.

    So I want you to understand that the wishes I am going to tell you now are only from my standpoint as the Queen.¡±

    ¡°Mm, okay.¡±

    Listening to his wife, Zenjirou understood in his mind that he should take it serious now, but he just could not help but smile.

    He could put himself in Aura¡¯s shoes for a bit now, since she always tried to make him say embarrassing stuff like ¡°I love you¡±. Even if you could be sure of the feelings of your partner, it was still something special, when it was put it into words like this. His whole body was stricken by a pleasantly prickling bashfulness.

    The Queen softened her gaze for a second, when she saw him raising the corners of his mouth, but immediately put on a serious expression again and continued.

    ¡°As the Queen, the first thing I want you do is take a concubine.

    It is bing more and more difficult to shut up the nobles of our country. And when you take one, the Twin Kingdom will not ignore it, because of the secret agreement we have. So I want you to take another concubine from their side as well.

    The power bnce on the continent will shift, when we manage to make magical tools with the ss pearls in the future. And for that, I would like to establish a new court noble family without its own territory that inherits the ¡¯Bestowal Magic¡¯ in our Kingdom.

    In ordance, I would like to advance the ss production thoroughly and I need your help in that. I will dly take any ideas that increase the fortune of the Royal Family like the waterwheel improvements or the distilled liquor, too.

    Needless to say, I want you to continue your work as my representative, because we two are the only grown-up royalties in our country.

    A lot of negotiations call for a royalty to be present and it will ease the burden on me, when you attend any proforma events in my stead.¡±

    ¡°Oh god¡­¡±

    Zenjirou obviously made a face at the blunt demands from Queen Aura and croaked out a genuinely repulsed voice.

    It was as expected, but the wishes from Zenjirou and the wishes from Queen Aura beautifully contradicted each other. They only barely agreed on the manufacture stuff like ss or liquor, but everything else was something Queen Aura wanted him to do as much as Zenjirou wanted to avoid it.

    Aura kept her mask as the Queen and continued.

    ¡°But the thing I am most afraid of is that we seriously will grow apart. So you have nothing to worry about, nor do you need to be reserved. I will generally prioritize your feelings over the wishes I just mentioned.

    Nevertheless, tell me all of your dissatisfaction only in the ¡®Inner Pce¡¯. I want you to refrain from criticizing me in the Royal Pce. It would be the most fatal wound for me.¡±

    Zenjirou could not conceal his surprise towards the words from the Queen.

    ¡°I would never criticize you. Wait, is this country really that male-dominated?¡±

    The Queen shook her head with a stern face in response to his question.

    ¡°No, it was not really a problem at first. No matter how patriarchal our culture may be, the Crown has enough power to overturn it.

    Besides, I have quite the strong powerbase, if I may say so myself, because I led the country to victory in the previous war, where everything was in chaos from having lost four rulers, my uncle, my father, my little and older brothers, in session.

    Just like I had originally foreseen, it was no real problem while you just stayed in the Inner Pce and only helped with making a child.

    However, that no longer applies to you. For better or worse, you are intelligent enough to handle foreign negotiations and have an extremely understanding personality. Everyone knows that now.¡±

    ¡°Oops. Did I get ahead of myself?¡±

    Zenjirou screwed up his face all toote, but Aura shook her head.

    ¡°No, you have done well. It is entirely my fault. In the beginning, I had only wanted you to attend the bare minimum of events or parties, but you proved to be more ¡®useful¡¯ than I had expected, so I ended up relying on you more and more without realizing it.¡±

    The reason for that must have been her pregnancy.

    Before it, Zenjirou certainly only had the bare minimum of duties to fulfil. But when Aura got pregnant and felt worse than expected, she could no longer undertake her duties as the Queen like before.

    The only one with enough status to act as her representative was Zenjirou and he waspetent enough to aplish the duties as her representative appropriately. In a way, it was an unfortunatebination.

    Even while Aura was still recovering from having given birth, Zenjirou continued to support his wife as her representative. Queen Aura ended up getting used to it and without knowing it, she took it for granted that her husband would work as her representative, even after she had fully recovered.

    The decisive blow had been the earlier ruckus with the Pack Dragons attacking Valentia.

    Strictly speaking, it had been Xavier Guzzle, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez and Skathi aka. Victoria Kronkvist, the female warrior from the Upps Kingdom, who achieved the subjugation, but on the paper, Zenjirou had been in charge of the final battle with the Pack Dragons.

    In other words, he proved that he was more than capable to hold his own in the court and showed everyone that he was ready to stand on the battlefield himself, when it called for it.

    It would be no exaggeration to say that Zenjirou already had enough influence to start up his own faction in the Royal Pce, if he felt like it.

    Hearing that exnation from his wife, Zenjirou was a bit troubled over the unnecessarily high evaluation he got, but he understood the situation he was in and nodded with a serious expression.

    ¡°Okay. I was already mindful about it before, but from now on, I¡¯ll be even more careful about my actions outside the Inner Pce. These kind of malicious rumours usually spread without consideration for the concerned party after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please do.¡±

    Aura was about to heave a sigh of relief in response to the usual understanding reply of her husband, when she suddenly realized something.

    (Not good. I was supposed to listen to his wishes today, but at some point, I started to push my conveniences onto him again. If I am not careful, the bad habit to rely on the patience of my husband gets out again.)

    The Queen strongly reprimanded herself, pulled herself together and faced her husband anew.

    ¡°Well, I can only ask for your understanding in that matter, but for everything else, I intend to grant as many of your wishes as possible.

    We both do have an interest in producing things such as the distilled liquor, so please focus on that.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I want toplete a ma first of all. Once the goats arrive here, I want to make cheese and butter, but I heard the Upps Kingdom has these, too, so instead of trying on my own, it might be faster to ask Princess Freya for help.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. I have not told you about it yet. Princess Freya and her group have already left Valentia. That goes for your goats as well, of course. They should arrive in the Capital in a few days.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t wait.¡±

    Zenjirou revealed a grin in light of her notice. With dairy goods like cheese, butter or cream, he would be able to try out all the confectionary that had been impossible to reproduce so far. Having more semiluxury food you meant having a richer life.

    The mood started to rx from the merry topic, but Aura addressed anotherplicated matter.

    ¡°Let us move on. You are reluctant to get involved with foreign affairs and higher society. If possible, you would like to abstain from doing it. Correct?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, yes. But I know it¡¯s part of my job as royalty, so I¡¯ll do it with gritted teeth, even if I don¡¯t like it.¡±

    Leaning back into the couch, Zenjirou red at the ceiling and was immersed in his thoughts for a bit before he answered like that.

    It was his job or his obligation as royalty, to be precise.

    ¡°In other words, you would prefer it, when you do not have to do the things that can be avoided?¡±

    When the Queen asked him that, Zenjirou brooded over it, then shook his head.

    ¡°¡­Not quite. It¡¯s a bitplicated. I can¡¯t seem to settle down, when I do nothing, although I know there¡¯s work to do.

    Of course it would be great, if there¡¯s no work to begin with, but when there¡¯s work to do, I don¡¯t really want to run away from it.¡±

    ¡°Mh? Could you borate a bit more? It is a bit hard to understand.¡±

    The Queen cocked her head puzzled, whereupon Zenjirou pondered for a moment and then exined it while cocking his head thoughtfully as well.

    ¡°Ehm, how shall I put it? The work in foreign affairs or higher society certainly is a pain. But it¡¯s even more painful for me to turn a blind eye on my obligations as royalty.¡±

    Put another way: It was the same difference as between ¡°ying truant¡± and ¡°having a day off school¡± for a student.

    Going to school every day was real a bother, so you were extremely grateful, when the school closed for a day. But the illegal act of ¡°ying truant¡± left you with a guilty conscience. Instead of going through that, it was so much easier just to attend school every day, even if it was a bother.

    A reasonable amount of diligence, a reasonable amount of seriousness and a reasonable amount of reluctance. That kind of mentality was not all that rare for a Modern Japanese.

    His careful, but clumsy exnation let Aura still more or less understand what he wanted to say, since she was quick in the uptake.

    ¡°I see. You mean that you would feel guilty about abandoning your obligations, even if you hate them. And that it would be a lesser burden on your mind, when you reluctantly do your work, instead of experiencing that guilty conscience.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, pretty much. Ah, but my patience has its limits, too, of course! It¡¯s still quite alright for now, but my workload keeps growingtely, right? If it goes on like that, I¡¯ll be at the end of my patience soon enough.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, you are right. Forgive me. I will be more careful from now on.¡±

    The Queen apologized in audable manner to her husband, who preached caution.

    ¡°Yeah, please. Ah, but you don¡¯t have to worry about emergencies like the wedding now or the trip to Valentia before that.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Aura summarized the conclusion they had reached just now inside her head.

    (In short, I can allocate work for him like before, if it is an emergency, but I better reduce his general workload for foreign affairs or higher society as much as possible.)

    Foreign affairs could involve people like Prince Francesco and Princess Bona or the soon arriving Princess Freya, whom Zenjirou had to entertain at all costs, but everyone else like foreign diplomats or national nobles did not necessarily require the hospitality from a royalty. It just meant that things would proceed more smoothly, when a royalty was present.

    ¡°Okay, I shall limit your work for foreign affairs and higher society to an eptable level from now on.¡±

    It was kind of unfortunate that she could only make minimum use of her pawn known as the Prince Consort now, but the Queen concluded that it was her turn to give ground here.

    ¡°You also mentioned all kind of things you wanted. Since I did not really understand it, I take it that these are things from your world. Would it be possible to get your hands on these on this world? Ah, you do not have to worry about money or such. Just tell me if it is possible or not.¡±

    When Aura told him that money and effort were not an issue, Zenjirou cast his gaze to the ceiling and mused.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ It¡¯s definitely impossible to watch a match of the junior league here. Ser by itself is technically possible here. You just need to gather some people and teach them the rules, but I would rather not do that, since it onlyplicates my connections further.

    Listening to any new songs is impossible, too. Or at least I can¡¯t think of how it would be possible.

    But the food from Japan will be possible once I get the goats. Well, it¡¯ll mainly be confectionary, though.

    As for the shampoo, I already started to work on a recement. I was ready to make the bath supplies here from the very beginning, so I put some instructions on myputer.

    For stuff like soap shampoo or hair rinse from mixing kelp ash with citrus juice.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. The soap shampoo does concern me as well. It should be no problem to acquire the ingredients for it at least.¡±

    The Queen let on about her standpoint as his wife for a bit, when Zenjirou answered like that, and nodded in agreement.

    She was using the same soap shampoo as him. After all, they were usually sleeping in the same bed. There would be no point if only Zenjirou cleaned himself up, but Aura refrained from doing so.

    Considering that, she was already quite amodating to her husband.

    The Carpa Kingdom had a climate of high temperatures and high humidity, so the custom of taking baths was rtively widespread, but not even royalty or nobility took one every day. Moreover, it wasmon practice to apply a lot of perfumed oil to erase the smell on the body or hair, but Zenjirou hated the scent and sensation of the perfumed oil to no end, so Aura refrained from using it inside the Inner Pce out of consideration for him.

    Needless to say, it was sort ofmon sense for aristocracy in the Carpa Kingdom that the perfumed oil was indispensable, when she pursued her duties as the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom in the Royal Pce.

    Thus Aura was thoroughly washing off the perfumed oil she had applied to her hair and skin in the Royal Pce every day in the Inner Pce, sometimes repeating that pattern numerous times a day.

    She changed herself to suit the preferences of her husband. That was a praiseworthy approach, but in a way, she was no exception to the model of femininity in the male-dominated Carpa Kingdom.

    Whether he knew about the devotion of his wife or not, Zenjirou nodded with a smile.

    ¡°Good, please do that. To be honest, I¡¯m rather obstinate, when ites to hygiene. Well, I can bear with it, when I only sweat a bit like right now, but I just have to take a bath, when it¡¯s so humid during the Rainy Season or I sweat all over during the Hottest Season.¡±

    He said that was a slightly troubled expression, since he realized that he was being selfish.

    ¡°Hmm, I can understand the Rainy Season, but I fail toprehend how you can take a hot bath instead of a cold one during the oppressive heat of the Hottest Season. Still, if it is that important to you, I willply with you.¡±

    The Queen was the most important figure in the Kingdom, but she was adjusting her lifestyle to his.

    Speaking of, it was also selfish of Zenjirou how he usually did not allow any waiting maids into the living room. Aura was born and raised as royalty, so she should take it for granted that she was surrounded by waiting maids all the time.

    Despite that, Aura adopted herself to Zenjirou¡¯smon sense and kept the waiting maids out of their private space as much as possible. That meant that she had to fetch anything in the room by herself and change simple sets of clothing by herself. There was no way that it left her unaffected.

    ¡°Thanks, Aura.¡±

    Zenjirou gave thanks to her from the bottom of his heart, when the devoted love of his wife was brought to his mind once again.

    Because she had taken him, a man with moral values different from her world, as her Prince Consort, Aura had to muster up a tolerance she would originally never need.

    (I need to remember that at all times. Otherwise, I might get the illusion that I¡¯m the only one that has to soft-pedal. And that would be arrogant.)

    Zenjirou told himself that once more.

    ¡°You are wee. It was not worth mentioning, though. So, anything else?¡±

    Zenjirou cracked a wry smile, when his wife brushed it off manly, and continued.

    ¡°The inte, I guess. You told me it¡¯s impossible before, but I think it would be feasible with some specialized magical tools to connect to the inte in this world.

    The ¡®Summoning Magic¡¯ is dependant on the star constetion. So if we bring a small space in line with the correct constetion through ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ or ¡®Time eleration¡¯, it would make that space eligible for the ¡®Summoning Magic¡¯, wouldn¡¯t it?

    When we use the ¡®Summoning Magic¡¯ then, I say it¡¯s possible to link our worlds for a bit.¡±

    His aim was to create an environment, where hisputer could ess the inte, by linking it to a space with a nearby WiFi hotspot.

    To achieve that, Aura did not need to make a human-sized connection between the worlds like she did, when she summoned Zenjirou here. Simply put, it sufficed to have a hole with the size of an eye of a needle, as long as the wireless signal could get through.

    But Aura shook her head regretful after hearing the detailed n from her husband.

    ¡°No, like I told you before, that is impossible.

    First of all, ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ can only be cast onto a specific object, not some kind of space. Even if you wanted to cast it on an area, you would need to adjust the incantation first. And when you do that, the required amount of magical power will chance as well. You would basically create apletely new kind of spell.¡±

    ¡°A new spell? Can you actually do that, Aura?¡±

    Aura answered with augh to the surprised Zenjirou.

    ¡°Of course. I may not be as good as the seasoned court mages, but I can improve already existing spells. The bloodline magic is a secret skill, so royalty has no choice but to fiddle with it themselves.¡±

    If anything, Aura specialized in politics and warfare. She was not really passionate about advancing magic. But as royalty, she knew about her obligation to pass the bloodline magic onto the next generation, so she had acquired the essential knowledge and skills for it.

    In fact, Aura had modified the ¡®Summoning Magic¡¯ that she had used to bring Zenjirou into this world.

    The original ¡°Summoning Magic¡¯ was restrictive, since it could only summon someone you clearly envisioned in your mind. With the condition ¡°a man with a disposition for Space-Time Magic living in a different world¡±, she had modified it in such a way that she could bring an unknown person into this world.

    Having said this, the previous King Carlos II, well-known for his magic research, had devised the majority of that modification and Aura had only given it the final touch.

    She then threw more cold water on Zenjirou¡¯s hopes.

    ¡°Besides, the ¡¯Summoning Magic¡¯ itself is a problem. All it can do is instantly summon a person or object from a different world. But you want to link both worlds for the longer term, correct? That would require apletely different magic.

    Maybe something like a ¡¯World Link¡¯ spell? But even if you take an already existing spell, it would already take more ore less a year to adjust. And I honestly have no idea how long it would take to create a new spell from scratch.¡±

    ¡°Grml¡­¡±

    When the problematic points were practically pped into his face, Zenjirou screwed up his face and fell silent.

    He still knew rtively little about magic, but even so, he could somehow tell that it was extremely difficult to devise a new spell such as ¡°World Link¡± while adjusting the ¡°Time Reversal¡± magic at the same time.

    In the worst-case scenario, it might turn out to be quicker, when he studied magic with all his might and devised the magic himself instead of Aura, since she was always busy with something, whereas he had rtive much free time on his hands.

    Although he understood all that, Zenjirou still could not let go of the idea and questioned his wife further.

    ¡°Okay, I understand that it¡¯s impossible in practice for now. But in theory? Let¡¯s say we can adjust ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ to be cast on an area and create a new ¡®World Link¡¯ magic. Would it be possible to do it then?

    Is it even realistic to adjust ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ and create a ¡®World Link¡¯ magic?¡±

    The question from her husband prompted the Queen to cross her arms under her breasts and ponder for a moment before she replied.

    ¡°Hmm, I am not that knowledgeable about magic to call myself an expert, so I cannot say for sure, but it should technically be possible. Both magic are a kind of Space-Time magic after all.

    But to be honest, I am not sure whether that alone will suffice to achieve what you want to do.

    Shifting an area into the past with an adjusted ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ and continuously connecting our worlds with ¡®World Link¡¯ would require an enormous amount of non-stop magical power. It will be impossible to maintain, unless you draw the magical power from ¡®Future Compensation¡¯.¡±

    This implied that they needed a double deployment of ¡°Future Compensation¡±. If the worst came to the worst, they would have to pay with several month worth of magical power from Aura for a couple of minutes to ess the inte.

    ¡°Uwah, it takes that much? Ah, but you can store your magical power from time to time in the magical tool Prince Francesco is going to make, right? If we use that¡­¡±

    Her husband beamed with joy as though he had found a solution, but the Queen shook her head inexpressively.

    ¡°No, I cannot permit that. I already decided how to use that tool. You told me that the things you brought with you have a lifespan, right? I will use the stored magical power to cast ¡®Time Reversal¡¯ on them from time to time.¡±

    The things she spoke of mainly referred to his electrical appliances.

    The LED floormps, the refrigerator, the air conditioner, the television, theputer, etcetera. All of them had a guaranteed lifespan of five to ten years from the manufacturer. Even the domestic hydropower generator, which was the foundation for everything else, only had a lifespan of fifteen to twenty years. Moreover, they were not in Japan here. This world had higher temperatures than Japan, so it would not be strange, if the electrical appliances were to break before the guarantee of the manufacture expired.

    ¡°Oh, right. That definitely has more priority than essing the inte. Nothing beats having a long-living refrigerator or aircon after all.¡±

    Zenjirou pped his hands convinced. Originally, he had brought along the home devices as some kind of ¡°support wheels¡± until he got used to his new life in the Carpa Kingdom, but why pass on the opportunity, when a cheat-like magic like ¡°Time Reversal¡± could prolong their lifespan.

    Especially the afore-mentioned refrigerator and air-conditioner were a real treasure on the overwhelmingly hot South Continent.

    Fascinated by their appeal, the Queen started to agree with her husband for a moment, but then shook her head as if to shake off the temptation.

    ¡°Yes, you are right¡­ No, wait. I want to preserve them, too, if possible, but I primary want to use it on something else, namely that so-calledputer of yours. It got the highest priority.¡±

    In light of her unexpected answer, Zenjirou cocked his head baffled.

    ¡°Myputer? You can¡¯t use it, can you? So why?¡±

    Needless to say, the operating system and programs on hisputer were mainly in Japanese. It waspletely useless to Aura, since she did not know Japanese or English.

    But she replied with a confident look.

    ¡°Because I want you to keep using it for the ¡®tax check-up¡¯. The yearly tax report is heavily influenced by it.¡±

    So far, Zenjirou had input the written tax reports given to Aura by the feudal lords every year into the calction software on hisputer and double-checked them.

    On the basis of that calction, Aura reprimanded the feudal lords about their taxes, squeezing profit from it for the treasury.

    It was an advantage beyond description that Zenjirou, someone she had absolute faith in, was doing the whole final tax check by himself. Thanks to him, the news that you could not dodge the taxes on paper from the Royal Family, spread like wildfire.

    Of course forging the tax documents was not the only way to dodge the taxes. There were plenty of other methods such as changing the size of the delivery carriages carrying the goods, specifying the poption or farnd in the domain lesser than it actually was or obtaining tax exemptions due to made-up catastrophes.

    ordingly, the calction software only covered a small portion of the tax evasion as a whole, but the fact that the forgery of the documents was seen through, put a lot of pressure on the feudal lords.

    Although Zenjirou was convinced by her exnation, he put forth his next doubt.

    ¡°Hmm, I understand the value of theputer now, but is it wise to entrust a government system to a machine only I can use? Or do you n to learn how to use it?¡±

    The Queen shook her head with an earnest expression in response to his question.

    ¡°Well, I would like to, if I had the time, but I will leave it to our daughter.¡±

    That reply came out of the blue.

    ¡°¡®Daughter¡¯? Huh? What do you mean?¡±

    Needless to say, the only child they had right now was Prince Carlos Zenkichi and like his title implied, he was a boy.

    Aura then exined it carefully to the puzzled Zenjirou.

    ¡°You see, I have been thinking about it for some time now. We have a monopole on this method thanks to thatputer tool of yours and it would be a shame to discontinue it after our generation.

    In other words, we just have to pass it onto the next generation. A child between you and me will be able to use ¡®Space-Time Magic¡¯ more likely than not. And if it is a girl, she can stay in the Inner Pce until she is grown-up. It should not be all that difficult to teach her how to use it, when you have all the time in the world.

    Of course we will teach her ¡¯Space-Time Magic¡¯ as well. Once she can use ¡¯Future Compensation¡¯ and ¡¯Time Reversal¡¯ and only uses it on your ¡¯heritage¡¯, it will be possible to keep the system running for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yeah, I see now¡­¡±

    Zenjirou reacted with a frown to the words of his wife.

    She wanted to raise her future daughter into a maintenance worker and user of all the electrical appliances. Her idea was certainly promising, if you only took the profit for the Royal Family as a whole in consideration.

    But Zenjirou was raised in a normal Japanese household, so to be honest, he was fiercely against deciding the role of his own daughter in life before her birth without consent and treating her almost like some ¡°repair tool for the electrical appliances¡±.

    The same could technically be said about the First Prince Carlos Zenkichi, since it was set in stone the moment he was born that he would be the next King, so Zenjirou might just have to ept it as the fate of Royalty.

    ¡°In the future, I would like to establish a matrilineal branch family, whose matriarchs will undertake the same responsibility generation after generation.

    There is always the risk that the branch family may be taking over, when you give them special privileges, so we would to have to be careful about it, but in my opinion, it is not such a bad idea, if we can work together as a unified ¡¯Royal Family¡¯. What do you think?¡±

    The Queen had guessed from his expression that he was not really fond of her idea, so she gave a more borated exnation in order to convince him.

    ¡°Hmm, yeah¡­¡±

    For a moment, Zenjirou was going to say that he left the decision up to Aura like always, but then he remembered that they wanted to have an open conversation without reservation today.

    He put both feet on the ground and leaned a bit forward on the couch for some reason before he nervously spoke his mind.

    ¡°Ehm, I wonder if our daughter can be happy, when we enforce only one way of living on her the moment she¡¯s born?¡±

    As the Ruler of a major power, Aura could not really rte to his honest opinion.

    ¡°Mh? The fact that she will be born as royalty means that her way of living is already decided. Whether she will be happy or not depends on the love we give her as her family, the ease andfort from the wet nurse and her own effort most of all. Am I wrong?¡±

    In this world it was only natural to be born into a certain ss and take over the business of the family as a rule. ording to its moral concept it was by no means an unfortunate thing to have your ¡°way of living decided upon birth¡±.

    If anything, the younger siblings even envied that secure future, because they were in a position, where they could not follow in the steps of their parents.

    Zenjirou understood that in his head, but his heart could not quite keep up with it after all.

    Based on the premise that your future was already outlined for you, you pursued your own happiness as appropriate in this world, whereas in Modern Japan you principally had the all the freedom to choose your job. These two set of values had very few inmon.

    At a loss what to do with his sympathetic reasoning and unsympathetic emotions, Zenjirou scratched his head irritated on a rare asion.

    ¡°Ah, yeah, you¡¯re right. Well, you are, but¡­ I think it¡¯s scary to have everything decided already upon birth. You can¡¯t rule out the possibility, either, that she can¡¯t keep up with the lesson for the calction software, not to mention the other devices.¡±

    In Modern Japan, almost anyone could master the calction software with enough time.

    But the circumstances were entirely different here in the Carpa Kingdom. Since their daughter would be born as royalty of the Carpa Kingdom, she would learn thenguage of the western part of the South Continent as her mother tongue. Learning the writing of thatnguage took priority as well, of course.

    It should be extremely difficult for such a person to master the calction software, since it disyed literally everything, even the help screen, only in Japanese or English. Moreover, Zenjirou was by no means an ¡°expert¡± in regards to theputer or the calction software, so he did not really qualify as a teacher.

    Even so, he might be able to teach her the essential operations, but just like he had mentioned just now, its sess was not absolutely certain.

    ¡°Hmm, maybe I should write a manual about the stuff for posterity?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that sounds good. Knowledge tends to distort every time you pass it on only by word of mouth. It would be extremely helpful, when you leave behind a written manual.¡±

    It would take a bit of effort to put his knowledge into a book, but it was actually not all that difficult to aplish. After all, this world had the automatic trantor known as ¡°Soul of Words¡±.

    All they had to do was having Zenjirou dictate it to Aura while she wrote it down in thenguage of the western part of the South Continent. It was not an easy job as a whole, but it would not be such a huge burden, when they did it bit by bit every evening.

    ¡°Yeah, it doesn¡¯t hurt to have a manual either way. By the way.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Her husband suddenly looked around restlessly and wore a hinted smile, whereupon the Queen cocked her head a bit wondering.

    ¡°Well, we keep talking this and that about our ¡®daughter¡¯, but we still don¡¯t have one, right?¡±

    They conversation resolved around the premise that they would get a daughter in the future. Did that meant that the ban on the recently neglected ¡°act to make children¡± was lifted? Seeing as her husband was brimming over with that desire, the Queen gave him the answer he was waiting for with a grin.

    ¡°Oh, that. Yes, you guessed right.

    Carlos is growing up well and you have taken quite some work off my shoulders as my representative. My condition is fine as well, so I think the time hase to make a second child.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oho.¡±

    Zenjirou answered with a low voice while his pupils dted and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards pastparison.

    ¡°You look lecherous.¡±

    His expression disyed his lust so straightforward that even the steadfast Aura reflexively felt like backing off while she gave him a wry smile.

    ¡°¡­Ohoho.¡±

    Moreover, Zenjirou raised both his hands to his head and erratically moved his ten fingers in a gripping manner.

    ¡°You are acting lecherous as well.¡±

    Aura quickly embraced herself in an attempt to hide her cleavage with her arms, since she sensed danger. But no amount of arms could ever hope to conceal her voluptuous body in the thin nightgown she was wearing.

    If anything, she actually emphasised her cleavage by hugging herself, giving rise to a sensational sight.

    ¡°Hah, Hah, Hah¡­¡±

    Still looking lecherous and moving his hands lecherously, Zenjirou raised from the couch in a stooping position and approached her slowly.

    ¡°Wait, what are you going to do with these hands?¡±

    Practically gluing herself to the back of the couch, Aura took her distance from him.

    ¡°Hoh, Hoh, Hoh¡­¡±

    Zenjirou put his right foot on the wooden table between the two couches without hesitation and slowly drew closer to his wife in a straight line.

    ¡°Hey, calm down. Your lust has gotten the better of you.¡±

    ¡°You told me to be open about ¡®my desires without holding back¡¯ today.¡±

    ¡°I did not mean it like that! I wanted you to speak your mind and said nothing about taking action on the spot!¡±

    Seeing as she did not move from the couch despite her protest, Aura must have been willing, too. Besides, they were as different as a little kitten and a tiger in regards to physical strength. If Aura seriously wanted to resist, Zenjirou would have no chance against her.

    After he slowly climbed over the table, Zenjirou leaned over the couch his wife was sitting on.

    ¡°Uhihihi¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait. Let us go to the bedroom at least.¡±

    ¡°Too far.¡±

    ¡°It is not! It is right over there!¡±

    ¡°Right now, it¡®s an insurmountable distance for me.¡±

    It was pretty rare for Zenjirou to oppose Aura that much. He had probably ¡°hungered¡± for this situation that bad.

    It was useless. There was no way to stop him.

    ¡°Jeez¡­¡±

    Realizing that, the Queen showed a faint wry smile and spread her arms resigned, epting her husband, who was crowding her from above.

    ¡°Gehehe¡­!¡±

    ¡°Oh please, at least speak normal.¡±

    Nevertheless, she did not miss out on giving her husband a light smack on the back part of his head while he buried his face into her breasts.

    <strong>Chapter 02: Victory Celebration in the Capital</strong>

    The residents of the Capital perceived a sudden event in the Capital such as a victory celebration as bothersome on the one hand, but it was the perfect opportunity for some fun on the other hand.

    After all, how could it not be a bother, when the always heavily trafficked main street was going to be blocked for a whole day.

    But at the same time, it was pretty much a festival, so amusement was guaranteed. The smart merchants opened up stalls near the blocked main street and anyone with a house facing the main street rented the roof or second floor to some spectators for some extra ie.

    Sure, it would be a problem, if itsted for numerous days, but once in a while, it was a wee change.

    For that reason, Princess Freya and her vassals were received very warm-hearted, when they arrived from the Seaport of Valentia, making a triumphal entry.

    Various dragon-drawn carriages and fully armed soldiers paraded over the main street of the Capital.

    The vanguard consisted of a dragon-drawn cart that carried the skull of the Huge Pack Dragon. Because it had been a couple of days since its defeat, the decaying skin and flesh had been scrapped off, so it was just the bare bone now, but even then, the huge skull was still quite impressive by itself.

    ¡°Wow! So huge!! The head alone is as tall as myself!¡±

    ¡°That blonde female warrior on top of it was the one to finish it off.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s quite tall herself. To be honest, I wouldn¡¯t want to stand next to her.¡±

    ¡°But she¡¯s pretty. A fine woman.¡±

    As expected, the eyes of the gathered spectators were all focussed on the skull of the Huge Pack Dragon and the blonde female warrior Victoria Kronkvist alias Skathi, who stood atop of it.

    It was extremely rare on the South Continent that a woman enlisted as a warrior. Even more so, when she was capable of leading an own unit and defeating the Huge Pack Dragon. That alone made her already an object of attention.

    On top of that, Skathi was an eye-catching beauty.

    With an height of over one-hundred and eighty centimetre, she was extraordinarily tall for a woman and her body was trained to such an extent that you could tell on a nce, but despite that, her breasts and bottom kept a feminine curve. And although the look in her eyes was a bit too piercing, she still qualified as a ¡°beauty¡±.

    It goes without saying that a beautiful female warrior from a different country caused a sensation with her military achievement.

    Her master, Princess Freya, had also told her beforehand that her military achievement was contributing quite a bit to the negotiations, so Skathi was proudly throwing out her chest and swung around her beloved short spear with the Sea Elephant Tusk in response to the spectators on the street.

    Behind her followed the soldiers of the Upps Kingdom, who were an object of attention as well.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to say, the guys from the North Continent sure are tall. All of them are at least a head taller than me.¡±

    ¡°You can say that again! Is the North Continent thend of giants, or what?¡±

    Their hair was blonde or light brown and their blue, green or gray eyes had vivid colours as well. Their keen faces were coupled with projected cheeks and a beard from the chin up. And above all, even the smallest of them was at least one-hundred and eighty centimetre tall, whereas the bigger ones had a muscr physique that easily measured over one-hundred and ny centimetre.

    These foreign giants were parading in unfamiliar leather or chain armours while wearing swords and short spears. That sight automatically made you back off one step, even if you knew that they posed no danger.

    A few young men amongst the spectators touched their own arms or chests,paring themselves to the army of giants passing by in front of them.

    The pompously decorated carriage, driving shielded in the middle of these soldiers, drew rtively few attention.

    Although the carriage was quite big, splendid and drawn by four Raptorial Dragons, it was not really an unusual sight for the residents of the Capital aspared to the skull of the Huge Pack Dragon or the giant soldiers of the North Continent.

    Of course it would be a different matter, if Princess Freya were to put her beautiful silver hair and ice-blue eyes on disy, but for reasons of safety, the enclosed carriage had very small windows.

    Princess Freya did sit by the window and waved her hands with a smile to the citizens on the streets, but only a few people noticed her.

    If anything, she used the window to intently observe the Capital of a different country for the first time.

    (It looks a lot more prosperous than I thought. The main street is cobbled with a wheel path for vehicles. The houses are mainly built with wood, but in an borated manner and usually two-storied along the main street. Some even have a third story.

    The people look healthy as well and I cannot see any starved out people, nor any homeless children. Considering that the great war ended only a few years ago, I would say it is safe to assume that this is indeed a flourishing major power.)

    Princess Freya acknowledged once again that a trade agreement with this country would bring a lot of profit for her mother country.

    ¡°If possible, I would like to request that His Majesty Zenjirou continues to act as my contact person¡­¡±

    She suddenly breathed what she was thinking at heart, but the waiting maid assigned to her by the Carpa Kingdom, sat at a distance, so she did not hear it.

    The exchange between Zenjirou and Princess Freya had onlysted for a few days, but in these few days, she had more or less caught on to the personality from the man called Zenjirou.

    For a royalty, he was pure-minded and sincere to the point that she had never seen someone like him before. Despite his standing as the Prince Consort, he did not seem to have much authority or decision-making power, but Princess Freya preferred to negotiate with a sincere and non-fraudulent person, even if he had less authority.

    Otherwise put: Princess Freya viewed Zenjirou as a ¡°negotiation partner that was easy to deal with¡±.

    (His Majesty Zenjirou is the Prince Consort and one of the two royalty in this kingdom right now. That leaves only one other royalty to deal with: Her Majesty Aura. If half of what I have heard is true, she will be a formidable opponent, though.)

    The silver-haired princess continued to wave her snow-white hand with a smile while she thought about these things at heart.

    * * *

    Around the time, when the delegation from the Upps Kingdom centred around Princess Freya made their victory parade through the main street of the Capital, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez had already returned to the Capital ahead of them and was now meeting with his father, Count Manuel M¨¢rguez, in the residence of their family in the Capital in a long time.

    ¡°It has been a while, Raffaelo. I hope you have been well. You did well in fulfilling the difficult assignment this time.¡±

    ¡°Not at all, Sir. It was not all that difficult, actually. I am d that you assigned me a worthwhile job that was specially tailored for me.¡±

    The conversation sounded a bit stiff for one between a father and his son, but amongst grown-up nobles, the rtionship between Count M¨¢rguez and his son was actually quite good.

    The father acknowledged his son as apetent sessor and the son respected his father as a level-headed predecessor. Although they did have some differences in opinion, their rtionship was enviable, when measured against the majority of other nobility.

    The never-ending cheers of the citizens could be heard through the opened windows and Count M¨¢rguez let his gaze wander in its direction.

    ¡°Sounds like Princess Freya and her group made it to the Capital just fine. They must be rather popr to cause such a ruckus.¡±

    ¡°The soldiers of the North Continent do attract a lot of attention. And the skull of the Huge Pack Dragon and Miss Victoria at the front are quite the spectacle. The rumours of the Pack Dragon Subjugation have even reached the Capital after all.¡±

    Raffaelo had apanied Princess Freya and her group part of the way from Valentia to the Capital and he replied like that with a smile.

    ¡°That is kind of rich,ing from you.¡±

    Count M¨¢rguez made a wry smile, because he no doubts that his own son, sitting across from him, had spread these rumours.

    The Capital spoke about the previous Pack Dragon Subjugation in such a way that Zenjirou had been the nominal leader on the battlefield while Xavier Guzzle had led the main force and Victoria Kronkvist had defeated the Huge Pack Dragon by herself.

    This was no different from the information Count M¨¢rguez had gathered from reliable sources in the Royal Pce.

    In other words, the truth was going around the town as a rumour almost unaltered. Needless to say, that was extremely unnatural.

    Generally speaking, rumours were greatly exaggerated stories that made the hearer question, where theye from.

    When the information was passed on urately, though, it was more natural to think that someone had a hand in it.

    Raffaelo had probably seen some kind of profit in spreading the information about this incident as it was. Count M¨¢rguez needed to ask him about that, but for now, he spoke about the official business.

    ¡°I did read through the documents once, but let me hear it from you once more. The negotiations with Princess Freya were a sess, right?¡±

    The current head of the family addressed him like that, whereupon the sessor to the title wiped the smile off his face and assume a stern facial expression.

    ¡°Correct. Master Zenjirou and Princess Freya have found a positive consent in regards to a trade agreement between our Carpa Kingdom and the Upps Kingdom. The fine details will surely be worked out here in the Capital from now on, but it has already been decided that the agreement will be exclusive to both royal families.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The report from Raffaelo prompted Count M¨¢rguez to show a grin.

    When the intercontinental trade turned into an exclusive business for both royal families before the other nobilities could interfere, then Count M¨¢rguez had been right with his spections.

    An exclusive trade agreement between the royal families of both countries meant that only the Carpa Royal Family was allowed to do direct trading with the Upps Kingdom, when their ships docked in the harbour of Valentia in the future.

    With just that, the royal family would be the clear winner and Count M¨¢rguez would have no reason to support the agreement, but there was more to it, of course.

    As a country from the North Continent, the Upps Kingdom mainly wanted to obtain specialities from the South Continent such as sugar, spices, dragon leather and bones, but it was impossible for the Carpa Royal Family to provide all these export articles by themselves.

    So even when the intercontinental trade agreement was ¡°exclusive to both royal families¡±, it only meant that they were the exclusive contact partners for each other. Other influential nobilities still had the opportunity to partake indirectly.

    The goal of Count M¨¢rguez was to receive preferential treatment for these opportunities.

    Acting in collusion with Queen Aura, Count M¨¢rguez had promised his support for thepletion of the trade contract in exchange for not getting charged a handling fee by the royal family, so he could basically expect the same profit as with a direct deal.

    ¡°You have done well. I will discuss the fine details with Her Majesty Aura. Well, she has to negotiate the trade agreement with Princess Freya at the same time, so it may take some time, but it should not pose a drawback.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am leaving it to you.¡±

    The father confidently took up the baton, whereas the son ceded the baton trustingly.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Having said this, Count M¨¢rguez was a bit sour at heart, even though he did not let it show on his face. His talented son had acted just like he had specified and achieved the very results he had wanted, but the Count was a little bit worried how ustomed his offspring had gotten to leaving the ultimate responsibility and sess to someone else, maybe because he had done these kind of jobs for too long.

    There was no doubt that his son was gifted, but Raffaelo was already in his thirties. It was about time he stopped being the ¡°obedient son¡± and slipped more into his role as the ¡°head of an influential family¡±, even if he might screw it up for a bit. Otherwise his father could not free himself from the worry about his session.

    Raising the capable and understanding son uprightly had unfortunately turned him into a man that awaited orders, which made him be unsuitable as the head of a family.

    Of course Count M¨¢rguez wanted to reeducate him soon, even if it took drastic measures, but he certainly could not use the current matter, a secret agreement with the royal family, for it.

    Pushing the concerns over his son to the back of his mind, the Count addressed himself to the problem at hand again.

    ¡°I did not go into it earlier, but let me ask now: You are behind the ¡®faithful rumours¡¯ going around in the Capital, are you not?¡±

    Raffaelo affirmed the rhetorical question from his father with a serious expression.

    ¡°Yes. I used some of my men to spread them.¡±

    ¡°Your reason being?¡±

    His son responded smoothly to his next question as though he had prepared the answer beforehand.

    ¡°Simply put, I wanted to avoid ¡®getting on Master Zenjirou¡¯s bad side¡®. Left alone, the rumours would have surely exaggerated his achievement and that would not have been in his interest.¡±

    The response from his son was a bit unexpected, so Count M¨¢rguez cocked his head a bit puzzled and asked again.

    ¡°Hmm? What do you mean? I do understand that a glorified achievement goes against his will. He is loyal to Her Majesty Aura after all and pays careful attention not to undermine her authority by making a name for himself.

    But why would you go out of your way for him? Did he asked you to do that?¡±

    ¡°No. I did it by my own ord.¡±

    When his son dered it outright like that, Count M¨¢rguez furrowed his brow a bit.

    ¡°But why? Just what are you making of Master Zenjirou?¡±

    Raffaelo sat up straight in his chair and took a deep breath before he answered the inquiry of his father.

    ¡°Because he is ¡®terrifying¡¯. Master Zenjirou is a ¡®monster¡¯.¡±

    His expression as he openly admitted that, revealed that he was not joking.

    ¡°What do you mean? Exin yourself.¡±

    The Prince Consort was passive to no end and showed not the slightest sign of ambition, yet his son had evaluated him as a ¡°monster¡±, so the shrewd count narrowed his eyes to slits.

    He would haveughed at anyone else for saying this, but his son had a good insight into human nature.

    Pressed for an answer by his father, Raffaelo paused to think for a moment.

    ¡°Well, to be honest, all I can think of to describe him is the term monster¡­ And by that, I do not mean his appearance or strength, of course, but his mentality.

    More precisely: He is ¡®different¡¯. It took me a while to notice, because he generally is very mild-mannered, reasonable and does not let any raw emotions show up in his face in public, but you will end up making a fatal mistake, when you take him for an ordinary man.¡±

    Heid it on the line for his father.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ Well, I do agree with you that his moral values are somewhat peculiar, but I still cannot see why you call him a ¡®monster¡¯. Are you saying that Master Zenjirou is as formidable as General Puyol or Marquis Rh?¡±

    Since Count M¨¢rguez still cocked his head puzzled, Raffaelo leaned a bit over the table and groped for words.

    ¡°Not really. General Puyol has a tenacious mentality on par with a monster, whereas Marquis Rh has a vigorous mentality on par with a monster, but these are nothing but ssifications of intensity.

    It is the same as ssifying someone as ¡®superhuman¡¯, because he is stronger than a dragon or far taller than average.

    In contrast, Master Zenjirou truly has a ¡®monstrous¡¯ mentality. ¡¯Monstrous¡¯ in the sense that he might look like a human on a nce, but in reality, his head is just a decoration, his fatal spot is his instep instead and he got an invisible third arm on his back.¡±

    When his son illustrated a true monster with grotesque descriptions, Count M¨¢rguez cocked his head bewildered altogether. For him it was unthinkable that thepletely harmless looking Prince Consort posed such a danger.

    ¡°Those, who look ordinary on a nce, are actually the worst of all.

    When you were younger, you fought with the sword, right? Please imagine the following:

    You are going against someone that has average strength and no experience with the sword, but is a ¡¯monster¡¯ with the features I just mentioned. What would you say are the odds you win that fight?¡±

    The example made no sense, but the Count answered in earnest, when he saw the stern expression of his son.

    ¡°Well¡­ It may be a cumbersome fight, but I should be able to defeat him without much difficulty, when his techniques and physique are weak.¡±

    Raffaelo seemed to have waited for this answer as he immediately asked back.

    ¡°Father, you worked out your chances of sess on the ¡®premise that you knew about¡¯ the head being a decoration, the instep being the fatal spot and the invisible third arm on the back, right?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Oh, I see now.¡±

    Count M¨¢rguez was by no means slow-witted, so he immediatelyprehended now what his son wanted to say.

    ¡°Yes, you are right. I would be able to win, because I know about the monstrous peculiarities. Without knowing any of it, I would confront the monster like a regr human and believe I had won, when I split its decorative head, but in that moment, I would get killed by the hidden weapon held by the third arm on its back. Considering that, even General Puyol would likely lose against it.

    So you are afraid of the fact that no one has an idea about what kind of intellectual attack Master Zenjirou will use or which subject should be avoided with him at all cost.¡±

    The son nodded twice relieved, when his father showcased an excellent breadth of mind.

    ¡°Yes, indeed. When the nobles talked to Master Zenjirou during parties, I could not help but feel that they were casually touching an ancient dragon all over without knowing, when it would get mad.

    Master Zenjirou certainly is mild-mannered and reasonable, but that does not mean he has no emotions. I learned that, when I worked as his assistance in the past month.¡±

    During the one month in Valentia, Raffaelo had witnessed how Zenjirou changed, when he could no longer keep his emotions in check.

    For example: Zenjirou had been overjoyed, when Princess Freya mentioned the ¡°goats¡±, and he had expressed his interest without thought.

    Fortunately it had been the positive emotion called ¡°joy¡±, but it still proved that Zenjirou sometimes based his behaviour on emotions instead of reasoning.

    In the same way, it was possible that Zenjirou would dictate a death sentence based on emotion, if something triggered a ruthless anger or hate in him.

    But Raffaelo had not the slightest idea ¡°what exactly would trigger anger or hate in Zenjirou¡±.

    Affable and a good listener, Raffaelo represented a great conversational partner and he excelled in discerning the feelings and moral values of others. By understanding the unvoiced feelings of his opposite or the words his opposite wanted to hear, Raffaelo could react to it and converse smoothly. It was his worldly wisdom.

    But that very worldly wisdom was useless in regards to Zenjirou. Of course it was impossible to discern the feelings or moral values of others as a whole, too, because they all had their own personalities.

    It was apletely different matter with Zenjirou, though. Raffaelo had not even the slightest clue, where to start to guess his moral values.

    For example: Most young noble men enlisted in the army would be pleased to hear you talking about their bright ¡°future prospects¡°, but would get angry, if you called them a ¡°coward¡±.

    Of course there were exceptions to the rule, but in most cases, only a part of the general framework was different, so such a ssification could be applied to the majority. On the other hand, when people did not fit into the ssification, it often turned out that they lied about their status or upation.

    ording to this system from Raffaelo, Zenjirou would be a ¡°young¡± ¡°royal¡± ¡°man¡± ¡°without a job¡±.

    If calling him jobless sounded wrong, you could list ¡°Royalty¡± or ¡°Prince Consort¡± as his upation as well. For Royalty or Nobility, their rank often corresponded to their upation.

    Anyway, the ¡°young male royalty¡± framework based on Raffaelo¡¯s ssification was entirely unsuitable for Zenjirou.

    And that would not change, even if you were to change male to female, young to old, royalty tomoner or jobless to farmer/soldier.

    Probably what you would expect from someone from a different world. It was impossible to ssify him.

    ¡°Above all, I was made painfully aware during this incident that he is by no means a ¡®puppet of the Queen¡¯ like some nobles describe him behind his back.

    He is in possession of a resolute personality and merely acts as the ¡®puppet of the Queen¡¯ of his own ord. Or more precisely, he is a ¡®self-acting puppet¡® rather than a ¡®puppet on a string¡¯.¡±

    Some of the nobles, who saw Zenjirou as a puppet on a string, wanted to dethrone Aura and let Zenjirou assume it instead, because they falsely believed that they could control Zenjirou at their convenience, when they got a hold of the strings themselves.

    But Raffaelo had learned the truth now. Zenjirou was definitely not the puppet of the Queen. As a proof, he did not hesitate with his decisions in Valentia, even though the Queen had been too far away to give such quick instructions.

    If he really were a puppet, he should have been unable to make any calls, when hell suddenly broke loose in Valentia, whereto the instructions of the Queen did not reach in time. But in reality, that did not happen. Zenjirou behaved almost the same as when he acted as the representative of the Queen in the Royal Pce.

    That was terrifying above all, because it meant that Zenjirou always kept acting ¡°in the best interests of the Queen¡± of his own ord and judgement.

    For Queen Aura it was like she had another body that produced results on its own with a bare minimum of instructions. Raffaelo was anticipating that her authority would soon be even more consolidated.

    He continued with a stern expression.

    ¡°Due to that, I suggest we keep our distance from Master Zenjirou until we understand him and his mindset better. It would be dangerous to go against him, of course, but taking his side would be just as dangerous.¡±

    Without knowing the moral values of your opponent, it could prove fatal, when you either went on the offence or tried to appease him.

    The word ¡°audacious¡± would be apliment for a man, but a woman would be offended by it for sure, whereas the phrase ¡°not being stingy with money¡± appealed to nobility, but not necessarily to merchants.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou was not offended in the slightest, even when hisck for martial arts was pointed out, nor does he shun to obey the instruction of his own wife at all. In my opinion it would be wise not to approach him while we not know what is to his liking or what offends him.¡±

    Raffaelo formted it as a suggestion, because he himself was going to return home to their domain after this. His father Count Manuel M¨¢rguez would be the one to likelye into contact with Zenjirou in the Capital.

    ¡°Yes, I understand your concern and you do have a point. For now, I shall only speak to Her Majesty Aura for businesses.¡±

    Even for an old fox like Count M¨¢rguez, Queen Aura represented a tough negotiation partner, but at least he knew her cast of mind. Of course he could be outwitted sometimes, but he did not have to worry about waking a sleeping lion by ident.

    The son heaved a sigh of relief, when his father was convinced, and nodded briefly.

    ¡°Good, that will be sensible.

    Also, onest thing. This is just my personal opinion, but I believe we should consider how we can ally with Master Zenjirou as best as possible once we figure him out to a certain extent.¡±

    Count M¨¢rguez widened his eyes a bit, when his son voiced an assertive opinion for once.

    ¡°Oho? You mean he is worth the assistance of our family? Is he thatpetent?¡±

    The son picked his words carefully, when he answered to the words of his father with a slightly brooding expression.

    ¡°No, I would not go as far as to say that. He certainly is not ipetent either, though. The reason why I feel it will be profitable for our family to have Master Zenjirou on our side, or rather for our family to side with him, is because it is quite likely that our interests will coincide, even though the interests of royalty and nobility usually oppose each other.¡±

    ¡°Go on.¡±

    When his father urged him to continue with a serious look, the son obediently borated his exnation.

    ¡°Yes. I had the opportunity to be close to Master Zenjirou for a rtively long time during this incident. Thanks to it, I understand him even less now, but I did manage to confirm a few things.

    First off, we erred in our early assumption that he has a good grasp of his emotions and expressions.

    I say this, because he prioritized his emotions and decided to obtain the goats as soon as Princess Freya mentioned that she had them onboard.

    The reason I had thought he has good control over his emotions was his extremely level-headed attitude, when he acted as a representative for Her Majesty Aura behind the scenes without getting assumptive.

    But there is a different exnation for it, when you presume that he cannot control his emotions all that well. Namely that he is not suppressing these emotions but rather feels no dissatisfaction towards his ¡®behind-the-scenes position as the Prince Consort¡¯ to begin with.¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°Master Zenjirou did end up as the suprememander in name only for the Pack Dragon Subjugation, but I sensed some ¡®reluctance¡¯ in him, when it happened.

    Considering these two points, Master Zenjirou might be a person, who prefers to work behind the scenes despite being royalty and hates to make a name for himself despite being a man.

    If that assumption were prove to be true, I dare to say that there is no better person to cooperate with, when we wish to raise the fame of our family in the future.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I see now what you are getting at. It certainly is intriguing, if it is true.¡±

    After the lengthy exnation from his son, Count M¨¢rguez expressed his consent by nodding strongly without changing his facial expression.

    The reasoning from Raffaelo was rather simple. Normally, any nobleman desired to have a chance to stand in the spotlight and make a name for himself. The one to provide these chances was Royalty. And when that Royalty had no intention to keep these chances for himself, he certainly should be a good negotiation partner.

    It goes without saying that it was easier to ask a man with no interest in alcohol for the ¡°high quality alcohol¡± he owned for some reason, rather than an incorrigible alcoholic for his ¡°treasured alcohol¡±.

    ¡°Okay. I cannot put our family on the line on ount of your opinion alone, of course, but I will keep it in mind. Thanks.¡°

    ¡°Yes, Sir. If there is nothing else on the agenda, I n to return home as soon as the reception party for Princess Freya in the evening is over. Do you mind?¡±

    It seemed that he had gotten his point across to his father, so Raffaelo asked him for his permission to return home with a smile. Strictly speaking, it was not desirable that the current head of the family and its sessor were both absent from the domain at the same time like in this case, but in a domain asrge as the one from the M¨¢rguez Family, there was obviously enough manpower to keep the domain going for half a year, even without its leaders. Still, it never hurt to have a leader around.

    ordingly, the request from Raffaelo made perfect sense, but contrary to his expectation, his father Count M¨¢rguez shook his head.

    ¡°I do. Your return will be postpone a bit longer. It has not been officially announced yet, but Puyol Guill¨¦n will actually marry soon.¡±

    Even in the Royal Pce, this information was not all that widespread, so Raffaelo widened his eyes in surprise, too.

    ¡°Oh, about time. Who is the lucky bride?¡±

    ¡°The eldest daughter of the Guzzle Family: Lady Lucinda.¡±

    The answer from his father prompted even Raffaelo to be at a loss for words for a moment, then he showed a wry smile and shrugged his shoulders.

    ¡°Well¡­ As one might expect of him, I guess? His ambitions still know no limits.¡±

    ¡°Yes, he is going to gain a lot, but will also forfeit a lot. At the very least, the Royal Family will be sure keep an eye on him while Her Majesty Aura is still alive.

    Well, it is not really our problem. Anyway, I will have you attend his wedding as the representative of our family. Given the circumstances, I would like to choose the partner apanying you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. I assume that this partner is not going to be Mother or Mir?¡±

    When an unmarried adult man took a woman along to a wedding ceremony, he was practically dering his intention to bond with that woman to his surroundings, so Raffaelo asked this just in case.

    On the other hand, a man with no such partner would ask an already married female rtive or a minor girl to be his partner.

    By the way, Mir was the name of Raffaelo¡¯s girl cousin.

    Count M¨¢rguez nodded once in response to his inquiry as if to say that it was self-evident.

    ¡°Correct. I mean your fianc¨¦e. This has nothing to do with General Puyol. I just think it is about time that you raise a family yourself, too.

    I have narrowed down some candidates for now, but if you have any preferences, I am willing to consider them. Just tell me.¡±

    He took charge of the marriage of his son by himself like it was only natural.

    Raffaelo, too, was not offended by this and naturally epted the approach of his father. It was yet again proof how he was still nothing but an ¡°obedient son¡±.

    ¡°My fianc¨¦e, hmm. Well, I am sure there will be nothing wrong with a woman chosen by you, but since you are asking: My ideal woman is someone like my Stepmother.¡±

    Saying this, Raffaelo named his stepmother, who was younger than him by more than five years, as his ideal woman.

    The son had just told his father to the face that his second wife was his ideal woman. It was a somewhat awkward joke, but they were on such good terms that it was still understood as a joke. Besides, Lady Octavia was popr enough to make it a convincing argument.

    Hearing this, his father gave a broad grin, rejoicing.

    ¡°Talk about the impossible now! You will not find another woman like Octavia, not even in our versatile Carpa Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. But then again, I do not really have any preferences in particr, because whether we will be happy or not in the future depends on the effort my wife-to-be and I put forth, given that there are no faults with her personality or aptitude.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then let us go with my top candidate: The second daughter of Baron Massana, Lady Keyshia.¡±

    ¡°Lady Keyshia from the Massana Family? We certainly have some connection to them and their domain borders on ours. Our statuses are not really all that ill-matched, either¡­¡±

    Raffaelo cocked his head unconvinced. While it was true that Massana Family was not a low-ranking family, it could not be considered high-ranking, either.

    It technically was a noble family with a domain on its own, but that domain was rather small, so there were plenty of court nobles without a title and domain that possessed more authority than the Massana Family, when they worked in important positions. Baron Massana was such an insignificant feudal lord.

    Having said this, he was still a legit feudal lord, so he did have his ownnd and army. That verynd directly bordered on the domain of the M¨¢rguez Family, so it was not entirely unprofitable, if their two families were to join up.

    But considering the fact that the M¨¢rguez Family was undoubtedly one of the ten most influential families in the Carpa Kingdom, it would seem that the Massana Family was a bit too in for the sessor of that very M¨¢rguez Family to take their daughter as his legal wife.

    Count M¨¢rguez preferred stability over chaos and a high return with low risk policy over a low return with high risk policy, so that choice was certainly in line with his moral values, but even then, the return appeared to be somewhatcking.

    He showed a grin to his doubtful son and exined it in the manner of revealing a magic trick.

    ¡°Well, you pretty much guessed it already. If your bride were toe from an all too important family, it would be troublesome to bring them under control. There ought to be an unproblematic social distinction between both families.

    Moreover, the appeal does not lie in the Massana Family, but in Lady Keyshia herself.¡±

    ¡°Right. I have heard of her on numerous asions. As far as high society is concerned, she is quite the beauty. Though a different type of beauty than my Stepmother.¡±

    ¡°Yes. She is not nearly as popr as Octavia, but she is attractive enough that a lot of men do prefer her over Octavia. And seeing as she is five years younger than Octavia, she will only bepared to her in High Society for a short time.¡±

    Octavia was the very embodiment of the ideal woman for men in the Carpa Kingdom: Neat, graceful and reserved. Keyshia Massana on the other hand was an eye-catching beauty, who prided herself with a voluptuous body as well as an alluring face.

    Versed in the traditional dance of the Carpa Kingdom, she was allowed to wear the most prominent colour ¡°red¡±, the symbolic colour of the Carpa Kingdom, as a dancer.

    Someone from Modern Earth might be reminded of ¡°Carmen¡±, if he could see her dance wildly in the red traditional clothes.

    ¡°When she is five years younger than my stepmother, then she must have turned twenty this year. I find it a bit hard to believe that a beauty like her is still unmarried at this age. Did Baron Massana dy her marriage as much as possible to gain an advantage?¡±

    If that was the case, his n proved to be very sessful. After all, a marriage with the sessor from the M¨¢rguez Family happened toe in sight.

    But Count M¨¢rguez feigned ignorance and continued with unexpected words, when his son made such an assumption.

    ¡°No, in her case, it is not a problem that she still is unmarried, even after twenty years. You see, she went into the ¡¯Inner Pce¡¯ as a ¡¯waiting maid¡¯st year. A bit of an advanced age does not get in the way for a waiting maid.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see now.¡±

    Raffaelo took a breathe and wearily pinched the bridge of his nose with the index finger and thumb of his right hand.

    ¡°Father, I believe I just told you that we ought to ¡®keep our distance to Master Zenjirou¡¯¡­¡±

    His son reproached him like that on a rare asion, whereupon the father shrugged his shoulders with a sniffish look.

    ¡°Of course that is what I am going to do. But we are an important family in the Carpa Kingdom and Master Zenjirou is the husband of Her Majesty Aura, so we cannot keep our distance to him forever.

    This being the case, we ought to be a proactive to some extent and figure out his moral values as soon as possible.¡±

    He made a valid point. At the same time, Count M¨¢rguez would never chose a fianc¨¦e for his son on the spot. In other words, he has had a candidate in mind from the very beginning and listening to the opinion from Raffaelo just now did not change his view.

    Raffaelo himself also had imed that they ¡°should side with Zenjirou, once they figured out his character¡±, so he could not reproach him all that harshly.

    Meanwhile Count M¨¢rguez continued with his exnation.

    ¡°Octavia has gone into the Inner Pce numerous times and told me that Master Zenjirou gets along with the waiting maids surprisingly well.¡±

    ¡°You mean he took a waiting maid as a ¡®mistress¡¯!?¡±

    That piece of information certainly surprised even Raffaelo. But the answer to that question of his could not have been any more unexpected.

    ¡°No, not in the meaning of a ¡®mistress¡¯. Not even a single maid is in such a rtionship with him, but they are usually very close and the waiting maids perceive him as rather ¡®affable¡¯. He seems to be very popr with them as well.

    Of course this is not a testimony from the waiting maids, but merely the impression Octavia got by watching them.¡±

    ¡°He is affable to the waiting maids, even though he is not in a rtionship with them? So he does like them, yetys no hands on them? ¡­To be honest, that only makes me more wary of him. Just what is going on in his head? I cannotprehend his personality or moral values at all.¡±

    Raffaelo jokingly raised both his arms a bit as if to say that he was at his wit¡¯s end and assumed a surrendering pose.

    ¡°Then does it mean that amongst them, Lady Keyshia is a ¡®favourite¡¯ to Master Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°No, unfortunately that is not the case. She simply is the only waiting maid with an appropriate background for the M¨¢rguez Family.

    Strictly speaking, the daughter of Baron Regdo is an option as well, but you know how peculiar the situation is with that family. It would be dangerous to get involved with them carelessly. Besides, their daughter is a bit too young. Age-wise, Lady Keyshia is the best match for you.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    In light of the words from his father, Raffaelo pondered with his hand against his chin.

    A twenty-year old woman, who was previously praised as a beauty in High Society and was now working as a waiting maid in the Inner Pce.

    Her looks were first-grade without doubt and since she was chosen as a waiting maid, there could be no major ws with her personality, either. At twenty-years old, she was still in the general marriageable prime by a hair¡¯s breath, but that was also no issue at all, considering she spent two years in the Inner Pce.

    Before long, Raffaelo reached a conclusion and dered his decision indifferently.

    ¡°Understood. I shall meet with Lady Keyshia once, but something unforeseen might prompt me to reject her, so I would like you to refrain from making it definitive for now. You can proceed with the negotiations positively in general, though.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I will make preparations up to the point, where we can announce your engagement at any moment, if you feel like it. If possible, I would like you to take her along to the marriage of General Puyol as your fianc¨¦e.¡±

    Count M¨¢rguez nodded with a broad smile, when his son answered faithful to his expectations.

    * * *

    After their parade, Princess Freya and her entourage entered the Royal Pce and attended a formal ceremony for foreign visitors in the audience room.

    Giving them three days to rest in order to relieve the exhaustion they umted through the long journey from Valentia to the Capital, the Royal Pce then hosted a night banquet to wee and entertain Princess Freya and her retainers.

    Dressed up men and women had gathered in arge ball room, which was illuminated by numerous fancy chandeliers and arge number of tall candlesticks, and were conversing merrily.

    During the Vibrant Season, the temperatures at noon could already be called ¡°refreshing¡± rather than ¡°hot¡± and at night, it became pleasantly cool.

    Consequently, the people dressed differentlypared to the night banquets of the Hottest Season. The variation in clothes was obviously a lot more multifaceted now. True to the motto of Modern Japanese that fall was the most fashionable season, the temperatures during the Vibrant Season were just about right, so you were neither hot, when you put on a few moreyers, nor were you freezing, when you put on a bit less, so it goes without saying that more liberties could be taken with the fashion.

    Thedies and gentlemen really went all-out with their dresses, but amongst them, two people still stood out most of all: The honorary guest Princess Freya and the female warrior standing next to her, Victoria Kronkvist aka. Skathi.

    In Valentia, Princess Freya had cross-dressed most of the time, since she was acting in her role as the captain of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±, but she was wearing the proper dress of a princess right now.

    Her light-blue dress had been brought along from the faraway Upps Kingdom. Its design was rather simple, keepingce or other decorations to a bare minimum, but on a closer look, you noticed a blue sapphire, the exclusive decoration of the royal family of the Upps Kingdom, worked into it and an elegant style that was plenty of eye-catching in itself.

    Moreover, the owner of that dress was an unfathomable beauty with short blue-tinted silver hair and ice-blue eyes.

    She had skin so white that it looked unrealistic to the people of the South Continent, and her standing figure was stunning beyond nature.

    Attracting the gazes of everyone, not just the men, Princess Freya kept on smiling, even when she heard the whispered gossip from around her. As a natural-born princess, she must have been used to stand in the spotlight.

    The chandeliers projected countless shadows onto the red carpet while she advanced over it in the traditional manner of her mothend.

    The culture of the Carpa Kingdom generally considered it bad manners, when someone of lower status called out to someone of higher status first.

    Having been told of this in advance, Princess Freya wanted to melt the ice by opening a conversation herself, so she looked around smiling, but a silhouette approached her before she could act.

    ¡°Why, good evening, Princess of the North. May I have the pleasure of making your acquaintance?¡±

    A young man with blonde hair and green eyes, wearing something like a dark purple tuxedo like a glove, casually called out to her with a smile and no sense of tension.

    Behind him followed a young woman with auburn hair, d in a light purple dress.

    ¡°Yes, of course. May I have your name, please?¡±

    Princess Freya responded with a smile like that, although she already had an idea, who the man and woman were that stood before her.

    ¡°Thank you. My name is Francesco. I am the eldest son of the Crown Prince of the Sharrow Royal Family from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell.¡±

    ¡°My name is Bona. I hail from the same Sharrow Royal Family.¡±

    When Prince Francesco and Princess Bona announced their affiliation with the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, the major power ruling over the central part of the South Continent, Princess Freya also gave her name as the representative of her homnd, the Upps Kingdom, with a smile and her head raised.

    ¡°Thank you for your polite introduction. I am Freya, the eldest daughter of Gustav V, the King of the Upps Kingdom. This is my trusted retainer Victoria Kronkvist also known as Skathi.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Standing at attention behind Princess Freya, the tall female warrior wordlessly lowered her head in acknowledgement, as the fellow royalty introduced each other.

    By the way, Skathi was not armed, as might be expected. She had taken off her leather armour for something like a blue military uniform with silver embroidery. Below it she actually wore something feminine, namely a skirt, but on a closer look, the short skirt with a deep slit at the side turned out to have some kind of short trousers sewed in beneath it.

    That kind of outfit enabled her to move around as good as in normal trousers, if necessary, but still gave off a feminine impression at the same time. Maybe this was actually the dress uniform for female soldiers in the Upps Kingdom.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I call a tall and reliable bodyguard. Hello there.¡±

    Anyway, Prince Francesco seemed to have understood the unspoken intention from Skathi to be nothing more than a bodyguard for Princess Freya here, so he only called out to her once with a silly smile and then shifted his attention back to Princess Freya.

    ¡°Let me call you Princess Freya then. But I have to say, it¡¯s my first time meeting someone from the North Continent, so I¡¯m quite excited, if you will forgive my saying so. Would you tell me more about your culture?¡±

    Prince Francesco could consort most familiar with someone he met for the first time without making that person feel enraged. That ability of his might be even more abnormal than his ability to control the bloodline magic of two different royal families.

    Standing behind him, Princess Bona was sweating bullets under her forced smile, but Princess Freya showed no sign of being offended by the tant attitude of the foreign prince, and replied with a smile.

    ¡°Yes, as long as time allows it, dly. I am ashamed to admit this, but I actually have never heard of the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell beforeing to the South Continent.

    I would appreciate it, if you could tell me about it as well.¡±

    ¡°Why, yes! I say it¡¯s only natural to not have heard of it on the North Continent. I mean, our kingdom is located in the central part of the South Continent and has no connection to the sea. We practically have zero contact with the North Continent.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thank you for enlightening me. But then again, you two look a lot more like us rather than the people of the Carpa Kingdom.¡±

    Her scepsis was understandable. People on the South Continent generally had darker skin, even considering nuances, but Prince Francesco and Princess Bona had exceptional fair white skin.

    They resembled Princess Freya and Skathi so much that someone clueless would immediately believe it, when he was told that the four of them came from the same country.

    Francesco smiled frivolously to the reference from Princess Freya

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s probably because our ancestors were settlers from the North Continent. By now, the blood has mingled with the one from the South Continent, so some royalty or nobles do tend to look like the natives here, but the majority of them still looks like Bona and me.¡±

    and revealed some personal information.

    ¡°Oh, really now. I see.¡±

    Princess Freya appeared to be impressed, but she contemted the contrary point of what she had heard just now at heart.

    It was not unthinkable that they still looked nothing like the natives, even after numerous generations. The term ¡°settlers¡± suggested that they had been more than just one or two people, so it was quite usible that they refrained from mingling with the natives in order to protect the bloodline magic.

    While preserving the bloodline magic like that, they unintentionally happened to preserve their appearance as well.

    The problematic part was that fact that the Twin Kingdom, the ce where they settled, was located deep in the innernd with no connection to the sea.

    Needless to say, you could only migrate from the North Continent to the South Continent by boat. Regardless of how many years ago it happened, the ancestors of the Twin Kingdom ought to have arrived on the continent by the sea first.

    Despite that, the Twin Kingdom was apletelyndlocked country in the central part of the South Continent now. Of course it was possible that it was the result of repeated expansions and surrenders ofnd in all the years.

    But that made no sense either, considering the fact that the current Twin Kingdom was a major power known for their ¡°domination over the central part of the South Continent¡±. The creature known as human could generally forget about taking something unrightfully, but never forgot about having something taken away from him unrightfully.

    Assuming the Twin Kingdom has had a coastline in their territory once upon a time, someone would have definitely demanded to ¡°reim the lostnd¡±.

    Then Princess Freya suddenly thought of another possibility. She kept her smile under perfect control and asked.

    ¡°So I can take it that the members of the other royal family in the Twin Kingdom, namely the Jilbell Royal Family, also look like you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, indeed. Of course each family has its own distinct features, but overall, we all do not look all that different from people of the North Continent.¡±

    When Prince Francesco answered her casually like that, Princess Freya started to harbour another doubt at heart.

    (Two royal families with a bloodline magic each migrated to the South Continent as one group? Moreover, they did not separate ways then, but founded a single country together? That seems rather unnatural.)

    Under normal circumstances, a royal family with a bloodline magic was prone to cling to their sovereignty. Princess Freya was unable to rule it outpletely, since she did not know about every kingdom that once existed on the North Continent, but at the very least, she could not think of a country that would apply to the Sharrow Family and Jilbell Family while they were still on the North Continent.

    When a royal family possessed such a convenient bloodline magic like the Bestowal Magic or Healing Magic, some stories about them were bound to be remaining, even if they had perished.

    (Well, a bloodline magic is not everything, when ites to the power of the state, so it would not be all that strange, when a dynasty or two perished without entering the history books. Even less so, when that dynasty did not actually perish, but just moved over to the South Continent¡­)

    The possibilities were endless, so Princess Freya concluded that it was pointless to muse about it any further right now. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and breached a casual topic instead.

    ¡°I envy the South Continent for its variety of dragons. It has been my first time riding a dragon carriage. To my shame, I must confess that I was overexcited much like a child.¡±

    The topic must have been appealing to Prince Francesco as well. The blond prince jumped at the chance at once.

    ¡°Yes, I recall that the North Continent has very few dragons. Here, even the same species can be quite different, depending where theye from. Most of the Raptorial Dragon from around here are green and resilient against heat, but in our Twin Kingdom they generally have a fawn colour and can cope with dry air.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? That is quite the difference, considering it is the same continent.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The culture varies in the west and central part, too. Not only is the architecture quite different, the atmosphere in the cities is something else entirely.¡±

    ¡°That is really fascinating.¡±

    From that point on, Princess Freya and Princess Francesco exchanged experiences about their respective cultures.

    After a while,

    ¡°Heree Her Majesty Aura and Master Zenjirou!¡±

    a voice echoed through therge hall, heralding the entry of the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom and her husband.

    ¡°Prince Francesco, Princess Bona, you will have to excuse me. I need to bid Her Majesty Aura and His Majesty Zenjirou wee.¡±

    Hearing that Aura and Zenjirou wereing, Princess Freya bowed herself off from the prince and princess of the Twin Kingdom and was about to leave.

    ¡°Oh, then let¡¯s go together. We have to greet them as well.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. If you do not object, Princess Freya, please let us apany you.¡±

    Prince Freya had no real reason to turn down the request from the prince and princess to go along with her. They were in the same boat in regards to an obligatory greeting to the host, namely the royal couple.

    ¡°Very well. Let us go then.¡±

    With a smile, she allowed them to tag along with her.

    ¡°Your Majesty Aura, Your Majesty Zenjirou. I owe you a debt of gratitude for holding this wonderful party for my sake today. I, Freya Upps, yield you my thanks as the representative of the delegation from the Upps Kingdom.¡±

    Freya Upps expressed her gratitude with a beautiful and clear pronunciation and swept a curtsy by holding on to the hem of her dress and lowering her head a bit.

    epting the courtesy from the princess of the North Continent, Queen Aura threw out her voluminous chest and nodded generously.

    ¡°It appears you relieved the exhaustion from your long journey all right. The banquet tonight is held to wee you with open arms. Enjoy it to the fullest.¡±

    ¡°The party is unceremoniously, so I hope you can rx and enjoy it, Princess Freya.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you very much.¡±

    When Aura and Zenjirou answered her, she bowed in a manner that was obviously different from the etiquette on the South Continent. There was no doubt, though, that the unfamiliar motion was something extremely graceful.

    Zenjirou had gotten quite used to conduct himself as royalty in the past one and a half year, but needless to say, he was still not at the level of a natural-born royalty like Aura.

    Thus, he basically let Queen Aura take the lead and just stood by her side on asions like this. Normally, he would have to stand behind her, but the Carpa Kingdom was patriarchal inclined. Even if he was the husband of the ruling Queen, people would not shut up about it, when a man stood behind a woman.

    ¡°You have been in our country for over a month already, but came to the Capital only recently. The food here is obviously quite different from Valentia, where you have stayed for a long time.

    I am sure that there will be some cuisines not to your liking, because of our cultural differences, but I hope you can enjoy it nevertheless.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I already had the pleasure of trying some of them, Your Majesty. The cooking here is quite piquant.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Unfortunately, I have never tasted the cooking from the North Continent myself, so I cannot really tell, but I guess it really is different?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. The North Continent has no dragons as livestock, so the meat is always from goats, cows and pigs. In case of our Upps Kingdom, we have the meat from reindeers as well. Surprisingly enough, the vegetables are more or less the same, but the seasoning is the most crucial difference.

    We have no cuisines on the North Continent, which uses spices or sugar bountiful.¡±

    The culinary art livened up the casual conversation between Queen Aura and Princess Freya, true to the function of an appetizer. Food and clothes were rtively safe topics, so they were often used as amon theme for conversations like this one.

    By the look of it, Aura would have no problem attending to Princess Freya by herself for a while.

    With that in mind, Zenjirou took a look around. As if he had waiting for that moment, the blonde man in the purple outfit showed a friendly smile and called out to him.

    ¡°Hey, it has been a while, Your Majesty Zenjirou. As you can see, I already treated myself to one.¡±

    Saying this, the blonde man¡ª Prince Francesco raised his silver goblet that was filled with a cocktail based on the distilled liquor.

    ¡°I am d to see you again, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Thank you very much for inviting us tonight.¡±

    The chaperone for Princess Francesco, Princess Bona appeared from behind him with these words.

    As always, her characteristically wavy and auburn hair was sprinkled with silver dust. The simple light purple dress she was wearing suited her well and fit into the ambience all right, but Zenjirou remembered that her outfit and hairstyle were practically always the same. Of course the dress itself was always a different one, but the simple one-piece design in a light purple colour never changed.

    He somewhat got the impression that Princess Bona wanted to expend as little effort as possible for fashion.

    Anyway, seeing as the prince and princess of the Twin Kingdom had greeting him in person, Zenjirou had to return the favour as well.

    ¡°Good evening, Prince Francesco, Princess Bona. Yes, please enjoy yourself.¡±

    His wife was taking care of the honorary guest Princess Freya, so Zenjirou gave his attention to Prince Francesco and Princess Bona for now.

    Practically his equals, Zenjirou was already somewhat familiar with them, so he could deal with them rtively stressless.

    Thus he talked to them in a rxed manner.

    ¡°By the way, is it just me, or are you wearing this for the first time, Prince Francesco?¡±

    ¡°I knew I could count on you to notice it! That¡¯s the new shirt I had ordered here in the Capital.¡±

    Saying this, Prince Francesco proudly pointed not at his purple tuxedo jacket, but at the white shirt beneath it.

    Zenjirou definitely deserved praise for recognizing the shirt as new, seeing as it was only showing for bit at the neck line of the jacket.

    Having said this, he had only noticed it because of the ¡°four-hole buttons¡± on it, not because he had a keen eye for fashion.

    Whether it was the same for the North Continent or not, these ¡°four-hole buttons¡± were a fairly umon sight on the South Continent at least. The purveyors to the court had keenly discerned them on the clothes Zenjirou had brought along and with his permission, they had started to copy them, so every shirt with four-hole buttons was new without doubt.

    The general button was a pricey kind of ornament, except for the simple wooden ones, so most of them were fancy and extravagant like brooches, decorating the clothes of royalty and nobility.

    ¡°These buttons are quite fascinating. Its t surface allows you to wear them even underneath without hindrance and they stick firmly to the clothes, since they were sewed on through four holes.

    When I think about it, it¡¯s quite the simple idea, but I am still impressed.¡±

    After Prince Francesco said this, Princess Bona joined the conversation a bit curiously, despite usually staying in the background.

    ¡°Are these buttons made out of dragon bones? They certainly look simple, but it can by no means be an easy task to tten them to that extent and open four holes so near each other without breaking it. And considering that a thread is going through these holes, you have to properly polish the holes or the thread will tear while you thread it in.¡±

    Her interest apparently did not stem from its decorative value, but rather from the technique to manufacture it.

    (Now that I think about it, it¡¯s a bit strange. She loves jewellery, yet has no interest in dressing herself up. I guess her sphere of interest is rather small? The one from Prince Francesco strikes me as too broad, though.)

    While these thoughts crossed his mind, Zenjirou responded to the prince and princess.

    ¡°Yes. The result is simple indeed, but it actually requires even more skill to make one than the normal decorative button. But I¡¯d like to think that it would not prove difficult for the two of you?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. It might be worthwhile to make them out of metal like silver or copper, too. These materials dull more easily, so it requires intense care, but that way, you grow an attachment for it.¡±

    ¡°I think I will try to make them out of the ¡®corals¡¯ I received from you, Your Majesty Zenjirou. It should prove to be a practical, but pretty ornament, when I shape the red corals into a flower and open four holes in the middle of it.¡±

    As long as it was novel, Prince Francesco disyed an interest in about anything, whereas Princess Bona¡¯s interest was only piqued, when it concerned jewellery.

    Zenjirou was d to see that they both delved into the subject, but when Princess Bona mentioned the souvenir corals, he felt a conscience-stricken pain in his chest, but forced himself to smile on the surface.

    (Sorry. To be honest, it wasn¡¯t from me, but from Ines¡­)

    Forced to return home at once due to the unexpected happenings at Valentia, Zenjirou had been unable to buy the souvenirs he had promised to them.

    Later on, he had sent a ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡± to the waiting maid Ines, who had still been in Valentia, and had her buy the corals and pearls in his stead. Both Prince Francesco and Princess Bona had been delighted at the souvenirs, but Zenjirou felt a bit guilty.

    Nevertheless, he could not really talk about that, so he went along with their conversation, feigning innocence.

    ¡°Oh, that sounds great. What do you think of trying other materials besides the corals? I am not an expert on the matter, but would not amber or jade work as well?¡±

    ¡°What a wonderful idea! Ah, but when you are going as far as using such beautiful stones, it might be more worthwhile to process them into the usualrge decorative buttons rather than into these inconspicuous buttons. Ah, but it could be considered more fancy, if you dare to use a precious stone as a concealed button¡­¡±

    Princess Bona was usually introverted, but she, too, came out of her shell, when jewellery was mentioned. So far, so good, but she would then lose all moderation and nevere to an end.

    Zenjirou decided it would be dangerous to continue the topic any further, so he broke off the conversation about the buttons and started to push for a different topic.

    ¡°Reminds me, you came over together with Princess Freya. Do you already have made an acquaintance with her?¡±

    ¡°Yes. We have been talking with her before you came.¡±

    ¡°She was so kind to entertain us after the introductions.¡±

    Princess Freya must have heard their answers. Her conversation with Queen Aura had just came to a halt, so she butted into their conversation with a smile.

    ¡°Indeed. I had the pleasure to strike up an acquaintance with them. The stories about the Twin Kingdom have been extremely intriguing to me, since I was born in the north.¡±

    ¡°Oh please, your stories about the North Continent have been quite entertaining, too. I would love to hear more at ater date, when you have time.¡±

    ¡°Oh my, I would be d to, Prince Francesco.¡±

    Unlike Prince Francesco, Princess Freya seemed to imply more than mere curiosity, but no one was touching upon that.

    With an innocence smile like a child, Prince Francesco carried on.

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Freya. Oh, right. I hope His Majesty Zenjirou can participate then, too.

    Did you know that His Majesty is very erudite, Princess Freya? It was him, who made the drink in Lady Skathi¡¯s goblet. Am I right, Your Majesty Zenjirou?¡±

    For some reason, the prince proudly announced that, whereupon Zenjirou grinded his teeth, annoyed with his unnecessary meddling, but he had not really been keeping the distilled liquor a secret to begin with.

    ¡°Well, yes. I certainly did made it, but calling me erudite is giving me too much credit.¡±

    He tried to brush aside the subject humbly, but perceptive as she was, Princess Freya obviously did not let that happen.

    ¡°Oh my, is that so? So you are versed in making ¡®distilled liquor¡¯.¡±

    She raised an affected voice of surprise, where as Skathi behind her widened her eyes genuinely surprised and stared at the goblet in her hand.

    Queen Aura discerned that she needed to help out, so she naturally applied herself

    ¡°Going by your phrasing, I take it that ¡®distilled liquor¡¯ is nothing umon on the North Continent?¡±

    by asking that.

    The silver-blue-haired princess answered the question from the red-haired queen without dy.

    ¡°Yes. The North Continent has it as well. Having said this, it was only developed rtive recently, so I would not really call itmon yet.¡±

    Aura suspected that Princess Freya was definitely more wary of Zenjirou now and attached importance to him, even if she did not let it show on her face.

    The people on the North Continent prided themselves on having more advanced technology than the South Continent. So when they heard that someone from the South Continent had implemented something that was still considered a novel technique on the North Continent, even if it was nothing but a luxury good like alcohol, their evaluation and wariness towards that someone was bound to rise.

    ¡°I see. Then I would love to hear your honest opinion on it. We are still only making a small amount of it right now, but we would like to expand the business to a national scale in the future.¡±

    Aura asked for her help without turning a hair, but Princess Freya regretfully shrugged her shoulders a bit.

    ¡°My apologies. I have barely ever tasted it, since the alcohol is too strong for me. My Skathi here should be more familiar with it, though. Am I right, Skathi?¡±

    Suddenly addressed, the female bodyguard flinched surprised for a second, but Skathi was still her trusted retainer and bodyguard.

    Used to being asked for her opinion by superiors at ces like this one, she answered in a t voice without any tension or excitement.

    ¡°Hmm, I recognize the distilled liquor I just had as a freshly distilled alcohol mixed with fruit juice.

    Of course there is nothing wrong with drinking it like that, but on the North Continent, we let it rest in wooden barrels for a few years. It thus grows richer in colour, vour and taste.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you mean maturation.¡±

    Zenjirou inadvertently spoke his mind, when Skathi gave that advice.

    Apparently, the North Continent had developed the technique to age distilled liquor by storing it for a long time, like it was the case with whiskey or brandy.

    ¡°Mh? You already knew of it, Zenjirou?¡±

    Queen Aura asked disappointed, whereupon Zenjirou quickly exined himself.

    ¡°Ah, no. I only knew that such a method existed, but not how to actually implement it.¡±

    Although he did know that it involved putting the distilled alcohol into wooden barrels and letting it rest, he had no idea how to go about it in detail. For example, what kind of wood should be used for the wooden barrels? And he did hear that whiskey barrels were charred on the inside, but to what extent? Also, were there other factors to take into consideration?

    It would require a lot of trial-and-errors to ascertain that. But the maturation process took years, so it would take at least a century to develop the method through trial-and-error.

    Zenjirou had not been that desperate for it, so he had put it on the back burner for now, but he probably should exin all this to Aura once they were back in the Inner Pce.

    Standing diagonally across from him, Princess Freya narrowed her ice-blue eyes to slits and smiled at Zenjirou while these thoughts crossed his mind.

    ¡°You really do know a lot, Your Majesty Zenjirou. As Prince Francesco has suggested, I certainly would like to have a talk with you in peace at some point.¡±

    ¡°Definitely. We are bound to meet for the transfer of the goats down the road, so if you like, we can talk then.¡±

    Zenjirou fended off her aggressive approach like that, but as though he had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire, Prince Francesco dered loudly.

    ¡°Eh? But then I won¡¯t be able to talk to you. Your Majesty Zenjirou, please hang out with me, too, afterwards.¡±

    The night banquet was kept ratherx, but even then, the utterance from Prince Francesco was barely eptable. As such, Princess Bona lost all the zestful colour she had in her face and pulled the prince at his sleeve with all her might.

    ¡°P- Prince Francesco!¡±

    Fortunately enough, everyone present seemed to posses a generous heart, so no one frowned at his mannerless outburst.

    But Queen Aura shattered that desire of his for a different reason than its rudeness.

    ¡°I am afraid that your wish will go unfulfilled, Prince Francesco. My husband is schedule to leave the pce for some business as my representative.¡±

    ¡°Eh, again!?¡±

    When the Queen revealed this, only Prince Francesco voiced his dismay, but Princess Bona and Princess Freya looked surprised all the same.

    Zenjirou was the Prince Consort, but he had only left the Capital once so far, namely for the matter with Princess Freya in Valentia.

    In other words, it was easily conceivable that something must be happening in the bordend soon that was equally important as the visit from Princess Freya.

    ¡°Where are you headed, Your Majesty Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°Well, you see¡­¡±

    Seeing that her husband had doubts whether he was allowed to mention it or not, the Queen at his side helped him out.

    ¡°My husband is going to the March of Guzzle. This is still confidential, so please keep it to yourself. The marriage ceremony of a prominent figure of our Kingdom will be held there.¡±

    Aura lowered her voice on purpose as she said that, but the ¡°confidential¡± part was a lie, of course.

    Strictly speaking, the marriage between General Puyol and Lucinda Guzzle had admittedly not been announced to the public yet, but it was actually a so-called ¡°open secret¡± that had gotten around to the point, where almost all the nobles, who frequented the Royal Pce, already knew about it.

    Since it was not officially announced yet, it was not okay to broadcast the story everywhere, but even if you were to do so, there was not really aw against it, nor a punishment as a matter of course.

    Otherwise, Aura would have never mentioned it to royalties from different countries in this ce, where who knows might be eavesdropping.

    Nevertheless, it was exciting to have a ¡°secret talk¡±, even if it was just for show.

    Princess Freya flushed her snow-white face a bit and leaned a bit forward.

    ¡°Oh my, a marriage ceremony? In view of the fact that you mentioned the March of Guzzle, is it possible that Sir Xavier is getting married?¡±

    Having been involved in the Pack Dragon ruckus in Valentia, she had met with Xavier Guzzle in person, making a casual acquaintance. He was one of the few contacts she had, since Princess Freya had only arrived in the Carpa Kingdom a few months ago.

    ¡°No, it is not his wedding. The eldest daughter of the Guzzle Family, Lady Lucinda will be getting married. She will wed General Puyol, the current head of the Guill¨¦n Family.¡±

    The name mentioned in Aura¡¯s exnation was not unfamiliar to Princess Freya either.

    She had heard of his name in terms of an intermittent leader for the Pack Dragon Subjugation and during the month-long stay in the Residence of the Duke of Valentia, the gossip about the top general of the Carpa Kingdom did go around as well.

    When the marriage concerned a significant general of the country, it certainly made sense that the Prince Consort attended it as the representative for the Queen.

    Convinced like that, Princess Freya quickly wracked her brain and reached a bold conclusion.

    ¡°I do have a connection to the Guzzle Family as well.

    Your Majesty Zenjirou, would you please allow me to apany you to the marriage ceremony?¡±

    Five royalties from three different royal families were making conversation here. People were sure to have listened in on them.

    As soon Princess Freya made that bold request, the ball room fell so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

    Queen Aura clicked her tongue at heart, when all the gazes were turned to them, but corrected the princess from the North Continent with a calm tone.

    ¡°Princess Freya, you may not know about it, but here on the South Continent, it often signifies a deep rtionship, when you attend a marriage ceremony together with a woman, who is not rted by blood.

    I am sure you said it unsuspectingly, but are you not being a bit too thoughtless here?¡±

    The warning from the Queen was recited calmly, but had a touch of intimidation. Nevertheless, Princess Freya did not even bat an eye.

    On the contrary, she intensified her smile and

    ¡°Oh my, is that so? Then it is ¡®just the same as on the North Continent¡¯.

    Then let me say it again: Your Majesty Zenjirou, I would like to attend the marriage ceremony as your partner. Would you please consider it?¡±

    dered this with a purposefully loud voice, so that everyone in the hall could hear it.

    Then she held onto the hem of her dress with both hands, swept an exceptional curtsy and lowered her head so low that her neck became visible.

    ¡°!?¡±

    The female bodyguard standing at attention behind her gasped in surprise.

    Skathi was the only person here, who knew the meaning behind that behaviour. The act of sweeping an exceptional curtsy while lowering the head deeply, was used by the women of the North Continent, when they proposed to a man.

    <strong>Chapter 03: The Perspective of Princess Freya</strong>

    The course of action Zenjirou and Aura took after the night banquet had already be a routine to them.

    They cast off their official attire in the living room of the Inner Pce and went straight to the bath, then they washed off the perfumed oil and sweat with plenty of soap.

    Following that, they bathed in the warm water to relieve their fatigue. After that they put on their nightwear and returned to the living room.

    There they took cold water and fruit juice from the refrigerator and wetted their parched throats.

    Before getting ready to go to bed then, the royal couple sat across each other on the couches and held a ¡°debriefing¡± of the night banquet.

    ¡°Well, I must admit that I was really surprised by what happened at the night banquet.¡±

    Sitting on the ck leather couch, the Queen broached the subject with a weary tone for once.

    ¡°Ah, yeah. It really came out of nowhere. Actually, I would¡¯ve never attended the banquet, if I have had even the slightest clue about it beforehand, no matter how much you had insisted.¡±

    Zenjirou, too, said this with the same weary voice, but the irritation disyed on his face was even more obvious.

    The surprise they spoke of was nothing less than the factual proposal from Freya Upps, the first princess of the Upps Kingdom.

    ¡°She said it so assertive in front of everyone. It leaves no room for interpretation.¡±

    Aura heaved a sigh while she rubbed her temples with the thumb and middle finger of her right hand as if smoothing a headache.

    ¡°Ehm, you mean, it¡¯s already an established fact that I¡¯ll take Princess Freya with me to the wedding of General Puyol?¡±

    Zenjirou asked timidly, like poking into a brush to check for a snake, whereupon the Queen shook her head.

    ¡°Not that. I mean that there is literally no room for interpretation about her request to you to take her with you to the wedding ceremony.

    We cannot pretend it never happened. If we were to refuse her request, it would amount to an official rejection of a formal request.¡±

    The vast majority of negotiations between nobility and royalty were generally decided in preliminary negotiations, namely in secret talks. When these preliminary negotiations failed, both side ¡°pretended it never happened¡± as a rule, so that their images came to no harm in public. It did leave an unpleasant emotional aftertaste to both parties, though.

    But this time, the matter had suddenly been brought up in public first without any of these advance talks.

    Due to that, there was no option to sweep the current matter under the carpet.

    Zenjirou was perfectly aware of the situation he was in, so his face lost all colour, when he heard that exnation.

    ¡°Wait? Am I already done for? There¡¯s no way I can refuse this, is there?¡±

    ¡°If we want to refuse it, we need to be prepared to give up on the intercontinental trade agreement.

    We would be able to write it off as rude, if they wanted a bride or groom for their family without preliminary discussions, but she is supposed to marry into our family here.

    Moreover, she wants to marry you, the Princess Consort, and not the Monarch. Not to mention that she is a first princess, who inherited the legitimate bloodline of the current king. She surely knows that I, the Queen, will not give up the position of the legal wife, which in turn means that she intends to be a concubine.

    From a political point of view, it is almost impossible to turn down such a convenient marriage proposal. The only reason to turn it down would be that a royal marriage involving another country goes against the tradition.¡±

    ¡°What? It does?¡±

    For a moment, Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled, but recalled the fact soon after.

    On the South Continent, being a member of a royal family equalled being a practitioner of a bloodline magic, so the royal blood was generally not passed on outside the country. It was fundamentally different from themon practice during Medieval Europe or Sengoku Japan in that regard.

    The bloodline was only inherited within the own country. Political marriages between different countries were basically non-existent.

    Under special circumstances, Zenjirou had priorly received an indirect marriage proposal from the Sharrow Family of the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, so themon sense of the South Continent had slipped his mind for a moment.

    ¡°So it¡¯s possible the matter will be dropped due to opposition from our own nobles?¡±

    Seeing a glimmer of hope, Zenjirou leaned forward on the couch as he asked it, but the Queen once again shook her head expressionless.

    ¡°No. The nobles will protest without doubt, but not in the way you hope for.

    They will probably protest about the fact that you ought to take a concubine from our country first before epting the princess from a different country. You might even get additional requests, when you take her to the wedding ceremony.¡±

    ¡°Additional? You mean I can take numerous partners to the ceremony?¡±

    The Queen responded to the surprised Zenjirou at once.

    ¡°Yes, there are not many cases of it, but it is not forbidden per se. It is normal for high-ss nobles to have numerous wives, so it does happen that they take a few of them along at the same time.

    Well, it usually is just one woman for one man, since it is called a ¡®partner¡¯.¡±

    Hence a man with numerous wives had to agonize over whom to take along to the ceremony. Of course the legal wife obtained priority, but the concubines would sulk, if the legal wife was given the priority all the time. Even if he were to take them one by one, there would arise disparities such as taking one woman to the marriage of a baron, but another to the marriage of a count.

    But when he tried to be fair and always took all of them along, the ceremony was akin to a battlefield.

    Thus, the invitation to a marriage ceremony was a sore point for a man with multiple wives.

    ¡°Scary¡­¡±

    Faced with the prospect to have to take a second wife at the very moment, Zenjirou unconsciously breathed what was on his mind.

    The flustered one was Aura, though.

    ¡°No, Zenjirou, you got it wrong. That was only a worst case example. Not every man with numerous wives has to go through that.

    The rtionship between the co-wives will admittedly not be harmonious all the time, but strictly speaking, any human rtionship will be more or less like that.

    As a matter of fact, there are very few incidents that escte into bloodshed.¡±

    Seeing how her husband went paler with every word from her, Aura dered with a resolute tone in order to erase his fear and anxiety.

    ¡°Oh, please. It will be fine. Just leave it to me!

    When you will have to take in concubines, I will take responsibility and keep them in check. Be it a princess from another country or the daughter of an influential noble, I will thoroughly drive the hierarchy and rules of the Inner Pce home to them and teach them not to cause problems to you.¡±

    When Aura thrusted her clenched fist out and proimed passionately, Zenjirou burst out inughter.

    ¡°Wow, what a reliable wife I have.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can count on me.¡±

    She was technically suggesting to use force, but in practice, that might actually be a good measure.

    With Zenjirou being the Prince Consort and Aura being the Queen, they were a married couple with reversed roles. When he now added concubines to that, the hierarchy among Aura and the other concubines was pretty much set in stone.

    In that case, they might as well address that hierarchy from the very beginning and let the concubine realize that they were subjects of Queen Aura before they were the wives of Prince Consort Zenjirou. By doing so, the peace in the Inner Pce could be kept.

    ¡°Anyway, you better assume that you have no way to refuse her as a partner for the marriage ceremony. It does not necessarily mean that she will be your concubine at the same time, but to be honest with you, the probability of that happening is quite high, so prepare yourself.¡±

    Zenjirou looked at the ceiling on that ultimatum.

    ¡°Okay¡­ Man, and here I had hoped to bluff it out by asking Mrs. Pascu to be my partner.¡±

    ¡°You would practically ask for trouble, if you were to refuse Prince Freya in this situation and take Beldam Pascu as your partner instead.¡±

    ¡°¡­Right.¡±

    Pascu was an elder woman of over seventy years-old and the wife of the Royal Archmage Espaldion.

    When a married man was invited to a marriage ceremony, he generally asked a rted woman, when his wife was prevented for any reason, but Zenjirou had no rtives here. They were in a different world, in Japan, and Aura was the sole survivor of her family.

    In such a case, one usually took a married female acquaintance along as the partner, so Zenjirou had wanted to ask Pascu to assume that role.

    ording to that, his private tutor Lady Octavia would be a possible candidate, too, but even though she was already married, she was a young beauty. If he were to invite her carelessly, he coulde under suspicion of being wolfish, so they had cast away that idea.

    At any rate, there was no way to gloss over the matter to begin with, since a high-ranking personality in the form of a foreign princess made a clear request at an official event.

    ¡°Anyway, we still do not know what she wants from us. Depending on that, we might have to refuse her, even if it costs us the intercontinental trade agreement.¡±

    ¡°By the way, what happens if her terms are reasonable?¡±

    ¡°In that case, well, I will do my best to preserve your peaceful life in the Inner Pce.¡±

    ¡°¡­Thanks.¡±

    Although the Queen answered earnestly, she averted her eyes from him. Zenjirou could only give her a word of thanks as he heaved a deep sigh.

    * * *

    Around the same time, Princess Freya and Skathi had returned from the night banquet to their room in the Royal Pce and were discussing the results of tonight¡¯s banquet as well.

    The whole adjacent building in the Royal Pce was currently rented out to Princess Freya and herpany and numerous soldiers of the Upps Kingdom were guarding it. In the room furthest in the back, Princess Freya had changed into casual clothes and was sitting mannerly on the couch.

    ¡°Good job tonight, Skathi. The South Continent sure is something. Even thiste at night without a fire, we can dress so lightly and not freeze.¡±

    She wore a in white one-piece dress with half-sleeves and it was currently the beginning of thetter half of the Vibrant Season, which would be January in terms of the Earth calendar.

    In the Upps Kingdom on the North Continent, you would still freeze around this time of the year, even if you wore thick clothes and heated up the firece to the maximum, so Princess Freya could not help but feel alienated by thisfortable temperature that allowed her to wear just a thin one-piece dress with half-sleeves at night.

    The tall female warrior Skathi had also changed into casual clothes, just like her master, and she responded to her master while she sat duly on the couch across from her.

    ¡°Indeed. But I am grateful for it. If I had to wear a fur against the cold, it would obstruct my foot- and spearwork. I can live up to my full potential in these kind of clothes.¡±

    Skathi wore a grey attire simr to a sweatshirt and sweat pants. Her beloved spear with the tusk of a Sea Elephant was leaning against the couch she was sitting on, so she was ready to jump into action at any moment.

    They had been weed with open arms, but this was still the Royal Pce of a foreign country. As a bodyguard, Skathi never lowered her guardpletely, just in case.

    ¡°I put my life into your hands, Skathi. I doubt it will ever be necessary, because the higher ups of this kingdom, such as Her Majesty Aura and His Majesty Zenjirou, are quite level-headed, but I am counting on you, if anything happens.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you honour me.¡±

    The silver-haired princess smiled dearly, whereas the blonde female warrior kept a serious expression, but softened the look in her eyes a bit as she lowered her head.

    Skathi considered Princess Freya as a master worthy of her loyalty and her affection for her was so strong that she was even willing to give her life in order to protect her.

    But for that very reason, she also considered it her duty to question her master for her intentions, when she did something iprehensible, or advise her, when she felt something amiss.

    The serious-looking female warrior looked her master straight into the eyes and asked with a sharp tone.

    ¡°Mdy, I am firmly convinced that you always act with a solid n in mind. But to be honest, I cannotprehend your behaviour at the night banquet earlier at all. If you please, do tell me your intentions.¡±

    At the night banquet earlier, Princess Freya had asked Zenjirou to take her along as his partner to the marriage ceremony. Skathi was aware that she had been the most surprised by this.

    One reason for her surprise had been the action Princess Freya had taken for it: That motion was used in the Upps Kingdom, when a ¡°woman proposed marriage¡±. Even if no one on the South Continent knew the meaning behind it, Princess Freya was not the kind of person to do that as a joke or prank.

    The second reason was that Princess Freya had brusquely declined all the marriage talks that her father or brother had brought up so far.

    As one might have already expected from the fact that she chose to be the captain of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± and travel to another continent by her own ord, Princess Freya had a rather wild side to her for a female member of the royal family.

    Aware of her role as royalty more than anyone, she did watch out for her conduct in public and was even ready to ept a political marriage in the end, but right now, she treasured her freedom above all.

    Hence Skathi could not believe her eyes, when Princess Freya practically threw away that precious time by herself with the recent decision.

    Stroking her short silver-bluish hair for a bit, Princess Freya responded to the question from her trusted retainer.

    ¡°Right. It would be best to tell you, if no one else.

    This is just my personal opinion, but I believe that the sea will y an even bigger role for the North Continent from now on. I even dare to say that the safeguarding of the sea will be the most important matter for our Upps Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I agree with you.¡±

    Skathi nodded assenting to the words of Princess Freya, letting her blonde ponytail flutter in the process.

    The northern region of the North Continent, where the Upps Kingdom was located, was separated from the rest of the continent by a steep mountain range. From the halfway point on, that mountain range was covered in snow all year long. Due to that, it was close to impossible that the Upps Kingdom would face arge-scale invasion bynd.

    At the same time, it also meant that the Upps Kingdom could barely do any trading with the other countries bynd.

    The northern region technically had three more countries besides the Upps Kingdom, but all three of them had the same cultural scene as the Upps Kingdom in a broader sense, so trade with them was not really all that worthwhile.

    From the point of view of the countries in the central or south region, a war in the northern region would be nothing more than a ¡°civil strife¡±.

    Long story short, the Upps Kingdom had to go out on the sea, when they wanted to trade with countries of a different cultural scene, and an invader from a different cultural scene would have toe mainly from the sea to attack the Upps Kingdom.

    ¡°Considering that, we do require ships for keeping our country at peace as well as for expanding the sea trade. But our own woonds are dwindling.¡±

    That was the downside of being a developed country in various aspects to date.

    The Upps Kingdom produced steel faster than any other country, built ships more vigorous than any other country and burnt more charcoal than any other country.

    As a result, their own wood resources had drawn to an end before anyone else¡¯s. Well, to be precise, the end was only bing foreseeable now and theirnd was not stripped bared yet, but therge trees required for the ship manufacture could only be found in the bordend mountain area now.

    ¡°It certainly is a grave problem for the future of our country, when we exhaust theserge trees for ship building. But can we notpensate for it with money? I was under the impression that we were going to establish a stable intercontinental trade, so that we can buy the wood from the other countries on the North Continent with its profits.¡±

    The silver-haired princess showed a confident smile and answered her trusted retainer, who had offered her own opinion.

    ¡°That certainly is a safe way, but if possible, I would like to take it one step further. Assuming that establishing a permanent intercontinental trade is beyond question for our country, there is something bothering me.¡±

    ¡°Bothering you?¡±

    Skathi cocked her head puzzled, whereupon Freya continued her exnation.

    ¡°Yes. It concerns the homnd of Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, whom we met at the banquet earlier: The Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell.

    They said that the two royal families ruling that country, the Sharrow Royal Family and Jilbell Royal Family, were settlers from the North Continent.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Prince Francesco definitely said that. Judging by their looks, it does not seem to be a lie, though.¡±

    Skathi remembered the appearances of Prince Francesco and Princess Bona from their meeting at the night banquet and answered like that.

    Blonde hair, blue eyes and white skin for Prince Francesco. Auburn hair, purple eyes and also white skin for Princess Bona. They definitely only looked like someone from the North Continent. When Princess Freya had broached the subject again, apparently half of the nobility in the Twin Kingdom were supposed to look like a person from the North Continent and their im that their ancestors were settlers from the North Continent did sound cogent to her.

    Princess Freya affirmed Skathi¡¯s opinion and added her own assumption.

    ¡°Certainly. I believe it to be true as well. But then the question arises: At what time did their ancestors move to the South Continent?

    Skathi, have you ever heard any rumours about two royal families with a bloodline magic each moving from the North Continent to the South Continent?¡±

    ¡°Well, now that you mention it¡­ I can¡¯t say I have.¡±

    After a bit of pondering, the blonde female warrior shook her head.

    Needless to say, Skathi was just a mere soldier and not an historian of the North Continent. To begin with, the North Continent was vast. There was not a single person, who ascertained the rise and fall of every royal family, since this worldcked the techniques to transmit information as well as the writing of history.

    Having said this, it did not happen every day that two royal families with a bloodline magic emigrated to the South Continent together. It was a bit strange that not even a word of it had gotten around.

    Her trusted retainer cocked her head puzzled, whereupon the silver-haired princess nodded once

    ¡°I have not heard anything, either. We would have to consult the academy in the Capital to be sure, but I assume that their ancestors moved to the South Continent quite a long time ago.¡±

    and put her own assumption into words.

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Skathi could agree with the assertion from Princess Freya. As time passed, oral lore got distorted. Then it started to fade away and in the end, it was forgotten.

    ¡°In that case, the ¡®Church¡¯ will pose a problem. How much do you know about the ¡®White Empire¡®, Skathi?¡±

    The female warrior was slightly perplexed, since the question was all too sudden and unexpected to her, but she answered truthfully anyway.

    ¡°You mean the ¡¯White Empire¡¯ from the fairytale? It was a vast empire that existed decades ago. If I remember correctly, it started a war against the ancient dragons and was obliterated within seven days?¡±

    Everyone from the North Continent had heard of this fairytale at least once in his life. It was a legend with so less credibility that the historians of the Upps Kingdom dismissed it as a ¡°ridiculous fabricated story without any substance¡±.

    But unfortunately, some people happened to believe this stupid fairytale while others pretended to believe in it in order to profit from it.

    ¡°Yes, that is the one. I am not all that familiar with the teachings of the ¡®Church¡¯, but the ¡®Church¡¯ worships the ancient dragons, so there is no doubt that they have an extremely hostile view towards the ¡®White Empire¡¯, seeing as it once started a war against these ancient dragons.¡±

    It might seemughable to regard a questionable existence as an enemy, but religion mainly drew its power from such fairytales, so they could not treat it with scorn.

    ¡°But I think even the ¡®Church¡¯ teaches that the ¡®White Empire¡¯ was destroyed well and truly?¡±

    More precisely, it was said that the whole ruling ss of the ¡®White Empire¡¯, namely its nobility and ¡®twelve royal families¡¯, had perished.

    All the other surviving citizens had admittedly been guilty of having basked in the prosperity of the ¡®White Empire¡¯, but that sin was not worth the death sentence, so the merciful ancient dragons had spared their lives and deported them to the South Continent. At least that was what the ¡®Church¡¯ was teaching. It was also the reason why the South Continent was looked down upon as the ¡®Land of Sinners¡¯.

    The interjection from Skathi prompted Princess Freya to frown for a bit before she shook her head and replied.

    ¡°Not quite. As you may know, the Church is not monolithic. They have dissenting opinions about the teaching and one of them ims that the descendants of the twelve royal families fled all the way to the South Continent and are plotting their revenge against the ancient dragons to this day.¡±

    ¡°Mdy, are you implying that the Sharrow Royal Family and Jilbell Royal Family are descendants of the ¡®White Empire¡¯?¡±

    Princess Freya gave her startled retainer a wry smile.

    ¡°Not at all. I would never suggest something that ridiculous. The ¡®White Empire¡¯ is just a fairytale to begin with.

    But I am afraid the ¡®Church¡¯ might use it as a pretence to interfere with the intercontinental trade of our country.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ That is what you meant.¡±

    With the same stern face as her master, Skathi expressed her understanding to her.

    The ¡®Church¡¯ had an authority on the North Continent right now that was not to be sneezed at. Especially in the southern region, practically every country was under the influence of the ¡®Church¡¯, so spoiling things with them meant spoiling the intercontinental trade itself.

    After all, the Upps Kingdom was located in the northern region of the North Continent. In order to cross over to the South Continent, they had to stop by a harbour in the southern region of the North Continent for supplies at least once.

    For that reason, the ¡®Church¡¯ was a damned opponent for the Upps Kingdom, since it was effectively their alleged enemy, but at the same time, they had to stay in favour with them to some extent.

    ¡°But we are trading with the Carpa Kingdom and not the Twin Kingdom. Could we not keep the consequences within a limit as long as we did not get any closer to the Twin Kingdom?¡±

    ¡°That certainly is possible, but it would be such a waste. I mean, they have the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ and ¡®Healing Magic¡¯. The North Continent does not have such powerful bloodline magic.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡±

    When her master heaved a dejected sigh, the blonde female soldier could not help but agree with her.

    They had not heard any details yet, but the ¡®Bestowal Magic¡¯ was apparently a unique magic to make tools called ¡®Magic Tools¡¯ that allowed anyone to use magic.

    These were practically indispensable for life-endangering voyages such as the intercontinental trade.

    A ¡°Drinking Water Treatment¡± magic tool for example would let them have enough drinking water at sea, even if Princess Freya were to be in bad health.

    Not to mention the ¡°Water Maniption¡± magic. Leakages were bound to happen on long sea journeys and normally the crew had no choice but to scoop out the water with buckets, but if someone could use the ¡°Water Maniption¡± magic, they would be able to move arge amount of water all at once during an emergency.

    Distresses would surely be less precarious, when these tasks relied on magic tools instead of humans.

    And a ¡°Wind Maniption¡± magic tool would be the cr¨¨me de cr¨¨me. The crew of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± was talented without doubt, but sometimes a sudden change of weather could ur along the unfamiliar route, literally taking the wind out of the sails. A lot of incidents could be avoided, if the wind could be manipted at will at such times.

    There was also the rumoured ¡°Imbued Stone of Healing¡±. It would surely be an immeasurable trump card for emergencies, if they could get their hands on one.

    ¡°Hence you want to get involved with the Twin Kingdom as well. I can understand that. But how does that rte to you getting married, Mdy?¡±

    They got back onto the initial topic by a devious route.

    Princess Freya smiled happily to her trusted retainer, who had not lost sign of the essential point during their long conversation.

    ¡°It allows me to resolve everything in one fell swoop.

    The woonds in our home country are steadily declining, but the replenishment for navy and trade ships is not slowing down at all. As things stand at the moment, we have no choice but to rely on the southern countries under the influence of the ¡®Church¡¯, if we want to continue the intercontinental trade.

    So why not establish a shipyard in the Carpa Kingdom, call over the shipwrights from the Upps Kingdom and build the ships here?

    This would allow us to even build the ¡®Mammoth Ships¡¯ for which we currently do not have enough resources and are thus stuck at the drawing board. The Mammoth Ship is evenrger than our ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯ and when we provide it with the magic tools we will buy from the Twin Kingdom, it is no longer a dream to travel between the Upps Kingdom and Carpa Kingdom without an intermediate stop for supplies. And then we no longer have to curry favour with the southern countries or the ¡®Church¡¯.

    See, it all works out.¡±

    Her master outlined her bold n with a bright smile, whereupon the female warrior was at a loss for words, overwhelmed for a moment.

    ¡°Indeed¡­ If all goes well, it does work out, but will it really y out like that?¡±

    Her n was by no means wishful thinking, but it would still require a few fortunate turns of events to aplish it like that.

    ¡°Well, that was just the best-case scenario. I do not mind if it takes a decade or two until we can trade without an intermediate stop, but I concluded that having a shipyard in the Carpa Kingdom is essential in the end.¡±

    ¡°And for that purpose, you are willing to lower yourself as a ¡®concubine¡¯?¡±

    Skathi emphasized the ¡°concubine¡± part as she inquired with a stern expression.

    Princess Freya was the first princess of the Upps Kingdom, born to the current king and its legal wife. She was a woman with the best pedigree within the country.

    To be honest, it was quite disreputable if she were to be a concubine for a different country. All the worse, she would not be the concubine to the ruler, but to the Prince Consort.

    Generally speaking, that marriage would imply that the Upps Kingdom was one or two ranks below the Carpa Kingdom.

    Nevertheless, Princess Freya did not waver in her determination in light of that inquiry.

    ¡°Yes, precisely. I believe this is to be the turning point for the future of our Upps Kingdom. We might cause our ruin, if we hesitate now.¡±

    The female warrior gave her strong-willed master a look of grievance.

    ¡°You may be right, but sacrificing yourself for it is just too¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh? Sacrificing? Why would I?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Seeing how Princess Freya widened her eyes in surprise, Skathi realized that she and her master had some kind of misunderstanding here.

    ¡°You loathed the idea of bing someone¡¯s wife and living like a bird in a cage, right? So you kept refusing all the marriage talks back home, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course, but that does not mean that I was expecting to never get married in my life. I do intend tobine my free life of adventures with my life of royal obligations.¡±

    ¡°Right. Which means you are quitting your free-spirited life with this marriage now and prioritise your royal obligation, correct? Even though you could have prolonged your marriage for a few more years at your age.¡±

    At this point, Princess Freya finally realized what exactly her trusted retainer was misunderstanding.

    The silver-haired princess burst out inughter and shared her thoughts with her retainer.

    ¡°You got it wrong, Skathi. In fact, I want to marry His Majesty Zenjirou in order to maintain my free life.

    The one month in Valentia and the banquet tonight convinced me that he is the ideal husband for me. Or at least, he is better than the gentlemen my father and brother introduced to me so far.¡±

    ¡°He is?¡±

    Skathi cocked her head puzzled in light of the unexpected evaluation.

    Even though she saw Zenjirou in a different light after the ruckus with the Pack Dragons, she still did not regard him all that highly. Skathi was a warrior to the core, so from her point of view, a man like Zenjirou, who had never carried a weapon, was not worth her attention.

    But that did not seem to be the case for Princess Freya.

    ¡°Yes. For one thing, he showed me respect for crossing the sea as a female captain, for another thing, he always treated me as his equal during the negotiations.

    And at the earlier banquet, he also had a good mood at eye level going with his wife Her Majesty Aura.

    I am sure that he will genuinely ept it, when the woman he marries acts like a man, and not just for show.¡±

    The assumption from Skathi had been right in a sense. Princess Freya had originally intended to live at her leisure as long as possible without getting married, before resigning herself to her fate of bing a ¡°good wife¡± to someone for the sake of the royal family.

    But she raised her hopes, when she saw Zenjirou and Aura. In this world, there was a female royalty, who lived freely, even after getting married, and a male royalty, who not only allowed it, but also supported her.

    Moreover, that very male royalty only had one wife so far and it would even benefit her mother country, if she were to be his concubine.

    As soon as Princess Freya had cottoned on to that fact, she had taken action almost by reflex.

    Her motivation was a bit too self-centred and pragmatic to actually call it ¡°love¡±, but precisely because of that, she was devoted to it and grudged no pains to aplish it.

    ¡°You see, His Majesty Zenjirou is the perfect partner for me. A symbiosis of my ideal and reality. ¡±

    ¡°I, I see.¡±

    Her attitude towards marriage was extremely pragmatic, but she had proposed due to her own desire this time. As the female warrior came to know of this, she just nodded consenting numerous times as though she was overwhelmed by all of this.

    * * *

    From the next day on, the whole Royal Pce was talking about the proposal from Princess Freya to Zenjirou.

    Needless to say, no one knew about the fact that the gesture Princess Freya had taken was the official proposal gesture for women of the Upps Kingdom, but asking to be your partner for a marriage ceremony was pretty much a confession already.

    The marriage between the national hero, who was still single in his thirties, and the fortunate woman, who managed to snatch him, even though she was five years past her prime, was already an hot topic, but as expected, it was no match for the fact that a foreign princess had practically confessed to the Prince Consort in public.

    And overshadowed by this ruckus, it totally went unnoticed that the other former marriage candidate of Queen Aura, Raffaelo Marquis, was going to take the Inner Pce Waiting Maid Keyshia Massana to the ceremony as his partner.

    ¡°Have you heard what happened at the banquetst night?¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. The Northern Princess sure is daring.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately I was not present there, but did she really say it right out in the open? Not just hinted at it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I happened to look their way at that moment. Princess Freya directly told Master Zenjirou: ¡®Please take me as your partner for theing marriage ceremony.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Phew, how shameless.¡±

    ¡°The North Continent really does things differently.¡±

    ¡°Oh my? Maybe Princess Freya is to be med and not the North Continent?¡±

    ¡°Sh! They can hear you!¡±

    Whispered gossip was going around everywhere in the Royal Pce.

    The matter was actually too political to call it simple gossip, but the behaviour of Princess Freya was such a sensation that the amusing gossip put any serious political discussion in the shade.

    ¡°Anyway, it is far from over.¡±

    And although they put on a serious look in the end, they still could notpletely hide the amused curiosity in their eyes.

    On a certain afternoon after a few days with these rumours going around.

    The persons in questions, Princess Freya and Zenjirou were meeting in one room of the Royal Pce.

    They met because of the delivery for the previously promised goats, but under the current circumstances, it would be scandalous, if they were to do this one-on-one.

    As a result, they had to chose a day, where Queen Aura was avable, so it had been dyed until today.

    The refreshing breeze and gentle sunlight found their way inside the room through the opened windows, where Zenjirou and Queen Aura sat next to each other on the same couch, whereas Princess Freya sat across from them.

    Behind her stood a man and a woman. The woman was the well-known tall female warrior: Skathi. But the man was a new face. He seemed to be from the North Continent as well, judging by his skin and hair colour, butpared the other soldiers from the ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯, he looked small and frail.

    Nevertheless, he was still taller and more muscr than Zenjirou.

    ¡°It took longer than expected, but I present you the previously promised goats. You get three female and eight males for a total of eleven goats. All of them are young and healthy, so you should be able to bred them at once. They are giving plenty of milk as well.

    They will surely meet your expectations, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    Princess Freya immediately talked business and exined this with a brisk tone. The goats itself had already been taken to the Royal Pce, when Princess Freya had entered the Capital, but this paperwork officially transferred the possession of the goats from Princess Freya to Zenjirou.

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Freya. It is the best gift I could wish for. You have my deep gratitude.¡±

    Zenjirou answered like this with a bright smile. His gratitude was no ttery, because the food would be a lot more enjoyable once they obtained the dairy goods made from the milk of the goats.

    He was not dissatisfied with the cooking of the Inner Pce per se, but it certainly got him excited, when it was possible to reproduce the dishes or snacks of his homnd here.

    Sitting next to him, Queen Aura entered the conversation after his words.

    ¡°Allow me to express my gratitude to you as well, Princess Freya. We have prepared a grazing ground and stable for the goats in the courtyard of the Inner Pce, but as you may know, no one in our country has ever taken care of goats before.

    I am pretty sure wemitted some mistakes in our preparations, so I would like to borrow your expertise on it.¡±

    ¡°Certainly. I brought him along for this very reason. Nici, introduce yourself.¡±

    The young man standing behind the couch gave a jerk in light of the words from Princess Freya.

    ¡°Y- Yes. My name is N- Nici! Please ask me anything about the goats!¡±

    The voice of the young man Nici had bepletely tremulous from nervousness. Princess Freya back him up in a calm manner.

    ¡°Nici is mainly in charge of the livestock on the ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯. Hees from a peasant family with arge farm.

    No one knows more about goats than him. I am willing to assign him to you for the time being.¡±

    Upon her introduction, Zenjirou nodded convinced.

    Apparently the reason his physique looked weaker than the warriors from the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± was that he was no professional soldier. As a matter of fact, only a quarter of the whole crew was solely specialised inbat, since the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± was arge ship for extended voyages.

    It goes without saying that all of them could take up arms if the situation called for it, considering that they had been chosen for the ship that carried the first princess, but they were not explicitly trained in martial arts.

    ¡°I see. I am sure it will be a lot of work, but I am counting on you.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will do my utmost!¡±

    Still standing at attention, Nici responded to the acknowledgement from Zenjirou with a ringing voice.

    Although he was part of the crew of the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡±, Nici was young and nothing but a farmer, so he probably was not really high-born.

    Zenjirou was worried about the young goat enthusiast, who had turned bright red from nervousness, so he immediately produced relief.

    ¡°Princess Freya, I do not mean to rush things, but if possible, I want him to head into the courtyard right now and start teaching our staff how to take care of the goats straightaway.¡±

    His wife seemed to understand his intention as she went along with it.

    ¡°Yes, that sounds good. Mr. Nici, five our people should already be taking care of the goats in the courtyard. You may regard them as your subordinates. Order and use them as you see fit.

    But please keep in mind that your instructions should enable them to take care of the goats by themselves in the future.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand.¡±

    Nici lowered his head almost to an angle of ny degrees on the spot.

    Taking care of goats may sound easy at first, but it required a lot of knowledge: How to put them to sleep. How to prepare their food. How to breed them safely. How they gave birth. How to treat the young goats. How to milk them or even how to ughter them. One month would hardly be enough to learn all of this.

    ¡°Indeed. You heard it, Nici. Please head to the courtyard and do your thing. And conduct yourself properly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can count on me, Princess Freya.¡±

    With the permission from his master, Nici bowed clumsily and quickly left the room.

    ¡°Allow me to thank you two for your consideration on behalf of my subordinate.¡±

    Giving the leaving Nici a fleeting nce, Princess Freya then said this with a soft smile. She apparently had caught on to the intention from Zenjirou.

    Zenjirou became somewhat bashful and hid his embarrassment behind a forced smile.

    ¡°Do not mention it. I did mean it, when I said that I wanted him to start right away, after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, please be at ease. Nici is truly an expert, when ites to goats.

    The goats we picked for you are splendid, too, so it should definitely answer your expectations.

    Nici mentioned that they fulfil the ¡®three m-conditions¡®.¡±

    ¡°M-conditions?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Milk, meat and sexually matur¡­¡±

    ¡°Mdy!¡±

    In the midst of the answer from Princess Freya, the female warrior rebuked her from behind and stopped her borderline utterance at the veryst second.

    As far as the official records were concerned, this meeting was held in order to pass on the goats. Hence it would be no problem to call it a day now, but this asion was far too valuable for both parties to let it end with just the transfer of the goats.

    Zenjirou had been rtively active so far, because the present was for him, but now the Queen sitting next to him would take up the baton.

    ¡°Well then, we finished what we came here for, but a lot faster than I had expected. Princess Freya, if your schedule allows it, would you like to make some small talk for a bit longer?¡±

    Despite the choice of inquiring words, her eyes and voice were clearlymunicated her intention to talk about that certain matter.

    There was no way Princess Freya would miss that hint.

    ¡°Yes, of course. I am not so foolish to let an opportunity to talk with you slide so easily.¡±

    She replied with a perfectly controlled smile as well.

    (Oh shit, this is too much for me¡­)

    Zenjirou foresaw the following conversation and starting to think up an excuse to leave, but changed his mind soon after.

    (No, I¡¯ll definitely regret, if I leave now.)

    There was hardly anything he could do, though, even if he stayed. He had admittedly gotten somewhat used to the heated exchanges of higher society, but it was totally out of his league, when it concerned establishing a partnership between a man and a woman.

    Nevertheless, Zenjirou did understand that the problem revolved around his person, so he resigned to his fate, telling himself that he ought to be present at least.

    Whether she knew about this determination of her husband or not, the Queen boldly threw out her chest and started to make ¡°small talk¡±.

    ¡°You sure surprised us at the earlier night banquet. The Royal Pce speaks about nothing but you, Princess Freya.¡±

    The silver-haired Princess flushed her cheeks a bit embarrassed, when the red-haired Queen suddenly went like a bull at a gate.

    ¡°I am aware of the trouble I caused you, but I thought that I would never get the chance to get closer to His Majesty Zenjirou, if I let this opportunity slide, so I was unable to keep myself in check.¡±

    ¡°Oho, my husband sure is loved.

    He certainly is an irreceable Prince Consort to me as well as the target of my ardent love, but if I may say so, he is not really all that popr in general. May I ask what attracted you to him so much?¡±

    As troublesome as it sounded, even the political marriages between nobility or royalty that were in fact consummated for status and wealth, ced quite the importance on the feelings of the couple to the outside world.

    This being the case, someone could not really say ¡°I¡®m only after your status and money. I have not the slightest interest in you as a person.¡±, when asked this question after confession their love.

    Confronted with a curious look from Queen Aura that looked forward how she would answer, Princess Freya took a short deep breath and replied.

    ¡°His personality, of course. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that you should be able to rte to that the most, Your Majesty Aura.¡±

    ¡°Oho, his personality, eh.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It might be strange for me to say this, but I am not what you would call a typical female royalty. I am sure you realized that, seeing as I came all the way here.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Aura neither approved, nor opposed the exnation from Princess Freya.

    It would cause nothing but trouble if she were to approve of an utterance mocking royalty, even if the person in question did say it herself. On the other hand, it was difficult to oppose the statement, too, since the truth of it was obvious to anyone.

    Princess Freya continued with her exnation.

    ¡°Even at home, I often took drastic actions. Rather than staying quietly in the safety of the Royal Pce, I want to do what I can to help my country. My Father and Brother had to put up with a lot, since I could not repress that sentiment. I gave my opinion to all king of things that women were normally not supposed to get involved with, and sometimes even achieved results.

    Most of the men reacted almost same at these times: They either frowned and called me an insolent woman or put on a fake smile and expressed regret over wasting such talent on a woman.

    My actions did cross the red line, so I am aware that I am at fault for going against the system, of course.

    However I cannot help but feel devastated, when I am proud to have achieved something, but no one praises me for it honestly.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I see.¡±

    Aura could really rte to her assertion on an emotional level. Apart from the time, since she ascended the throne, Aura, too, had experienced a lot of inconveniences while she had still acted as a princess during the Great War.

    Hence she also could pretty much guess what Princess Freya was going to say now.

    ¡°But His Majesty Zenjirou is different.

    When I met him as the Captain of the ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯, he simplymended me for aplishing the intercontinental sea travel.

    Moreover, he allowed me to be an equal negotiation partner in the negotiations to pave the way for the intercontinental trade agreement this time around. No, it was not a matter of allowing it or not. He just took it for granted that I was a negotiation partner at eye level.

    I do not know any other men that would act like him.¡±

    Aura hit the mark for the most part with her prediction of Princess Freya¡¯s next utterance.

    ¡°Why, yes. I can definitely rte to that the best. The notion of my husband to treat women as equals is extremely pleasant for a woman, who does not like to take a backseat.¡±

    ¡°I would appreciate it, if I could take part in that pleasantness as well.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I am not so sure about that. You see, I am quite the jealous woman. Can I actually be so generous to allow my beloved husband to give another woman but me amorous nces? I am not giving me much credit here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Your Majesty, please show me the mercy befitting of a ruler. I promise that I will not get in your way. There would be no greater happiness in life for me, if you were allow me to take part of it even for a little bit.¡±

    Right next to the fiercely debating Queen and Princess, Zenjirou innerly writhed with embarrassment while every fibre of his body, including his facial muscles, were frozen stiff.

    (O- Oh god, stop it. Any more of this and the shame will kill me¡­)

    The torrent of flourish words from the beautiful woman and beautiful girl praising him had no prospect of an end. From a rational point of view, he did understand that they were merely ¡°putting on a show for the marriage negotiation¡°, of course.

    But even if he did understand this in his head, it did not necessarily mean that his feelings would align themselves ordingly.

    Zenjirou was confronted with numerous praises exaggerated to the point that he did not even know if they applied to him as well as a passionate confession of love. His spirit was not strong enough to withstand such abined attack.

    He did not doubt that his wife Aura was really loving him that much, of course, but her choice of words was extremely over the top. As for Princess Freya, he was not even sure whether she was actually talking about love or not.

    Who would have thought that rhetoric could be such a powerful weapon? Zenjirou clenched his teeth and weathered out the urge to squirm in pain from scratching his itching body all over.

    In reality, Aura was speaking her mind more than Zenjirou was acknowledging and Princess Freya was by no means telling lies, even though she did use overlyplicated expressions. Needless to say, Zenjirou had no way of knowing this.

    Likewise, Aura and Princess Freya were not aware that he was fighting with his embarrassment on the inside, so their exchanged continued like a torture for him.

    ¡°Still, the feelings of both parties are important in this. I feel bad about saying this myself, but my husbandpletely loves me from the bottom of his heart.¡±

    ¡°I am most envious.¡±

    ¡°But that raises the question if there will be any ce for you. You are very beautiful, of course. So much more than a middle-aged woman like myself. Nine out of ten men would surely choose you over me without hesitation. But I am afraid that my husband is that tenth man.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    When the Queen said this puffed up with pride, Princess Freya was stuck for an immediate answer and fell silent for the first time today.

    Speaking of, Queen Aura and Princess Freya were different people altogether to the point that their onlymon trait was their gender.

    Aura had long red hair, whereas Princess Freya had short silver-blue hair.

    The brown skin of Aura stood in contrast to the pure-white skin of Princess Freya.

    Furthermore, Aura was approaching her thirties, but Princess Freya was still in her teens.

    Last but not least, Aura had an extraordinary height and shoulder width for a woman coupled with arge bust and bottom while Princess Freya had a rather slight build for a svenskar that came along with sloping shoulders and a general petiteness.

    When Aura was the ideal type of woman for Zenjirou, then Princess Freya was definitely nowhere near his sphere of interest.

    However, Princess Freya was not so gracious to back off because of that.

    She pulled herself together at once, put on a bright smile and made a suggestion.

    ¡°On a rted note, the female warrior standing behind me is Victoria Kronkvist also known as Skathi. She is my trusted retainer and bodyguard to whom Ipletely trust my life. I would like to get your permission to let her apany me in the case I am allowed to move into the Inner Pce.¡±

    Believe it or not, Princess Freya just threw in her trusted retainer as an extra.

    Admittedly, Skathi was more or less simr to Aura: A tall virago with the right curves around her bust and bottom. But she was even taller than Aura, who was already tall for a woman, by more than ten centimetre, so it was a debatable point whether she was the ¡°same type of woman¡±.

    ¡°PFT¡­!?¡±

    Zenjirou unwillingly snorted with surprise in light of the unexpected offer, but fortunately for him, someone else disyed an even greater reaction, which overshadowed his own.

    ¡°M- Mdy, what are you saying!?¡±

    It was no one else but the aforementioned female warrior herself: Skathi.

    Seeing as she turned red and was flustered beyond help, it was obvious that the princess did not arrange with her about it beforehand.

    Princess Freya must have mentioned it after thinking of it on the spot.

    Realizing that, Zenjirou was ovee with partly repulsion, partly misgiving, so he inadvertently put in his two cents.

    ¡°Princess Freya, I am aware that you are not being serious in your suggestion, but do you not think that you went a bit too far here?

    Miss Skathi is an excellent warrior. Some of her talent may be inherent, but I am sure she exercised quite the effort to reach that level.

    You should know better than anyone else how wrongfully it would be to make her give up the path of the warrior and force her to live the life of a woman instead, Princess Freya.¡±

    Zenjirou had dared to go for a p in the face, since he wanted to stop the escting eulogy, but his intentions wentpletely unnoticed.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    Aura showed him an expression for a moment that seemed to say ¡°You idiot¡±, but it was toote anyway.

    Princess Freya smiled broadly in response to his scolding

    ¡°You are right. I do apologize for speaking out of turn. But your objection only confirmed my belief again that you are the ideal partner for me, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    and made sheep¡¯s eyes at him.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡±

    It made perfect sense.

    Princess Freya had imed that Zenjirou was the ideal partner for her, precisely because he treated ¡°women as equals¡±.

    By scolding her for the earlier statement and appreciating the free will of Skathi, he was obviously agreeing to her moral values.

    ¡°I see. You do seem to have an eye for men, Princess Freya.¡±

    Queen Aura smiled wryly while her face started to show an hint of resignation.

    ¡°Well, I do understand what attracted you to my husband for now, but feelings alone will not aplish a marriage for people of position like us. You should know that, Princess Freya.¡±

    Queen Aura said this and advanced the discussion to the next stage.

    A marriage between royalty/nobility was not meant to substantiate love, but to bring profit to both parties.

    The real negotiation would start from here on.

    Both the Queen and Princess knew this, so they put on a serious look alike.

    ¡°Of course. I do believe that the future of our two countries will be extremely bright, when I do marry into your family.¡±

    ¡°Oho, can you borate? I am afraid that our country is quite out of touch with international marriages.¡±

    The utterance from Aura was no lie. On the South Continent, royalty equalled bloodline magic, so royal marriages were generally carried out within the country. The disadvantage of leaking the bloodline magic to another country outweighed the advantage of allying with a foreign country by far.

    In other words, Aura was basically saying that their own culture was usually not allowing international marriages between royalty and that Princess Freya ought to present an adequate benefit, if she wanted to push the marriage through.

    And her implicated meaning seemed to havee across.

    Princess Freya corrected her sitting posture on the couch, took a deep breath and began her persuasion with a focussed look in her ice-blue eyes.

    ¡°Yes. First of all, my country is quite advanced in technology, even for the standards of the North Continent. We may not have arge territory, nor the poption befitting a major power, because weck the farnd, but we pride ourselves upon our unrivalled technology.

    Incidentally, I am the crown princess. A marriage with me would not only involve my person.¡±

    ¡°What do you have to offer?¡±

    The Queen asked bluntly, whereupon the Princess answered kindly.

    ¡°Our civilization and the manpower to provide it.

    I was born and raised in a different culture on the North Continent. Of course I will do my utmost to adapt to your culture, when you ept my proposal.

    But to be realistic, it would be quite difficult for me to live here, if I had to rely on your culture alone.

    Hence I want to bring enough manpower along to reproduce the culture of the Upps Kingdom here to a certain extent.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, your culture. What does that entail in detail?¡±

    ¡°Why, yes. I will not bore you with all the fine details, but it would mainly be ¡®iron¡¯ and ¡®ships¡¯. The Upps Kingdom worked its way up with the power of iron and cemented its leading position with seafaring. Without these two, the Upps Kingdom would not exist today.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Queen Aura narrowed her eyes to slits as though her interest was piqued.

    Strictly speaking, Princess Freya had just told a lie.

    Iron and ships were in fact the support pirs of the Upps Kingdom, but that fact waspletely irrelevant to her so-called aim to ¡°reproduce her own culture in the country, where she married into¡±.

    Only a hardcore female sailor would need the ironwork and ships of her home country that bad in the country she moved to for marriage.

    Well, you could not rule out the possibility that it actually held true for Princess Freya, but a female member of royalty normally brought along bits of her own culture that were closely rted to her lifestyle, namely food and clothes, for her marriage.

    It made sense to bring along cooks, tailors, specialized farmers or animal breeders, but there would technically be no need for cksmiths or shipwrights.

    Yet Princess Freya had brought ¡°iron¡± and ¡°ships¡± to the table first. She had done that, because she hade to know in the negotiations in Valentia that the Carpa Kingdom was desiring these two the most.

    Princess Freya had to give a good ount of herself here, so she demonstrated that she could provide what they were after.

    Queen Aura did not bat an eysh in light of her offer, but she could not help but be surprised at heart, seeing as Princess Freya seemed to be more serious about this than she had anticipated.

    ¡°Your ironwork and ships are famous, even on the North Continent. That certainly sounds attractive. However, is the Upps Kingdom really that magnanimous to offer such technology for free as the dowry for their important princess?¡±

    She asked that, knowing that this was not the case, of course.

    Princess Freya had brought her title as the crown princess, the iron and the ships on the table. So what was she going to ask for in exchange?

    Taking a deep breath, the princess nodded briefly and sat upright.

    ¡°Well, I do not like to bring it up, but I AM the legitimate crown princess of the Upps Kingdom. If I were to be a concubine of His Majesty Zenjirou under normal circumstances, it would appear as though the Upps Kingdom is socially subordinate to the Carpa Kingdom.

    And that would make it problematic to have a ¡®rtionship on equal terms¡¯ from now on.¡±

    ¡°Yes, if you actually want to have a ¡®rtionship on equal terms¡¯, that is.¡±

    The Carpa Kingdom had not really a reason to tie a rtionship on equal terms. They would never lower themselves, of course, and would actually wee it, when the other party lowered themselves on their own ord.

    The silver-haired princess continued without answering the suggestive remark of the Queen.

    ¡°So I was hoping you could bestow a special rank on me in order to preserve my position.¡±

    ¡°A special rank?¡±

    ¡°Yes. An aristocratic title for members of the royal family along with a principality that has a seaport.¡±

    ¡°Oho. So you are demandingnd?¡±

    Queen Aura asserted pressure at once, but Princess Freya was not intimidated as she went on.

    ¡°We would establish a shipyard there first of all. I want to build ships there that will benefit both of our countries.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to call over the shipwrights from the Upps Kingdom?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The key members woulde from over there. But it is hardly likely that these will be enough, so I think that we will have to borrow some craftsmen from you.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Aura pondered over her suggestion for a bit.

    The fact that she wanted to employ craftsmen of the Carpa Kingdom in the shipyard meant that she had no intention to keep their ship designs a secret. In the beginning, the Carpa Kingdom would have to rely on the instructions of the shipwrights from the Upps Kingdom, but over time, they would be able to learn the technology to buildrge sailing ships on their own.

    Just in case, Queen Aura checked with her.

    ¡°Ships are mainly built from wood, but a part of them also requires iron, correct? Are you going to build all these parts here as well?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I intend to call for some cksmiths from our country, too, but just like with the shipwrights, they will hardly be sufficient, when going into a full-fledged production, so I would like to borrow the help of your cksmiths as well.¡±

    In other words, she was saying that she did not mind to actively teach them their ironwork technology as well as their shipbuilding technology.

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    Aura mused for a moment.

    From her standpoint, she really wanted to get her hands on therge sailing ship technology as well as the exquisite ironwork technology. Especially the ironwork technology, since it included the blueprints for their high-performance furnace. The research for the ss manufacture should make a great leap forward with that furnace.

    Aura was willing to make quite the concessions, if it meant its obtainment.

    She cast a quick nce at her husband sitting next to her.

    He was silently submitting to all this with bated breath, so she felt kind of sorry for him, but she would fail as a ruler of a country, if she were to let such an attractive opportunity slide.

    ¡°What kind of title do you have in mind?¡±

    ¡°One that is on par with the typical feudal lord title of your country, I guess. It would be anciry to the royal family, but the principality gets autonomy in exchange for yearly taxes.¡±

    ¡°An aristocratic title for a branch member of the royal family and the title for an autonomous feudal lord are quite different, you know. The biggest difference being the right to appoint a sessor.

    A feudal lord has the right to appoint the sessor all by himself, but the reigning monarch keeps the right to pass on the aristocratic title for a member of the royal family.

    On the other hand, a feudal lord generally has no im to the throne, even if it is a royal princess, whereas the branch family of the royal family does have that im, but is lower in status.¡±

    ¡°In that case, you may keep the right to appoint a sessor, Your Majesty. But I would like to stipte that someone inheriting the blood of the Upps Royal Family and Carpa Royal Family will be giving priority to the session.

    Needless to say, I have no use for a im to the throne of the Carpa Kingdom, either.¡±

    ¡°The same would apply to the throne of your country.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am aware.¡±

    Their fierce battle continued in form of words.

    Princess Freya had ventured to explicitly state her ¡°abdication of the im to the throne of the Carpa Kingdom¡± instead of lumping together the ims to the throne of both countries.

    If not for Aura¡¯s intervention, the child or grandchild of Princess Freya and Zenjirou would have been able to assert its im to the throne of the Upps Kingdom.

    And then the Upps Kingdom could call them over under the pretext of their session to the throne, in order to steal the disposition of the bloodline ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± of the Carpa Royal Family in the future.

    Moreover, Zenjirou did not only have the disposition for the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±, but also for the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± from the Sharrow Royal Family. Princess Freya had no way to know about this, though.

    Queen Aura contrived a counteroffensive that would not reveal these circumstances.

    ¡°You were born and raised into a royal family without a bloodline magic, so it might be difficult for you to understand it, but here on the South Continent, the practitioners of a bloodline y an important role as their numbers represent the power of the state.

    Unfortunately, our country currently only has three practitioners of our bloodline magic: Myself, Zenjirou and our child in arms Carlos. Due to that, our nobility is really pushing my husband to ¡®take a concubine¡¯.

    Hence that very concubine must be able to aid the effort to increase the practitioners of the bloodline magic in the royal family. If not, we might as well forget all about this. I hope you can understand that.¡±

    It was said in a somewhat roundabout way, but Princess Freya realized what Aura wanted to say after a bit of pondering, so she suggested this with a somewhat stiff expression.

    ¡°¡­You can check someone for the disposition of the bloodline magic, right? So when there are various candidates for the session, you prioritize the one without the disposition for the session of the title, whereas those with the disposition will be adopted into the royal family. But if the candidate without the disposition passes away for some reason, you will return the other candidate with the disposition. How does that sound?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that seems appropriate. Although one may not show the ¡®disposition for the bloodline magic¡¯, thetent ability is still inherited, so the marriage of the chosen sessor would still need the approval of the royal family, but this is aw that applies to all high-ranking nobles in our country. Please reconcile yourself to it.¡±

    ¡°¡­Very well.¡±

    ¡°Then we need to rify the military for your principality. For a branch member of the royal family, we could deploy the royal army there.¡±

    ¡°If possible, I would like to keep my own military. Defending thend is one thing, but they need to keep the harbour safe, too, or it would be putting the cart before the horse.¡±

    ¡°Oho? Then you n to do your own intercontinental trading with your mothend in that harbour?¡±

    Aura sharpened the look in her eyes, whereupon Princess Freya answered unconcerned.

    ¡°Of course I will pay an appropriate share of the profit to the royal family.¡±

    ¡°No will do. That is one thing I cannot allow. The intercontinental trade is to be conducted only between the Carpa Royal Family and the Upps Royal Family. Nothing will change that.¡±

    ¡°Then what are we supposed to do with the ships we build at the shipyard? Their transfer could be considered a kind of trade, too?¡±

    ¡°The Upps Kingdom will get the even numbered ships out of the first ten ships built in the shipyard for free. If they want more ships after that, any future ship from the shipyard needs to stop in Valentia once, where it then will be sold in a deal between both royal families.¡±

    Thispromise ensured that the intercontinental trade was conducted under the control of the Carpa Royal Family.

    Giving away fiverge sailing ships for free definitely hurt the Carpa Royal Family, but it was still better than allowing the harbour of Princess Freya to interfere with the intercontinental trade.

    No one knew what the future may hold, but her harbour would at least be more influenced by the Upps Kingdom than the Carpa Kingdom while Princess Freya was alive.

    If such a harbour were to trade with its mothend, the Upps Kingdom, on its own, the Carpa Kingdom would gravely lose its standing with the Upps Kingdom in the intercontinental trade.

    Nevertheless, Aura could not outright decline the proposal from Princess Freya, because it would cost her the ship and ironwork technology she was going to offer.

    Hence Aura sought to soften the conditions byplying with the short-term desire of the princess.

    ¡°Fiverge sailing ships for free¡­¡±

    Now it was Princess Freya¡¯s turn to fall silent and think.

    The Upps Kingdom was a highly developed country, but their military strength was that of a middle power at best. A total of fiverge sailing ship for free was an extremely attractive offer to them.

    In the long run, it was obviously a lot more profitable, if they were to get the permission to do trading in the harbour from Princess Freya, but it would take time to see the result of it and the Upps Kingdom would still profit enough from an established intercontinental trade in general, even without pushing that condition through here.

    Then it should be alright to ept the offer. Princess Freya reached that conclusion, but still faced one problem.

    Unlike Queen Aura, who had all the decision-making power in the country, Princess Freya was nothing but the crown princess.

    ordingly, it was already pretty scandalous that she proposed a marriage without the approval of her father or brother, but a contract for an intercontinental trade was on a whole different level.

    Princess Freya was given the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± and set out with the mission to ¡°develop an intercontinental trade route to the South Continent for the homnd¡±.

    In a sense, the negotiations of the intercontinental trade were a royal decree.

    Therefore it proved difficult for her to give an immediate answer to such important matters at her own discretion. At the same time, her homnd was too far away to wait for orders from the higher-ups.

    ¡°¡­Well, in that case, could we arrange that the trading in the harbour does require the approval of the Carpa Royal Family first?

    I really would like to get your permission toy the foundations for possible trade at the harbour in the future.¡±

    Princess Freya persistently continued the negotiations in order to make it possible that the principality and the Upps Kingdom could directly trade with each other in the future.

    * * *

    ¡°I will excuse myself now. Thank you very much for the fruitful coboration today, Your Majesties.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. You have my gratitude as well. We should repeat this at some point.¡±

    ¡°I am d you were pleased, Princess Freya.¡±

    The Princess and Queen were bidding each other farewell with a smile on their faces, whereas Zenjirou forced a smile with a somewhat stiff expression.

    The door closed shortly after and Princess Freya and her female bodyguard were gone. Thereupon Zenjirou flopped himself onto the couch like a marite that had its string cut.

    ¡°¡­It sure was fruitful for everyone. Except for me.¡±

    When her husband uttered scornful words for once, the Queen did not reply for a moment and pondered in silence.

    The two of them might be all alone right now, but they were still in the Royal Pce and not in the Inner Pce, so Zenjirou was technically picking his words in face of the Queen, but his phrasing came across even chillier because of it.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    As a matter of fact, Aura would only hurt Zenjirou with anything she said now, considering her position.

    Just like he had mentioned, it had been extremely fruitful for Aura in her role as the Queen. The ironwork and shipbuilding technology as well as the intercontinental trade with the North Continent had been brought to the table. There had practically been no way to dismiss the matter anymore, when presented with such favourable conditions.

    As of now, Princess Freya was not yet officially acknowledged as a concubine, but it was pretty much set in stone that she would apany Zenjirou to the marriage ceremony as his partner for a start.

    To begin with, the real negotiations over bing a concubine and a trade agreement could not be debated in the Carpa Kingdom alone. Princess Freya would have to return home to the North Continent with the ¡°Yellow Leaves¡± and get the approval from her father before returning. Thus the matter would at least still take another year to settle.

    Everything Princess Freya agreed to here was based on her own judgment, so it was still possible that the deal was called off in the future.

    Nevertheless, it did not change the fact that it had paved the way for a ¡°concubine¡± if everything went well.

    Zenjirou had loathed that more than anything, so he unconsciously heaved a sigh. He had been more or less prepared for it, but the inevitable had finallye.

    ¡°Zenjirou, I am the Queen and you are a member of the Royal Family. The Royal Family has to prioritizes the welfare of the country over their own emotions.¡±

    The Queen dared to take a strict approach while she slowly sat down besides him. Then she reached out for the folded hands of her husband with her left hand.

    It did look like a casual and natural gesture, but in truth, Aura was suppressing a deadly fear at heart while she did so.

    What if her husband were to turn away from her the moment she sat down next to him? What if her husband were to push away her extended hand?

    But these gloomy assumptions turned out to bepletely baseless.

    Zenjirou unfolded his hands and softly grasped the hand of his wife. Their ten fingers firmly entangled into each other, he turned his head and smile at his wife sitting next to him.

    ¡°I am aware. I am far from perfect, but please take good care of me.¡±

    His stiff choice of words contrasted with his soft tone and gentle smile. And the warmth conveyed through their handspletely relieved the Queen of her anxiety and nervousness.

    ¡°Yes. The prosperity of the royal family and the kingdomes first of all. But as long as it does not contradict that objective, it should be alright that royalty pursues their own happiness as well. I will do my utmost for that, too.¡±

    ¡°How reassuring.¡±

    Hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, the Queen and Prince Consort then bathed in thefortable body heat of the other as they rxed for a while.

 Chapter Volume 6 4

    Chapter 04: A Number of Arrangements

    On a certain day, several days after the informal negotiations had urred under the pretext of giving Aura and Zenjirou the goats.

    ¡°Fuah¡­¡±

    As always, Aura was attending to her duties in the office of the Royal Pce, when she stretched herself on top of her chair in order to shake off her tiredness.

    ¡°Uh, Guh¡­!¡±

    It was still noon right now and extremely unusual for Aura to be this tired while the sun was high up.

    ¡°I have not seen you this tired in a long time, Your Majesty.¡±

    So unusual in fact that Secretary Fabio, standing at attention besides her, had to address it with a doubtful tone.

    Aura was pretty strict about her health. Proper sleep as well as nutrition were the two keystones for good health. She might have neglected these on the battlefield during the great war, but now in times of peace, it was odd beyond doubt that she ended up sleep-deprived.

    Proud of his outstanding memory, the slender-faced Secretary recalled the schedule of his Master for the past few days, but could not pinpoint a reason for it in particr.

    ¡°Is anything preventing you from getting enough sleep?¡±

    The Queen answered the question of her trusted retainer with a wry smile and half-opened eyes.

    ¡°Hmm, well, yeah.¡±

    ¡°Is something weighing on your mind?¡±

    ¡°No, it is more of a practical problem.¡±

    ¡°You mean, you are going to bed toote?¡±

    ¡°Not quite. If anything, I spent more time in the bedroom now. Just not ¡®sleeping¡¯ though.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oh, I see. Speaking of, it [e]is[/e] the right time for a second one.¡±

    The middle-aged Secretary was convinced now.

    There was only one reason why an intimate married couple wouldck sleep, even though they were spending more time in the bedroom.

    It certainly was pleasant to see that Aura and Zenjirou still got along as well as always despite the rtionship drama epassing Zenjirou at the moment. And just like Secretary Fabio had said, the point in time was not unfavourable to make the second royal child.

    The Queen seemed to have somehow shaken off her tiredness by stretching herself on her chair and took a deep breath before getting back on topic.

    ¡°Anyway, it has been decided for good that Princess Freya will apany Zenjirou to the marriage ceremony of General Puyol.

    I somehow managed to reach an understanding with the nobility, who pushed for a partner for Zenjirou, in the past few days. Fortunately enough, the most troublesome and unyielding opponent could not take action this time around.¡±

    It goes without saying that the most troublesome and unyielding opponent referred to General Puyol, the main figure of this marriage ceremony himself. Knowing him, he would have assertively tried to install his little sister Fatima Guill¨¦n as the partner for Zenjirou without doubt, if this had been any other marriage ceremony.

    However, he was kind of forced to take a backseat just this once. Too busy with all the preparations for his own wedding, the General himself could not take action himself and his little sister Fatima had to attend the ceremony as part of the bridegroom¡¯s party anyway.

    Much to his regret, General Puyol thus had no choice but to stand on the sidelines as a result, even though he usually stopped at nothing to expand his influence and position.

    ¡°Princess Freya as his partner, hmm? Then I can assume she will be epted as a concubine for Master Zenjirou in the future?¡±

    Her trusted retainer narrowed his eyes to slits and inquired with a monotone voice, whereupon Aura nodded shortly.

    ¡°Yes. At this point, she has only been appointed as his partner for the marriage ceremony, but you can basically start preparing with that in mind.

    Of course the finalization of the intercontinental trade agreement with the Upps Kingdom takes priority and depending on its oue, the matter may end up being called off, though.¡±

    The conditions for epting Princess Freya as a concubine were the benefits from an intercontinental trade agreement and the promised know-how for the iron manufacture as well as for the shipbuilding. If they simply wanted to increase their practitioners for the ¡°Bestowal Magic¡± through a concubine, there were more appropriate women within the kingdom than a cumbersome princess from a different country.

    The Upps Kingdom was an admittedly technology advanced country, but was trailing behind, when it came to magic, so Princess Freya was not really blessed with a remarkable amount of magical power ording to the norm of the Carpa Kingdom.

    A not so insignificant amount of the local nobility was against the unprecedented case of taking foreign royalty as a concubine. Without a dowry in form of an intercontinental trade agreement, Aura was determined to break off the talks at any moment.

    Catching on these circumstances, the slender-faced Secretary pondered for a while, then answered.

    ¡°Understood. I shall make preparations ordingly. Having said this, I can only provide the necessary documents and physical materials at best.

    Your Majesty will have to take care of the emotional element. I hope that will not pose a problem?¡±

    The emotional element, in other words: he was asking whether she could convince Zenjirou of this matter properly.

    Getting the hardest nut to crack by her Secretary, the Queen showed a wry smile and looked up to the ceiling.

    ¡°As always, he fully consents to it from a logical point of view. Even if he were to take Princess Freya as a concubine now, he would not cause any problems on the surface.

    The problematic part is his frame of mind, though. I am doing my utmost right now to appease him¡­ It dide at the cost of my well-earned sleep in the past few days, though.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, it is an important task only you can aplish, Your Majesty.¡±

    The Queen spoke rtively open about the night activities, whereas her Secretary draped himself in apathy as he acknowledged it.

    At this point of time, the current night activities of the royal couple had undoubtedly the main purpose of making a second child, but they served as a way tofort the heart and soul of Zenjirou all the same.

    To begin with, the main reason he had epted his fate of being summoned to a different world, was because he fell in love with Queen Aura at first sight. Moreover, his love for Aura only grew during the following newlywed lifestyle and its charm had not broken even once up till now.

    Therefore sexual intercourse with Aura was the best medicine for Zenjirou¡¯s anxious state of mind. But he had been living in ¡°abstinence¡± for more than half a year, so his sex drive turned out to be greater than Aura had expected and she had a hard time keeping up.

    ¡°At least he seems to have enough stamina in this field for when a concubine is added. The question is, though, whether he will see another woman beside me as a partner at all.¡±

    The Queen voiced her misgivings like that while she frowned and looked glum, but a closer look revealed the glint of triumph shining through her reddish brown pupils.

    As the Queen, she had to keep the prosperity of the kingdom in mind, so Zenjirou¡¯s monogamy posed a problem, but as a woman, as his wife, she could not help but rejoice at the fact that he only loved her alone and paid no attention to other women.

    ¡°You are the only one capable of persuading him in that regard, so I am counting on you, Your Majesty.

    Either way, I definitely approve the making of a second child right now. It would be a bit risky to wee a concubine into the royal family while Prince Carlos is the only legal sessor.¡±

    If the concubine were to give birth to a child that inherited the bloodline magic, it could happen that this child was acknowledged as a sessor, even if only temporarily, in case something happened to the sole legal sessor.

    The only way to avoid that risk was to make more children with the legal wife. If it had not been the Queen and her Prince Consort, but the King and his Queen Consort, they would get ready to make a second child as soon as the Queen Consort had recovered enough from the previous delivery.

    ¡°I know that. But I never would have guessed that it would be this strenuous to reign conscientiously and take care of the next generation at the same time.¡±

    ¡°And a concubine is meant to take a part of that burden off your shoulders.¡±

    When the Queenined, her Secretary presented the fact in an indifferent tone.

    ¡°Right. In consideration of the continuity of the royal family and the prosperity of the kingdom, a concubine is indispensable for my husband after all.¡±

    The Queen nodded, whereupon her Secretary brought up another problematic matter.

    ¡°But it also could cause some problems, if you were to have a second child at this point in time. Let us assume you conceive right away like before, then it should take about two or three months for your pregnancy to be apparent. But the intercontinental trade agreement is unlikely to have reached a conclusion by that time. In other words, there will be no arrangements yet to ept Princess Freya as a concubine.

    In that case, it will be more than likely that the local nobility will push for a different concubine to ¡®bridge that vacant period of time¡¯ first.¡±

    ¡°¡­I can already see the mood of my husband worsening even further.¡±

    * * *

    While the Queen pursued her duties in the office of the Royal Pce, the husband of the Queen alias Zenjirou was ying a video game in the living room of the Inner Pce, still dressed in his pyjama.

    After a passionate night with his wife in the bedroom, he had gone back to sleep as soon as he had seen her off to work, and when he woke up again, he started to y games in his pyjama.

    It was a slovenly way of life that practically epitomized depravity.

    ¡°Here I¡­ GO!¡±

    With the controller in hand, Zenjirou imitated a pitching motion by swinging his arm down with all his might. In line with this, the pitcher character disyed on the screen threw a ball.

    Thrown with a fictional speed of one-hundred and fifty-one km/h, the fastball headed for the high inside of the strike zone of the batter standing in the right batter¡¯s box, but the batter casually swung his bat and mercilessly shot the full-power fastball from Zenjirou¡¯s character into the left stands.

    A homerun.

    ¡°Aw, damn it.¡±

    This result made Zenjirou abruptly lose his motivation, so he turned off the console with the point of the toe without bothering to bend over and tossed the controller onto the carpet.

    Then he unmannerly flopped himself onto the ck leather couch, where he heaved a deep sigh.

    ¡°¡­Man, it¡¯s no use. I can¡¯t concentrate at all.¡±

    Ever since Princess Freya had been chosen as his partner for theing marriage ceremony, Zenjirou had lost some of his inner tranquillity, so Aura had given him a special vacation for today out of consideration for him, but unfortunately, he did not know what to do with all this free time.

    ¡°Hmm, I know I¡®m not supposed to, but maybe I can distract myself, when I y a game against the waiting maids.¡±

    Still sitting on the couch, Zenjirou looked down on the game controller lying on the carpet and muttered that to himself, but as expected, he had no intention to put that idea into practice.

    He was lending the portable game console to some of the waiting maids, but he had never yed a game together with them.

    Because it would appear like he was giving preference to these maids, when the ¡°master happily spent time with them¡±, even if it was something peculiar like a video game.

    Zenjirou truly wanted to have a good rtionship with the waiting maids of the Inner Pce, but not even once had he considered the intimate kind of rtionship between a man and a woman with them. Thest thing he wanted was for the situation to turn awkward, because he raised such expectations by mistake or made them be on guard against him.

    ¡°So I finally get a day off, but I¡¯ve no idea what to do¡­¡±

    Grumbling like that, he exchanged his blue-striped pyjama for a T-shirt and cotton pants all toote.

    Since he only ever left the Inner Pce for work, it meant that a vacation equalled to spending the whole day in the Inner Pce.

    During his university days, he had mainly went out with friends, when he had too much time on his hands, and he no longer had any real free time as a working adult, so he was not really familiar with killing time indoors by himself.

    Right after transferring into this world, Zenjirou had been eager to watch his pile of DVDs or y his still sealed games, but he was not all that fixated on them anymoretely.

    Some of the games still awaited theirpletion and numerous DVDs were still unwatched, but his initial passionate dedication to them was long gone.

    Above all, he just could not enjoy them anymore, even if he wanted to, because the serious issue at hand weighed on his mind.

    ¡°Argh. I feel bad for Aura, ¡®cause she went out of her way to give me a day off, but I might as well tackle the matter head-on in order to free my mind.¡±

    After his quick change of clothes, Zenjirou took paper and a three-coloured ball pen from the desk with hisputer in the corner of the room and once again sat down on the ck leather couch.

    ¡°Hmm, one thing at a time. First of all: General Puyol will held his marriage ceremony in the March of Guzzle.

    I¡¯m going to attend this ceremony as a representative for Aura. But the etiquette more or less dictates you to attend it with a partner. And the public generally thinks you have a thing for each other, when you and your partner are unmarried.

    Lastly, it¡¯s been decided that I¡¯ll take Princess Freya to the ceremony as my partner.¡±

    When Zenjirou wrote ¡°attend ceremony together with Princess Freya¡± down on the paper, he vented an heavy sigh.

    Strictly speaking, he was already married to Queen Aura, but it was normal for male royalty to have multiple wives. Even more so in his case, where he and Aura were the only adult royalty of the Carpa Kingdom. You could even go so far as to say that everyone in the country was hoping he would take more wives.

    So when he took a ¡°young, unmarried woman to a marriage ceremony¡±, that woman was automatically seen has a favourable candidate for the position of his concubine.

    And worst of all, the person in question, Princess Freya herself, was the most eager about bing his concubine.

    ¡°Above all, she¡¯ll definitely be my official second wife, if our country establishes an ¡®intercontinental trade¡¯ with her homnd, the Upps Kingdom,ter on.¡±

    The following sigh was even heavier than the first.

    ¡°Well, I was always told that this would happen, so it just means that the inevitable has finallye, but to be honest, I could have really done without it.¡±

    With a distant look in his eyes, Zenjirou viewed the wide garden beyond the opened wooden door.

    He was an extremely average person with rather conservative moral values and not the kind of adventurous guy that dly hooked himself another woman while he already had a child and intimate rtionship with his beloved wife.

    ¡°I¡¯m d I had that heart to heart talk with Aura before, because I wouldn¡¯t have been sure about her feelings for me otherwise.¡±

    Back then, when they both hadid bare theirins and wishes, Aura had said: ¡°As a woman, I want to monopolize you as well.¡±

    In other words, the reason she actively pushed for a concubine for him was solely because of her obligations as the Queen. It did contradict her feelings as a woman.

    Zenjirou told himself that he had to keep that in mind.

    ¡°If it¡¯s true, Aura should be taking the worst hit from it, even with her different moral values in this polygamy culture. If she really l- loves me, that is.¡±

    From his point of view, it was worrisome and troublesome at the same time to have to take a second wife, even though he already had one he loved very much.

    But it was whole different matter for Aura. Her beloved husband was going to marry another woman. It woulde as no surprise if she were to act irrational, because of jealousy.

    ¡°If I were in her shoes¡­¡±

    Zenjirou imagined such a scenario.

    What if Aura were to get herself another man?

    For example, what if she suddenly said something like this: ¡°We already have a child together. So it is time I spread our bloodline by making a child with General Puyol or Sir Raffaelo as well. Oh, do not worry. It will only be physical. You will always be the only one I love.¡±

    His wild fantasy was definitely unthinkable in the patriarchic society of the Carpa Kingdom, but it was easily conceivable from a purely practical point of view for passing on the bloodline magic.

    Aura sleeping with someone else than him.

    ¡°Just imagining it drives me crazy¡­¡±

    He muttered with a t voice.

    Was Aura feeling like this right now? Was she suppressing her own feelings and fulfilling her duty as the Queen by giving his husband a concubine?

    Once again, Zenjirou was reminded of his impotence and the admirability of his wife.

    Needless to say, it was pointless to range their mindsets on the same level, since Zenjirou only had monogamous moral values, whereas Aura was born and raised in an polygamous environment. But it definitely held true that the mental pressure from taking a concubine weighed more on the wife than the husband from a sensible point of view.

    ¡°Guess I can only make the best of it, since it can¡¯t be avoided¡­¡±

    Somewhat becalmed, Zenjirou shifted his attention to something else in order to make effective use of his day off.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not all bad news with Princess Freya. I mean, the dishes did increase.¡±

    Standing up from the couch with these words, he moved to the five-door refrigerator in the corner of the room.

    The silver jug he took out from it contained goat milk, freshly milked this morning.

    Every day, just like Nici, the young caretaker detached by Princess Freya, had instructed them to, they heated the milk once without boiling it, then let it cool down a bit before putting it in the refrigerator.

    The leftovers were disposed of on the next day. It was a bit of a waste, but the only ones consuming the goat milk in the Carpa Kingdom were currently Zenjirou and the baby goats, so unless they disposed of it regrly, the refrigerator would overspill with goat milk in no time.

    Pouring the milk from the jug into a ss, Zenjirou took a sip of the white fluid and swallowed it with a sour face.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ it stinks quite a bit.¡±

    He had only ever known of pasteurized milk, so he could not help but consider this goat milk as smelly. Kind of smelling of animal and grass alike, the scent was difficult to put into words and because of it, Zenjirou still could not rmend the milk to others in good conscience.

    He had the impression that the people of the South Continent would be negatively biased towards the goat milk for life, if they were to taste it with this scent for the first time, since they had never drunken milk from livestock here before.

    ¡°Nici said the scent can be improved with a better environment and food, so there¡¯s still hope.¡±

    Nici had wanted to put off the improvement of the taste and scent for the time being, because the goats still had not settled in their new environment and their health came first.

    Fortunately enough, the young man did not only know how to raise the goats, he apparently also knew how to make butter, raw cream and even cheese from their milk.

    It would seem that the man called Nici could be trusted with everything rted to the goats. The report said that almost every day, he was sleeping together with the goats in the stable or grazing ground in the courtyard of the Royal Pce, and passionately took care of them as though as they were his lovers.

    Once they could make dairy products, the dishes would go beyond just the milk itself, enriching Zenjirou¡¯s eating habits.

    He had a pile of sweet recipes he could not rely on so far, because there had been no butter or raw cream. Besides, he had gotten better at reading and writing thenguage of the western part of the South Continenttely, so he wanted to trante as many recipes as possible and share them with Vanessa, the head of the cooking department in the Inner Pce.

    Her talent spoke for itself. For example, even if she could not reproduce something ording to the recipe, she arranged it herself and made it into something great. Moreover, she had gotten an idea of his tastes these days, so she was indispensable in the Inner Pce now.

    ¡°Hmm, I feel bad for Nici, but I guess, the goat milk will only be used for sampling for now.¡±

    With these words, Zenjirou emptied his ss into the wooden bucket standing next to the refrigerator. After that he took out the cold water mixed with fruit juice, poured it into a new ss and drank it.

    Without cleaning them up, he put the two used sses and the bucket with the disposed goat milk back onto the shelf next to the refrigerator.

    Zenjirou was still not used to it, but themon sense of this world deemed it scandalous for male royalty to ¡°do the dishes¡±, so he had no choice but to leave it to the waiting maids.

    ¡°Oh, reminds me, the shampoo¡¯s almost used up. Well, I did finish a test product, so I guess I¡¯ll let the maids be my guinea pigs, even if I feel bad about it.¡±

    Leaving the refrigerator behind, his feet carried him to another corner of the room, where he was storing all of his inventions.

    It mainly epassed numerous handiworks Zenjirou had tried his hands at in order to enrich his lifestyle.

    An electroma made from a silver wire coil and a rechargeable dry battery, or a very weak static ma based on the aforementioned, among other things.

    From this collection, Zenjirou picked up a wooden box with several hand-sized silver jars in it.

    These jars were filled with the experimental shampoo and rinse he had made. The soap shampoo was created by dissolving the self-made soap.

    With the help of the downloaded instructions for self-made shampoo from the inte, Zenjirou was mixing it with varying amounts of beeswax, citrus juice, wheat flour or fragrance oil in order toe up with a cleansing shampoo that did not damage the hair and scalp.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll let Aura have the rest of the real shampoo and use the self-made one for myself once it¡¯s passable.¡±

    As a man with short hair, it would not bother him, if his hair were to be a little bit brittle. On the contrary, it would infuriate him, if the beautiful straight red hair of his wife would lose its mour.

    ¡°Now that I think about it, her hair was already beautiful, when I first came here. And other women also have beautiful hair. If my soap shampoo and rinse won¡¯t work out, we might as well go back to the traditional hair care of the Carpa Kingdom.¡±

    He suddenly thought of that, but if possible, he only wanted to use it as ast resort. To begin with, the people of the Carpa Kingdom did not take baths as often as the people of Modern Japan, so they obviously did not wash their hair every day, either.

    A neat person would wash its hair once every three days, everyone else once a week. The perfumed oil had been invented for that very reason, as it masked the bad smell of the hair and let it keep its mour. But Zenjirou would rather not sleep together with a woman, who treated her hair with perfumed oil instead of washing it.

    ¡°The fluid soap with perfumed oil is already safe to use on the body, so when I get the shampoo and rinse done, I only need cleansing foam.

    Well, I¡¯m fine with a diluted version of the fluid soap, though.¡±

    Zenjirou had never encountered any problems with rough skin due to sunburns or cleansers back in Japan. His skin was not all that sensitive, so there was no real need for him to fuss about the soap to such an extent.

    ¡°Maybe I can just leave it to the merchants as soon as Iplete the shampoo and rinse? I already did that with the fluid soap and there were no problems, but I guess I better ask Aura before.¡±

    The fluid soap Zenjirou managed to make with perfumed oil was being sold as a proper product by now, because he had passed on the recipe to the merchant frequenting the Inner Pce.

    Needless to say, the business-minded merchant had not been satisfied with selling such a rare and useful item at the Inner Pce alone, so he apparently had gotten the permission from Queen Aura to sell it to the public as well.

    It did not sell outstanding numbers, because warm baths were more or less a luxury for the upper ss, but with the word-of-mouth rmendations from those, who already used it, and the seal of quality from the ¡°purveyor to the court¡±, it was steadily gaining poprity, especially with the noble women.

    If the shampoo and rinse were to circte in the same way, even the nobles in the Royal Pce might assume the habit of taking a bath every day?

    ¡°Nah, that would be too much of a good thing.¡±

    Zenjirou denied his own dreamery.

    Living in the Inner Pce, he tended to forget it, but a warm bath was considered an extremely pricey luxury in terms of facility and maintenance expenses in this world.

    Even during the Vibrant Season, the season with the lowest temperatures, the Carpa Kingdom was still warm enough to bath with cold water without problems, so those, who spent a lot of money to prepare a warm bath, were a minority, even in the upper-ss circles.

    Having said this, ambitious nobles with daughters at a marriageable age might suddenly start to adopt warm baths, if word were to get around that Prince Consort Zenjirou was ¡°urging Queen Aura, whom he spent the bed with, and the waiting maids, whom he lived together with in the Inner Pce, to clean themselves up every day in a warm bath¡±.

    ¡°Now that I think about it, Ancient Rome sure was advanced with their public thermal baths all around. It was just an borated sauna for warming yourself up, though.

    Wait? Sauna?¡±

    Zenjirou suddenly thought of something.

    ¡°That reminds me of the sauna culture in Northern Europe on Earth. Maybe the home country from Princess Freya has the same culture?¡±

    In that case, it might be better to consider building a sauna in the Inner Pce, too.

    The persuasion from Aura in the past few days must have yielded fruits. Zenjirou was unknowingly epting the possible future of marrying Princess Freya down the road as he held that fleeting thought in the mind.

    * * *

    At night of the same day.

    The royal couple sat across each other on the couches after their dinner and bath as always, discussing the important matters taking ce in the near future.

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take a dragon carriage to the marriage ceremony?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I sent you to Valentia with ¡®Teleport¡¯ before, because it was an emergency, but this time, it is just an ordinary marriage ceremony during the Vibrant Season.

    I know it will not befortable, but you will have to take the slow dragon carriage to get there.¡±

    The Queen exined it in detail to Zenjirou, when he asked.

    ¡°Okay. The ride itself won¡¯t be a problem. I rather fear thepany. But I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    While he answered like that, his gaze was not directed at the face of his wife, but rather focussed on her cleavage.

    Fresh out of the bath, Aura was currently wearing her nightgown, a red negligee with a V-necked mesh. In thest few days, since the ban of the night activates had been lifted, she was often wearing revealing clothes, probably trying to appeal to her husband.

    Zenjirou would awkwardly avert his eyes, if this were any other woman, but there was no need to hold back with his beloved wife.

    He was smitten with the alluring figure of his wife, illuminated by the white light of the LED floormps, and ogled her without reservation.

    ¡°I can put on some clothes, when you cannot concentrate on the matter at hand?¡±

    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m fine. Continue.¡±

    When his wife reprimanded him with a wry smile, Zenjirou uttered an inauthentic apology and requested that she stayed the way she was. Aura was not really scolding him for real, either, as she continued without getting changed.

    ¡°You will get a carriage for royalty, drawn by eight dragons. It will carry you and your partner, Princess Freya. Skathi will surely be with you as well as a bodyguard for Princess Freya.

    And I will assign Ines as your aide.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Ines again?¡±

    Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled.

    ¡°Mh? Do you have a problem with her?¡±

    So Aura asked him that.

    ¡°No, not at all. She really lightened my stay in Valentia. But I just thought it must be a lot of work for her.¡±

    Aura put her left hand on her chin and mused a while in reaction to his words.

    ¡°Hmm, who else could I assign? Margret? No, she will not do. I would not be free of worry with her.

    I feel bad for Ines, but she is the most suited for the job.¡±

    ¡°Mh, okay. Then I¡¯ll do my best not to trouble her all too much during the trip.¡±

    It must be true, when Aura insisted on it. Taking care of royalty outside the Inner Pce was certainly not a job everyone could do.

    Incidentally, Margret was a young waiting maid, whose trademark was her blonde hair, which was extremely unusual in the Carpa Kingdom.

    She was one of the very few waiting maids in the Inner Pce that was not assigned to Zenjirou, but to Aura, so Zenjirou knew rtively little about her, but she definitely must be capable, seeing as Aura mentioned her as an alternative for Ines.

    ¡°Anyway, a lot of the nobles from the Capital will attend the marriage ceremony, as you know already.

    Most of them will head there early together with the groom General Puyol, but some will want to travel together with you. They will surely use every stop on the way to socialize with you, so deal with them fairly.¡±

    Zenjirou unwittingly stared at the ceiling, when Aura described the dark future.

    ¡°Oh god, what a pain. But to think that General Puyol would travel by himself. I thought for sure that he would hover over me and give his ambitions a shot.¡±

    The Queen shrugged her exposed shoulders as she replied to the doubt of her husband.

    ¡°The groom is not only in the spotlight of the marriage ceremony. He has to be in the spotlight on the way to his bride-to-be as well. If royalty were to travel with him, who would be in the spotlight then?

    Therefore it is a matter of course that the groom never travels together with someone of higher status.¡±

    ¡°I see. Sounds like a bothersome custom, but it saved me this time.¡±

    Zenjirou nodded affirmative, whereupon Aura did the same.

    ¡°Raffaelo M¨¢rguez will probably be the highest ranking noble amongst the ones travelling with you. You got to know him well in Valentia, right?¡±

    He remembered the face of the man, who had worked as his secretary in Valentia, when Aura mentioned him. As the eldest son of an influential noble, Raffaelo was strangely humble, but affable.

    ¡°Oh, him. I¡¯m rtively okay with him.¡±

    Even though he had been a former marriage candidate for Queen Aura as well, Zenjirou did not feel the same wariness towards him as with General Puyol.

    Raffaelo was extremely capable and cunning for sure, but he was not as assertive as General Puyol, so he did not prompt you to use caution as much.

    ¡°He is a cunning guy in his own way, though. It is quite unlikely that he will cause something on his own ord, but when his string-puller Count M¨¢rguez sends him secret orders, he has the necessary skills to execute them absolutely reliable.

    Count M¨¢rguez is currently taking our side, so I doubt that he will set up a trap for you, but you can never be careful enough.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. You¡¯re right. I¡¯ll be careful.¡±

    Zenjirou ducked his head a bit in light of the strict warning from his wife, and uttered an honest apology.

    ¡°Oh, and that reminds me, Sir Raffaelo was your marriage candidate just like General Puyol, right? So that means he¡¯s still single, right? Then who¡¯s his partner? Could it be Lady Octavia?¡±

    He asked the question he had suddenly thought of, so Aura deemed it appropriate to reveal the recently enacted change in the Inner Pce to her husband.

    ¡°No. His partner is Keyshia.¡±

    Zenjirou widened his eyes in surprise, when apletely unexpected name was brought to the table.

    ¡°Eh? Keyshia? You mean the waiting maid Keyshia? You kidding me? So she¡¯s actually well-off enough to be chosen as the wife for the sessor of the M¨¢rguez Family, eh.¡±

    He was now living in the Inner Pce for a year and a half and he could already remember the faces of the waiting maids taking care of him with the mentioning of their names alone, so he pictured her in his mind right now.

    If his memory proved him right, Keyshia was a rtively old waiting maid with a pretty face befitting the term charming and the perfect proportions that could not even be hidden by clothes.

    Objectively speaking, she could probably even qualify as more beautiful than Queen Aura. At the very least, she was currently the most beautiful amongst the waiting maids in the Inner Pce.

    ¡°She admittedlyes from a minor family, but Baron Massana is still a feudal lord, so she barely qualifies to marry into the M¨¢rguez Family. To begin with, Sir Manuel, the current head of the M¨¢rguez Family, prefers a steady prosperity over an instantaneous expansion of power, so I always knew that he would choose someone from a submissive lower-ranked family.

    But just like you were suspecting, he dared to picked Keyshia as the wife for his sessor because she is a ¡®waiting maid of the Inner Pce¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I knew it¡­¡±

    The matter-of-fact cue from Aura prompted Zenjirou to fall into despair.

    It goes without saying that being a waiting maid of the Inner Pce had its merits. As the waiting maids took care of the Queen and the Prince Consort in the Inner Pce, an isted space, they obviously knew all kind of things that did not get out to the public.

    Of course they could get executed or have their families fall from grace, if they carelessly gossiped about the events in the Inner Pce, so there was not much that they could actually talk about, but even that little information of the Inner Pce was quite valuable at this point in time.

    After all, the court nobles practically knew nothing about the man called Zenjirou, who came from another world.

    His favourite food. His favourite colour. His favourite season. Or the other way around: His least-liked food. His least-liked colour. His least-liked season. Trivial information like that was priceless to the nobles, who tried to fawn on him.

    ¡°That means Count M¨¢rguez will actively meddle with me from now on, too?¡±

    Her husband uttered a ¡°Gimme a break!¡± with an annoyed tone, whereat the Queen cocked her head a bit puzzled.

    ¡°Not really. As I have told you before, Count M¨¢rguez hates to take risks. At the very least, I would say he will not do anything to displease you right away.

    I reckon he will just collect information for now.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s marrying off his son just to get information? Or could it be she¡¯s just a partner for the marriage ceremony without an ensuing marriage?¡±

    ¡°As if. Keyshia is immediately retiring from her post as a ¡®waiting maid of the Inner Pce¡¯ in order to attend theing ceremony. The M¨¢rguez Family would be done for, if they made her go that far without espousing her, even if the Massana Family ranks far lower than them. Count M¨¢rguez would never do something so foolish.

    In fact, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez has already put in a request for my permission to announce their engagement.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. So he really is marrying off his son just to get information about me. It¡¯s beyond me.¡±

    Zenjirou looked puzzled, whereas Aura said persuasive.

    ¡°I just told you that the Massana Family does have enough status to make a marriage with the M¨¢rguez Family usible.

    In addition, Keyshia has information about the Inner Pce, so it is not all that strange that she would be chosen as his wife. Above all else, Keyshia herself is a beauty that had once captured the higher society.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that makes sense.¡±

    Zenjirou pped his hands together convinced in light of the evidence from Aura.

    ¡°Oho, that sounds like you, too, think that Keyshia is quite the beauty, hmm?¡±

    Narrowing her eyes to slits, his wife reacted with a monotone voice, whereupon Zenjirou thought ¡°I messed up¡± for a second, but instead of digging his grave any deeper by trying to make a random excuse, he opted for an honest answer.

    ¡°Well, yeah. To be honest, she¡¯s the most beautiful from all the waiting maids I¡¯ve seen working in the Inner Pce. I¡¯m just stating a fact, though, and there¡¯s nothing more to it.¡±

    Thetter half somewhat turned into an excuse after all, but who could me him? He was praising another woman in front of his wife. It might not be something crimeful, but he did was gued by a strange sense of guilt.

    However, his endeavour turned out to be unnecessary this time.

    (I see now. He does love me and perceives Keyshia as the most beautiful. I think I am getting an idea of his taste for women. Princess Freya will probably have a hard time then? But Zenjirou does get along extremely well with Princess Bona, so it might be too early to say that she has no chance.)

    Needless to say, Aura did not reveal these inner thoughts of hers to her husband.

    The Queen collected herself and addressed the newsworthy information again.

    ¡°Well, anyway, Keyshia will leave the Inner Pce soon. But there is more. Some families of the rtively old waiting maids seemed to have gotten wind of Keyshia¡¯s marriage and they put in a request to have their daughters be sent back any time soon, too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that makes sense from the parents¡¯ point of view.¡±

    Zenjirou nodded approvingly to her words.

    The girls, who came into the Inner Pce as waiting maids, were generally all in the prime of their life. That was only natural, since they were more or less expected to be a ¡®concubine¡¯ for Zenjirou.

    Nevertheless, the parents would not want that they wasted that golden age in its entirety inside the Inner Pce, either.

    They would work as waiting maids for five years at the longest, but the life was far from over after that.

    It was surely out of parental love that they wanted to take their daughters back home and marry them off before the prime of their lives ended.

    Zenjirouprehended these circumstances, so he had no reason to object.

    ¡°Sure, why not. I say they¡¯ve all the right to demand that. It¡¯s not really good, when they leave all together, though. I mean, it would be a problem when a couple of maids leave the Inner Pce all at once, right? The burden on the remaining maids would be too great.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am apprehensive of that as well. Thus I am thinking of putting all the requests but Keyshia¡¯s on hold for now and admitting more waiting maids into the Inner Pce first.

    And once these new waiting maids have learned their job well enough, I will ept the retirement requests.

    Lastly, I shall admit a few more waiting maids than usual in order to have some leeway with the staff, so that something like this does not happen again.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sounds good. A great idea. You should definitely do that.¡±

    On a rare asion, Zenjirou assented to Aura numerous times with a serious expression.

    He knew from experience how dangerous it was to work at the absolute limit every day. If just one person were to be absence due to sickness, when you did the daily workload with the bare minimum of staff, it meant that the workload of the remaining staff already went past their capability. Even more so, when the deadline of a job due next month was antedated to this month, because of some kind of issues. Every employee would literally see hell then.

    Overwhelmed by the rare enthusiasm of her husband, the Queen just nodded.

    ¡°O- Okay. If you insist on it that much, I will do so. It should not prove to be all that difficult to get more personnel.¡±

    There were plenty of young girls, who wanted to be waiting maids in the Inner Pce, anyway. And there were even more parents, who wanted their daughters to be one.

    The young daughters from nobles were first preselected based on the loyalty towards the Royal Family. The remaining girls were then screened based on the suitableness for the tasks of a waiting maid of the Inner Pce.

    The candidates that passed the final hurdle of ¡°appearance¡± were the waiting maids working for Zenjirou right now.

    For thest condition, they had favoured girls, who looked simr to Queen Aura, whom he fell in love with at first sight, because they had not known his preferences in the beginning.

    By now, it had be apparent, though, that their efforts had been in vain. The man called Zenjirou was not the type of man, who wouldy his hands on the waiting maids.

    Hence there was no longer any need to pick the waiting maids based on appearance. Someone ugly would put the title ¡°Waiting Maid of the Inner Pce¡± to shame, of course, but at the very least, they did not need to prioritize the tall and mature type with huge breasts like Aura anymore.

    In fact, the current waiting maids requested their retirement after a year and half of work for one reason: They were already rtively old. This was self-evident. If the mature type like Aura had been preferred, then it actually required women, who already had reached a mature age.

    If appearance was no longer a factor, it would be more effective to recruit younger girls as additional waiting maids. When a neen years old maid stayed for one year, then a fifteen years old maid would stay for five years at the longest.

    ¡°Hmm, so some of the girls will leave the Inner Pce. That¡¯s a bit sad.

    Oh, right, Aura. Would it be a problem, if I give the retiring maids a present in recognition of their services?¡±

    The Queen pondered a bit before she answered the question her husband had suddenly thought of.

    ¡°No, it will not pose a problem per se. The nobles usually do the same with the servants in their mansion.

    But if you were to give something too fancy or endow one specially, it could cause the misunderstanding that she is a ¡®mistress¡®, so as long as you give a little something to everyone alike, it will be fine.¡±

    ¡°I see. A little something for everyone like. Hmm, okay, I get it. I¡¯ll think of something.¡±

    Zenjirou nodded recognizing a few times to the advice from Aura.

    Every single waiting maid had taken care of him in the past year and a half. It must have been a stiff piece of work to take care of a man, who was ignorant about themon sense of this world and hadpletely different preferences than this world. Zenjirou somehow wanted to give substance to his feeling of gratitude.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    As the conversation between them came to a stop for some reason, silence ensued for a while.

    It was awkward to spent time with a stranger in silence, but with someone familiar, even that time wasfortable.

    Zenjirou and Aura filled their sses with iced water from a silver jug and wetted their throats that had be dry from talking so much.

    Before long, Aura put the empty red Kiriko ss back onto the table and rose to speak first.

    ¡°Oh, I just remembered a different matter, so I better let you know about it, too. The souvenirs you brought back with you from Valentia, namely its white sand and m shells, have been used to make ked lime and its effect on the ss manufacture was outstanding.

    The ss had a dark green colour little short to ck so far, but it has be so much clearer now. It seems to be easier to form now, too, because it is more viscous. The ss manufacture has taken a huge leap forward.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good news! So the sand itself was the main factor after all. We should try it with sand from all over next.¡±

    ¡°Of course. We will look for the sand best suited for the ss manufacture while conferring with the craftsmen. But it will happen on a small scale, since I cannot allocate all that much budget or manpower to it right now.

    By the way, what about that other method? You said something about removing the iron content from the sand with a ma or something, because it is the reason for the discoloration, right?¡±

    Zenjirou looked a bit troubled, when Aura inquired this, and scratched his head.

    ¡°Well, I did built an electroma by coiling the silver wire Prince Francesco made for me. It does require several rechargeable AA cells as a power source, but the ma has quite the strength.

    But you see, it¡¯s quiteplicated to build a static ma from it. I can definitely maize iron with the electroma by exposing it to the ma field, but the resulting ma is extremely weak.

    To be honest, it can¡¯t be used to extract the iron content from the sand. I think I read somewhere thatpounded iron has a stronger ma field than pure iron, so I¡¯m trying out a lot of things, but I haven¡¯t made anything useable at the moment.¡±

    He exined his progress like making excuses and naturally let his gaze wander to the corner of the room, where the experimental electroma and a couple of iron pieces with a very weak ma field were lying right now.

    ¡°In other words, it is not utilizable yet?¡±

    ¡°Yeah and to be frank, the outlook seems rather grim. I might as well build a gadget to take the electroma to the facility itself for an experiment. The workers are directly subordinated to you, so secrecy shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I guess that is an option as well.¡±

    Crossing her arms, so that they were practically resting on top of her voluminous breasts, the Queen collected her thoughts.

    ¡°The static ma¡¯s working, too, even if only with a fractional power. When I stuck maised needle onto oiled copy paper and let it swim in water, it pointed into the same direction most times. Seems like apass works in this world.¡±

    ¡°Kompes? What is that?¡±

    Aura cocked her head puzzled, as the Soul of Words did not work on that vocable.

    ¡°Well, the north pole of a ma will always face north, when you let it go, because the world is a big ma itself. Hmm? Speaking of, this world is a sphere, too? Well, it doesn¡¯t matter right now.

    Anyway, you take a thin metal needle, give it a maic field and let it swim on top of water for a while. The needle will naturally turn to point into a certain direction. We call a tool to determine the direction like that a pass¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Oho. That sounds really convenient for manoeuvres in an unfamiliar forest.¡±

    Aura was quite impressed, because she herself had once suffered the experience of getting lost during the previous war.

    An army usually had someone with them, who could determine the direction from the stars or sun, but the sky was not always visible from within a thick forest with a lot of fauna.

    The reason why she did not think of using thepass on the boat was probably that the Carpa Kingdom was not all that involved with sea travels.

    ¡°Well, it does sound problematic to hold it still while it floats on water. If it were easier to carry around, I would mass-produce and distribute it to the army in the future.¡±

    ¡°Oh, the water¡¯s just the simplest method. A portablepass¡¯s a lot more practical.

    How do I exin it? Hmm, you fixate the ma only in the middle, like a weighing scale or bncing toy, so that it can spin around freely. It¡¯s extremely simple to build, so I¡¯ll write up a blueprintter and pass it to the craftsmen. It shouldn¡¯t be all that difficult to copy its structure.¡±

    Thepass was a rather valuable invention, but Aura was currently engrossed in the ss manufacture, so it did not really drew all that much attention from her.

    ¡°Okay, I will leave it to you. Do as you please.

    Anyway, back to the topic: You say we have no other option, but to lend that eelektrom? or something directly to the craftsmen in order to remove the iron content from the sand?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that would be the best right now. The attracted ironsand will easilye off the electroma once you turn off the switch. Well, I personally think it would be better, though, if we could get our hands on some suitable sand, instead of relying on the ma.¡±

    ¡°You are right. I really hope that we can find the optimal sand within the royal domains, but if not, we might have to look in the other domains as well.

    Oh, speaking of, I know of a ce that has sand to no end.¡±

    Zenjirou guessed from the yful tone of his wife that this ce would not be an option, but he asked curiously anyway.

    ¡°Which is?¡±

    ¡°The Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell. Half of their territory is practically a desert. I cannot speak for the quality of the sand, but at least there is plenty of it there.¡±

    Aura mentioned the ce with a smile and as expected, it was not a viable option at all.

    ¡°It may be a problemter, though. In the long run, you can¡¯t prevent technology from circting, no matter how much effort you put into secrecy.

    Well, I don¡¯t know, if the sand of a desert¡¯s suitable for the ss production, either.¡±

    Zenjirou shrugged his shoulders, but in fact, his worry was more than justified.

    The sand of a desert was getting weathered over time. And while the grains of sand weathered, the containing quartz remained in the end, since it was affected by the weathering the least. That very quartz was the raw material for the ss manufacture. A highly weathered desert could even consist of quartz to more than ny percent.

    As a matter of fact, somepanies on Earth even imported the weathered desert sand as a cheap raw material for the ss manufacture.

    ¡°I was joking about the Twin Kingdom, of course. For now, we will gather the sand near Valentia, since the sand from there was a great improvement. Fortunately, Valentia and the nearby Balears Inds are royal territory. I hope we can find some good sand there.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, good luck. I¡¯ll work on a portable electroma in the meantime.¡±

    The Queen nodded once to the reply from Zenjirou.

    ¡°Yes, do that.

    Then let us change the topic for a bit, Zenjirou. You are still practicing magic every evening, right? If I remember correctly, you managed to activate your second spell a month ago for the first time, but how is it going now?¡±

    Her question came out of the blue, but Zenjirou had really wanted to speak about it, too, so he answered with an energetic voice right away.

    ¡°Oh, right. I forgot to tell you. I can cast it with a seventy percent reliability now.¡±

    The wife raised an honestly impressed voice, when her husband spoke so confident.

    ¡°Oho, that is impressive. You really are a quick learner. If you like, would you show me your progress?¡±

    Encouraged by his wife, Zenjirou pped his hands together eagerly and presented his magic right away.

    ¡°Okay, take a good look. ¡®Move what I am looking at into my hands. Aspensation, I make eighty-one offerings of magical power to the Space-Time Spirit¡¯¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    He confidently chanted the spell, but unfortunately, nothing happened. The magic words had been correctly tranted by the Soul of Words, so the chant itself was not the problem.

    So either his perception of the spell or the offered amount of magical power had been wrong.

    Zenjirou already knew that he had a less than eighty percent chance to activate the spell, so he was not all that shocked and just smiled bitterly before challenging it for a second time.

    ¡°Oops, first one failed. Then another one. ¡®Move what I am looking at into my hands. Aspensation, I make eighty-one offerings of magical power to the Space-Time Spirit¡¯¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Nothing happened again.

    ¡°H- Huh? Not my day. Once more: ¡®Move what I am looking at into my hands. Aspensation, I make eighty-one offerings of magical power to the Space-Time Spirit¡¯¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    When nothing happened for the third time in a row, even Zenjirou started to sound frantic.

    ¡°Ehm, I usually pull it off, I swear. I wonder what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    When her husband hastily tried to tackle the spell for the fourth time, the Queen intertwined her fingers under her chin and smiled at him to ease his nervousness.

    ¡°Do not mind it, Zenjirou. It is only natural. A magic you only acquired recently will fall through in perception with the slightest bit of nervousness already. Even more so in your case. Your second spell ever is also your first spell, where you have to regte the output of your magical power at the same time.

    Activating it on your second or fourth try would be unusual instead.¡±

    The exnation from Aura was not constion or anything, but just the in truth.

    Even when he usually seeded during his training in front of hisputer, the probability of sess would plummet from just being watched at it. Magic was such a delicate technique.

    To begin with, magic was not the only domain, where a mental strain like this would cause a lower chance of sess. Even in Modern Japan, there was once a Rubik¡¯s Cube champion, who could solve the puzzle in under five seconds at home, but when he had to disy his skills in front of a camera, he still had not solved it after one minute.

    Zenjirou felt better after Aura¡¯s exnation, so he smiled back at her and scratched his head bashfully.

    ¡°Yeah, right. I¡¯m weak to pressure after all. Sorry, Aura, I¡¯ll try until I seed, so please give me a moment.¡±

    ¡°Yes, do your best. I will wait as long as it takes.¡±

    After that, Zenjirou chanted the ¡°Haul¡± magic numerous times while his wife watched over him.

    The eleventh time finally did the trick.

    ¡°¡­Once more. ¡®Move what I am looking at into my hands. Aspensation, I make eighty-one offerings of magical power to the Space-Time Spirit¡¯. Hell yeah!¡±

    As soon as he finished the chant, the round wooden coaster from the table immediately appeared in his right hand.

    ¡°Haul¡± was an extremely restricted teleport magic.

    It could only pull up something inorganic that was big enough to fit into one hand and required eye contact, so it was a really inconvenient magic, but it cost the least amount of magical power amongst the Space-Time spells, so they used it for training like this.

    ¡°Yes, well done. The magic activated all right.¡±

    Completely ignoring the tough exertions so far, the Queen apuded and praised his magic.

    ¡°Haha, thanks.¡±

    Her husband made his bows while holding up the coaster in his right hand with a face red from embarrassment, whereupon the Queen suddenly said with a stern face.

    ¡°Well then, Zenjirou, I will get straight to the point: That shall be enough with the ¡®Haul¡¯ magic. Are you ready to get into your third magic, ¡®Teleport¡¯?¡±

    The unexpected suggestion from Aura prompted Zenjirou to show his surprise in in view.

    ¡°Eh? I¡¯ve hardly mastered ¡®Haul¡¯ yet, but you want me to give up on it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I want you to learn a practical magic now instead of going with an easy magic, even if that somewhat contradicts the magic training.

    You can more or less activate ¡®Haul¡¯ now. That means you managed to imagine the activated state of the magic while regting your output of magical power to a necessary extent at the same time.

    Magic has three foundations: The correct intonation, the correct perception and the correct amount of magical power.

    Once you can regte your output of magical power while keeping the correct perception in mind, like in your case, every other magic is practically the same.

    So it may be a bit more demanding, but you already have grasped the basics for practicing ¡®Teleport¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I can use ¡®Teleport¡¯ already?¡±

    He uttered dumbfounded, somewhat in disbelief.

    So far, Zenjirou had only managed to activate two spells: ¡°Space Istion Barrier¡± and ¡°Haul¡±.

    Both of them were ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± and not something just anyone could chant, but unfortunately they were hardly useful for anything.

    The ancestors of the Carpa Royal Family had pretty much stumbled across these spells in their attempts to gauge the possibilities of the ¡°Space-Time Magic¡± and the spells had practically no applicability.

    On the other hand, ¡°Teleport¡± was the gship as well as the most valuable spell amongst ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±.

    The reason that the Space-Time Magic from the Carpa Royal Family was evaluated so much higher than other bloodline magic was mainly thanks to that spell.

    It admittedly could only transport a single person or the practitioner himself at a time, but any distance, no matter how far, could be crossed in an instant.

    When Zenjirou thought about using it himself, he could not stop a thrill of anticipation running through his body despite his age.

    ¡°Mh, okay. I¡¯ll learn ¡®Teleport¡¯ for sure. But why so suddenly?¡±

    Although excited for it, he wondered why Aura wanted him to learn ¡°Teleport¡± against the proper sequence, so he asked this.

    Aura frowned in light of that question and answered with a slight irritation.

    ¡°Yes, well, I concluded that we will face a certain problem in the near future.

    Right now, we are doing¡­ it every night, right?¡±

    She technically did not specify what they were doing, but seeing as she blushes on the words ¡°every night¡±, it could only mean one thing.

    ¡°Hmm, yeah. Same goes for tonight, right?¡±

    Zenjirou also flushed his cheek in line with Aura and answered with a teasing tone in order to hide his embarrassment.

    ¡°N- No need to spell it out! Anyway, it will only be a matter of time until we make a second child at this rate.

    That, however, will be a little bit of a problem time-wise. This is just my personal opinion, but I believe it will take at least one more year until Princess Freya will be your concubine.

    The Intercontinental Trade Agreement is indispensable to her eptance as a concubine, since I have no intention to receive her without it.

    Because of this, Princess Freya will have to go back to the Upps Kingdom at least once in order to get the approval on the trade agreement and the marriage from the king.

    They say the ¡®Yellow Leaves¡¯ took one-hundred and twenty days to get here from the Upps Kingdom. It may not take them as long now, because they know the route a bit better, but a one-way trip should still take about a hundred days.

    So the journey back and forth would be two hundred days alone already. If you add the time for negotiations here and there to it, my one year estimate is actually quite optimistic.¡±

    ¡°I see. And?¡±

    At this point, Zenjirou still did not understand what Aura was worrying about. The Queen continued her exnation to her husband, who was casually giving her a look of inquiry.

    ¡°Do you not remember the mess, when I was pregnant with Carlos? Our nobility was really keen on having you take a concubine back then.

    That will just repeat itself, when I get pregnant with our second child. If Princess Freya were your concubine by then, we could put them off by saying you already have a concubine, but like I just exined to you, she will most likely be nothing but a ¡®possible candidate¡¯ at this point in time.¡±

    Realizing what Aura was getting at, Zenjirou immediately lost all colour in his face.

    ¡°B- But we fended them off before, right? So if we just¡­¡±

    ¡°We did so by iming that you have no interest in other woman. But that excuse will not work this time, because there is a potential concubine in from of Princess Freya now.¡±

    ¡°Oh shit, I¡¯d forgotten.¡±

    This time, Zenjirou literally threw his hands up in horror.

    ¡°Princess Freya by herself is already too much for me, but another one on top of it now? And before Princess Freya at that? Nope, no way.¡±

    The Queen soothed her whining husband.

    ¡°You are going to learn ¡®Teleport¡¯ for that very reason. I want you to learn ¡®Teleport¡¯ before I give birth, so that you can bring over a healer from the Twin Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡±

    After she pointed it out like that, Zenjirou corrected his agitated sitting posture.

    He was going to learn Teleport before his wife gave birth to their next child, so that he could bring a healer to help with the delivery. That itself sounded quite admirable, but Zenjirou could only think of himself as a good-for-nothing, who was all talk, because he had already started the endeavours to make a child without learning the Teleport magic yet.

    Whether Aura knew about the inner unrest of her husband or not, she continued with a stern expression anyway.

    ¡°Hence you will have a legit reason to go to the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, provided that you manage to learn ¡®Teleport¡¯.

    And then we will be able to avoid the concubine requests from the nobles. After all, the matter of a concubine is yours to decide, at least on paper. I may be the Queen of the castle, but the matter wille to a halt as long as I say that we cannot proceed while you are absent.¡±

    As a matter of fact, even the matter with Princess Freya was ultimately announced in such a way that ¡°Zenjirou chose her as his partner¡±.

    Hence the idea from Aura to have Zenjirou leave the country in order to block the concubine requests from the nobility was a legit one.

    But it did not brighten Zenjirou¡¯s mood. On the contrary, it made it worse.

    ¡°Sure, I can escape our nobility for the time being like that, but the Twin Kingdom, or rather the Sharrow Royal Family wants to push a concubine onto me, too, right? In the worst case, I may end up with three concubines instead?¡±

    ¡°But if everything goes well, Princess Freya will be the only one.

    Besides, you can just tell the Twin Kingdom that a concubine is traditionally taken from your local nobility and you would evoke the hostility in them if you were to take another concubine from a different country, since you already have a potential concubine from a foreign country.¡±

    ¡°Oh god, what a farce.¡±

    Zenjirou could not help but give his wife a weary look.

    In fact, the suggestion from Aura was quite ridiculous.

    By going to the Twin Kingdom, they stalled their own nobility, whereas the Twin Kingdom was also stalled with the reason that their own nobility came first.

    ¡°I would be done for, though, if the nobility and the Sharrow Royal Family of the Twin Kingdom conspire against me. With no way out, a second and third concubine are practically inevitable.¡±

    Aura recognized from his look with half-opened eyes that her husband was not really keen on the idea, so she cocked her head a bit troubled.

    ¡°You do have a point, but what will you do then? Give up on it? Let me tell you, though, that everything will y out like I have told you earlier, if I get pregnant before Princess Freya has be your official concubine.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ I would rather not to, but maybe we should put the sex on hold for a while?¡±

    ¡°At this point of time? We have been doing it for more than ten days already, so it might already be toote. Besides, it is definitely better for the Royal Family to have a second child before epting a concubine. I personally want to continue as we have.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I see.¡±

    Zenjirou slumped into the couch and mused for a while.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    He had never been the smartest one and his brain had to process a lot of new information all at once, so it could not keep up.

    Zenjirou was thinking.

    Everything turned out to be no good, when he tried to get the best oue at all costs.

    He ought to make a priority list and start to clear them from top to down, giving up on the low priority entries, if they were not feasible at this point.

    His train of thought was based on that now.

    (What¡¯s the most important to me? Easy: Aura. Another child with her is set in stone, too, so it¡¯s inevitable that I learn ¡°Teleport¡± and go to the Twin Kingdom.)

    Reaching such a conclusion, Zenjirou crossed the first thing off the list.

    Considering the childbirth, not going to the Twin Kingdom was not an option. In that case, it was only natural that he would face the matter of a concubine in the Twin Kingdom in the future.

    ording to these preconditions, Aura¡¯s suggestion was not all that bad after all.

    If it could not be avoided anyway, he might as well learn ¡°Teleport¡± earlier in order to escape the concubine talks of the nobility at least. An effective scheme for sure.

    ¡°Okay. For now, I¡¯ll try to learn ¡®Teleport¡¯ as quickly as possible, so that I can immediately go to the Twin Kingdom once you are pregnant. I agree with you up to that point.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Aura smiled happily, whereupon Zenjirou smiled back, too, albeit a bit tired.

    ¡°Considering your well-being, it¡¯s absolutely necessary that I can travel between the Twin Kingdom and Carpa Kingdom with ¡®Teleport¡¯. There¡¯s no doubt about that.

    And if that causes new problems, so be it. I¡¯m ready to submit to almost anything for the sake of bringing a healer to your delivery.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±

    The Queen could feel a warm throbbing in her chest in regards to the passionate confession of her husband.

    Her husband was saying that he was willing to endure any hardships for the sake of her and their child¡¯s health. Nothing could make a woman more happy.

    It was a bit ironic, though, that these very hardships could cause him to ept a concubine, in other words: wedding another woman.

    Zenjirou regained theposure he had lost during their conversation and looked his beloved wife straight into the eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s no using thinking too far ahead with my brains, so I¡¯ll just keep it simple for now.

    I¡¯ll learn ¡®Teleport¡¯. I¡¯ll go to the Twin Kingdom. But I won¡¯t take a concubine from anywhere.

    I shall give in, when it¡¯s inevitable due to political issues, like with Princess Freya, but if possible, I won¡¯t ept it.¡±

    His phrasing somehow sounded like he had already epted Princess Freya as a concubine to Aura, but there was no merit in pointing that out now. It would just trouble her amiable husband.

    ¡°Yes, by all means. Thank you, Zenjirou.¡±

    So she just smiled and thanked her husband for his devotion from the bottom of her heart.

 Chapter Volume 6 epilogue

    Epilogue: Heading for the March of Guzzle

    A few dayster.

    With all the preparations done, Zenjirou was ready to leave the Royal Capital. His destination was Guzzle City, the main town in the March of Guzzle.

    There he was going to attend the marriage ceremony between Puyol Guill¨¦n, the current head of the Guill¨¦n Family, and Lucinda Guzzle, the eldest daughter of the Guzzle Family, as a representative of Queen Aura.

    ¡°Well then, I leave the rest in your hands, Zenjirou. Do a proper job in congratting the newlyweds in my stead, since I cannot attend.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can count on me, Your Majesty. I shall do my utmost toplete the task to your full satisfaction.¡±

    In the audience room of the Royal Pce, Queen Aura sat on her throne while she had a formal exchange with her Prince Consort Zenjirou, standing beneath the throne, under the watchful eyes of a couple of nobles.

    Needless to say, they had bidden the true farewell to each other in the Inner Pce this morning.

    Along with a passionate embrace, a kiss and warm wishes.

    Before that, they had spent a lovely time together with their beloved child Carlos Zenkichi.

    So the current situation was nothing but a formal rite.

    ¡°Have a safe trip, Master Zenjirou!¡±

    Zenjirou turned his back on the throne and left the audience room mannerly, paying attention to his step length and speed, while the civil servants saw him off with loud voices.

    nked by guards on all sides, Zenjirou left the Royal Pce and headed to the huge carriage drawn by eight dragons standing in the forecourt. Before the carriage awaited him the Crown Princess of the Upps Kingdom and her bodyguard.

    ¡°I will be in your care, Your Majesty Zenjirou. I hope we have a pleasant travel together.¡±

    Before he had time to admire the huge carriage he was seeing for the first time, Princess Freya bowed before him so that her short silver hair fluttered.

    ¡°Oh, Princess Freya. Yes, I will be in your care as well.¡±

    Zenjirou shifted his gaze from the carriage to the silver-haired girl and answered fairly like that.

    The clothes of Princess Freya were a bit of a surprise. In the Royal Pce, she had always worn a white or light blue dress, but now, she was d in thick trousers and a long-sleeved shirt with some kind of leather vest pulled over it.

    These clothes were outfitted with a lot ofrge pockets for convenience rather than fashion. The final touch was the weapon holster attached to her thick leather belt and the object holstered in it could be called a ¡°hatchet¡±?

    Only the fluffy muffler around her neck and the sapphire broach holding it together were indicative of fashion for women.

    Maybe she had expected a march by foot instead of a trip by carriage? At the very least, her clothes gave off that impression, if she were to shoulder arge backpack, at that.

    Zenjirou himself was also wearing a decorative bronze sword at his waist, but otherwise he had put on the traditional attire of the Carpa Kingdom like always, so the contrast to Princess Freya was even more obvious.

    Princess Freya had probably sensed his gaze on her.

    ¡°Oh, I had heard that it will be a long travel ovend, so I chose clothes that are easier to move in instead. If it is a bother, I can go change them right away, though.¡±

    The silver-haired princess said this to Zenjirou with an upturned look and waited for his reaction.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    However, it was more than likely that she was just making up an excuse for her ¡°preference¡± in clothes, considering the hint of ¡°dissatisfaction¡± showing through the inexpressive mask of Skathi, the blonde female warrior standing at attention behind her.

    Either way, Zenjirou did not really have a reason to object.

    ¡°No, that will not be necessary. It suits you well.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much. I knew you would say that.¡±

    Princess Freya smiled happily and lowered her head once more.

    Zenjirou then boarded the prepared dragon carriage. Drawn by eight dragons, the carriage was admittedly huge, but its width was more or less limited, since it had to be able to pass through the streets.

    Hence, the interior had a tall ceiling and enough space lengthwise, but was not all that wide. A group of five was currently sitting on the seats inside.

    The centre seat facing the front of the carriage obviously belonged to the owner of the carriage, namely Zenjirou. Next to him sat Princess Freya, his partner for the uing marriage ceremony.

    The remaining three people were sitting across them, facing the back of the carriage.

    Across from Princess Freya sat her bodyguard and trusted retainer: The female warrior Victoria Kronkvist also known as Skathi.

    Across from Zenjirou sat his personal knight: Natalio Maldonado.

    And slightly away from him sat waiting maid Ines, the caretaker for Zenjirou dispatched from the Inner Pce.

    The way to the March of Guzzle was not necessarily hazard-free, so the bodyguards Skathi and Knight Natalio had taken their short spear and sword with them into the carriage.

    Normally, it was unthinkable that a person riding in the same carriage as Prince Consort Zenjirou would be allowed to be armed, but Skathi was the trusted retainer of Princess Freya, who in turn was a possible concubine for Zenjirou.

    And considering that Skathi was the only bodyguard for Princess Freya here, she had been given special permission this once to arm herself.

    Before long, the dragon carriage slowly started to move. As expected of the driver of a royal carriage, the ride went extremely smoothly.

    The level of civilization in the Carpa Kingdom was not advanced enough for suspension systems, so even the fanciest dragon carriage would still bump all the same, but fortunately enough, the roads within the Royal Capital were all evenly paved.

    The seat cushions were exquisite, too, so Zenjirou was not feeling any difort so far. Although problems would probably arise once they left the Capital and hit the raw dirt surface of the ¡°Salt Road¡±.

    In the meantime, the carriage went through the gate of the Royal Pce into the downtown of the Capital.

    ¡°Ohh¡­¡±

    Despite his age, Zenjirou raised a small voice in excitement, when he saw the scenery beyond the opened windows.

    It was only the second time he saw the town with his own eyes. The first asion had been the parade on his own wedding.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou have had his hands full with not screwing up the wedding ceremony back then. The best he could manage was to wave his hand like a machine while forcing a smile.

    So in a manner of speaking, he was taking a proper look at the city for the first time now.

    (The city¡¯s bigger and more organised than I thought. Way bigger than Valentia.)

    He curiously looked out of the window at the stone paved street and row of houses.

    The main street was closed off, since royalty was passing through, but it was not for some kind of event this time, so the dragon carriage moved at a steady speed through the Capital without halt.

    Nevertheless, a huge carriage drawn by eight dragons and decorated with gold and silver still drew the attention from the citizens with just that.

    Curious onlookers gathered on both sides of the road and talked to each other animated while pointing at the carriage.

    And children ran after the carriage on the sidewalk with all their might.

    (Heh, kids are the same everywhere.)

    Zenjirou naturally smiled at this heart-warming scene.

    Quiet up till now, Princess Freya suddenly raised a puzzled voice, when she saw that.

    ¡°Did you spot something interesting, Your Majesty Zenjirou?¡±

    She probably just needed a reason to start a conversation.

    Zenjirou answered her honestly, albeit with a wry smile, since he did not want to be on bad terms with the girl, whom he was going to travel with for numerous days.

    ¡°Oh, excuse me. It was not something interesting in particr. The unusual sight just happened to pique my interest.¡±

    Princess Freya was surprised at his reply.

    ¡°Your Majesty, could it be that you have not seen the city before?¡±

    ¡°Well, strictly speaking, I have been here before, but yes, I am effectively seeing it for the first time now.¡±

    ¡°Oh my, what can I say¡­¡±

    His answer made Princess Freya be at loss for words.

    Even though he was living in the pce of the Capital, he had not seen the city itself till this day.

    It seemed Zenjirou was actually the sheltered princess of the Inner Pce amongst the two of them.

    He realized it would be bad if she were to misunderstand that Queen Aura was shutting him away, so he added with a smile.

    ¡°There had been plenty of opportunities, but I am a homebody by nature, so I let these opportunities slide until today.

    Do you spend a lot of time outside, Princess Freya?¡±

    The topic change was pushed through quite a bit, but her conversation partner was finally picking up the pace, so she had no reason to turn it down.

    With that in mind, Princess Freya smiled as she replied.

    ¡°Yes. I am ashamed to admit this, but I have always been a kind of tomboy. I sshed around in the river, ran about the ce, hunted foxed or engaged in some white water rafting. My father and mother often scolded me for it.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then I guess our slightly long travel will be no problem for you.¡±

    ¡°Yes. No problem at all. I may not look like it, but I actually have ridden a longboat against the stream of a river for numerous day before¡­ I even lead a hunting party once.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that is impressive.¡±

    ¡°Well, I did manage to hunt foxes or rabbits, but I have never chased a dragon before. I would definitely like to challenge myself to such a hunt, if the opportunity arises along the way.¡±

    This seemed to be no joke as Princess Freya patted the hatchet at her waist with an eager glint in her eyes.

    ¡°Hahaha, please allow me to apany you then. That being said, I would only be a hindrance and no help in the hunt, so I will have my Knight Natalio here do his best in my stead.

    I am counting on you, Natalio.¡±

    Suddenly addressed like that, Knight Natalio Maldonado gave a jerk, but immediately put his clenched right hand against his left shoulder and dered.

    ¡°Of course, Sire. I shall do my utmost with the Dragon Bow you have bestowed onto me.¡±

    While they were having this conversation, the dragon carriage left the Royal Capital and closed in on the Salt Road.

    The scenery outside the window changed from wooden or stone houses to a ridiculous wide in and a forest in the distance.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou, the ride will be a bit rougher now, so please bear it in mind. We can halt the carriage at any moment, if you should feel sick, so please just speak up, when you need to rest.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Ines.¡±

    Zenjirou replied with a smile to Ines, who had called out to him in consideration.

    (Oh right. We¡¯re going to use remote roads until we reach the March of Guzzle. This really feels like a trip now.)

    With the intense smell of greenerying in through the opened windows, Zenjirou realized that they had moved on from the popted area of mankind.

    Although they were travelling through the middle of nowhere, the carriage of Zenjirou was attended by several hundred soldiers at the front and back and the other nobles travelling with him were also apanied by their own guards.

    So they were not exposed to danger unless something unprecedented took ce.

    (Well, I can do without trouble. I want to arrive in one piece.)

    Aware of these circumstances, Zenjirou maintained his sight-seeing mood and calmly enjoyed the passing scenery from his window.

 Chapter Volume 6 extra

    Extra Stories about the Waiting Maids and their Master: Changes in the Staff

    Ten days had passed since Zenjirou, the master of the Inner Pce, had left for his journey to the March of Guzzle.

    Two waiting maids were called by Supervisory Maid Amanda, the woman in charge of the Inner Pce, and thus visited her office.

    If Fay, Dolores and Rethe, also known under the nickname ¡°Three Troublemakers¡±, were to be called into her office, they would start to tremble in fear from just that and desperately try toe up with an apology for whatever mischief they had been associated with this time.

    But the two waiting maids, who had been send for now, had a clean te and knocked on the door of the office withposure without pressing the panic button.

    ¡°I, Conchita, havee to answer your summon, Mrs. Amanda.¡±

    ¡°So have I, Sabrina.¡±

    ¡°Come in.¡±

    With the prompt of the supervisory maid, the two waiting maids pushed the door to her office open with a polite ¡°excuse us¡± and entered.

    The duties of the supervisory maid also entailed the task to call upon a waiting maid for an individual lecture like this time. Because of that, the private room of the supervisory maid came with an extra office room, albeit a small one.

    Within that small office, the two young waiting maids Conchita and Sabrina faced Supervisory Maid Amanda.

    Supervisory Maid Amanda sat on a simple wooden chair behind a small round table and looked the two maids sitting across from her into the eyes as she came straight down to business.

    ¡°You two share a room with Keyshia, so I am sure you can already guess what this is about, but I called you here today to inform you about it.

    Conchita, Sabrina, your families have put in a request to send you back home. Your Master Zenjirou has granted that request.

    Hence you two will soon retire as waiting maids of the Inner Pce and return to your families.¡±

    Like she had expected, Conchita and Sabrina showed no surprise to her exnation and simply nodded in acknowledgment.

    In fact, they had guessed what this was about as soon as they had been called for.

    As a fellow of the same work group and their roommate, Keyshia had told Conchita and Sabrina half a month ago that she was retiring as a waiting maid, because her marriage had been arranged.

    Of course the two had been surprised at first, when they heard about it, but immediately got their heads around it.

    Keyshia turned twenty this year, the same age as Conchita and Sabrina.

    As a general rule, that age was considered thest year of the marriageable age and hence called the ¡°crunch year¡±. Keyshia and the other girls were ¡°waiting maids of the Inner Pce¡±, so that period could be prolonged for another two or three years, but the earlier the matter was settled, the better.

    And considering they were the same age as Keyshia, the same applied to Conchita and Sabrina, too.

    Even if it was impossible to have them marry into a richer family such as the M¨¢rguez Family like Keyshia did, the families of Conchita and Sabrina were naturally working towards their marriage.

    Considering that they were aware of these circumstances, it definitely came to no surprise to them that their parents requested their return now. If anything, they bowed to the inevitable.

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    Conchita lowered her head so that her thick ck hair dangled in the air.

    ¡°Thank you very much for your guidance up till today, Mrs. Amanda.¡±

    Sabrina, too, lowered her head so that her beautiful red hair slid away smoothly.

    Supervisory Maid Amanda unconsciously frowned a bit in light of their answers.

    Be it their work habits or general attitude, the two of them, along with Keyshia, who had already left the Inner Pce, had been the most reliable maids.

    They were quite capable of chores, had a mature mindset and backbone, making them self-assured in appearance and manner.

    The younger ¡°Three Troublemakers¡± did surpassed them in the audacity category, but it would be unfair to Keyshia and the others topare them with each other, just like having a pr bear contest for cold endurance.

    Anyway, the three senior waiting maids had been excellent subordinates in terms of capability as well as personality and never caused any trouble.

    But Supervisory Maid Amanda threw cold water on the hopes of the these two maids to retire immediately.

    ¡°You two will leave the Inner Pce and go home. That much has already been decided, but it will not be any time soon, because we would end up being short-handed in the Inner Pce otherwise.

    Fortunately for us, if not necessarily for you, you two are not in a hurry to retire for a marriage like Keyshia.

    Hence we will admit new maids into the Inner Pce first. Once the neers have been trained enough to be part of the effective workforce, you will be allowed to retire. Any objections?¡±

    ¡°None, Mrs. Amanda.¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡±

    Confronted like that, the two waiting maids both answered in a calm manner.

    Supervisory Maid Amanda nodded satisfied in light of the replies from the talented waiting maids while heaving a sigh at heart.

    (Why do the good ones have to leave early while the troublemakers stay? I am supposed to be in the Inner Pce, where only the best of the best gather.)

    Her position as the supervisory maid did not allow her to voice theseints, though.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Keeping her expression under control, Supervisory Maid Amanda then nodded briefly and further exined the circumstances to the prospectively retiring waiting maids.

    ¡°Three new girls will being here in a few days. Each of them will be paired with you and the other waiting maids in a group of three to learn the ropes.¡±

    In other words, she was saying that they would be working in a team consisting of one ¡°new waiting maid¡±, one ¡°retiring waiting maid¡± and one ¡°remaining waiting maid¡±.

    Because Conchita and Sabrina were currently the only retiring maids for now, thest group was going to have two remaining waiting maids.

    This allocation was made to prevent a falling-out after Conchita and Sabrina retired, which could happen if they were to teach the neers all by themselves.

    The Inner Pce was a secluded space. They could not afford to let the new waiting maids be isted.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou is currently away, so this is a good time. There is less work to do in the Inner Pce now, so we are going to take the opportunity and teach the new girls everything they need to know.¡±

    A training period of new staff usually meant less manpower for a while, unless the new staff was extremely quick on the uptake.

    After all, the neers would generally be of no help at first and the senior maids would get less work done, because they spent time on teaching the neers.

    So now it was the perfect time to admit new staff, since there was overall less work to do.

    ¡°We are going to admit only three new girls for now to keep things in moderation, but as soon as they conclude their training, we will admit another three girls. And I n to have at least six or, better still, ten to twelve girls trained, so consider yourself busy until then. Understood?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mrs. Amanda.¡±

    ¡°Loud and clear.¡±

    If it had applied to the Three Troublemakers, they might not have said it out loud, but their expression or attitude would have surely revealed their displeasure. Not the well-mannered Conchita and Sabrina, however. They did not even bat an eye.

    It proved how adept they were at reading the mood, because they usually assumed an appropriatex attitude, when dealing with the cooking department head Vanessa, since she preferred that despite her strict appearance.

    ¡°Very well. Now then, I have a little something from Master Zenjirou for you in recognition of your efforts till now.

    Master Zenjirou actually wanted to give it you directly, like with Keyshia, but depending on the circumstances, you two might end up leaving the Inner Pce before he returns.

    Hence, I will give it to you now, but if Master Zenjirou does return in time, make sure to thank him for it in person. Are we clear?¡±

    While pointing that out to them, Supervisory Maid Amanda ced a rectangle wooden box each in front of Conchita and Sabrina.

    ¡°Go ahead and open it.¡±

    Urged like that, the two waiting maids looked at each other, then took their wooden boxes from the table into their hands and opened the lid.

    ¡°This is¡­?¡±

    ¡°A silver chain? No, a bracelet?

    Like Sabrina had said, it was a silver bracelet. It had a rtive in design, but of high quality. Nevertheless, one of them was not really worth a fortune.

    A closer look, however, revealed one sparkling transparent sphere worked into the silver chain: A ss bead from Zenjirou¡¯s private collection.

    It was made out of simple coloured ss, so a person from Modern Earth would attach more value to the silver chain itself. And to be honest, not even the aesthetic sense of this world gave it much credit.

    But Zenjirou did not chose the beads for their beautiful or ugly appearance, nor for its mary value.

    He chose it for its aspect of being extremely hard to counterfeit right now.

    The two waiting maids carefully took the silver chain bracelet out of the red padded box and touched it with their fingers, whereupon Supervisory Maid Amanda spoke up.

    ¡°This belongs to you now. Master Zenjirou asked to have it back in case you do not like it, though.¡±

    ¡°Unthinkable!¡±

    ¡°We could never do something that disrespectful!¡±

    Supervisory Maid Amanda ignored them as they turned pale and continued.

    ¡°The only condition is that you return it in person then. He will not ept any other method. His exact words were: ¡®If they want to give it back, they have to return it to me in person, no matter what.¡¯¡±

    Conchita and Sabrina pondered for a while, bewildered by the ryed message from Zenjirou.

    As noble daughters, they were not stupid by nature, so it did not take them all that long to realize the ¡°real value¡± of the bracelet.

    In other words, that bracelet allowed them to receive one audience with Zenjirou in the future under the pretext of returning it. Keyshia, who had left the Inner Pce before them, surely had gotten the same thing.

    This went beyond a simple essory. It was a once-in-a-lifetime ticket to meet the Prince Consort Zenjirou.

    Supervisory Maid Amanda read in their faces that they had correctly understood the true value of the bracelet, so she said with an instructive tone.

    ¡°As you may know, Master Zenjirou is not an advocate of iniquity. Therefore he will not give your family or family-inw any special treatment, just because you have been a maid of the Inner Pce.

    On the contrary however, I am sure that he will lend you a hand, if your family or family-inw gets involved with some kind of trouble or suffers from obvious injustice.¡±

    The meaning behind her words was deep.

    To put it briefly, Higher Society abided by survival of the fittest.

    Of course all nobility fundamentally obeyed the Carpa Royal Family, the driving force of that system, but in reality, its influence did not reach every nook and corner.

    ordingly, the majority of quarrels and disputes between nobility were settled without ever getting the attention of the royal family.

    Needless to say, these disputes were often not settled through ¡°rightful arguments¡±, but rather through ¡°superior influence¡±.

    A bracelet like this was extremely valuable in this kind of Higher Society.

    It could only be utilized once, so it proved difficult to actually use it, but it still worked as a deterrent towards opposing nobility, when you had a ¡°trump card to skip all the formalities and appeal directly to royalty anytime¡° in petto.

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ¡°I will treasure it.¡±

    Deeply moved, Conchita and Sabrina tightly squeezed the bracelets.

    ¡°I will work my hardest to repay at least a share of this favour before I leave the Inner Pce.

    Speaking of, Mrs. Amanda, you said Conchita and I would be paired with another waiting maid to train the new girl, but have you already decided on whom I will work with?¡±

    With her brown eyes wet from emotions, Sabrina asked the supervisory maid what she suddenly thought of, with a cheerful voice.

    She curiously waited for her answer and Conchita followed suit.

    Although she felt a bit pressured by their gazes, Supervisory Maid Amanda did not avert her eyes, faced the pressure and replied after she cleared her throat with a cough.

    ¡°Yes, I have. Conchita, you will work with Fay, Sabrina, you will work with Dolores to train the new girls.¡±

    ¡°With Fay?¡±

    ¡°With Dolores?¡±

    It goes without saying that she meant Fay and Dolores from the Three Troublemakers group.

    Upon hearing these names, Conchita and Sabrina screwed up their faces beyond recognition.

    * * *

    An early morning several dayster.

    The waiting maids gathered in a certain room of the Inner Pce like always and noticed three unfamiliar young waiting maids standing near Supervisory Maid Amanda.

    None of them were so undisciplined to start whispering secretly about them now, but they did give the young maids a curious look.

    Sitting ducks for the looks of their seniors, the three neers slightly shuddered from nervousness next to Supervisory Maid Amanda.

    In order to relieve them of their nervousness, Supervisory Maid Amanda softly patted them on the back and started to address the assembled maids of the Inner Pce with her usual strict tone.

    ¡°It has been decided that some of us will leave the Inner Pce in the course of the year. You might have already heard rumours about it, since one of them has already left.

    ordingly, we are weing new waiting maids into the Inner Pce today. Girls, introduce yourselves.¡±

    With these words, Supervisory Maid Amanda lightly pped the back of the petite waiting maid standing on her right.

    The pped waiting maid practically jumped up with a jerk and started her self-introduction with a faltering voice.

    ¡°M- My name is Man Sa¡­ Oops. I mean, I am Man! I know that I have much to learn, but please treat me kindly.¡±

    Due to her nervousness, the girl named Man almost mentioned her family name, but stopped at thest moment and somehow finished her self-introduction without a hitch, never minding her stuttering.

    Those working as waiting maids were essentially servants, so they did not use their family name. Otherwise it would cause all kind of trouble. And this was not limited to the Inner Pce.

    For example, if a young waiting maid came from a more well-off family than Supervisory Maid Amanda, it hardly needed mentioning that the chain ofmand would bepromised, when both of them were aware of each other¡¯s family name.

    In practice, though, Higher Society was rather close-knit. Even if you did not especially mention your family, people knew what family you were from most of the times, so this was nothing but a false front.

    Consequently, the high-ranking waiting maids like the supervisory maid were usually picked from rtively renowned family to avoid problemster on.

    Even amongst the department heads of the Inner Pce, Ines was the only exception as the cleaning department head.

    As soon as Man duly finished her self-introduction, Supervisory Maid pped the back of the waiting maid of average height and build with her left hand next.

    ¡°I am a waiting maid of the Inner Pce from today on as well. My name is Mgros. I look forward to your guidance and support.¡±

    Maybe she was more positive about if after hearing the tense greeting from her fellow neer, but her self-introduction went a lot smoother.

    Having said this, the waiting maid called Mgros had rather narrow eyes, so it was difficult to read her expression. She might as well be as nervous as Man at heart for all we knew.

    With two self-introduction out of the way, thest waiting maid could grasp the timing for hers, even without a cue.

    Standing next to Mgros, the only waiting maid out of the reach for Supervisory Maid Amanda ,started her self-introduction.

    ¡°My name is M¨®nica. I have been given the honour to serve Master Zenjirou with you from today on. Pleased to make your acquaintance.¡±

    After a short pause, Supervisory Maid Amanda looked at all the young waiting maids and began to speak.

    ¡°The three of them will ultimately work together in a team of three, like everyone else, but for now, I will have each of them form a temporary group with you, so that they can learn their job as quickly as possible.

    When you are paired with them, remember that you are their seniors and properly teach them the ropes. Am I understood?¡±

    The announcement came as a surprise to everyone but Conchita and Sabrina, since they had heard about it beforehand, but the waiting maids had no right to defy Supervisory Maid Amanda anyway.

    ¡°Yes, Mrs. Amanda.¡±

    The young waiting maids answered in unison, whereupon the supervisory maid nodded with her stern expression and pronounced the group allocation.

    ¡°I will announce the groups now.

    Man is paired with Sabrina and Fay.

    Mgros is paired with Conchita and Dolores.

    M¨®nica is paired with Karina and Christel.

    Rethe and Kate will be on their own, but you two will be in charge of the kitchen.

    Regardless of your assignment, everyone is to lead the neers properly. Are we clear?¡±

    This was the first time the teams changed, ever since the young waiting maids had entered the Inner Pce, so except the informed duo, everyone showed bewilderment.

    Nevertheless, Amanda had the absolute power of decision over the personnel as the supervisory maid.

    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡±

    In the end, the waiting maids had no choice but to reply like that.

    * * *

    Together with the newbie Mgros and the soon-to-be retiring Conchita, Dolores was assigned to cleaning duty today, so she headed down the hallway towards the living room while calling out to the new waiting maid walking next to her.

    ¡°Let me introduce myself, too. I¡¯m Dolores. Can I call you Mgros?¡±

    In order to face Dolores, who was about one hundred and eighty centimetre tall, Mgros had to look up, because she only had an average height.

    ¡°Yes, Mgros is fine, Miss Dolores. Please take care of me today.¡±

    Mgros looked obliquely upward to her right in order to face Dolores, but since she had extremely narrow eyes, it did not really feel like eye contact to Dolores.

    ¡°Then me, too. I am Conchita. You are here to rece me, so we will not be working together for long, but nice to meet you, Mgros.¡±

    Walking on her left, Conchita also named herself with a warm smile.

    Although not as tall as Dolores, Conchita, too, was one of the taller girls. Her height measured around one hundred and seventy centimetre, so Mgros did not have as much trouble to face her as before.

    ¡°Likewise, pleased to meet you, Miss Conchita. Oh, are you going to get married, considering that you will be retiring?¡±

    As expected, young girls loved to talk about love and marriage. Mgros looked obvious interested, whereupon Conchita fessed up with a faint smile.

    ¡°Yes. The marriage itself will probably not be any time soon, but my father was getting a bit impatient. It seems he found a good match for me.

    You are in the same position as me now, so you better resign yourself to that fate, too.¡±

    Not quite understanding the meaning of Conchita¡¯s advice, Mgros wrinkled the brows of her narrow eyes and cocked her head puzzled.

    ¡°Resign, you say?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Working as a waiting maid in the Inner Pce gives you a lot of status. For better or worse, families you never even dreamed of will propose a marriage to you.

    You see, we currently have no royalty outside the Inner Pce, so any person with a connection to the Inner Pce seems to has far better chances now.¡±

    Conchita said with a shrug of her shoulders.

    Her family was low-ranking nobility without a title or territory.

    Normally she would marry into the family of another low-ranking nobility. It would already be a ¡°Cindere Story¡± if she managed to marry into the family of a simple feudal lord. Her family was that low-ranking.

    But despite that, Conchita had gotten several proposals from sessors of feudal lords and titled nobility. The biggest surprise was that amongst them was one from the famous and prominent Guill¨¦n Family.

    Her father figured that it would be too much for their family, so he quickly asked his old friend, a knight, to im that it had been an official engagement, when they had ¡°promised their children to each other¡± drunken in the past, nipping the other offers for his daughter in the bud early.

    Marrying into a powerful family sounded all good, but when their statuses were too different, it was quite likely that the inferior family would be swallowed whole by the superior family in the not so distant future.

    ¡°Well, you still do not have to worry about that for now. Coping with your duties in the Inner Pcees first.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will do my best.¡±

    Conchita smiled reassuringly, whereat Mgros gave her a big smile back so that her narrow eyes looked like an arc now.

    While they were talking like that, the three of them reached the living room.

    As the vanguard, Dolores grasped the doorknob and looked over her shoulder at Mgros.

    ¡°There will be many unfamiliar things inside. We¡¯ll exin how you have to handle them, so please don¡¯t touch anything before that.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand.¡±

    Only after Mgros signalized her understanding with a nod, Dolores slowly opened the door to the living room.

    ¡°Oh, wow¡­¡±

    Inside the living room, Mgros widened her narrow eyes at the strange sight.

    With all the personal stuff from Zenjirou in it, the living room certainly was a wondrous sight to behold.

    Several LED floormps stood around two couches facing each other.

    The five-door refrigerator stood in one corner, emitting a faint weird noise.

    Arge liquid-crystal TV throned on a waist-high pedestal.

    Theputer stood conspicuously on the desk in another corner of the room with the multifunction printer set up next to it.

    All of these were things an average person of this world had never seen before.

    With a closer look, the LED floormp could get identified as a kind of light source, since its build was simr to a candle holder, and the refrigerator could be taken for a cupboard or something, even if you did not know about its ¡°cooling¡± function.

    But the TV,puter and printerpletely went beyond her imaginative power. If anything, she might mistake the TV andputer for an ¡°opaque mirror¡±.

    ¡°You never saw anything like this before, right? We¡¯re generally forbidden to wipe them with a wet cloth. There is a lot to consider, so I¡¯ll show an example today. Just learn by watching for now, Mgros.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will.¡±

    The new waiting maid obediently assented to the instructions from Dolores.

    Conchita then added further instructions with a soft tone.

    ¡°How about we let you do the cleaning of anything else? Mgros, you know how to do normal cleaning, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can do that. If I had not made it into the Inner Pce, I would have served elsewhere, so I had memorized the standard tasks for a waiting maid already.¡±

    The newbie with the narrow eyes disyed even more confidence in her expression than in her utterance.

    Judging by that, Mgros must have been from a low-ranking noble family.

    The daughters of middle-ranking noble families or above could serve royalty as waiting maids in the Royal Pce or Inner Pce, but they would not serve in the mansion of another nobility.

    Of course there were exceptions even amongst high-ranking nobility, like the Guill¨¦n Family sending its little sister to another family for learning etiquette, so it was hardly an universal rule.

    ¡°Then allow me to start.¡±

    Saying this, Mgros immediately reached out for the cleaning tools and began to clean the living room.

    Even if the electronic appliances were off-limits, she could brush the dust off the shelves, wipe the couches or mop the floor.

    In ordance with her self-confident assertion, she was working quite dexterously.

    Considering that it was her first day in the Inner Pce, she concentrated quite a bit on cleaning extra thoroughly. It was done perfectly from a neatness point of view.

    But seeing her clean that carefully, Dolores intervened right away.

    ¡°Mgros, you¡¯re taking too long. Right now, we can take our time, because Master Zenjirou is absent, but usually, we¡¯re fighting a battle against the clock.¡±

    Cautioned liked that, Mgros stopped her hand from wiping the couch and answered confused.

    ¡°M- My apologies. But I am already working at my fastest.¡±

    A part of her apology was also an excuse, so Dolores gave her a bad advice with a nonchnt look.

    ¡°Then focus on the dust or stains within sight alone. The goal is to finish on time, not doing it perfectly.¡±

    ¡°Hold it, Dolores. Why are you suddenly teaching the rookie to skimp the work!?¡±

    Conchita red at the member of the Three Troublemakers less than thrilled, but also smiled wryly, because Dolores was technically right about it, even if it was not something she ought to teach the neers right away.

    Keeping her wry smile, Conchita exined it to the new waiting maid with slitted eyes.

    ¡°Well, Dolores does have a point, though. Master Zenjirou usually spends all his time in the living room, except for meals and baths, so we have to clean the living room as fast as possible above all.¡±

    ¡°But we get scolded, if we are negligent in our work, or not?¡±

    Mgros expressed her concern a bit anxious. Her argument would hold true if applied to themon sense of this world, but with Zenjirou as their Master here, it waspletely invalid.

    ¡°Principally, Master Zenjirou does not scold us, because he loathes a tense situation above all. Well, you probably will only understand it once you have met him yourself.

    Anyway, Master Zenjirou does get ufortable, when he is near people, who work that high-strung, so try to rx a bit more.¡±

    The advice from Conchita was actually spot-on, but it made no sense to anyone, who did not know about Zenjirou¡¯s personality.

    So Mgros only took the part of the advice she understood to heart and muttered it to herself tomit it to memory.

    ¡°Ehm, I need to hurry, because there is not much time allocated to cleaning the living room, but Master Zenjirou dislikes to be around uptight people, so I can not let my tension show.

    ¡­Sorry, I might not be able to measure up to a waiting maid of the Inner Pce.¡±

    The slit eyed waiting maid looked down disheartened.

    It certainly was asking for the impossible with just these conditions.

    It basically sounded like this: Quickly finish your job in a short time. But do not disy the mental pressure you suffer from it.

    As the pale neer behaved strange, Dolores spoke up andughed her worries off with a small voice.

    ¡°Not quite, Mgros. You don¡¯t hide your tension from Master Zenjirou. Instead you don¡¯t be tense to begin with.

    If you can¡¯t do that, just honestly apologize and he¡¯ll be sure to forgive you, so there¡¯s no reason to get tense at all.¡±

    ¡°You ought to pull yourself a bit more together, though, Dolores.¡±

    When Dolores proudly dered to indulge in the lenience of their master, Conchita pressed her right hand against her forehead as if suppressing a headache, and warned her with a low voice.

    Maybe she was not meant to teach the neer, but this member of the ¡°Three Troublemakers¡± instead?

    Conchita harboured that thought for a moment, but as a matter of fact, these three had made themselves pleasant to Zenjirou the most amongst the waiting maids of the Inner Pce, so it was difficult for her to reprimand her.

    Having said this, she could not afford to let the neers be affected by the ¡°Three Troublemakers¡± right at the beginning.

    ¡°Take her advice with a pinch of salt. Of course it is right to conduct your task perfectly. But just like Dolores has said, Master Zenjirou will not scold you, if it is not brought to perfection, so take it a easy. Okay?

    Nevertheless, you will earn a scolding from Mrs. Amanda or Mrs. Ines instead of Master Zenjirou, when you take it too easy, so be careful.¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes, I will keep it in mind?¡±

    As her sentence ended with a question mark, Mgros surely had not reallyprehended all of it.

    The majority of the tasks for the waiting maids on cleaning duty were in fact not actual cleaning.

    Most of the time, they finished the cleaning while Zenjirou was away and when he got back, they were put on standby in the next room for spontaneous orders.

    But Zenjirou rarely called the maids, if ever, and was rather unassuming, whereas their other master, Queen Aura, was too busy and not even in the Inner Pce during the day.

    On top of that, Zenjirou was currently gone, on his way to the far-off March of Guzzle.

    As a result, Dolores, Conchita and Mgros could enjoy somefy tea-time in the ready room after they finished the cleaning.

    ¡°Conchita, I brought some cherry tart along with the tea from the kitchen.¡±

    ¡°Oh, well done, Dolores. Let us have some then.¡±

    It was nothing unusual for Dolores, considering she was one of the Three Troublemakers, but even the reliable and older Conchita made herself at home quite naturally. She poured the tea from its silver pot into their wooden cups and cut the sweet smelling cheery tart with a silver knife.

    Because it was too hard cutting the round tart into three equal portions, she cut it into six pieces instead and put two pieces on each of the three wooden tes.

    ¡°We do not get the chance often, so let us eat it while it is still warm. Here, Mgros, eat up. You might be reluctant to eat something you have never seen before, but it is really good.¡±

    With a smile, Conchita ced the wooden te with two slices of cherry tart and the wooden cup with tea in front of Mgros.

    ¡°Ah, yes.¡±

    Although her expression was usually hard to read because of her narrow eyes, Mgros now revealed an obvious bewilderment. It was not attributed to the fact that she had never seen a cherry tart before, though.

    ¡°Did Mrs. Vanessa bake this?¡±

    ¡°Not quite. She certainly helped, but Rethe baked it for the most part. Her Majesty Aura won¡¯t be back until tonight after all.¡±

    Conchita and Dolores stuffed their cheeks with the cherry tart without hesitation at all while they were having a casual conversation like that.

    Unaware of the circumstances, Mgros seemed to feel rather ufortable right now, though.

    ¡°M- Miss Conchita, is it really alright for us to enjoy some tea here without doing any work?¡±

    The question prompted Conchita to freeze up with her wooden fork in hand.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I mean, we are making ourselvesfortable here instead of doing our work. This will not end with a simple scolding, will it?¡±

    Asked the same stuff again, Conchita finally figured out what Mgros was getting at.

    And at the same time, she realized how unbelievably limated Dolores and she had gotten to the abnormality of the Inner Pce.

    Three waiting maids sat at a table and had some cake with tea during the day.

    Strictly speaking, it was an incredible absurd sight.

    Conchita smiled at the anxious neer to appease her.

    ¡°Rest assured. Our job right now is simply to be in this room. We can do whatever we want to, as long as we are here.¡±

    After finishing the cleaning, the waiting maids on cleaning duty had to answer the misceneous wishes of Zenjirou and Aura.

    Due to that, they went into the room next to the living room after the cleaning, and simply waited to be called for.

    And days like today, where neither Zenjirou, nor Aura were in the Inner Pce, were no exception to the rule.

    Unlike Zenjirou, who had left the capital altogether, Queen Aura could unexpectedly came back to the Inner Pce, when her schedule changed while she worked in the Royal Pce.

    In light of that probability, the waiting maids had to stay in the ready room. In exchange, they were given free rein inside.

    So they were allowed to have a teatime with stuff from the kitchen, like the three of them were doing right now, or they could engage in some hobbies like knitting or embroidery.

    Nheless, they still had to stay in the small ready room the whole time, so people with low patience like Fay hated this duty. Lazy people like Dolores on the other hand, absolutely loved the cleaning duty.

    The slit eye rookie still could not help but be confused after hearing the whole exnation from Dolores and Conchita, but epted it for now.

    ¡°I see. So we are to remain here on stand-by, because we could be called for at any time.¡±

    Answering like that, Mgros finally reached out for her own te.

    She portioned the unfamiliar cherry tart with her fork as she had seen it done by the other two, and carried it to her mouth.

    The cherries of this world were smaller than the ones sold in Modern Japan and had rtively big stones. On top of that, they were pretty sour, so the cherry tart did not taste all that good, when it was baked ording to the recipe Zenjirou had bought along, but Vanessa had improved the recipe to something delicious with her abundant knowledge of ingredients.

    The tart base was baked firm and crispy and then arranged thoroughly with bright red cherries, so that the sweet, yet still somewhat sour vour of the cherries melted together with the vour of the dough, its sweetness was kept rtively down, in your mouth.

    On a nce, the cherries looked whole, but they had actually been cut on the bottom to remove the stones, so you did not need to worry about eating them.

    ¡°W- Wow, so good¡­ Can I really eat all of this?¡±

    After just one mouthful, Mgros could already guess that the tart would cost quite a fortune, if you were to trante the used ingredients and effort into money, so she asked that before she knew it.

    But at the same time, she already moved her hand with the fork towards the tart again, so it was beyond all question that she was smitten with its taste.

    Dolores proudly replied to the question of the rookie as though she had baked it herself.

    ¡°No worries. The maids in the kitchen practice their cooking on days like today, where Master Zenjirou and Her Majesty Aura aren¡¯t in the Inner Pce during the day.

    Of course the stuff isn¡¯t as good as when Mrs. Vanessa makes it, so we can¡¯t serve it to Master Zenjirou, but it would be a waste to just throw it away, too. Hence we ¡®dispose¡¯ of it ourselves.¡±

    With a smile, Dolores named it their special privilege as waiting maids of the Inner Pce, but Mgros only replied with a vague ¡°okay¡± as she did not quite get it.

    The young waiting maids had no choice but to cook actual dishes to improve their cooking skills. But these imperfect dishes could not be served to their masters Zenjirou and Aura, so the young waiting maids dealt with it amongst themselves.

    Preparing tea was also a task of a waiting maid, so it was inevitable that they were practicing their skills by preparing tea for themselves as well.

    The logic behind that made sense, but Mgros felt a bit stupid for trying her hardest to not embarrass her family with her behaviour, when she sat here now leisurely, enjoying some borate sweets and an aromatic top-ss tea.

    At the morning assembly, Supervisory Maid Amanda had emphasised that they were here in the Inner Pce as a mere workforce and that they should not presume too far, but when they were being entertained like this, it made that statement seem dubious.

    (Mrs. Ines denied it, but I guess we are expected to be concubines after all?)

    Mgros was aware that girls with better status, magical power and appearance than her had failed the selection, so she had epted the assertion that they were a ¡°mere workforce¡±, but she started to get her hopes a bit up now that she was getting such a treatment.

    Moreover, Conchita made another surprising proposal, when they had finished eating the cherry tart.

    ¡°Hey, Mgros, are you tired by chance? If so, you mayy down on that couch for a while.¡±

    ¡°Lay down? You mean to take a midday nap? We are in the middle of the Vibrant Season, though?¡±

    In the Carpa Kingdom it was only natural that workers would take a midday nap during the Hottest Season, so the proposal itself was not all that surprising, but it was contrary to expectation to rmend one during the Vibrant Season.

    As she had foreseen her reaction, Conchita looked at Dolores and smiled a bit.

    ¡°We are already used to it, but it might be a bit tough on you in the beginning. You see, the girls on cleaning duty have to stay here the whole time until Master Zenjirou and Her Majesty Aura go to bed.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that makes sense.¡±

    The exnation from Conchita by itself only sounded likemon sense for a waiting maid, so Mgros could not help but cock her head puzzled.

    ¡°Well, you will learn soon enough. We will carry you back to your room, if you fall asleep at some point, so do not worry about that.¡±

    Influenced by Zenjirou, who had been used to get back home only after midnight, and his LED floormps, Queen Aura was now going to bed ratherte ording to the standards of the Carpa Kingdom as well.

    ¡°¡­Okay?¡±

    The confused Mgros would have to wait until night to find out about its meaning.

    * * *

    Around the same time, the three waiting maids on gardening duty were washing off their sweat in the bath after they had finished their morning workload.

    At night, they only had the white light of Zenjirou¡¯s LEDmp to rely on, but the sun was still out right now.

    The numerous windows high up in the bath were opened and let the sunlight in so that it illuminated the whole stony bathroom.

    ¡°Yahoo, feels great!¡±

    Pouring the cold water from the wooden bucket over her head, Fay eximed merrily like a child.

    The temperatures during the Vibrant Season were not all that high during the day, but your body still ended up working up a sweat, when you spent plucking weeds in the midday sun for hours.

    ¡°Kyah! Cold!!¡±

    Apparently some of the water Fay showered herself with had sshed on her, so the petite girl sitting next to Fay raised a scream in reaction to it.

    ¡°Oh, sorry, Man. Did I hit you?¡±

    ¡°Ah, well, it is okay.¡±

    The petite waiting maid Man replied to the casual apology of her senior with a weak voice.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll wash your back as an apology! C¡¯mon, sit down here.¡±

    Energetic as always, Fay said this and tapped on the wooden stool before her.

    ¡°Huh? N- No, you do not need to. I can¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be shy!¡±

    As her junior was fidgeting around while hiding her naked body with a small towel, Fay grasped her left hand with her own right hand and pulled her over.

    ¡°Ah, no, you really do not need to¡­ Uhm, p- please do then¡­¡±

    After some back and forth, Man was made to sit down before Fay atst.

    A pushy senior against a weak-willed junior. There was no way that the weak-willed junior could hold her ground in such a situation.

    Needless to say, Fay meant no harm.

    She was just too eager to show off in front of her first junior.

    All the more because Man was even shorter than Fay, who had been the shortest maid in the Inner Pce up till now, so she was truly easy prey for Fay.

    If he had seen this, Zenjirou would probably say this: ¡°Oh, we had a guy like that in the ser club, too. He really went nuts in trying to show off once we got new members.¡±

    Anyway, the now second-generation senior was scolded by her even older first-generation senior.

    ¡°Stop it, Fay. You are bothering Man. I appreciate that you want to teach the neer the unfamiliar bathing custom of the Inner Pce, but pace yourself, will you?¡±

    Sabrina reprimanded Fay with a smile and soft tone.

    Although they had been admitted into the Inner Pce at the same time, Sabrina was a couple of years older, so Fay could not talk back to her.

    ¡°Muh¡­¡±

    Puckering her lips, Fay fell silent, whereat Sabrina pressed her on.

    ¡°Come on. You were going to teach her, right? She has no idea about the soap, so show her how to properly use it.¡±

    A simpleton by nature, Fay immediately regained her bright smile, when Sabrina told her that.

    ¡°Right. Listen, Man, all the maids working in the Inner Pce use this soap to wash themselves. Well, you can skip it once, when you take a bath twice like today, but I¡¯m going to show you how to do it now.¡±

    With these words, Fay pulled the small bottle with the fluid soap closer and tipped a bit into her right hand.

    ¡°Uhm, what exactly is that?¡±

    Peeking at Fay, who rubbed the sticky white fluid into the hand towel, the short new waiting maid timidly leaned forward from across to get a better look.

    Her curiosity prevailed against her weak-willed and cautious nature. She conducted herself like a cute little animal about to be fed.

    ¡°This is called soap. Master Zenjirou made it and we wash our bodies with it. Here, try it, too.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, I will. Like this? ¡­Uwah, it smells really nice.¡±

    Mimicking her, the petite neer put some of the fluid soap into her hand, too, and rejoiced at the sweet smell of it.

    ¡°Is this perfumed oil?¡±

    ¡°Nope, it¡¯s soap. But it contains perfumed oil. Peppermint in this case.¡±

    Once Zenjirou had worked out the procedure, he revealed the recipe to the purveyor to the court and left the production to him.

    By now, they were just periodically stocking up on the finished product. As expected of the purveyor to the court, the quality was a lot better than when Zenjirou had made it himself, and the goods on sale no longer had a lingering smell of oil.

    The fluid soap made in this world certainly foamed less than the one Zenjirou had brought along from Earth, but it still met the standards sufficiently.

    ¡°Yes, you foam it up in the towel like this and then wash your body.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I understand.¡±

    ¡°But be careful. It really stings, when the soap gets in your eyes, so wash it out immediately, if that happens.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course, Miss Sabrina.¡±

    Any daughter of a noble had experiences with bathes, if not necessarily with the soap.

    Man then washed her body without much trouble, rinsed the foam off with hot water and shook her body like a small wet animal.

    Before long, she had finished washing her body, so Man sat down in the hot bath with Sabrina. Left alone, Fay took out a silver vial and started to wash her hair with its contents.

    ¡°Oh my. What do you have there, Fay?¡±

    Sabrina had made herselffortable in the bath so that her huge breasts were floating on the water, when she noticed the substance in Fay¡¯s hands for the first time and looked at it.

    Fay threw out her chest and proimed proudly.

    ¡°Ehe~ Master Zenjirou gave me special soap for my hair. It¡¯s called ¡®shampoo¡¯ and ¡®rinse¡¯. Ah, but you can¡¯t have any, Man. Actually, no one else but me¡¯s allowed to use it. It¡¯s apparently still in the test phase and who knows what it will do.¡±

    What she said was nothing to be proud of, though. In other words: she was used as a guinea pig.

    ¡°Will you be fine?¡±

    Sabrina frowned worried, whereupon Fay answered nonchntly.

    ¡°Hmm, Master Zenjirou said to stop as soon as it prickles or my hair bes brittle. But I get a cold coin, when that happens, and even if it doesn¡¯t, I get a silver coin. And I mean one of the new post-war silver coins.¡±

    It was unknown what kind of effects the handmade shampoo or rinse would have after their application. Normally, Zenjirou would try it out on himself, but he was not allowed put himself at risk as a vital member of the Royal Family.

    As a result, the waiting maids had to serve as a guinea pig once again.

    The reason why Fay had been chosen as the only test subject this time around was that she was the only waiting maid in the Inner Pce with short hair.

    Just because it was short did not mean that you could trifle with it, but in the worst case, if Fay were to have to shave it offpletely, it would only take one or two years to grow back to its former length.

    So Zenjirou felt less guilty, since she would only be affected for a short time, quite contrary to the other waiting maids, whose hair extended down to their waists.

    ¡°Oh, cool. It¡¯s not all that bad. Feels refreshing.¡±

    Watched over by her senior and junior from the bath, Fay washed her hair hearty with the handmade shampoo.

    ¡°Ehm, I think I¡¯m supposed to wash it off properly before I apply the rinse¡­¡±

    Apparently she took her task with the special bonus from Zenjirou quite seriously. Fay recalled his instructions and faithfully put them into practice.

    ¡°Lastly, wash it off again with hot water. Okay, all done.¡±

    After she hadpletely washed off the rinse with several buckets of hot water from the bath, Fay took a wrung out towel and wiped her frisky short hair dry with it.

    ¡°Now I¡¯m ready to go, too. A hot bath isn¡¯t all that bad at this season.¡±

    With these words, Fay stepped into the bathtub, where Sabrina and Man were already sitting. She usually preferred a cold bath over a hot one, but right now, in thetter half the Vibrant Season, she was fine with soaking in a hot bath as well.

    ¡°Phew.¡±

    ¡°You have earned it, Fay. Now tell us, how was that so-called shampoo and rinse?¡±

    Sabrina smiled softly, whereat Fay felt her hair with her right hand as she answered.

    ¡°Hmm, quite nice? And really refreshing. So far, it doesn¡¯t feel brittle or dry like Master Zenjirou had feared, but well, I won¡¯t know for sure untilter.¡±

    ¡°Oh, interesting. You think the merchant will sell thister on as well? If so, I might be able to allow myself to get at least one for my ¡¯special day¡¯.¡±

    Although the purveyor to the court had started to mass-produce it, the soap was still a luxury article. Considering that, the shampoo and rinse would be unaffordable tomoners for a while longer, too.

    Sabrina admittedly came from a noble family, but it was a lower ranking one with no financial leeway, so the articles would pretty much out of her reach once she left the Inner Pce.

    Listening to their conversation, the petite neer was once again reminded of the extraordinary circumstances here, so she timidly rose to speak.

    ¡°Say¡­ Are we really allowed to do this? We will not get scolded for itter on?¡±

    She unexpectedly harboured the same doubt as Mgros during the tea party in the ready room. It proved how unusual the lifestyle of the waiting maids in the Inner Pce was to outsiders.

    But Fay and Sabrina ayed her fears with a smile after they exchanges nces.

    ¡°No worries. You also heard what Mrs. Emilia said: ¡®Refresh yourselves in the bath.¡¯¡±

    ¡°You might be worried, since you do not know about the bathing customs here, but if anything, taking a bath is actually part of our duties. You see, Master Zenjirou takes the view that everyone working in the Inner Pce has to keep themselves as clean as possible.¡±

    Sabrina was stating a fact.

    Of course Zenjirou had never said it out aloud, nor demanded it from them, but Supervisory Maid Amanda had noticed that he felt uneasy towards people, who wore dirty clothes, were too sweaty or applied too much perfumed oil, so she had imposed the obligation on the waiting maids to properly take care of baths and a change of clothes.

    But the exnation from Sabrina was a bitcking. At the very least so much so that Man misunderstood yet again.

    ¡°Part of our duty. Master Zenjirou wills it. I see. So it is like that after all. Mrs. Amanda might have denied it, but I guess it is true after all.

    Have you two gone through it already? D- Do you think I will be called in, too?¡±

    Sabrina nkly batted an eye in reaction to the surprised and worried, but also somewhat hopeful utterance from Man, before she realized that the girl was misunderstanding something.

    The waiting maids had to take a bath as part of their duties and Zenjirou wanted them to be clean at all times.

    Considering just that, one would naturally think that Zenjirou was a horny master, who yed around with the maids at any time.

    ¡°No, Man. You are misunderstanding. Like Mrs. Amanda had said, you do not need to be worried about being called to his bedroom. At the very least, no one of us has ever been called for so far.¡±

    ¡°R- Really? Maybe they are just ordered to hold their tongues?¡±

    Her doubtful reaction could be considered as only natural.

    As a matter of fact, it was not all that unusual to keep a rtionship secret, since it often caused unrest amongst the waiting maids, if one or more received the favour of their master.

    But Sabrina shook her head, still smiling.

    ¡°Not possible. We all share rooms in groups of three. We would know for sure if someone were to be summoned.¡±

    ¡°Besides, Master Zenjirou sleeps together with Her Majesty Aura every night. He has no time to call in other women.¡±

    Fay stopped her with a wave of her hand,ughing cackling, which prompted Man to cock her head even more puzzled.

    ¡°Huh? But Her Majesty Aura has already given birth before, right? I assume the childbearing period was rather long.¡±

    ¡°Yep, but even then, they slept together. Master Zenjirou went out of his way to get a separate bed in their bedroom to sleep in. He wanted to sleep at least in the same room, even if he wasn¡¯t allowed to sleep in the same bed.¡±

    ¡°Wow, how romantic.¡±

    Man spontaneously put her hands together above the water with a dreamful look in her eyes.

    Like any other girl her age, she also seemed to have a weakness for love stories.

    Fay continued the story.

    ¡°To begin with, Sabrina would be the first to be called in, if at all. So as long as she hasn¡¯t been send for, we others have no chance.¡±

    ¡°I hear that a lot, but I think it is not that simple. Admittedly, Master Zenjirou is head over heels for Her Majesty Aura, but that does not guarantee me his favour.¡±

    A troubled Sabrina revealed a bitter smile in light of Fay¡¯s appraisal.

    ¡°Eh? Oh, right! Now I know whom you reminded me of, Miss Sabrina!¡±

    Looking at Sabrina, who had immersed herself into the bath up till her shoulders, Man eximed surprised, when she figured out what Fay was hinting at.

    Long, red hair and a height of about one-hundred and seventy centimetre coupled with a distinctive chest and waist. Amongst the waiting maids of the Inner Pce, Sabrina was the one, whose appearance resembled the one of Queen Aura the most.

    Unlike Aura, who had trained her body as a soldier, Sabrina was well-rounded, had sloping shoulders and a meek aura due to her drooping eyes, so it was a bit of an overstatement to say that she resembled Aura.

    And like Sabrina had said, Zenjirou had not fallen for Aura¡¯s outward appearance alone anyway, so he did not treat Sabrina any differently from the other maids.

    ¡°Well, I cannot deny the fact that I did get my hopes a bit, too, seeing as everyone said so.¡±

    The red-haired maid stuck out her tongue a bit and looked out of the window at the blue sky so that her expression could not be seen.

    * * *

    At night of the same day.

    For the first time, since they had entered the Inner Pce, the Three Troublemakers had worked inpletely different teams over the day and were finally seeing each other again in their room at night.

    ¡°Man, what a day.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, working with the rookie was more tiring than I thought. Our girl suddenly starting dozing off in the ready room. She was quite a handful.¡±

    ¡°Good job, Fay-chan, Dolores-chan. I did not have to look after a rookie, but I was all alone with Kate-chan, so we had our hands full, too~¡±

    Fay, Dolores and Rethe each sat down on their own bed and talked about their respective experiences of the day with a tired voice.

    Despite their differences, the three of them were a well attuned team, so when they were separated and had to work with a rookie and a less acquainted older maid for a day, it became so much more exhausting already.

    ¡°Well, the girl in our group is diligent, so I doubt she¡¯ll be a handful for long.¡±

    Dolores praised the rookie in her group like this, so Fay offered her own praise in reply to her.

    ¡°Boah, what a pompous praise. Our Man-chan is really cute, too. She¡¯s small, timid and always trembling from nervousness. It¡¯s really cute!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s bad, isn¡¯t it? You can¡¯t have a nervous wreck like her be around Master Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Nah, she¡¯s just not used to her new home yet. Once she meets Master Zenjirou and spends a few days here, her nervousness will be all gone.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, guess so.¡±

    Dolores easily acknowledged her rowdy argument.

    The newly admitted girls had not yet met their Master, so they were anxious about the mysterious existence that literally had control over their life or death.

    As soon as they learned about the person behind the title, they would loose their tension. Dolores and the other two could im that from their own experience.

    ¡°Still, first Keyshia¡¯s getting married and now even Conchita and Sabrina. We¡¯re losing quite a bit of people all of a sudden.¡±

    Fay spoke with a pensively voice on a rare asion, whereupon Dolores answered with a feigned cold-hearted tone.

    ¡°It goes without saying. They¡¯re already twenty years old this year. Normally it would be theirst chance to get married and even as a waiting maid of the Inner Pce, it¡¯s the perfect point in time.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, well, how do I put it? It just came home to me that time doesn¡¯t stand sill.¡±

    Fay replied with that and let herself flop on her back in her casual clothes.

    ¡°Stop being so carefree, Fay. This is only the beginning. You, too, must have at least heard the rumours about what Master Zenjirou¡¯s doing right now with whom.¡±

    Her words were directed at Fay, of course, but even Rethe, who had silently listened to them so far, now leaned forward on her bed and joined the conversation.

    ¡°You mean Princess Freya? His partner for the marriage ceremony.¡±

    ¡°I guess she¡¯ll be his concubine in the future? Then she¡¯ll start living here, right?¡±

    The first concubine might finallye into the Inner Pce.

    The situation in the Inner Pce would greatly change then for better or worse. A fundamental change one sizerger than the current change of staff.

    ¡°Nothing is set in stone yet, so we can only specte, but if everything goes well, it will happen.¡±

    Illuminated by the light of the oil pan burning in one corner of the room, Dolores¡¯s profile revealed a hint of graveness.

    If they were allowed to speak their mind, no waiting maid would be thrilled about weing a concubine.

    The Inner Pce was tranquil right now. Their two masters, Zenjirou and Aura, were getting along extremely well, had both aposed personality and never vented their anger on the waiting maids.

    From the waiting maids¡¯ point of view, there could not be a better workce, so they would obviously not endorse it, when a ¡°foreign body¡± was imnted into it.

    ¡°Well, it takes years to negotiate marriages of royalty or higher nobility, so it won¡¯t affect us any time soon.¡±

    Dolores sounded like she wanted to convince herself, whereas Fay stretched out her legs from the bed, trashed about and shouted with a small voice.

    ¡°Then I hope they¡¯ll take at least three years for it. It won¡¯t have anything to do with me anymore in three years.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s quite likely that we¡¯ll be retired for marriage, too, in three years. I can rte, but don¡¯t you go ring it out to others.¡±

    As her little roommateined just for her own convenience, the tall Dolores crossed her long legs anew and smiled wryly.

    ¡°I know, I know. It¡¯s just between us.¡±

    ¡°Seeing you like this, I can¡¯t really imagine you getting married in three years, though.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, me neither.¡±

    Fay agreed to the sarcasm of her roommate without getting angry.

    As a matter of fact, it was quite difficult to imagine that the girl trashing about on her bed like this, was actually at a marriageable age and would be past themonly agreed prime of life in three years.

    It had been more or less two years, since they entered the Inner Pce, but Fay showed no signs of having matured at all during that time.

    Having said this, she could not avoid marriage, since she was the daughter of a noble.

    ¡°I bet Rethe gets lot of offers, though.¡±

    Sitting up on her bed, Fay looked at her other roommate sitting diagonally across from her.

    She had an average height for a woman of the Carpa Kingdom. Her hair was light-coloured and fluffy, her facial features smooth and gentle.

    And her breasts were so voluminous that they bewitched well and truly every men (each of them would at least look once at them, whereas one out of five took a closer look) she met for the first time.

    Rethe was definitely popr with the men. It was easy to imagine her as the wife of someone.

    But she shook her head a bit troubled, when her roommate address her,

    ¡°Well, I might not get married at all.¡±

    And dropped a bombshell.

    ¡°EH!? WHY!?¡±

    ¡°Did something happen in your family, Rethe!?¡±

    In the middle of the night, Fay and Dolores raised loud voices, whereupon Rethe quickly stopped them with a wave of her hand.

    ¡°N- No~ Not like that. It is my personal wish. If my father allows it, I want to stay here in the Inner Pce.¡±

    ¡°Stay here? Are you aspiring to be concubine, Rethe?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a rocky road. Waiting maids already have a hard time bing concubines in normal households due to the difference in standings. And even more so, when you¡¯re up against Her Majesty Aura, a legal wife.¡±

    ¡°I said it is not like that. Mrs. Vanessa told me today that I could seed her if I train diligently for three more years. I think that such a life would not be bad, either.¡±

    Hearing the desperate exnation from Rethe, Fay and Dolores lost all their momentum.

    ¡°Oh, just that.¡±

    ¡°Geez, stop startling me like that.¡±

    ¡°Sorry~ I phrased it a bit misleading.¡±

    Rethe smiled softly as she apologized.

    Dolores had calmed down after understanding her intention, but frowned a bit as she pondered.

    ¡°But that¡¯s no easy path, either. Seeding Mrs. Vanessa without leaving means you stay single for life, right? That decision shouldn¡¯t be treated lightly.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Mrs. Amanda and the other department heads are all married, except Mrs. Ines. You ought to leave, get married ande back here, when you¡¯re older, Rethe.

    I¡¯m sure Master Zenjirou will be fine with that.¡±

    Sitting upright, Fay assumed a stern expression for once and gave her roommate an advice about her future.

    Just like Dolores and Fay had said, it was not that easy for noble daughters in this world to choose to remain ¡°unmarried¡±.

    It was generally epted within the whole country that the happiness of a woman only consisted in marriage. Needless to say, Rethe was born and raised with these moral values as well.

    Once she chose not to get married and reached a certain age, it was toote for regret.

    Rethe was moved by the passionate advice from her roommates, so she dropped her gaze preupied.

    ¡°Yes, you are right. Cooking is my passion, so I might have gotten a bit carried away, when Mrs. Vanessa praised it. I will think about it carefully.¡±

    Dolores heaved a sigh of relief in light of her answer.

    ¡°Good. Either way, you have three years left, so if you want to choose marriage instead by that time, it¡¯s still not toote.¡±

    Even if she were to chose to get married after devoting all of her time in the Inner Pce to improve her cooking skills, it would not have been in vain.

    Therefore she should simply enjoy her life as a waiting maid while working on her cooking skills for now.

    The days in the Inner Pce could be considered a kind of moratorium period for the young waiting maids.

    Isted from the hustle and bustle of the world, theyfortable spent a peaceful time here.

    Fay then gave voice to her worries as though blowing the heavy atmosphere off.

    ¡°But when we get married, we¡¯re going to live in our husband¡¯s house, right? I¡¯m worried if I can fit in. I mean, that house won¡¯t have midday baths, snacks at noon or ice during the Hottest Season.¡±

    ¡°That¡­ goes without saying. And you can¡¯t take your time cleaning the bedroom anymore, since it won¡¯t have any air conditioning.¡±

    ¡°¡­O- Okay, I will improve my cooking and stay in the Inner Pce after all~¡±

    The Three Troublemakers had amodated themselves to serving Zenjirou more than anyone.

    Picturing a life without the advantages of Modern Earth, the three of them started to feel quite concerned about their future after all this time.

 Chapter Volume 6 intermission

    Intermission: The Twin Kingdom takes Actions

    While the Carpa Royal Pce was in uproar over the audacious act from the Princess of the North Continent, the Prince and Princess from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell were having a somewhat serious discussion in the part of the Royal Pce that had been rented out to them.

    ¡°Wow, what a surprise. The northern Princess sure is assertive.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can say that again. I suppose the North Continent handles things differently after all?¡±

    Although she usually was no fan of gossip, Princess Bona also seemed interested this time as she responded to Prince Francesco with a glittering sparkle of curiosity in her purple eyes.

    She was born into a low-ranking noble family and still focussed more on her Bestowal Magic and engraving techniques, even after she had be royalty, so she had only internalized the bare minimum of royal etiquette and attitude, making her moral values slightly different from the typical member of the royal family.

    ¡°I would never even dream of having the courage to make a proposal of my own ord in public. Actually, will she be alright? The marriage between royalty is pretty much a taboo, is it not?¡±

    Her worried interjection revealed how trivial her level of knowledge actually was.

    Prince Francesco on the other hand only looked like a carefree idiot on a nce and was an idiot in actual fact, but was a true-born royalty, so he at least knew more about these kind of things than Princess Bona.

    ¡°Not quite. Most royalty on the North Continent don¡¯t have a bloodline magic, so marriages between royalty aren¡¯t a taboo there. If anything, they are endorsed.

    Going by our standards, it would be more like a marriage between influential nobles in the same country.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. So something like a feudal lord moving up thedder and gaining independence?¡±

    Princess Bona had never been the stupid type, so she was quick on the uptake.

    ¡°Yeah, more or less. Therefore a political marriage with another country is prettymon for Princess Freya. If anything, His Majesty Zenjirou and Her Majesty Aura should be the most shocked by it. The Carpa Kingdom is a major power here after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are right. Then I assume it is quite likely that Princess will be turned down?¡±

    Her expression as she asked this worriedly looked like she was genuinely concerned about Princess Freya.

    ¡°Hmm? I wonder. They currently do have a dangerous shortage of practitioners for their bloodline magic due to the previous war, so it would be wise to have His Majesty Zenjirou take a concubine. Princess Freya may not hold a bloodline magic herself, but her magical power is by no means low.

    The matter might actually work out easier than expected.¡±

    Considering the secret pact between the Carpa Royal Family and the Sharrow Royal Family, it should actually be a problem, if it worked out, but Prince Francesco was not bothered by it in the slightest and mentioned this unconcerned.

    Technically also a part of the Sharrow Royal Family, Princess Bona did not know of these circumstances, though, so she nodded admiringly.

    ¡°I see. Then His Majesty Zenjirou will probably be ¡®made¡¯ to take more concubines in the future. I feel for him.¡±

    She expressed her sympathy for Zenjirou like that. Her moral values were almost identical to his, so in a way, she understood him better than anyone else.

    Only wealthy merchants or higher nobility perceived multiple wives at the same time as a blessing. Monogamy was the norm formoners or lower nobility and taking a second or third wife would only cause unnecessary trouble.

    Princess Bona understood that by nature, since she was born as a low-ranking noble.

    And it was probably something a true-born royalty like Prince Francesco could never rte to.

    ¡°Hmm? Her Majesty Aura is a woman of character and Princess Freya is a finedy as well. His Majesty Zenjirou is actually in an enviable position.

    But well, if you¡¯re that worried about him, why not run for a concubine position yourself?¡±

    As always, Prince Francesco wore his childish smile without the slightest shred of malice as he proposed the crucial question.

    However, Princess Bona had no way to know about the inner workings of the Sharrow Royal Family, so her reaction turned out to be rather boring.

    ¡°Oh please. You are always so quick to speak in jest, Prince Francesco. Even if we are by ourselves here, you may not tell such an heedless joke.¡±

    When she scolded the older prince like a child that had done something bad, her expression revealed neither shame, nor surprise.

    It was the expression of someone, who literally never had considered bing a concubine for Zenjirou, not even as a joke.

    This was not even a matter of being attracted to him or not. She was just not envisioning this kind of development to begin with.

    Princess Bona was profoundly convinced that she was going back to the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell soon. And Zenjirou was the Prince Consort of a different country.

    So before their social standing or the taboo for marriages between royal families with bloodline magic even came up for discussion, she did not see him as a potential marriage candidate in the first ce, since they were going to live their lives too far from each other from now on.

    But the blonde Prince said suggestively with a smirk as if to spur her on unnecessarily.

    ¡°But Bona, you saw the pair rings of Her Majesty Aura and His Majesty Zenjirou, right? I mean those pretty rings with three diamonds. Apparently they are called ¡®wedding rings¡¯ and are something that men give their future wives in the world of His Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°I- In other words, I would get a fantastic ring like that, if I were to marry him?¡±

    Swallowing her saliva with a gulp, Princess Bonapletely changed her expression into a dead serious one.

    ¡°Yes. But right now, he can¡¯t interact with his world anymore, so any wedding ring for a concubine would have to be from this world.¡±

    When Prince Francesco pointed out this fact, which would have been obvious after a bit of thinking, Princess Bona trembled with realisation.

    ¡°P- Prince Francesco! Please refrain from making vicious allusions. I was almost tricked, you know!¡±

    ¡°Ohe on, don¡¯t be tricked by a joke like that. It makes me feel bad for telling it.¡±

    Scratching his head with a troubled look, Prince Francesco averted his eyes from the angry re of Princess Bona and kept it to himself that he was thinking how ¡°na?ve this girl got as soon as it concerned jewellery¡±.

    * * *

    At night of the same day.

    Prince Francesco was sitting all by himself at the desk on a rare asion and working on something.

    The candlestick-shaped magic tool on top of the desk had the ¡°me Ball Creation¡± magic worked into it.

    Maintaining a spherical form through magical power, its me was quite unlike a natural one. It did not flicker and evenly enlightened the surroundings, so it was extremely convenient as a light source. Needless to say, the me was still fire, so it did not only provide light, but also warmth.

    Prince Francesco held the tip of his peculiar stylus, which used white natural stone for the handle and iron for the point, into the round me, then wrote letters on the dragonskin parchment lying before him on the desk with the heated pen.

    ¡°I don¡®t really want to be the bearer of bad news, but I can¡¯t really lie to Father, either. So, how do I do this?¡±

    His Majesty Zenjirou was proposed to by Princess Freya of the North Continent. Our little Bona and His Majesty Zenjirou are getting along well, but neither side seems to be harbouring romantic feelings.

    ¡°Guess this will do.¡±

    He inscribed burnt marks in form of words into the dragonskin parchment with the hot stylus.

    That dragonskin parchment was actually a magic tool called ¡°Burning Pair Parchment¡±. Two of them formed a pair and they had the feature that when you burnt one of them, the other would show the exact same kind of burn.

    Originally, it had been invented to light up a fire from a safe distance, but someone noticed the trick with the burns and came up with the idea to ¡°write letters through burn marks¡±. Ever since, the parchments were used tomunicate over long distances like in this case.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a matter of opinion, though. I guess it¡¯s good news for the Sharrow Family that His Majesty Zenjirou, royalty from another country, is taking a concubine. ording to the secret contract, any child between His Majesty Zenjirou and his concubine will have to study abroad in the Twin Kingdom after all.

    Oh, but I wonder if my father and grandfather will use this as an opportunity to push a princess of the Sharrow Family onto His Majesty Zenjirou as a concubine, too.¡±

    The first candidate would be no one else but Princess Bona. She was an extremely convenient ¡°pawn¡± for the Sharrow Family.

    Born as a low-ranking noble, she just had enough magical power to activate the bloodline magic.

    But she had a docile personality and her appearance, although in, was by no means bad-looking. Except for jewellery, which was her upation, hobby and raison d¡¯¨ºtre all at the same time, she practically had no attachment to desires. And theplicated circumstances rting to her upbringing had earned her a personality that was so exploitable it was almostughable.

    In other words, she had internalized to obey the orders from royalty by birth, because she was a low-ranking noble, andter took her obligations as a member of the royal family for granted, because she had been raised as one.

    Although she had a strong sense of responsibility for her position as royalty, she readily epted orders from higher ranking royalty. Moreover, she could naturally interact with people from any social ss without putting them off, since she had received an education for low-ranking nobility as well as royalty.

    ordingly, Princess Bona should be able to naturally charm Zenjirou, no matter his personality. Or at least it was quite unlikely that she would be hated.

    The Sharrow Royal Family was partly right and partly wrong with that spection.

    ¡°Well, His Majesty Zenjirou and Bona do get along well, but a bit too well, I would say. Or more precisely, they¡¯re ¡®birds of a feather¡¯.¡±

    Prince Francesco remembered how rxed Zenjirou and Bona were always talking with each other, and grinned.

    It certainly was impressive to have grown that close within a mere three months, but their intimacy was obviously not the sexual kind.

    ¡°Hmm, they¡¯re more like two peaceful herbivores snuggling together in the sun.¡±

    The way of love could be ssified into ¡°active¡± and ¡°passive¡± and love would not blossom unless one side was aggressive to some extent.

    Amongst two passive herbivores, neither side would go for the kill, namely begin courtship. Zenjirou was by no means oblivious to love, but he generally remained passive.

    He would be responsive, when approached by the other side such as Aura¡¯s action on their first meeting or Princess Freya¡¯s action a few days ago, but he would almost never initiate an approach by himself.

    The same applied to Princess Bona. Both of them were the type to wait for an approach to which they could react. As a result, the status quo was dragging on endlessly.

    ¡°As I see it, the two of them would still just happily chat with each other after a hundred years.¡±

    Even though he was of that view, Prince Francesco had no intention to write it down on the ¡°Burning Pair Parchment¡±.

    He did not want to get in the way of his father and grandfather, but he did not want to help them, either.

    The socializing was going well for both Prince Francesco and Princess Bona right now. He could do without any trouble that arose by creating unnecessary stir.

    He once again put the stylus into the me of the magic tool, as it had cooled down during his monologue, and continued to write.

    Princess Freya hails from the Upps Kingdom. It is one of the few countries on the North Continent that are not under the influence of the ¡®Church¡¯. I believe it would cause no problem to make contact with them. Please give your permission.

    Since he stayed out of politics back home, Prince Francesco did not know all the details, but the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell generally forbid negotiations with the North Continent or more precisely: with the ¡°Church¡±.

    Just to be safe, they ought to have nothing to do with Princess Freya as well.

    But Prince Francesco was a curious soul and enthusiastic craftsman, albeit not as much as Princess Bona, so he really wanted a connection to the Upps Kingdom, which was said to be a prominent technology developed country on the North Continent.

    ¡°Their high level of technology is obvious at a nce, when you look at the armours and weapons of the guards. Most of them are crafted rather crudely, though, so it might not be all that worthwhile for jewellery.

    Ah, but the ornaments on the spear from Miss Skathi were splendid. I¡¯m sure I could learn a thing or two from that.

    Man, our country technically stems from the North Continent, too, so how did this differencee to be?¡±

    His mumbling faded into oblivion without being heard by anyone.

 Chapter Volume 7 prologue

    Prologue: On the Way There

    The ¡°Meat Dragon¡± was a four-legged herbivore dragon that had been domesticated as a livestock on the South Continent for its meat. It breed often, grew up quickly and most of its body could be eaten, so these characteristics earned it the name ¡°Meat Dragon¡± against its will.

    The majority of the meat that currentlynded on the dining tables of the South Continent came from domesticated ¡°Meat Dragons¡±, but needless to say, there were numerous wild ¡°Meat Dragons¡± living in the wilderness as well.

    It was extremely easily to differentiate between a wild Meat Dragon and a domesticated Meat Dragon: The wild ones still had their two horns growing on their heads while the domesticated ones had them cut off.

    With their horns cut off, the Meat Dragons did not only lose their means for a physical attack, but also became less aggressive in their nature, which made it easier to rear them. Hence the horns of cultivated Meat Dragons were cut off after they reached a certain age. On the other hand, it meant that the wild Meat Dragons were surprisingly aggressive and dangerous.

    The furious onught from a wild Meat Dragon with its two horns could sometimes even catch a hunter or soldier off-guard.

    So a powerless viger would avoid any contact with wild Meat Dragons as much as possible.

    But it would bepletely different matter, when they banded together as an armed group. With a glint in their eyes, they would then kill the wild Meat Dragon.

    The Carpa Kingdom had a lot more preserved food than the North Continent for example, since it was the biggest producer of salt and spices, but it was not all that pleasant to keep living off just them for a long time.

    Forced to eat mainly jerked meat seasoned with salt and pepper along with dry tbread every day, the people started to see the initially dangerous wild Meat Dragons as nothing but a source for ¡°juicy meat¡±.

    And Zenjirou and his group on their way to the March of Guzzle were no exception.

    As a result, the wild Meat Dragon, who carelessly had revealed itself from the forest along the Salt Road, was hunted by the soldiers with bloodshot eyes.

    ¡°GROWL!¡±

    ¡°There it is!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let it get away!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯sing your way, get ready!¡±

    Several soldiers were chasing after one Meat Dragon in the thick forest besides the Salt Road.

    An experienced hunter would immobilize it with a trap and finish it off with arrows from afar, but the ordinary soldiers took a more primitive approach: Cursorial Hunting.

    ¡°Uwah!?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s friggin¡¯ huge!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare to let it get away!¡±

    With their brandished spears, the soldiers chevied the Meat Dragon towards the road from all sides.

    A silver-haired girl and a blonde female soldier were awaiting it on the road.

    Princess Freya, the silver-haired girl, could neither conceal her tension, nor her excitement, as she held a long spear that was almost twice the height of herself with both hands.

    ¡°Here ites, Mdy. Maybe I should take over after all?¡±

    Skathi, the blonde female soldier standing next to her, took one step forward as though protecting her master with the short spear and wooden shield in her hands, when she called out to her like that.

    But Princess Freya firmly shook her head in light of the consideration of her trusted retainer, so that her short silver hair fluttered about.

    ¡°No, let me do this, Skathi. I will not get another chance to take down a dragon like this again.¡±

    Even more than nervousness, her two eyes, fixated on the forest before her, revealed an eager glint of excitement while she said that.

    ¡°Very well. From what I have heard, the Meat Dragon seems to behave like a boar. Please do not face it head-on, but rather attack it from the side with your spear.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know.¡±

    With the approval of her bodyguard, the princess from the Northern Continent showed a smile consisting of nervousness and tion alike, and red into the thick forest.

    ¡°GROWL!¡±

    A few momentster, it appeared in the forest near the road.

    The wild Meat Dragon proudly bore the two horns on its head forward and jumped out onto the road while breaking through the thick branchwood with its massive body.

    ¡°Watch out, Mdy!¡±

    ¡°Y- Yes!¡±

    Princess Freya definitely was nervous, when she saw a wild dragon for the first time.

    Theparison to a boar had been suitable, seeing as it rushed at her in a straight line with its small round eyes bloodshot with agitation. Its appearance was quite redolent of the dinosaur called ¡°triceratops¡± that had lived on Earth a long time ago. But unlike the triceratops, it had no horn on its nose.

    The biggest difference between a Meat Dragon and a boar was the size.

    Assuming the Meat Dragon in front of Princess Freya had the size of an average specimen of his race, it meant that the Meat Dragon was two or three times bigger than a boar.

    ¡°GROOOWL!¡±

    When the Meat Dragon rushed straight at her with a battle cry, Princess Freya inadvertently raised the corners of her mouths into a crescent-shaped smile.

    At home, they only had her let hunt rabbits, foxes or a deer at best, but here, she was allowed to face a dragon, even if it was only a herbivore one.

    A shiver of excitement ran down her spine and she suppressed the urge tounch an attack herself. Instead she peered hard at the approaching huge dragon with the long spear in hand.

    ¡°GROWL!¡±

    ¡°Now!¡±

    She evaded the Meat Dragon by quickly stepping out of its path and then stabbed her long spear into the side of the dragon at full tilt.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    ¡°GRRR!¡±

    Her all-out attack perfectly pierced the left shoulder of the dragon.

    But even though the attack from the light-weighted princess did harm the Meat Dragon, it did not finish it off.

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Moreover, she was suddenly in the path of its onught again, either because she had not stepped away far enough before or because she had pressed forward too far for her attack afterwards.

    The watching female soldier reacted to the predicament faster than the person in question herself.

    ¡°Mdy! Down!¡±

    She was ordering her master like a pet dog, but given the circumstances, it could not be helped.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Princess Freya obediently did like she was told and ducked down, practically throwing herself onto the ground.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    In the next moment, the leg of the female soldier swept over the ducked back of her master like a gust of wind.

    Skathi was pretty much a giant of a woman, but even then, her body mass was not even a quarter of the Meat Dragon. It definitely was impossible for her to stop the onught of the dragon head-on.

    But she could at least deflect it to the side for a bit by using a technique that applied all of her bodyweight to the impact of her leg.

    ¡°GRR!¡±

    Skathi performed a perfect textbook example of a roundhouse kick, kicking the Meat Dragon right into its side.

    Just like she had nned, her attack deflected the onught of the Meat Dragon to the side and it staggered past the ducked princess.

    After thebined attack from Princess Freya¡¯s spear and Skathi¡¯s leg, the Meat Dragon tripped over its own legs and fell t onto the road. It seemed that it was not dead yet, seeing as it convulsed in pain on the ground with the white of its eyes showing, but it had obviously lost consciousness.

    ¡°Well done, Mdy. Now, please finish it off before it wakes up again.¡±

    The tall female warrior held out her hand to her prostrated master.

    ¡°Thank you, Skathi. But now it counts as your kill and not mine, or am I wrong?¡±

    Princess Freya stood up with Skathi¡¯s help, casually wiped the dirt off her cheeks with her sleeve and uttered displeased with puckered lips.

    It certainly looked like the kick from Skathi had been the decisive blow.

    Her grumbling was not met with a response from Skathi, but from a soldier of the Carpa Kingdom, who had chased the Meat Dragon here.

    ¡°Not at all, Princess Freya. You inflicted a lethal wound on the Meat Dragon without doubt. It would have only been a matter of time until it died. Miss Victoria merely intervened to protect you.¡±

    In view of that, Princess Freya squatted down near the Meat Dragon and examined the piercing wound she herself had inflicted on it.

    ¡°¡­I see. That certainly seems to be the case.¡±

    Looking at the copsed dragon confirmed that her spear had pierced into its flesh quite deeply. Apparently the soldier had not been ttering her, when he had said that her spear attack had inflicted a lethal wound.

    ¡°Okay. Then¡­¡±

    Princess Freya honestly acknowledged their pleas and drew her favourite hatchet from its holster at her waist.

    ¡°Where do I have to stab it to kill it? I have to admit that it is my first time going up against a dragon.¡±

    ¡°Right here in the back of the neck, Your Highness. Are you sure that you do not want to use a iron spear instead?¡±

    The soldier asked her worriedly. His concern was reasonable. It was by no means an easy task to finish off arge dragon with a strong vitality.

    But Princess Freya just smiled warmly.

    ¡°I appreciate your concern, but I will be fine. This is my speciality.¡±

    With these words, she confidently raised up her right hand holding her favourite hatchet in a fluent motion.

    As a matter of fact, Princess Freya was not lying. As a svenskar and a woman, she had a rather petite physique, so her overall fighting capacity was no better than an ordinary soldier, no matter how harsh she may train, but at least her skill with the hatchet was first-rate. Moreover, it absolutely suited her personality.

    Hence she had never failed to finish off her ¡°prey¡± with it, whether it was a two-legged or four-legged animal. And her achievement was not tainted on the South Continent, either.

    ¡°So, right here? Okay, here I go!¡±

    Princess Freya swiftly struck with her hatchet and severed the neck of the Meat Dragon with one strike just like the soldier had rmended.

    While Princess Freya worked up a sweat in the dragon hunt, Zenjirou patiently waited inside the carriage at the side of the road for its conclusion.

    The young girl was bravely participating in the hunt, whereas the grown-up man holed up inside the dragon carriage. This sounded rather pathetic by itself, but as a matter of fact, Zenjirou would be of no help and just a burden, even if he were to go out there, because he did not even know proper self-defence.

    He could only make himself useful by letting the princess protect him.

    Zenjirou wriggled about on his chair inside the wide carriage a bit ufortable, when he suddenly heard the cheers of the soldiers from outside before long.

    ¡°Natalio?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it seems the hunt has ended sessfully. It should be fine to head outside now. Will you go out, Master Zenjirou?¡±

    Zenjirou agreed with Natalio sitting across from him.

    ¡°Indeed. You will take the lead, Natalio, Ines.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sire.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Prompted like that, the knight and maid sitting across from him stood up together.

    The dragon carriage Zenjirou was currently boarding was a huge carriage drawn by eight dragons for royalty only.

    Its ceiling was so high that a grown-up man did not need to worry about bumping his head, when standing up.

    The whole carriage was actually so big that a person from Modern Earth would rather associate it with a passenger wagon of a train than a carriage.

    Just in case, Knight Natalio left the carriage first and checked, whether the situation was under control.

    ¡°Everything is alright, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Hearing his words, Zenjirou also got off the carriage.

    ¡°Phew, so bright.¡±

    Stepping out of the carriage into the midday sun, he blinked a few times, because his eyes watered from the sudden change in light.

    While he squinted against the sun, the soldiers, who had guarded the carriage so far, gathered around him and formed a protective wall.

    As a formermoner, Zenjirou felt extremely ufortable to be nked by armed soldiers at all sides, but now that he was royalty, it was a given that he was apanied by so many guards, whenever he went outside.

    Knight Natalio was leading the guards. For now, he was the only knight that had sworn loyalty to Zenjirou himself.

    The guards, starting with Knight Natalio, stayed at his side by the same distance to him at all times, even without any directions.

    Whether he slowed down, because he looked around, stopped for a moment, because of a misstep, or quickened his pace, because he wanted to gloss over his misstep, the circle of soldiers around him never got into a state of disorder.

    Even if he were to suddenly start sprinting, it was unlikely he would be able to shake them off.

    So Zenjirou advanced on the ¡°Salt Road¡±, chaperoned by these diligent soldiers.

    ¡°Feels like I hit upon a wide forest trail on my way to my mountain cabin.¡±

    Walking on the road of soil overgrown with weeds, Zenjirou mumbled to himself. People of Modern Earth rarely got to see roads that were not asphalted.

    Zenjirou came from a country vige in the middle of nowhere, but even there, the main road had properly been asphalted. You would onlye across a holey path of soil as a cart track between fields or an abandoned mountain track.

    And because he was still not used to wearing the leather boots of this world, Zenjirou struggled along a bit clumsily, when the maid Ines suddenly passed by him.

    She outpaced him with a normal walking pace, so Zenjirou felt no need to reprimand her about it and just let it slide.

    Overtaking her master, the maid smoothly went over to Knight Natalio keeping watch in front of Zenjirou, and whispered a word or two into his ear.

    ¡°!?¡±

    Knight Natalio gave a jerk to her words for a moment, but in the next moment, he pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back, quickly nocked it and send it towards the crown of a tree.

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    The arrow was released with a small outcry from Knight Natalio and hit the ¡°something¡± that was hiding high up in the treetop.

    ¡°GYA!?¡±

    That ¡°something¡± raised a shrill scream from high up and fell straight down to the side of the road.

    Zenjirou impulsively stopped in his track, when he heard that scream and its thud.

    Standing protective before Zenjirou, Knight Natalio still kept the dragon bow in his left hand ready and gave orders to the cautious soldiers near by.

    ¡°It was a ¡®Thieving Dragon¡¯. I think I finished it off, but you three, go take a look. Kill it if it is still alive. Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±

    With the instructions from Knight Natalio, three of the soldiers guarding Zenjirou rushed over to the side of the road.

    ¡°Hmp!¡±

    ¡°GII¡­¡±

    Apparently it was still alive as one of the soldiers impaled it with the short spear in his hands.

    ¡°All clear. It¡¯s dead now!¡±

    When the soldier waved his hand with these words, Knight Natalio acted as well.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou, the danger has been averted. Please move on.¡±

    ¡°O- Okay.¡±

    Overwhelmed by the all too fast development in front of his eyes, Zenjirou nodded absentmindedly and picked up the pace again.

    Before long, he arrived at the side of the road, where it had fallen down.

    ¡°Well, this¡­ is not a pretty sight.¡±

    Seeing the dead dragon, Zenjirou frowned unconsciously.

    ¡°The ¡®Thieving Dragon¡¯ is an outcast of the forest in more than one way after all.¡±

    Knight Natalio consented to Zenjirou with a wry smile.

    In fact, it was quite the eerie sight.

    Almost half as big as a grown man, its whole body was covered by dark green scales, so it was a dragon aka. reptile, but its physique was closer to that of a monkey.

    Short legs and long arms coupled with a long and narrow tail. It had the typical build of an animal living on top of trees, but the face was that of a lizard.

    As it was already dead, its long forked tongue hung out limply from its pointed snout, which only added to its eeriness.

    ¡°An outcast of the forest? So its appearance is not the only issue?¡±

    Knight Natalio nodded shortly to the question from Zenjirou.

    ¡°Yes. As its name implies, it is a dragon that steals. It hides itself in the crown of the trees and attacks its prey from above, when it passes by. They are pretty daring in their efforts, so even pack animals like carnivore dragons fall an easy prey to them and get their eggs or nestlings stolen.

    Needless to say, we humans are no exception. Children or small women are targeted by the ¡®Thief Dragons¡¯ first and if there is no such target, they go for the next best prey. In other words, they steal a ¡®part of their prey¡¯ by tearing it off with their sharp fangs.¡±

    In case of humans, a part would probably be an arm or the head.

    Zenjirou grimaced terrified in light of the exnation from Knight Natalio.

    ¡°That¡­ sounds dreadful. I am d you killed it, Natalio.¡±

    ¡°It was not me, but Ines, who noticed the ¡®Thieving Dragon¡¯. Please direct these words at her.¡±

    Surprised by the knight¡¯s words, Zenjirou shifted his gaze to the middle-age attendant, but came to a realisation at the same time.

    Earlier, Ines had suddenly passed him from behind to whisper something into the ear of Knight Natalio at the front. At that time, she must have told him about the Thieving Dragon.

    ¡°I just happened to spot it. If anything, I say Sir Natalio deserves the praise for his swift and urate reaction.¡±

    Ines shook her head with wry smile and praised the skills of Knight Natalio like that.

    ¡°Yes, certainly.¡±

    Looking up the tree, Zenjirou was convinced by her words.

    Even the smaller ones amongst the big trees standing on both sides of the road were at least bigger than an electricity pole, whereas the bigger ones were sometimes twice as big.

    Knight Natalio had sent an arrow up that high and had hit the vitals of the ¡°Thieving Dragon¡± with his bow, so his masterful skills were beyond all question. Moreover, he had done so quite quickly without taking proper aim at the hidden ¡°Thieving Dragon¡±.

    Even if you took into consideration that he was using a superior dragon bow, it was still quite the feat.

    ¡°It¡¯s reassuring. Unfortunately I am no stronger than a woman or a child, so I will be counting on you well and truly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sire. Please rest assured. I will protect you, even if it costs my life.¡±

    While talking with Knight Natalio like that, Zenjirou moved along the road and in time, Princess Freya and the others came into sight.

    Princess Freya noticed him first of all and waved with a bright smile.

    ¡°Ahaha¡­¡±

    Zenjirou waved back, but his face was showing a dry smile.

    ¡°Her Highness Freya seems to be quite the active person.¡±

    Maid Ines interjected somewhat far-fetched, to which Zenjirou nodded assenting without breaking his dry smile.

    ¡°Yeah, her vigour sure is to be envied.¡±

    The hand the smiling princess waved with was firmly holding the blood-smeared hatchet.

 Chapter Volume 7 1

    Chapter 01: Arrival

    Aside from some encounters with wild dragons, Zenjirou and his group arrived safely in the March of Guzzle without any further incidents.

    The capital of the March of Guzzle was a city fortified with high walls.

    Needless to say, it was nothing out of the ordinary. The South Continent was housing obviously hostile creatures in form of dragons, so every human settlement in the bordends was protected by walls to a greater or lesser extent.

    On top of that, the building of the feudal lord in the middle of the capital resembled a fortress, symbolizing the fortitude and straightforwardness of the Guzzle Family.

    In other words, it was a fortification within a fortification.

    That fortress was quiterge, giving the townspeople the opportunity to withdraw there in case of need, but it had practically no pompous beautification.

    Truth be told, it deserved the term ¡°shabby¡±, whenparing it to the Royal or Inner Pce, where Zenjirou usually spent his time, or even the Mansion in Valentia, where he had stayed for a month not long ago.

    But Zenjirou was d to be in a proper building again after he had spent thest few days in the bumpy carriage and foreign wilderness.

    Having reached his destination, he finally cast off his travelling attire and heaved a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Hah, sweet freedom¡­¡±

    In the building allocated to him within the residence of the feudal lord, Zenjirou sloppily got rid of his shoes and socks, flopped himself onto the couch and rested his bare feet on the low table.

    He rarely ever disyed such an ill-mannered behaviour, not even in his Inner Pce, but right now, he was too tired to care. The ride in the carriage without proper suspension and the unfamiliar camping outside had exhausted his stamina and mind to the limit.

    ¡°You have done well, Master Zenjirou. Would you like some water?¡±

    Waiting Maid Ines gave a warm smile and offered him a silver goblet with cold water.

    She and Zenjirou were currently the only ones in the room. In front of the acquainted maid of the Inner Pce, he could unwind.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks, Ines. But I¡¯ve to say, you sure are tough. You should actually be even more tired than me, since you took care of me the whole time.¡±

    Saying this, Zenjirou looked up to the waiting maid standing next to the couch.

    Just like he had mentioned, the dignified appearance of Ines showed not the slightest hint of exhaustion.

    The middle-aged maid showed a faint smile in reaction to the appreciation of her master.

    ¡°Well, I am used to it. I have been serving Her Majesty Aura on the battlefield during the previous war as well.¡±

    ¡°Oh, wow. Not bad.¡±

    Zenjirou was honestly surprised at the confession from Ines. He was certainly surprised, but at the same time, he made sense of it. Ines surely had been sent with him this andst time, because she had that kind of backbone.

    The attendance in the wilderness would be difficult for a normal waiting maid that had never left the Royal or Inner Pce before.

    Ines took the empty goblet out of Zenjirou¡¯s hand and said.

    ¡°It seems that you will be staying in this building. I am sure there will be all kind of inconveniences, but please bear with it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. It¡¯s no problem. I expected this from the beginning.¡±

    Still slumping down in the couch sloppily, Zenjirou answered Ines like that.

    The oldest daughter of the Guzzle Family, Lucinda, was going to marry General Puyol. Zenjirou hade all the way to the March of Guzzle to attend their marriage ceremony.

    It goes without saying that General Puyol was the guest of honour this time around. Hence the main building of the residence of the feudal lord was used by General Puyol and his rtives as well as the Guzzle Family itself.

    So it was inevitable that Zenjirou was ced in the adjacent building, even as royalty. He usually did not need all that much personal space, so the annex building was not bothering him at all.

    He had been a bit perplexed, when he found out that the building had no own bath, but they were going to prepare a bathtub for him every day, so he could put up with it. Of course he would refuse to live his life in a house without a bath, but it was no reason to be willful, when he was just staying in it for the period of his visit.

    ¡°Fuh¡­¡±

    For a while, he justzed around on the couch, when Ines suddenly called out to him.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou. I am sorry to interrupt your rest, but I think it is about time the Guzzle Family will send a messenger to wee you.

    Pleasepose your clothing a bit. Even casual wear will be alright.¡±

    ¡°Oh, already thatte? Got it.¡±

    With these words, Zenjirou reached out for some socks and indoor shoes.

    The only maid he had brought along from the Inner Pce on this asion was Ines. After all, the marriage between the eldest daughter of a feudal lord and a brass hat of the military was a big event, so an unbelievable number of nobles was rushing for the March of Guzzle.

    The capital of the March of Guzzle was built to withstand long-time sieges, so it was big enough to amodate that unbelievable amount of nobles, but it did not change the fact that the guests were putting arge strain on the capacity of their sleeping quarters as well as food provisions.

    Because of that, the number of servants they brought along was supposed to be kept to a bare minimum.

    Zenjirou fixed his attire and sat down on the couch again, mannerly this time. Before long, the door was knocked.

    Three women entered the room. Two of them were obviously past their youth, but the third one was a girl so small that she still looked like a child.

    Although they might as well be mother and daughter in age, it was obvious at a nce that the little girl was the important figure of them. For one thing she was standing in the middle, for another thing she alone was wearing different clothes.

    The two middle-aged women wore something in, almost like an uniform, whereas the girl was wearing a dress of clearly superior cloth, even if its design was simple.

    She was not a mere messenger, but obviously the daughter of a noble.

    (Is she the child of a branch family?)

    While this thought crossed Zenjirou¡¯s mind, the girl opened her mouth with an expression stiff from nervousness.

    ¡°It- It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Zenjirou. My name is Nilda, the second daughter of the Guzzle Family.

    My father has asked me to take care of you during your stay here. Please just say the word, if you need anything.¡±

    She must have practiced it beforehand. Despite her nervousness, the little girl, Nilda smoothly delivered her speech without stuttering and then lowered her head politely so that her short ponytail swung around.

    ¡°Okay. Then I shall take you up on your offer. By the way, could it be that you are the little sister of Lady Lucinda and Sir Xavier, seeing as you said that you are the second daughter?¡±

    Zenjirou was puzzled by her introduction at heart, but kept hisposure on the outside for now as he asked this.

    Unaware of these inner thoughts of the Prince Consort, the little girl widened her alreadyrge ck eyes even further

    ¡°Yes, quite so! Although our mothers are different, Lucinda is my older sister and Xavier is my older brother!¡±

    and replied like that in an energetic voice. Judging by her expression seized with pride and joy, she seemed to harbour an honest affection for Lucinda and Xavier.

    It was not umon that siblings of different mothers were harbouringplicated feelings towards each other in High Society, but that did not seem to be the case for the Guzzle Family.

    ¡°Sir Xavier looked after me in Valentia. If the chance arises, I would like to speak to him again.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your kind words. I will ry it to my brother.¡±

    Nilda smiled even happier as a result of his words.

    ¡°Then I already have the first request. Can you arrange a bath for me? I worked up a sweat on the way here and would like to wash it off before dinner.¡±

    ¡°Yes, of course. I shall arrange for it immediately.¡±

    When Zenjirou requested that, the petite girl straightened herself and bowed with a jerk. Then she left the room together with the two middle-aged servants.

    ¡°¡­Ines.¡±

    Zenjirou remained silent for a while after Nilda and the other two were gone, then called out the name of the waiting maid standing next to him with a stern expression.

    ¡°Yes, what is the matter, Master Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°Her Majesty Aura has briefed me about the important people of the Guzzle Family prior to this. However, a Nilda Guzzle was not amongst them.

    Can I assume that Her Majesty purposefully did not tell me about her?¡±

    He was alone with Ines now, but he still kept the attitude and tone of Royalty, so she must have discerned the importance of his question from that.

    The faithful maid kept her stern expression, when she immediately shook her head to the question of her master.

    ¡°No. I dare to say that is not the case. Her Majesty Aura has no reason to keep her existence from you, even if she is the daughter of a mistress.¡±

    Zenjirou rxed his shoulders a bit relieved, when Ines answered him t out.

    Aura was his beloved wife, but before that, she was also the Queen of a country, so he did understand that she obviously kept some things from him or schemed some ploys unknown to him, but at the same time, it was obviously not a pleasant feeling to have your wife do that to you.

    Hence he immediately felt better, when that possibility was ruled out.

    ¡°Then she did not cause this misinformation on purpose. The easiest exnation would be that it ¡®slipped her mind to tell me¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°Her Majesty is only human, too, after all, so that possibility is not unthinkable, but I would say we can rule it out for now, because Secretary Fabio is with her.¡±

    ¡°Then the only other exnation is that Her Majesty did not know about her, either¡­ Is that even possible? That Her Majesty does not know about a child from an influential feudal lord?¡±

    Zenjirou cocked his head doubtful, whereupon Ines responded with a businesslike tone.

    ¡°It is rtively well-known, when an illegitimate child does not get acknowledged. But it also not unheard of that a feudal lord tried to conceal his child from Royalty in the past, either.

    But in neither of these cases, they would have made Lady Nilda appear before you like this.

    So it would mean that she is abiding by some kind of conspiracy, but for that, Lady Nilda showed no guilt in her eyes and behaved straightforward, even if a bit nervous. And above all, the Guzzle Family is not known for acting underhanded like this, so I believe that possibility is extremely unlikely as well.¡±

    ¡°In the end, this got us nowhere.¡±

    ¡°So it would seem.¡±

    The situation was obviously strange, but the other party was not behaving conspicuous, so their intentions were not perceptible.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Slumping deep into the couch, Zenjirou pondered for a while with his hand against his chin, but in the end, there was only one conclusion he could arrive at.

    ¡°I will inform Her Majesty Aura and await her instructions. Until then, we will not stir up this matter any further.¡±

    ¡°Very well. I will prepare everything at once.¡±

    Like always, Zenjirou was going to rely on Aura¡¯s judgment. Ines just lowered her head respectfully.

    * * *

    Evening of the same day.

    After washing off the sweat from the travel in the bathtub, Zenjirou had taken a short nap to relieve his fatigue. Now waiting maid Ines woke him up and informed him about the dinner ns.

    ¡°Ehm, in other words, today¡¯s dinner will be an ¡®open-air banquet hosted by Princess Freya¡¯ in the garden of this building?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Or more precisely, Princess Freya does want to hold it like that and is awaiting your approval for it.

    We still have a lot of the smoked meat of the ¡®Meat Dragon¡¯ from the other day left over, so she suggested we share it with everyone. Well, if you are against it, the whole meat will just be gifted to the Guzzle Family.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that meat.¡±

    A few days ago, Princess Freya had killed a wild Meat Dragon along the Salt Road and Zenjirou still had not forgotten about it.

    Most of the killed dragon had been consumed for dinner on that very day, but they had smoked the leftovers and put them into the supply cart.

    Apparently Princess Freya wanted to host a great banquet with that smoked meat now.

    ¡°I do not really mind giving my permission for it, but what are the respective consequences for allowing or refusing it?¡±

    The middle-aged maid smoothly answered the question from her master without pause.

    ¡°Well, considering that the banquet shall be held in the garden, you would have to invite Lady Nilda, because she is responsible for this building, as well as some other nobles, too.

    And when Princess Freya is the host of such an event with your permission, it will only reinforce their impression that she will be your concubine.

    On the other hand, if you were to refuse it, it will give the opposite impression. Namely that you have reservations towards Princess Freya.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Zenjirou could not help but grimace in reaction to the detailed exnation from the waiting maid.

    In short, he would practically be announcing to the guests that he himself was weing Princess Freya as his concubine, if he were to ept her request.

    He would literally do away with himself with that decision, seeing as he actually did not want to take a concubine.

    Then he should just refuse her request. But unfortunately, it was not that simple. Refusing her in turn would be like officially announcing that he did not ept Princess Freya.

    Queen Aura herself had officially recognized her concubine matter insofar as allowing her to attend this marriage ceremony as a partner for Zenjirou.

    If Zenjirou were to reject Princess Freya in the open now, it would give other people the misunderstanding that the Queen and her Prince Consort had a conflict of opinions.

    ¡°Fine. Tell her she has my permission.¡±

    In the end, Zenjirou could only do this, even if he knew that he was putting his own head in the noose.

    His own self-interest against the reputation of the Queen. It goes without saying which he ought to prioritize.

    His waiting maid lowered her head briefly in light of her master¡¯s response.

    ¡°Understood, Master Zenjirou. I will convey it to her.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    With this short reply, Zenjirou stood up from the couch and started to change his clothes.

    By now, he had gotten less reluctant to let the maids see him in pyjamas or underwear, so he tantly took off his blue-striped pyjama and let Ines help him put on the traditional clothes of the Carpa Kingdom.

    These clothes were the same as the third official attire he often wore in the Royal Pce, but with less decoration and easier to move in. Zenjirou had gotten used to the traditional clothestely, so he had faith in himself to put them on by himself, but ording to the waiting maids of the Inner Pce, it would turn into a ¡°scandal¡±, if he were to appear in public after putting them on without their help.

    While changing his clothes, he made some small-talk with Ines.

    ¡°Are you getting along well with Princess Freya, Master Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ve grown pretty close on the way here. After all, we spent several days together in the same carriage. And I don¡¯t really dislike her personality, anyway.¡±

    He was being honest, when he said that.

    Her behaviour and choice of words was certainly sophisticated, but Princess Freya did not really beat around the bush like nobility usually did, liked to move around and disyed a variety of expression, so Zenjirou was by no means put off by her.

    ¡°Then there should be no problem to ept her as a concubine, right?¡±

    But he firmly shook his head in reaction to the question from Ines.

    ¡°These are two different things altogether. The problem is not my feelings towards her, but my fear of disrupting our domestic peace by taking a second wife.¡±

    It would work out, if they were ¡°a happily married couple + a woman on friendly terms with both of them¡±, but Zenjirou could not envision a bright future, when ¡°two women loved the same man¡±, no matter how well these two women might actually get along.

    He did acknowledged the difference in their culture and moral values in the head, but his heart had a hard time catching up to it.

    ¡°It¡¯s reallyfortable in the Inner Pce with Aura, Zenkichi and me right now.

    I know Princess Freya is a good girl, but to be honest, I¡¯m scared to add her to our harmonic family.¡±

    Ines narrowed her eyes to slits, like being blinded, when Zenjirou gave her his honest opinion.

    ¡°You sure love Her Majesty Aura and Prince Carlo-Zen from the bottom of your heart.¡±

    ¡°Ah, well, yeah. Oh, speaking of Zenkichi, you always call him Carlo-Zen.¡±

    Embarrassed by the straightpliment, Zenjirou stammered a bit and quickly changed the topic.

    Carlos Zenkichi. In short, Carlo-Zen. In fact, Zenjirou was the only one calling him Zenkichi and about everyone else called him Carlos. Ines was actually one of the very few that referred to him as Carlo-Zen.

    Zenjirou had brought up the matter without any ulterior motive. He just had wanted to change the topic, but it was somewhat meaningful for Ines.

    ¡°You are right. The title of ¡®Princess Carlos¡¯ always reminds me of Histe Majesty Carlos II. after all.¡±

    With a distant look in her eyes, Ines uttered mncholic.

    ¡°His Majesty Carlos II.? You mean Aura¡¯s predecessor? Now that you mention it, they do have the same name. Ah, but shouldn¡¯t it be ¡®His Majesty Carlos¡¯ instead of ¡®Prince Carlos¡¯ for him?¡±

    Recalling the knowledge he learned from Lady Octavia, Zenjirou asked this, whereupon Ines shook her head a bit, the distant look still in her eyes.

    ¡°Yes, you are right. But His Majesty had only assumed the throne for less than a year. I was always calling him ¡®Prince Carlos¡¯, back then when I served him.¡±

    ¡°Say what!? You have served thete king?¡±

    He widened his eyes in surprise, but it was actually only normal that she did.

    Ines was ten years older than Aura, so it was not all that surprising that she had served a different master before Aura.

    ¡°Yes. That is why I cannot help but recall His Late Majesty, when I hear the title ¡®Prince Carlos¡¯, so I would rather use the address of ¡®Prince Carlo-Zen¡¯. If you have a problem with it, I can correct myself, though?¡±

    She asked him that, but Zenjirou shook his head with a smile.

    ¡°No, keep it up. I was just curious about it.¡±

    No matter what she called him, it was beyond all question that Ines treated his son with respect and affection, so there was no need to stick at such trifles.

    She must have noticed the faith he put in her.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Master Zenjirou. Okay, we are done now.¡±

    After helping him dress up, Ines showed a warm smile and lowered her head a bit.

    * * *

    For High Society, it was nothing special to host a banquet in the garden, so the yard of the annex building in the residence of the Guzzle Family had all the necessary equipment as well.

    Well, it was just a well for washing the ingredients, a counter for preparing the food and a stone hearth for cooking, but it was enough to do some simple cooking like a barbeque without problems.

    The roasting meat and vegetables gave off an aromatic smell while the fire illuminated the smiling face of Princess Freya, which Zenjirou was observing from a bit apart.

    ¡°Okay, it looks done. I will slice it up, so please give me a moment.¡±

    Princess Freya truly seemed to enjoy herself in the role of the head chef. With a smile on her face the whole time, she moved around busily while her short silver hair was dyed red by the fire.

    She was supposed to be true-blood royalty, but her bright smile as she sliced the meat was genuine without doubt.

    (Maybe she likes cooking?)

    Arge silhouette approached Zenjirou while he harboured that thought.

    ¡°Your Majesty Zenjirou, if you would like, please take this.¡±

    He was offered a silver te with a meat and vegetable skewer by a woman so tall he had too look up to her. It was Victoria Kronkvist alias Skathi.

    ¡°Oh, Miss Victoria. Thanks.¡±

    Zenjirou took the skewer from the te the trusted retainer of Princess Freya held out to him and thanked her while holding up the skewer.

    ¡°No, I should be thanking you, Your Majesty.

    Thank you very much for allowing the Mdy to host this banquet tonight.

    I am expressing the greatest gratitude in ce of my master.¡±

    The female warrior solemnly lowered her head with these words, whereas Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled with the skewer still in hand.

    By allowing her to host this banquet, Zenjirou had taken another step forward to epting Princess Freya as his concubine, but he got the feeling that Skathi was not thanking him for that reason.

    ¡°¡­I am not familiar with the culture of the North Continent, but does an open-air banquet happen to have some kind of special meaning to it there?¡±

    Zenjirou wondered, if he had been deceived, so he automatically asked this with a somewhat stiff voice, but the tall woman shook her head unintimidated.

    ¡°No, Your Majesty. You have nothing to fear from it.

    But it is indeed somewhat special. You see, the Mdy has always dreamed of hosting an official banquet with the prey she had finished off herself.

    In our country, only ¡®warriors¡¯ are giving that privilege.¡±

    He more or less discerned what Skathi was getting at. After taking a bite from the skewer and chewing it thoroughly, he opened his mouth.

    ¡°¡­That means Princess Freya is not a warrior? Our soldiers were praising her spearmanship, when she finished off the Meat Dragon, though.¡±

    In the Carpa Kingdom, women could never be warriors, but it should be different for their mothend, the Upps Kingdom. After all Skathi, the woman in front of him, had proimed to be a ¡°warrior¡± herself.

    She must have realized why Zenjirou asked that.

    Skathi shook her head with a small smile.

    ¡°Mdy certainly does have the minimum fitness to fight. But a woman cannot be a ¡®warrior¡¯ with that.

    For a woman to be a warrior, she needs to be at least as strong as a ¡®Hundra¡¯, which is three ranks above her current level.¡±

    Even in the Upps Kingdom, the men generally took up the arms. So when a woman was only as strong as an average man, she was obliged to fulfil her role as a woman instead.

    Their reasoning was that any other man could take her ce, but only a woman could give birth, so she ought to fulfil that duty.

    But precious few women were born with a talent for martial arts so great that it would be ¡°a waste to force them into the role of a woman¡±.

    Only women, who outperformed an average man by far, were allowed to be ¡°warriors¡±, because their martial art skills were more profitable to the country or tribe than motherhood.

    The female warriors of the Upps Kingdom literally had to be mannish women and more mannish than your average guy, at that.

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    Zenjirou was convinced by that exnation.

    It was not hard to imagine how much Princess Freya yearned for the title for a ¡°warrior¡±, seeing as she was not content with getting stereotyped.

    So it was most understandable that she could not rein in her excitement for putting on a banquet with the prey she had finished herself, a privilege that was usually only given to warriors.

    Zenjirou sat down on a trimmed tree stump and looked around.

    The banquet resembled the outdoor camping event from his middle school days, but most of the participants here were the soldiers that had guarded him up till now.

    Because this event was held in appreciation for the hard work of the soldiers, only a handful of nobility from rear vassals of the Guzzle Family had been invited in addition to Nilda Guzzle, the nominal caretaker of this annex building.

    Everyone was busy preparing for theing marriage ceremony, so it would nothing but trouble, if Royalty were to throw a big party here.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou did not have to deal with troublesome conversations. Something he was very d about.

    ¡°I cordially thank you for inviting me today, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    While he was making himselffortable on the stump, a little girl approached him: Nilda Guzzle.

    With herrge ck eyes beaming out on him, Nilda took hold of her skirt and did a curtsy.

    ¡°Well, it is not my party, but Princess Freya¡¯s, though. The dishes from a Meat Dragon she killed herself, too. I hope it suits your taste.¡±

    ¡°Yes, she was kind enough to share some with me earlier. It is really delicious.¡±

    Themon tinge of ttery was absent in her bright smile, when she answered like that.

    The skewer of smoked meat seasoned with spices and salt was actually a rather in dish, but she was eating it with relish.

    ¡°Princess Freya sure is courageous for finishing off a wild Meat Dragon with a spear. I have seen a wild dragon once, when I was still living in the vige, but I cannot even imagine going up against one. My legs would give in just from standing in front of it.¡±

    Nilda shivered with fright, whereupon Zenjirou smiled vaguely.

    ¡°You lived in a vige?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I was born and raised there by my mother. My father Marquis Guzzle found me, when I was nine, and acknowledged me as someone from the Guzzle Family.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡±

    In other words, the feudal lord hadid hands on a female subject, making an illegitimate child without intending to.

    That sounded like a difficult upbringing, if it was really true, but with that said, her expression was not tainted with sadness in the least.

    (Maybe she was born with a carefree nature? Or did she have really kind people around her in both households?)

    Completely unaware of his thoughts, Nilda kept on talking with an amiable bright smile.

    ¡°So I do have taken care of domestic Meat Dragons or Hulking Dragons before, but docile dragons are still plenty scary.

    To think that she stood up against a wild dragon. I really respect that.¡±

    Her big eyes gleamed with respect, just like she had said.

    At some point, the girl had all forgotten about her nervousness and reservation, talking to him most affable. Zenjirou gave her a wry smile and carefully picked his words to caution her.

    ¡°Yes, Princess Freya certainly is formidable. But you know, Nilda, it would be better, if you refrained from speaking so openly, even if it is meant as praise.

    A lot of people in High Society tend to be offended by it and sometimes it can even cause a dispute.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master Zenjirou. I will take it to heart from now on. Thank you very much for your advisement.¡±

    Nilda looked bashfully at the ground as a result of his warning, exactly the kind of frankness Zenjirou literally had cautioned her about a moment ago.

    (At the very least, there¡¯s no doubt that she isn¡¯t a natural-born noble.)

    He came to that conclusion, when he looked at her ever-changing expressions.

    On a closer look, Nilda appeared a bit awkward in her behaviour and choice of words.

    That was surely the result of ¡°deliberately putting her mind on¡° acting like nobility, just like Zenjirou did it.

    (It does worry me. She¡¯s a bit too unmindful and friendly. I mean, she IS nobility after all.)

    At the beginning, Nilda had been nervous and reserved, but she had opened up at the open-air banquet in no time, just like a little puppy to its owner.

    (If that¡¯s all part of their scheme, I tip my hat to the Guzzle Family, but Ines said they aren¡¯t really like that.)

    The reason Zenjirou was thinking about the Guzzle Family along these lines was because the girl named Nilda quickly made a favourable impression on him.

    The girl did not harbour fear or wariness towards Royalty or Nobility, even though she had been adopted into a noble family at a young age. It suggested the assumption that the Guzzle Family had not treated her badly.

    Zenjirou was actually quite fond of people with such rich expressions. Props to them, if that was what they were after.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou, is the Royal Capital really that big? I have heard that the Royal Pce is supposed to be quite a sight to be see, but I cannot quite envision it. Would you be so kind to tell me about it?¡±

    ¡°Well, I rarely ever leave the Royal or Inner Pce, so my opinion is pretty biased, but I believe it is quite beautiful.

    The buildings are uniformly built with white stones and look sturdy, but also stylish. The gardens are affectionally maintained as well, growing beautiful flowers and trees, and the fountains or ponds have water as clear as crystal. A few ponds even have fishes in them to look at.

    Its surface sparkles goldfish yellow, because of the golden fishes and clear water. Definitely well worth seeing.¡±

    ¡°Oh, wow. Fantastic! I would like to go there and see it!¡±

    The Royal and Inner Pce were practically ¡°his home¡± now, so he was happy, but also a bit bashful to see the outright admiration in her eyes.

    ¡°You have never gone to the Capital before? The Guzzle Family does have a residence there, no?¡±

    ¡°My family seems to have always attached more importance to its own territory, so only a bare minimum of personnel stays in the Capital. And I am still a minor, so I seldom if ever leave this ce.

    Ah, but I am pretty sure that I will be brought to the Capital once I turn fifteen!¡±

    ¡°I see. Unfortunately, I cannot show you around town in my position, but what I can do is show you around the pce, when youe by.¡±

    It was extremely rare that Zenjirou made such a promise of his own ord. He seemed to have let his guard down a bit around the open-hearted Nilda.

    ¡°Yes, I am looking forward to it.¡±

    Nilda answered him with a bright smile.

    As the host, Princess Freya had been busy sharing the food with everyone, but she more or less finished exchanging pleasantries and had some time for herself now.

    ¡°You did well, Princess Freya. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.¡±

    Zenjirou stood up and greeted Princess Freya, who approached him with a satisfied smile.

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty Zenjirou. May I sit down next to you?¡±

    The silver-haired princess took a silver goblet with fruit wine from the tray waiting maid Ines offered her, had a taste of it and asked him that with a dazzling smile.

    Zenjirou could not help but show his bewilderment.

    He was currently sitting on nothing extravagant like a bench, but a mere ¡°stump of a tree¡±. Needless to say, her question was not referring to another seat next to him, but whether she was allowed to sit down on the same stump.

    It was quite the bold proposal, but it would not make a good impression, if he were to refuse her.

    With a smile, Zenjirou took off the vest he had been wearing and covered the stump with it.

    ¡°Yes, of course, Princess Freya. Please have a seat.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, Your Majesty.¡±

    Although the stump was rtively big, with two people on it, they were sitting close enough to feel each other¡¯s body warmth.

    The hem of her dress was even touching his foot. Zenjirou might as well put his arm around her waist to make this proximity morefortable.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    A man and a woman were sitting together on a single stump of a tree in a garden at night.

    The me of the fire bathed the silver hair and pale-white skin of Princess Freya in a reddish light.

    Zenjirou was entranced by her without meaning to. The silver-haired princess cocked her head a bit as she smiled at him.

    ¡°Allow me to express my gratitude once more, Your Majesty. A dream of mine hase true thanks to you.¡±

    Her illuminated smile was not the kind of superficial smile nobility always used, but one that revealed her honest feelings.

    ¡°I am d to be of help. The customs of your homnd do not apply here on the South Continent, so I believe you may act as you see fit.¡±

    ¡°So Skathi told you. It is a bit embarrassing to have your childhood dream exposed. But I was really happy.

    Hunting a dragon with my own hands and hosting a feast for the soldiers somehow makes me feel like an hero of old.¡±

    On the South Continent, dragons were nothing but livestock, but on the North Continent, they were the stuff of legends. Creatures you only found, when you ventured deep into the uninhabited mountains.

    It definitely was somewhat heroic to y one of these with your own hands and prepare a feast with it.

    Zenjirou neither had the guts, nor the skills to do something like that, so he did not even think about trying it, but he did understand her admiration for that kind of thing.

    ¡°I admire your courage and zest for action. That strong heart of yours surely has enabled you to make the long voyage between our countries.¡±

    ¡°Fufu. ording to my brother back home, I am merely reckless and restless. I was just trying my best in my own way, though.

    I practiced the bow as well as the spear and learned how to camp outside. For sea travel, I even memorized the sailor¡¯s knot and the handling of a cordeddder. On top of that, I learned the necessary magic for long-distance sea-travels such as ¡®Water Maniption¡¯ and ¡®Drinking Water Treatment¡¯.

    None of these skills will help me get married in the future. On the contrary, they will be a burden.¡±

    ¡°But you are now here, precisely because of these efforts. In my opinion, every knowledge and skill you gain will be an asset for life.¡±

    Zenjirou did utter these words as a praise, but at the same time, they came from the heart.

    The Carpa Kingdom was even more set on enforcing the gender roles than the Upps Kingdom, the home country of Princess Freya, but Zenjirou was married to Queen Aura, an exception to the exception, so he barely had adopted themon sense of this country.

    ording to his moral values, learning seafaring or even a little bit of martial arts was a legit virtue.

    To begin with, he would have never fallen for Aura, if he had deemed martial arts or vigour unnecessary for a woman.

    Princess Freya must have noticed that his words were more than just simple fair-seeming.

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty. Shameful as it may be, I do like running around in the wildness with my spear or crossing the vast ocean in a boat.

    I am well aware that I am going against allmon sense, so I do not me anyone for frowning upon my behaviour or reprimanding me for it.

    But nothing could make me happier, when someone actually epts what I like to do with a passion.¡±

    ¡°Haha, it makes me feel embarrassed, when you are this happy about it. But I did mean what I said earlier.¡±

    The man from a different world and the girl from the North Continent had all forgotten about the fact that they were sitting so close to each other that their feet were touching, and were happily engulfed in their chit-chat.

    * * *

    It was obvious that the open-air banquet wasing to an end. The meat and vegetables were all eaten up, the empty barrels of alcohol were multiplying and the fire was starting to burn out. Anyone could tell that the party was nearing its end.

    The earlier loudughter and tone-deaf songs died down and only some hushed conversations remained. At this point in time,

    DONG, DONG.

    The sound of arge bell suddenly resonated through the dark night.

    ¡°Ines?¡±

    Zenjirou immediately stood up from the stump and consulted the waiting maid standing at attention behind him, but Ines shook her head with aposed look.

    ¡°It seems to being from the main building, but I do not know why. However, I believe it is not an emergency, seeing as Lady Nilda is not reacting to it.¡±

    His gaze automatically shifted to Nilda and she certainly did not seem surprised by it, nor did look the least bit worried or frightened.

    When Nilda noticed his gaze, she stood up with a jerk and came trotting over to him.

    ¡°My apologies, Master Zenjirou. I did forget to inform you about this. The bell just know only signalizes that a guest has arrived at the main gate.

    You there, please go over to the main building for more information.¡±

    ¡°Yes, understood.¡±

    Upon her order, one of the soldiers on watch went off.

    ¡°A guest thiste at night?¡±

    Zenjirou could not help but cock his head puzzled.

    Right now, nobility from all across the country wereing together in the March of Guzzle for the marriage ceremony, so a guest itself was nothing out of the ordinary. But it was strange that one would arrive at such an hour. It goes without saying that travelling at night was quite dangerous in various ways.

    They were not pressed for time, since the marriage ceremony was not going to be held tomorrow or anything, so they would normally not push their luck and rather spent one more night in a suitable ce, arriving here first thing in the morning instead.

    While Zenjirou was mulling over this, the soldier came back from the main building.

    Even amidst this darkness, you could tell from afar that the soldier was rushing over as fast as he could. He then reported with a loud voice.

    ¡°Reporting in! Just now, the delegation from the ¡®Navarre Kingdom¡¯ has arrived!¡±

    ¡°The Navarre Kingdom?¡±

    As the name sounded familiar to him, Zenjirou recalled the necessary information in his head.

    The Navarre Kingdom was a middle power situated in the middle west of the South Continent. It bordered on the Carpa Kingdom with a steep mountain range in-between them as a buffer. And that very border area happened to be the March of Guzzle.

    In other words, they were practically neighbours, if not for that mountain.

    It seemed somewhat odd that a neighbouring country would send a delegation to the marriage ceremony of local nobility, but it was not really unusual for a feudal state.

    The feudal lords in the bordends were given a certain level of freedom in regards to independent contact with bordering countries.

    As soon as he remembered that, Zenjirou could get his head around their arrival.

    ¡°Oh, I see. If they areing from the Navarre Kingdom, it makes sense that they travelled through the night to arrive by today.¡±

    The mountain range between the March of Guzzle and the Navarre Kingdom was quite dangerous in terms of terrain and dragons living there.

    It certainly was true that the risk of travelling at night was lower than staying an additional night in such a dangerous ce.

    Because he remembered these circumstances, Zenjirou epted the situation and the soldier, still out of breath, continued his report.

    ¡°Moreover, the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom is headed by General Mart¨ªn Nadal!¡±

    The reaction to that name was dramatic.

    Before, the garden had be so silent you could have heard a water drop hit the ground, but in the next moment, amazed outcries echoed through the night.

    ¡°Th- That General Mart¨ªn!?¡±

    ¡°No way! Who¡¯s protecting their country then!?¡±

    ¡°It shows how serious they take the liaison between the Guzzle Family and General Puyol.¡±

    Be it the soldiers Zenjirou had brought along from the Royal Capital, the soldiers from the March of Guzzle or even the rear vassals of the Guzzle Family, no one could keep their surprise and excitement in check, saying whatever they wanted.

    The only exceptions were Princess Freya and Skathi, since they had never heard of the name of General Mart¨ªn and just cocked their heads puzzled, and waiting maid Ines, who never broke her calm mask.

    Looking around, Zenjirou relied on Ines for information.

    ¡°Ines, who is General Mart¨ªn?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Mart¨ªn Nadal is the most prominent general in the Navarre Kingdom.

    He emerged from the previous war as the hero with a lot of achievements and it is said that most of the credit for surviving the war belongs to him, considering the Navarre Kingdom is by no means a major power.¡±

    She must have expected his question. The middle-aged waiting maid calmly answered him in a business-like tone.

    Zenjirou widened his eyes surprised, when the evaluation turned out even better than he had expected.

    ¡°In short, he has the same standing as General Puyol in our country?¡±

    His question was met with immediate approval from the middle-aged maid.

    ¡°Indeed. General Mart¨ªn is on par with General Puyol.¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    Something about her phrasing bothered Zenjirou. She had not used the phrasing ¡°is said to be on par¡±, nor the phrasing ¡°is considered to be on par¡±.

    He was bewildered that she had called him his literal equal with all certainty. Ines amplified her exnation as though clearing up his confusion.

    ¡°More precisely, he is the very person that inflicted the wounds that General Puyol has on his cheek and forehead.¡±

    ¡°¡­I see.¡±

    The guest had an unbelievably meaningful connection to the groom, so Zenjirou bid adieu to his wishful thinking that this marriage ceremony would end without trouble.

 Chapter Volume 7 2

    Chapter 02: The Marriage Ceremony

    General Mart¨ªn Nadal was a man in the prime of his life, a little bit over forty.

    Also known as the Guardian Deity of the Navarre Kingdom, this man looked exactly like what you would expect from his title.

    One-hundred and ny centimetre tall and over hundred kilogram heavy.

    He was one head shorter than the almost two metre tall General Puyol, but surpassed him in body width. Needless to say, that did not mean that he was fat.

    His body was a stronghold of trained muscles to the point that it did not show his age of over forty years at all.

    Despite his massive boar-like build, he moved around smoothly like a feline predator.

    General Mart¨ªn was sitting on a chair in one room of the building the Guzzle Family had allocated to him, and cracked a wry smile.

    ¡°Oh man, have got to give the Carpa Kingdom credit. Or should I say, the Guzzle Family, in this case? Either way, they are not to be underestimated.¡±

    When the hero of their country uttered this almost fearfully, the young knight standing at attention behind him gave a nervous response.

    ¡°Could you exin what you mean by that, General Mart¨ªn? The Carpa Kingdom always had more fighting power than our country.¡±

    ¡°Hm, you don¡¯t understand? Look at this chair and desk. The chair doesn¡¯t even bulge under my weight and is quitefortable. The desk has the right height, too.

    And they immediately brought me to this room, when I arrived, without having to wait.¡±

    Being told that much, the young knight came to understand what the general was implying as well.

    ¡°¡­In other words, word got out somewhere that you will be attending this marriage ceremony as our representative?¡±

    The general was one-hundred and ny centimetre tall and weighted over a hundred kilogram, so a normal chair and desk would obviously not meet his needs. The chair would squeak rmingly, if he sat down rashly, or it could turn into a catastrophe, when he sat down in a chair with armrests, because his firm bottom did not fit in.

    But nothing of the sort happened with the chair he currently sat in. It was a simple wooden chair without decorations, but easily supported the hundred kilogram of the general and was a perfect fit for him in terms of height and width.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure about an information leak. I think they just anticipated it. After all, my connection to General Puyol is rather well-known.¡±

    Saying this, General Mart¨ªn unconsciously put his right hand on his breastbone and scratched his old wound over the clothes.

    General Puyol had given him that wound in the previous war.

    Not really the type to dwell on things, General Mart¨ªn still could not help but pay attention to General Puyol, though.

    ¡°Did he arrange this? Maybe not. This is thend of his bride. Not even General Puyol has that much to say here, yet.

    The only other logical exnation is that the Guzzle Family arranged it. But I can¡¯t see the Marquis being so considerate. Does he have a smart adviser¡­?¡±

    The giant general lost himself deeply in thought, but was brought back to reality by the gaze of the young knight in the corner of the eye.

    ¡°Hmm, what¡¯s up?¡±

    The young knight had been staring at one corner of the table for a while now.

    His gaze went to a small rectangle box. It contained cinnamon sugar hardened in stick form.

    It was an unnecessary provision for General Mart¨ªn, since he hated sweets, but the young knight had a weak spot for it despite his virile appearance, so he could not ignore it.

    ¡°Ah, no, it is nothing.¡±

    The young knight deliberately averted his gaze from it with a cough, whereupon General Mart¨ªn smiled wryly.

    ¡°You sure love sweets.¡±

    ¡°¡­Something wrong with that?¡±

    Turning a bit red in the face from shame, the young knight puckered his lips.

    ¡°Not per se. But I do hate them.¡±

    ¡°I do like them.¡±

    ¡°Yes and that¡¯s the problem. Why do you think these are left here, when I hate them, but you like them?¡±

    ¡°¡­Oh?¡±

    For a moment, the young knight was at a loss for words, when the general pointed it out.

    Seeing the knight turn pale in the face, General Mart¨ªn smiled sympathetic and called the things as they were.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Not many men like sweet things like that. I can¡®t be dead certain, but I say it¡¯s quite likely these are for you, Cristiano Pinto.¡±

    The hero of the previous war called the young knight by his name.

    ¡°It goes without saying for a person with a standing like you, General, but why would they be aware of an obscure guy like myself?¡±

    ¡°Oh,e on, Cris. Don¡¯t be so hard on yourself. Any person with a spark of intelligence would obviously keep the name Cristiano Pinto in mind.¡±

    General Mart¨ªn was by no means lying, when he said that.

    Not even twenty years old yet, Cristiano was still young, but he had already risen to the envious position of a Knight Captain affiliated to the general. One reason for that was his ancestry: He was the oldest son of the famous Pinto Family, which had inherited the royal blood quite strongly. But the bigger reason was his own martial skills.

    The general was not so shallow as to pick him based on the right pedigree alone. To begin with, General Mart¨ªn had worked his way up from nothing, so he valued actions over words and thought little of lineage.

    With these views, General Mart¨ªn had pinned his hopes on Cristiano Pinto as the ¡°next protector of the country¡±.

    Nevertheless, it was a fact that it needed a really perceptive person to take notice of him from a different country at this point of time.

    ¡°Arge territory does not make a major power, neither does arge poption. Maintaining thatrge territory andrge poption by employing the right personnel is what makes a nation a major power.

    Never forget that.¡±

    ¡°Sir, yes, Sir.¡±

    The general and his prot¨¦g¨¦e from the Navarre Kingdom called the caution against major powers, the Carpa Kingdom in particr, to mind once again.

    * * *

    Around the same time, the people from the Guzzle Family were extremely busy with preparing for the marriage ceremony and greeting the arriving guests in the main building.

    That was nothing out of the ordinary by itself. The marriage between influential nobles was such a big event after all.

    ¡°Lady Lucinda, the adjustments to your wedding dress have been finished. Please try it on now.¡±

    ¡°I understand. Wait for me in the room next door. I wille over as soon as I am done here.¡±

    ¡°Lady Lucinda, Master Zenjirou and his group have had dinner and Miss Nilda reported that there were no problems.¡±

    ¡°Good. Tell Nilda to drop by my room before going to bed. I want to hear the report from herself, just to be sure.¡±

    ¡°Lady Lucinda, we have ushered the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom to their rooms. They have not expressed any displeasure for now.¡±

    ¡°d to hear that. Of course we cannot privilege a certain group, but it would be an international affair, if something were to happen with them, so please be extra careful, when dealing with them.¡±

    The only abnormality here was the fact that Lucinda Guzzle, the bride-to-be herself, was managing the versatile nning in its entirety.

    She had always been in charge of the territory, because the Marquis was generally working in the capital, but her duties did not even change on this special asion.

    Lucinda Guzzle was still unmarried at twenty-six, even though the etiquette in the Carpa Kingdom considered it to be already toote, when you had not married before twenty. Normally that would mean that she was unattractive or quick-tempered, but in actual fact, that was not the case with her.

    Her facial features were admittedly in, because of an inconspicuous small nose and mouth, but did not prevent her to be called a ¡°spruce beauty¡± by some and there were no problems with her personality, either, seeing as the servants of the March trusted in her.

    If anything, her zeal for running the business of the March despite being a woman, was somewhat contradicting themon sense of the Carpa Kingdom, but Lucinda always emphasised that she was just ¡°filling in for her father until her little brother was old enough to take over¡±.

    She was not the kind of unorthodox woman, who cleverly wielded the highest authority in the country despite being a woman such as Queen Aura or unashamedly risked her life on sea travel like Princess Freya.

    To begin with, she only missed her timing to get married, because her nubile years happened to ovep with the previous war. In ce of her father, who was out on the battlefield, Lucinda had to take care of the territory and her little brother, leaving her no time to think about marriage. These reasons had beenpletely beyond her control, so she was different from the usual ¡°marriage failures¡±.

    Once she had listened to all the reports from the servants, Lucinda turned to the table and looked through the documents with a cool-headedness that made you question whether she really was a noble daughter on the brink of marriage.

    ¡°As expected, the Navarre Kingdom sent General Mart¨ªn as their representative. I did not foresee that Knight Captain Cris would apany him, though.

    I hope the sugar snacks were prepared in time?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we put them in the room before letting them in.¡±

    ¡°Well done. Thanks.¡±

    Everything had been done on behalf of her. The right furniture was prepared for General Mart¨ªn, because Lucinda had anticipated him as the messenger from the Navarre Kingdom, and the sugar snacks were served at such short notice, because she had acquired the information that Knight Captain Cris liked sweets.

    As a proxy for her father working in the capital, but de facto leader of the March, Lucinda had paid special attention to the neighbouring Navarre Kingdom across the mountain and gathered all kind of information.

    For the Carpa Kingdom as a whole, the Navarre Kingdom was nothing but a small middle power not worth their attention, but the neighbouring country posed enough of a threat to the independent March of Guzzle.

    Hence Lucinda was as cautious about the Navarre Kingdom as General Mart¨ªn was about the Carpa Kingdom.

    ¡°I have heard that General Mart¨ªn is a lot more perceptive than his militant appearance lets on. He must have noticed the meaning behind the special furniture and snacks.

    I just hope the feint will work.¡±

    Lucinda mumbled and put the dragon bone quill in her right hand back into its stand.

    In fact, General Mart¨ªn had figured out that the matching furniture for him and the favourite snack for Knight Captain Cris had been a message from Lucinda.

    A message that read: ¡°I know all this about your activities.¡±

    Lucinda was going to get married, which meant that the March of Guzzle would lose her as its representative.

    Of course she had immediately started with the preparations for her session as soon as her marriage was set in stone.

    Her little brother Xavier, the next head of the family, and the mayordomo rear vassal were taught the necessary work and were introduced to as many spokesmen of their subjects as possible, passing on the informationwork she had build up till today.

    But these were nothing but rough-and-ready measures in the end. Nothing could be done about it, though, since her marriage came on an extremely short notice, even by higher nobility¡¯s standards.

    Once Lucinda was gone, the March would more or less be thrown into turmoil, so she had wanted to send a warning to the neighbouring country not to take advantage of that turmoil.

    ¡°At any rate, I reallye to appreciate the consideration from Master Zenjirou in this situation. I have to properly express my gratitudeter on.¡±

    The consideration was referring to his following words: ¡°I am looking forward to seeing the newlywed couple on the day of the marriage ceremony.¡±

    In other words, he had dered that they did not need to entertain him until the day of the marriage ceremony. Thanks to that, the Guzzle Family could give Royalty, originally the most high-maintenance guest, a short shrift by just assigning a bare minimum of servants to the annex building.

    If not for his consideration, Zenjirou would havee to greet the Marquis in advance and congratted the bride as soon as possible as Royalty. In that case, the Guzzle Family would have been overwhelmed with obligations by now.

    Lucinda felt a shiver ran down her spine in light of that scary imagination. In the meantime, the door was opened and closed with a tter.

    ¡°Excuse me, Sister. I have just returned from doing my rounds in the city.¡±

    These words were uttered by the next head of the Guzzle Family: Xavier Guzzle.

    Just like he had imed, he had been patrolling the city and was still wearing his leather armour and longsword at thiste hour.

    ¡°Well done, Xavier. Has the city been quiet?¡±

    Lucinda thanked her little brother for his efforts with a warm smile and signalized the servant next to her to pour him some cold tea.

    The siblings then sat down across each other on the couches.

    ¡°Yes, it has. Nothing worth mentioning has taken ce. The people are all celebrating your wedding from the bottom of their hearts.¡±

    Sitting on the couch, Xavier reported proudly while throwing out his chest.

    He had lost his mother had at an early age, so Lucinda was more like a mother, who raised him, than an older sister to him.

    No one was more happy about her marriage, dyed by unfortunate circumstances, than him.

    Lucinda giggled embarrassed to herself, when she saw the joy in the eyes of her little brother as though it was his own wedding.

    ¡°Is that so. I am d to hear that. So no one is picking any fights, because they are drunk?¡±

    Maybe in order to hide her embarrassment, she quickly talked business.

    Xavier looked a bit troubled and averted his eyes, when she pointed that out.

    ¡°Actually, a lot of that is happening. Should I have banned the alcohol instead?¡±

    ¡°No. It would be tasteless to celebrate the marriage without alcohol. Just continue to take those into custody, who cause a ruckus.

    But please keep in mind to not let anyone without permission near the residence until the ceremony is over. We cannot risk a strife with another noble family.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand, Sister.¡±

    The older sister gave instructions and the little brother epted them as a matter of course. Considering that he was going to be the next family head, that hierarchy was not quite favourable.

    ¡°¡­I was anxious about leaving home after my sudden marriage, but it actually might be better that way. If I were to stay here any longer, I think I would cause more problems than I can solve.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Did you say something?¡±

    ¡°No, just talking to myself.¡±

    Lucinda brushed it off like that while heaving a sigh at heart.

    If she were to remain in the March while Xavier seeded the position of the family head, it would undoubtedly disrupt the bnce of power.

    At the very least, the rear vassals and influential citizens would rather trust Lucinda than Xavier in domestic affairs, and above all else, Xavier himself was too fixated on his elder sister.

    In the worst case, the March might even split into two opposing camps, when she remained here unmarried and could not get along with any future sister-inw Xavier might take in.

    So Lucinda was of the opinion that her marriage was already worth it, even if avoiding that future was the only good thing that came out of it.

    While she was on these train of thoughts, she might as well give her little brother a final lecture.

    ¡°Xavier, I will marry General Puyol in a few days and leave the March afterwards.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Congrattions on getting married, Sister!¡±

    Lucinda gave her teary-eyes little brother a wry look.

    ¡°Thanks, dear. Anyway, this will be thest time I can give you an heartfelt piece of advice with only your wellbeing in mind, so please listen well.¡±

    After that prelude, she wiped her usual warm smile off her face and showed a stern expression.

    ¡°O- Okay.¡±

    Xavier instinctively sat up straight and rested his clenched fists on hisp. A saying ims that the child is the father of man and in ordance with that, Xavier fundamentally could not go against his elder sister, who had raised him in ce of a mother.

    ¡°Once I am the wife of General Puyol, you may not blindly trust me like before anymore.¡±

    ¡°S- Sister¡­?¡±

    While the little brother was at a loss for words, the older sister overwhelmed him with further exnations.

    ¡°As soon as I marry him, I will have left the Guzzle Family and be a part of the Guill¨¦n Family. From then on, my first priority will be the Guill¨¦n Family. The Guzzle Family onlyes in second.

    I will belong to a different family and you do not blindly trust someone like that.¡±

    ¡°B- But¡­¡±

    Xavier was baffled, but Lucinda was only stating a fact.

    Nobility valued their house, so it was only natural that they took the view that you had to put the family you married into above all and adopted their customs.

    Needless to say, that opinion was more of an idealism, if anything, and hardly anyone put it into practice to such an extent.

    In fact, the majority of people still considered themselves a member of their parental home at heart, even if they married into a new family.

    The best example for that would be the little sister of General Puyol: Fatima Guill¨¦n. She really loved her older brother and valuated him above all things, so it was hard to imagine that she would suddenly prioritize her new family over him, when she got married at some point.

    However, that general rule did not apply to the woman called Lucinda Guzzle.

    She had naturally epted that she, as a noble daughter, would devote her everything to her new family henceforth, now that she had been asked for her hand in marriage. The aforementioned idealism was embodied by her to an inhumane level.

    ¡°Are you saying you will be my political opponent from now on, Sister?¡±

    Her little brother turned pale in the face, whereupon Lucinda realized that her exnation had been a bitcking.

    She deliberately softened her expression and cleared up the doubt of her brother with her usual kind voice.

    ¡°Not at all. I did not mean it in such a radical way. To begin with, our two families were never on such bad terms to call us enemies and my marriage will actually stabilize our rtionship even further.

    In reality, I doubt that I will ever be able to bring harm to the Guzzle Family or you, Xavier.¡±

    ¡°I- I know, right!¡±

    Crying in one moment, smiling in the next. Her little brother changed expressions at his own convenience, whereas the older sister smiled back at him troubled.

    ¡°Marriage is a kind of contract for nobility. From now on, I have to bear the profit for the Guill¨¦n Family in mind, but as long as it does not harm the Guill¨¦n Family, I will obviously be allowed to bear a profit for the Guzzle Family in mind as well.¡±

    Forget all about your parental home once you marry.

    That would be way too disadvantageous for the family providing the bride. Hence the bride was allowed to draw a profit for her parental home as long as it did not affect her new family adversely.

    Xavier listened to her exnation with a meek look.

    ¡°Considering the current standings of the Guill¨¦n and Guzzle Family in the Carpa Kingdom, I dare to say that it will be quite unlikely that the Guill¨¦n Family will cause harm to the Guzzle Family.

    But the future is not set in stone. If one day, the interests of both families were topletely contrast each other, then I will bring harm to the Guzzle Family in order to make a profit for the Guill¨¦n Family.

    I just want you to bear that possibility in mind, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­Okay, I understand, Sister.¡±

    Looking meek, the little brother answered with a nod to the warning of his older sister before she was going to marry into a different family.

    * * *

    A few dayster.

    The day of the ceremony arrived without any incidents.

    They were holding the marriage ceremony in the banquet hall in the main building of the Guzzle residence.

    It was not as pompous as the ¡°Room of the Dragon King¡±, where Zenjirou and Aura had held their wedding, but it was almost as big.

    Therge hall was filled with numerous round tables and the invited nobles sat on chairs in a circle around them.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou was one of them. With him at the same table sat his partner Princess Freya and her trusted retainer Skathi as well as his bodyguard, the Knight Natalio.

    Ines stood at attention behind him in her usual maid clothes.

    A marriage ceremony in the Carpa Kingdom was not all that starchy, so the guests casually enjoyed some chitchat with some drinks until the bridal couple made their entrance.

    ¡°So this is a marriage ceremony on the South Continent. I see that it is not all that different from ours.¡±

    Lowering the silver goblet with fruit juice from her mouth, Princess Freya started talking to Zenjirou next to her with a lovely smile ying on her lips.

    ¡°Oh, is that so. I¡¯m not all that familiar with the culture on the South Continent, either, but I¡¯ve heard that they used to sit on a soft carpet during the ceremony in the past.

    It might be the influence of the North Continent that all the guests are sitting on chairs at tables now.¡±

    ¡°That is quite usible. I would like to thank my ancestors for it then.¡±

    Zenjirou realized what she was implying, so he casually asked with a yful tone.

    ¡°Oh my, you are ufortable with sitting on a carpet?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am afraid so.¡±

    Princess Freya looked down a bit embarrassed, when she was exposed.

    Although the culture of sitting down on a carpet was a thing of the past on the South Continent, it had not entirely vanished yet. Some traditional events still required you to sit cross-legged on top of a carpet and some tradition-conscious noble houses were refraining from setting up chairs and tables in the dining room to this day, setting and eating the dishes from atop the carpet instead.

    Due to that, the nobility in the Carpa Kingdom was more or less used to sitting on a carpet, but Princess Freya was nobility hailing from the North Continent, so she could note to like that custom.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou was pretty much okay with the custom, too. Modern Japan was certainly seeing more and more appearances of chairs and tables, but there were still plenty asions to sit cross-legged on the ground like in a room with Tatami mats.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou did not suffer as much during traditional events without chairs and tables.

    (Won¡¯t she have more troubles like that, when she actually bes my concubine?)

    Zenjirou was worried like that, but the only way to find out would be to directly ask her.

    But if he were to tell her that he was worried about her life as a concubine, he would practically admit to epting her as a concubine.

    At the present time, everything was pointing to Princess Freya bing his concubine. It was probably already impossible for him to avert that development by his own effort, but even then, there was no reason for him to speed up that process, either.

    While Zenjirou pondered about that, the stroke of arge gong rang out and echoed through the hall.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Looks like it is time.¡±

    The gong attracted the attention from all the chit-chatting guests and today¡¯s centrepiece, the bridal couple made their appearance.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The first to show up was the groom, Puyol Guill¨¦n.

    Wearing his full dress uniform, the giant general imposingly strode over the red carpet while the decorative bronze sword hung from his waist.

    It was typically of him to wear the military uniform instead of the traditional attire of the Carpa Kingdom at his wedding ceremony. As a matter of fact, an uniform suited him the best anyway.

    Close to two metre tall and a hundred kilogram heavy, the steeled soldier wore the extravagant military uniform decorated with gold threads like a second skin. He personified themon image of a ¡°General of the Army¡± par for par.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    After him followed a woman in herte twenties wearing a white long dress.

    Zenjirou was seeing her for the first time, but there was no question about it that she was the bride, Lucinda Guzzle.

    ording to the proper etiquette, she followed a step behind by the side of her preceding groom.

    Aura and Zenjirou had walked alongside one another, when they had gotten married as the Queen and Prince Consort, but that had been an extremely rare exception to the exception.

    Normally, the bride followed diagonally behind the groom at a marriage ceremony in the Carpa Kingdom.

    The groom was attracting the most attention, but Zenjirou was looking at the bride, since he was seeing her for the first time.

    (So she is Lucinda. Not the prettiest out there, but still beautiful.)

    She looked smaller, because she was trailing behind the almost two metre tall General Puyol, but she actually had an average height and build.

    Her ck hair was full and morous, her ck eyes beamed with kindness and her skin had themon brown tinge of a person from the Carpa Kingdom. Even d in the snow-white wedding dress, she still looked somewhat in, but her features were well-defined enough to get an immediate positive answer, when asking someone whether she was a beauty or not.

    In the meantime, the bridal couple advanced on the red carpet and went up to the podium.

    There an elder priest was awaiting them. He was going to perform the marriage ceremony.

    Since the main religion on the South Continent, the faith in spirits, was not really institutionalized, the priest were only responsible for a hand of ceremonial asions such asing-of-age, marriage or burial.

    The elderly priest faced the bridal couple standing in front of him and opened his mouth covered by a white beard.

    ¡°Under the protection of the Spirits, this man and woman will enter into the holy bond of marriage today. May the Spirits smile to their future.

    From time immemorial, the brave man has always protected the frail woman behind him, whereas thepassionate woman has always offered the foolish man constion in her arms. The Spirits are sure to respond to their mutual empathy.¡±

    Because the Spirit Faith on the South Continent had neither been systemized, nor institutionalized, the ritual words at these asions were generally determined by the priest on duty.

    Zenjirou curiously listened to the self-penned speech of the priest, but he suddenly felt ufortable, so he looked around from the corner of his eye while keeping his gaze focussed on the bridal couple.

    (Hmm? I sense a gaze on me? From whom?)

    He could not see him all that clearly, because he was just looking out of the corner of his eye, but he did see a sturdy silhouette of a soldier.

    (The foreign guests should be seated over there¡­ So that¡¯s General Mart¨ªn from the Navarre Kingdom?)

    In reality, Zenjirou was not looking at General Mart¨ªn, but at Knight Captain Cris sitting next to him, but he could not discern it that well, because he was still looking ahead.

    Having said this, Knight Captain Cris was slender and only one hundred and eighty centimetre tall, whereas General Mart¨ªn was practically a giant with his almost two metre height and hundred kilogram weight.

    Their auras were too different to begin with.

    Zenjirou was puzzled as to why he was the target of his attention instead of the bridal couple in the middle of the ceremony, but it was actually not all that strange.

    He was the Prince Consort of the major power known as the Carpa Kingdom. In short, a genuine Royalty with a bloodline magic.

    So a foreign authority was obviously going to pay him more attention than the bridal couple.

    In the meantime, the ceremony was moving along.

    On the South Continent, the marriage ceremonies followed all kind of procedures like the speech from the priest or the marriage vows from the couple, but this ceremony was a bit different at the end.

    ¡°The couple will now exchange the weddings rings.¡±

    The unfamiliar ritual of exchanging wedding rings prompted the guests to murmur agitated and Zenjirou to widen his eyes in surprise.

    In that very moment, General Puyol faced Zenjirou and gave him an appreciative look while smirking for a second.

    Zenjirou understood with that.

    (Oh, right. Aura did tell me that my marriage rings had started the custom of exchanging wedding rings in this country, too.

    So General Puyol also picked up on it, eh.)

    The earlier look must have expressed his gratitude to Zenjirou for introducing them the custom of exchanging wedding rings.

    Under the watchful eyes of the guests, the bridal couple took the pair rings from the priest and put them on the finger of their partner.

    Zenjirou did not go as far as telling them that the wedding ring belonged to the ring finger of the left hand. It just happened naturally, since that finger provided the least inconveniences for wearing a ring at all times.

    The same reason probably applied to its simple gold design without any gems.

    As a soldier, General Puyol would by no means profit from wearing a cumbersome jewellery on his finger. The in ring without any gem had probably been apromise on his part.

    It might be a bit too in for a woman, though. Even in this world, most of the women had a thing for beautifulrge gems.

    A thought suddenly crossed Zenjirou¡¯s mind.

    (Maybe I should tell them about ¡®engagement rings¡¯, too? Women are sure to love a brilliant ring, but the men will have to bear the costs. I guess the wedding rings are enough for now.)

    Apparently Lucinda was different from the majority of women as she narrowed her eyes happily, when General Puyol put the unadorned golden ring on her hand.

    ¡°Thank you, My Husband.¡±

    For some reason, the soft voice of the bride resonated through the whole hall.

    * * *

    In the Carpa Kingdom, the marriage ceremony of higher nobility or wealthy people was followed by a ritual called the ¡°Rite of Unveiling¡±.

    As its name implied, the rite dealt with the bridal couple showing themselves in front of those, who could not attend the ceremony itself, and announcing their marriage. The invited guests of the ceremony were asked to abstain from attending the ¡°Rite of Unveiling¡±.

    On the za in front of the residence of the feudal lord, the newlyweds put themselves on disy for the citizens of the March in their wedding attire. In the meantime, the guests of the ceremony were regaled with food and drinks in a different room.

    The host of that gathering was the family of the bride, namely the Guzzle Family, but the people from the Guill¨¦n Family were also functioning as co-organizers.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou, I cannot thank you enough for going out of your way to attend the marriage of my daughter today.¡±

    Marquis Guzzle himself approached Zenjirou first of all with these words.

    He was as tall as Zenjirou, but a multiple of him widthwise. His neck was fatter than his face wide, his shoulders were sloping from excess muscle mass and his arms were round like a log. He should be over forty by now, but even an amateur like Zenjirou could tell that his body was still that of an active soldier.

    A bit overwhelmed at heart, Zenjirou showed nothing of the sort on the outside and responded with a smile.

    ¡°No need to thank me, Marquis. The Guzzle Family as well as the Guill¨¦n Family are important pirs of our country. It goes without saying that I would attend the union of your families as a representative for Queen Aura.¡±

    Zenjirou emphasized the fact that he was only a representative for Queen Aura, whereat Marquis Guzzle answered with an honest smile, which was quite rareing from a high-ranking nobility.

    ¡°You honour me with your words. Of course I am grateful to Sir Puyol for taking my daughter after she missed out on marriage for too long due to my shorings, but I am even more grateful to Her Majesty Aura for allowing the normally unthinkable marriage between the Guill¨¦n and Guzzle Family. I, Miguel Guzzle, shall never forget this favour!¡±

    ¡°You have earned this trust by devoting your everything to the country so far.

    Her Majesty sincerely hopes that you will not cease your endeavours.¡±

    ¡°Of course. I would not dream of doing so.¡±

    Zenjirou reminded him that he admittedly had gotten a connection to the hearnd now, but should not use this asion to start meddling with the power struggle there, so the elderly marquis lowered his head deeply.

    As a matter of fact, Queen Aura was really trusting Marquis Guzzle.

    Of course the Guzzle Family was no different from the other feudal lords, so they put their own territory first and the kingdom second, but they were also known for their fidelity and loyalty.

    Even in the previous war, the army of the marquis had obediently followed the orders of the country, which had been a great help.

    Setting Marquis Rh, pretty much a rtive to Aura, aside, it would be no exaggeration to say that she trusted Marquis Guzzle the most of all nobility.

    ¡°Anyway, today is a day to be celebrated, so let this be enough of formalities. Let me introduce you:

    This is Princess Freya Upps, the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom. She is apanying me as my partner, because Her Majesty Aura could not leave the Capital.

    Princess Freya, this is Marquis Guzzle. He is usually working in the Capital, so maybe you have seen him before?¡±

    Upon these words, the princess from the North Continent took one step forward as she had politely waited behind Zenjirou so far.

    ¡°My name is Freya Upps. Congrattions on your daughter Lucinda getting married!¡±

    She grasped the hem of her simple blue skirt and did a curtsey.

    The etiquette in the Upps Kingdom was slightly different from the one in the Carpa Kingdom, but her gesture was so gracious that it would be rude to point it out now.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Princess Freya. As you can see, we live in the middle of nowhere, but please make yourself at home.¡±

    Marquis Guzzle responded politely, but much to his regret, Zenjirou was unable to tell whether his respect was attributed to her current title as a ¡°princess from the North Continent¡± or her future title as a ¡°concubine of the Prince Consort of the Carpa Kingdom¡±.

    ¡°I appreciate the hospitality, Marquis Guzzle. We are being cared for quite courteously in the annex building. Am I right, Your Majesty Zenjirou?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is right.¡±

    She probably had asked for his opinion with a smile on purpose, because she wanted to spell out for the others that she was staying under the same roof as him.

    ¡°Heh, I am d to hear that. You have done well, Nilda.¡±

    Whether he was aware of her intentions or not, Marquis Guzzle showed a bright smile and called out to his beloved daughter standing behind him.

    ¡°Yes, Father. Thank you, Princess Freya.¡±

    The little girl lowered her head with her big eyes shining. She did look a bit tense from nervousness, but more than that, she gave off an affectionate aura like a tamed little animal.

    When he was looking back at his daughter, Marquis Guzzle was showing a soft expression as well. Or at the very least, Zenjirou could not catch any sight of some intrigue or ulterior motive in it.

    (Even at the ceremony, he openly let Nilda sit with the rest of the family. That means he really isn¡¯t trying to hide her? It¡¯s getting more and more puzzling.)

    The girl, who was apparently unknown to Royalty, was being treated as a normal daughter at an official event in the March. And not only that, she was even assigned the role to look after Royalty.

    Zenjirou somehow started to get the feeling that the whole thing was just a in old misunderstanding.

    To begin with, the girl called Nilda and the man called Marquis Guzzle were way too sincere to actually consider this as some kind of scheme.

    ¡°By the way, I have heard that Miss Nilda has a different mother than Sir Xavier and Lady Lucinda?¡±

    Just in case, Zenjirou probed them like this, whereat the elderly feudal lord scratched his greying head and honestly affirmed it, even if a bit reluctant.

    ¡°Yes, that is correct. Xavier and Lucinda as well as my other two sons, who died in the previous war, are the children of my legal wife.

    On the other hand, Nilda is the product of my juvenility¡­ Well, I was not at an age to call it that anymore, though. Anyway, she is the child I made with a female subject of mine.¡±

    Saying so, Marquis Guzzle patted the head of his daughter standing next to him.

    ¡°Fufu¡­¡±

    Having her head patted, the little girl narrowed her eyes happily like a puppy.

    A person from Modern Japan would surely get offended, when its own birth was called a ¡°product of juvenility¡±, even ifing from a parent, but Nilda showed no sign of concern.

    Maybe it meant that the parentage was just too important in this world? Or maybe father and daughter were getting along so well that she would not get disheartened just from that kind of crude phrasing.

    Zenjirou would like to say it was thetter, seeing her disy of affection.

    ¡°As Princess Freya said before, Miss Nilda is taking good care of us. She is always so bright and cheerful. I often catch myself copying her. So far, I had a great time here, because of that. So let me express my gratitude once more: Thank you, Miss Nilda.¡±

    ¡°Oh no, your words are wasted on me, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    At any rate, Zenjirou concluded that he should not dig any deeper into the issue without instructions from Aura, so he dropped the subject at a suitable point.

    Even if Zenjirou and Princess Freya were the most important guests, Marquis Guzzle could not afford to spend all his time on a single group as the father of the bride.

    After the marquis left, Zenjirou was unsurprisingly flocked by the other guests to exchange pleasantries.

    The etiquette of the Carpa Kingdom dictated that it was bad manners for one of lower status to call out to someone of higher status, but marriage or burial ceremonies were an exception to that rule.

    Apparently, all the guests were considered to be of equal rank in the sense that they all had the same motive, either congratting the bridal couple at a marriage ceremony or mourning the deceased at a burial ceremony.

    Due to that, Zenjirou had no time to enjoy the actual banquet and was busy dealing with nobility one after another.

    ¡°It is nice to make your acquaintance, Master Zenjirou. Her Majesty Aura was so generously to bestow me with the title of a viscount. My name is Primo Guill¨¦n. The groom Puyol happens to be my nephew.¡±

    ¡°Master Zenjirou, thank you very much for going out of your way to attend the marriage ceremony of my brother today.¡±

    With these words, a man in his early fifties and a tall girl lowered their heads at the same time.

    Just like he had introduced himself, the man was the uncle of General Puyol: Primo Guill¨¦n; The little girl was the little sister of General Puyol: Fatima Guill¨¦n.

    ¡°Oh, thank you for the polite introduction, Sir Primo. I am Zenjirou, the husband of Her Majesty Aura. And I am d to see you are doing well, Miss Fatima.¡±

    Primo Guill¨¦n was a tall man with the blood of the Guill¨¦n Family running through his veins.

    He definitely was not as tall as the two metre tall Puyol, but there was still an obvious gap between him and Fatima, so he must be at least one hundred and eighty-five centimetre tall.

    Nevertheless, there was no overwhelming auraing from him like General Puyol did, when he was just standing there.

    Although this might sound a bit rude, his height was his only redeeming feature.

    In fact, Fatima was drawing far more attention in her moss-green dress as she stood self-confidently next to him.

    ¡°Yes, Master Zenjiou. As his little sister, it gives me a piece of mind that my brother has tied the knot.¡±

    But if you looked carefully, you could tell that her smile as she said that was somewhat forced.

    (Well, she practically got a brotherplex, so it¡¯s no wonder she can¡¯t sincerely be happy about his marriage.)

    And even more so, when his bride was the twenty-six years old Lucinda. Since the South Continentbelled women older than twenty as a lost case for marriage, she was practically the epitome of an old woman well past her prime.

    Without exaggerating it, Fatima firmly believed her brother to be the ¡°best man on the South Continent¡±, so it was no surprise that she was dissatisfied with such ate bloomer being his brother¡¯s legal wife.

    Despite that, she was making an effort to not let it show in her attitude and words, because she realized how important the marriage with Lucinda and thereby the connection to the Guzzle Family was.

    Having said this, Fatima would never even think of opposing her older brother to begin with, no matter how much displeasure she harboured about his decision.

    ¡°Well then, Master Zenjirou, if you will excuse me.¡±

    ¡°It was a pleasure to have met you, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    When Primo Guill¨¦n and Fatima Guill¨¦n left, the next guest took their ce.

    ¡°It has been a long time, Master Zenjirou. I am d we worked out that incident in Valentia together.¡±

    A man wearing the traditional attire of the Carpa Kingdom like a second skin, greeted Zenjirou with an affable smile.

    ¡°Oh, Sir Raffaelo. You definitely yed a big role in it.¡±

    Zenjirou responded to the greeting of the sessor to the M¨¢rguez Family, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez, with a smile as well.

    At the same time, he looked at the ¡°fianc¨¦e of Raffaelo¡±, who was standing behind him at an angle.

    Keen as he was, Raffaelo notice the gaze and showed a broad grin.

    ¡°Allow me to introduce her, Master Zenjirou. She is my betrothed: Keyshia from the Massana Family.¡±

    With these words, he put his arm around her waist and ushered her in front of Zenjirou.

    Zenjirou was a bit captivated by the woman brought before his eyes.

    Her morous long ck hair was beautifully pinned up and her red dress revealed her bare shoulders and neck. Everyone knew what a faithful husband he was, himself included, but even then, Zenjirou could not help but be smitten by her beauty and charm.

    She was an eye-catching extraordinary beauty with well-proportioned long arms and legs, smiling with conviction and confidence.

    Keyshia had already been a sight for sore eyes in her maid clothes, but Zenjirou was in raptures about her enchanting dress.

    ¡°It is my first time seeing you wear anything else than maid clothes, Keyshia, but I must say, you are truly beautiful. Your charm was already standing out in the Inner Pce, but seeing you all dressed up like this makes me speechless.¡±

    Praised by the man, who had been her master not long ago, the bewitching woman widened her eyes affected and puckered her lips a bit petnt.

    ¡°Oh my, thank you very much, Master Zenjirou. But what a surprise. I never thought I would see the day, where youpliment my appearance, because I thought for sure that you only have eyes for Her Majesty Aura.¡±

    ¡°I am human, too. When I see something beautiful, I will appreciate it.¡±

    Zenjirou gave the well acquainted former maid of the Inner Pce a wry smile with a shrug of his shoulders.

    That reaction of his prompted the nearby nobility from the Carpa Kingdom, who had been listening in so far, to be taken aback.

    It happened very seldom that Zenjirou talked that casually with a woman. He was always ¡°ying it safe¡± at official night banquets.

    Zenjirou himself was no aware of it, but his reaction increased the value of being a ¡°waiting maid of the Inner Pce¡±.

    The waiting maids of the Inner Pce proved to be a connection to the Prince Consort.

    While the nearby nobility renewed their understanding like that, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez already had a former waiting maid as his betrothed and said with a smooth smile.

    ¡°Well then, Master Zenjirou, we will excuse ourselves for today.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Take good care of Keyshia, Sir Raffaelo.¡±

    He could have kept the conversation going for as long as he wanted by using his fianc¨¦e, but Raffaelo parted from Zenjirou with these words.

    If anything, his time with Zenjirou was quite short,pared to other nobility.

    In the past, Raffaelo had suggested his father Manuel M¨¢rguez to keep their distance from the ¡°monstrous¡± Zenjirou for now, and he was faithfully abiding by his own words.

    Be it the bride¡¯s Guzzle Family, the groom¡¯s Guill¨¦n Family or the M¨¢rguez Family, they were all important enough that Royalty could not afford to neglect making allowances for them, but since they were nobility of the same country, Zenjirou somewhat knew how to deal with them and even if he were to make a mistake, things could be smoothed overter on.

    But right now, he was facing the guests of another country on whom these advantages did not work.

    Namely: The representative of the Navarre Kingdom, General Mart¨ªn and his attendant Knight Cristiano Pinto.

    When the obviously trained foreigners approached Zenjirou and Princess Freya, their bodyguards Knight Natalio and Skathi put themselves on the alert behind them. Only waiting maid Ines kept cool and collected.

    ¡°Nice to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty Zenjirou.

    My name is Mart¨ªn Nadal, a general in the army of the Navarre Kingdom. I am extremely grateful to be given the chance to meet you today.

    And this is Cristiano, a young knight in our army.¡±

    ¡°I am Knight Captain Cristiano, the eldest son of Marquis Pinto. It is an honour to meet you, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    The general in his forties and the young knight probably still in his teens, bowed their heads to Zenjirou in unison.

    By the way, General Mart¨ªn and Knight Captain Cris were an exception in the sense that they were attending the ceremony without a female partner.

    If possible, a marriage ceremony was usually attended with a partner, but there was no ironw that forbid to attend it alone.

    They practically had passed over the mountain on a footslog, so no women had been capable of apanying them.

    Under such circumstances, a man was not really frowned upon for attending alone.

    ¡°Much obliged, General Mart¨ªn. I am Zenjirou, the husband of Her Majesty Aura, the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom. Your reputation precedes you as even I have heard of it.

    And this is Princess Freya Upps, the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom on the North Continent.¡±

    ¡°My name is Freya. I am from the North Continent, so I am afraid that I have not heard of your achievements, but it is nevertheless an honour to make your acquaintance, General.¡±

    Following the introduction from Zenjirou, Princess Freya also introduced herself and lowered her head a bit.

    Zenjirou withdrew his left hand he had put around Princess Freya¡¯s waist, and faced the two man standing in front of him.

    (So he¡¯s General Mart¨ªn, the Hero of the Navarre Kingdom. A giant of a man. And his presence is even bigger.)

    Wearing a smile, Zenjirou managed to not let his anxiety show on his face, but at heart, he instinctively was afraid of the man standing in front of him.

    The seasoned warrior in front of him was close to two metre tall and almost twice as heavy as him, so it already deserved praise that Zenjirou faced him without backing off.

    As Royalty, Zenjirou was technically wearing a decorative sword at his waist, whereas the foreign general was unarmed, but there was no way that such a thing wouldpensate for the difference in their strengths.

    ¡°Greetings to you, Princess Freya. It is an honour to make your acquaintance.¡±

    ¡°Pleased to meet you, Princess Freya.¡±

    General Mart¨ªn and Knight Captain Cris returned the greeting to Princess Freya.

    ¡°But I must say, I am surprised to see you here today, General Mart¨ªn. I assume your rtion to General Puyol is the reason that a famous general attends a marriage ceremony of a neighbouring country?¡±

    In reality, Zenjirou had not even heard of his name before, but he did not mention that, of course.

    Nevertheless, he did have a point there.

    It was not all that strange that they would send a messenger to the marriage ceremony of a feudal lord family from a neighbouring country, but it was an exception for sure that an important general was chosen for that role.

    For anyone, who knew that General Puyol and General Mart¨ªn had a feud with each other from the previous war, it was only natural to assume that General Mart¨ªn came here especially for General Puyol.

    All the nearby nobility curiously pricked up their ears, when Zenjirou asked that.

    With all the attention on him, the famous general shrugged his shoulders a bit and affirmed it with a brazen smile.

    ¡°Well, to be honest, that is definitely the biggest reason.

    Nheless, the Carpa Kingdom is an important neighbour to the Navarre Kingdom, so if not for me, they would surely have send someone of equal status.¡±

    To be more precise: General Mart¨ªn had been concerned about the character of General Puyol.

    It was well-known after all that General Puyol was an ambitious man.

    That capable and ambitious general was going to bond with the feudal family on their border in form of marriage, so the Navarre Kingdom obviously could not sit back and do nothing.

    He was enough of a ¡°threat¡± to send in their important general to check on him.

    Zenjirou pretended not to have noticed that implied nuance in the answer from General Mart¨ªn and responded with a smile.

    ¡°Yes, neighbours should get along well. I do hope we both do not forget that fact and continue to work towards it.¡±

    ¡°My sentiments exactly, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    Two authorities from bordering countries were having a typical two-faced conversation.

    Local affairs aside, Zenjirou was not yet used to dealing with foreign countries appropriately, so he could not help but y it safe.

    Their conversation naturally avoided diving into political waters and shifted towards personal preferences instead.

    ¡°This reminds me, we are neighbours, but is our food culture actually different? I did hear that it is not unusual for a culture to change beyond the border.¡±

    ¡°Well, I am not all that familiar with your cuisine, but as far as I can tell, it is not all that different. If I had to name something, it would be the fruit wine. The fruit wine of the Carpa Kingdom generally tends to be sweeter than ours.

    Thanks to that, Knight Captain Cris is treating himself to some on a rare asion. Am I right, Cris?¡±

    ¡°S- Sir, you¡­¡±

    Suddenly addressed, the young knight was at a loss for words for a moment and red at the respectable general of his own country.

    A lot of men with a sweet tooth were very self-conscious about it and apparently Knight Captain Cris was one of them.

    Having said this, he had somewhate to terms with it, seeing as he was not forcing himself to drink dry wine at an official event for appearance¡¯s sake.

    ¡°You cannot help to like what you like after all. I do know that it is childish of me, but I let them prepare my food without certain herbs, too.¡±

    Zenjirou tried to help him out by revealing a peculiarity of his own, but Knight Captain Cris was not man enough to honestly ept his good intentions.

    ¡°¡­Why, thank you.¡±

    Although he lowered his head, he was giving Zenjirou a resentful re. To him, it must have seemed like General Mart¨ªn and Zenjirou were pairing up to make fun of his fondness for sweets.

    Zenjirou read in the expression of the young knight that it would be unwise to pursue this topic any further, so he changed the subject somewhat forcefully.

    ¡°What about this then, General Mart¨ªn? Does a drink like this suit your taste? This alcohol is the recent product of the Capital. It is quite strong, albeit light in taste. General Puyol seems to have taken a liking to it.¡±

    With these words, Zenjirou rmended General Mart¨ªn a silver goblet with the ¡°distilled liquor¡± from the Capital.

    ¡°Oho! If it has your approval, I will have to try it. ¡­Hmm, it certainly is strong enough to burn your throat, but it is a bit too tasteless to my liking.¡±

    ¡°I thought so. You are not the first to say this. I guess we have to think about improving the taste.¡±

    ¡°That sounds promising. I would like to try it once you have done so.¡±

    ¡°Please share it with your country then. I do hope it will be a local speciality of our country after all.¡±

    Knight Captain Cris regained hisposure while Zenjirou and General Mart¨ªn were chatting like that, so he asked Zenjirou dubious.

    ¡°Your Majesty seems to think like a merchant. Maybe youe from such a family?¡±

    General Mart¨ªn frowned in light of the phrasing from the young knight captain. It was well-known that Zenjirou was not true-born royalty, but calling him a merchant could be considered an insult.

    However, Zenjirou was not offended by it.

    ¡°Well, not quite correct, but not entirely wrong, either, I guess.¡±

    He affirmed it to some extent without getting angry.

    Originally, Zenjirou had been working in the sales department, so it was not all that wrong to call him a merchant.

    ¡°This reminds me, I have heard that Your Majesty has achieved a major victory against dragons the other day.¡±

    General Mart¨ªn had no way of divining what Zenjirou was thinking, so he touched on a ttering topic as though smoothing over the problematic statement of his subordinate about royalty from a different country. Unfortunately for him, he was barking up the wrong tree in the case of Zenjirou with that idea.

    ¡°Oh, I was just overseeing things there. To begin with, I ampletely unsuited for battle. I was stretching myself to the limit not to get in the way. That alone made me break out in a cold sweat already, so I never want to have anything to do with it again.¡±

    ¡°Err¡­ Is that so.¡±

    His answer obviously bewildered General Mart¨ªn, seeing as he stumbled on his words.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    And Knight Captain Cris next to him could not quite conceal his contempt and disdain for him in his expression.

    But he could not really be med for it, because Zenjirou was too much of an abnormality in this world for stating so brazenly that ¡°he could not fight and was weary of it¡±.

    A noble man in his prime that could not fight belonged to the minority and was usually ashamed of belonging to that minority.

    Judging by the moral values of this world, it only looked like Zenjirou was putting up a defiant front.

    ¡°Then Your Majesty is not training on a daily basis?¡±

    Knight Captain Cris was obviously looking at his hand, when he asked that, so Zenjirou showed him his hands with a wry smile.

    ¡°Yes, as you can see. And it would be an useless effort to start now. I resigned myself to it.¡±

    As if emphasizing his words, the palms of his hands had no calluses and were as lean as a child¡¯s or woman¡¯s by the standards of this world.

    If he had done baseball or kendo in university, he might have fooled them to some extent, but unfortunately, he had belonged to the ser club. His road of life had not been the kind, where he got any calluses.

    ¡°It is never in vain to practice martial arts, even if only a little. Your Majesty should set aside any biases and just try it out.¡±

    The words from Knight Captain Cris sounded like he was saying it in the interest of Zenjirou, but the contempt for him was still present in his eyes and voice.

    Zenjirou was not so dim-witted that he would fail to notice that, but he also knew that it would be a pain in the ass, if he were toment on it now.

    ¡°Haha, you are right. I will keep it in mind for next time.¡±

    After a moment of deliberation, Zenjirou conquered his feelings and decided to ignore the vicious remark from Knight Captain Cris.

    ¡°¡­I am d I could make you understand.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    As Knight Captain Cris did not abandon his contemptuous attitude, General Mart¨ªn thanked Zenjirou for his lenience by casting down his eyes.

    After the bridal couplepleted the ¡°Rite of Unveiling¡±, it wasmon practice that they returned to the banquet hall and participated in the party btedly.

    Unlike the marriage ceremony, the banquet was a sociable party, so the guests were allowed to speak directly with the bridal pair.

    In a way, it was the main event for those, who had attended the marriage ceremony for diplomatic reasons.

    Under the pretext of congratting the newlyweds, they could approach them regardless of social standing after all.

    But right now, not a single person was approaching the groom General Puyol, even though the bridal couple had finally made an appearance here.

    The hall had fallen dead silent and everyone was just awaiting the issue without moving an inch.

    Creasing his face into a smile, General Puyol was looking at General Mart¨ªn, who was showing him the same kind of smile.

    The awed guests in the hall were just supporting actors for the confrontation between the two great heroes of the previous war.

    ¡°Long time no see, General Mart¨ªn. I¡¯m d you haven¡¯t kicked the bucket yet.¡±

    Shortening the distance between them at a leisurely pace, General Puyol spoke first.

    It remained unclear whether he scratched the scar over his eyebrow with his left hand on purpose or unconsciously.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m alive and kicking, General Puyol. After all, I haven¡¯t seen you in a while. There¡¯s no way I would get wounded unless I¡¯m fighting you, right?¡±

    Replying like that, General Mart¨ªn ced his right hand on broad his breast bone quite purposefully.

    There was a scar under his clothes. The shallow, but long cut across his breast bone had been inflicted by General Puyol.

    Both of them were veterans that had survived the previous great war and the countless scars on their bodies told its tale.

    But most of these wounds were inflicted by projectiles like arrows or stones and the few wounds from melee weapons were all suffered through chaotic scuffles.

    The only wounds they had inflicted on each other directly were the scars on the face of General Puyol or the scar across the breast bone of General Mart¨ªn.

    On the battlefield, one was always having a brush with death, no matter how brave or heroic they were. In that sense, neither General Puyol, nor General Mart¨ªn were anything special.

    But considering that they still could thrust death into your face, even if you were to keep yourself in perfect shape, sharpen your mind without the slightest neglect and ward off any ill fortune, you could not avoid calling both of them ¡°special¡± after all.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    General Puyol was almost two metre tall and over a hundred kilogram heavy, whereas General Mart¨ªn was one-hundred and ny centimetre tall and over a hundred kilogram heavy.

    ordingly, General Puyol surpassed him by ten centimetre in height, but General Mart¨ªn outweighed him breadthwise.

    While they red at each other like a sabre-tooth tiger and a grizzly, the air in the hall was at an heavy standstill.

    ¡°Looks like you didn¡¯t neglect training. It must be tough finding free time for training in your position as a general. I must say, I¡¯m impressed, General Puyol.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, thanks. I dare to say I¡¯ve grown stronger since then. I¡¯m also d to see that you still have been training, General Mart¨ªn.¡±

    ¡°I had to work my way up after all. Strength has a bearing on your leadership skills, so I can¡¯t afford to ck off. Yet the best I could do this year was maintaining my current form.¡±

    ¡°Oho, if that is true, you might prove to be an equal opponent now.¡±

    ¡°Pfft, cut the ttering. Back then, we were evenly matched, but right now, you are definitely stronger. That doesn¡¯t mean you will win, though, if we have a bout.¡±

    ¡°Oho¡­¡±

    ¡°Heh¡­¡±

    Neither of the two heroes was usually the chatty type, but the more words they exchange, the broader their smile got. At the same time, the tension and will tobat rose between them proportional to that smile, though.

    Were they going to go at it right here?

    Maybe they both had been joking in the beginning, but identally reached the point of no return?

    Everyone was holding their breath with these worries, but the woman standing next to the groom, namely the bride, released them from that sorrow.

    ¡°My Husband, I do understand that you have a lot to catch up on with your old friend, but for how long are you going to neglect your new wife on this special day? I would like you to introduce me to him.¡±

    Lucinda Guzzle, or rather Lucinda Guill¨¦n now, said this with a soft smile and tugged at the sleeve of her husband reminding.

    Her expression was the quintessence of affability and you could not find a single trace of tension or fear anywhere on her.

    It seemed like she was ¡°cutting into the conversation of the two men thoughtlessly, because she was sulking about her husband not paying any attention to her¡±, but reality was different.

    On the contrary, she had given thought to it more than anyone and concluded that it would be dangerous to let them continue like this, so she went in to stop them by pretending to be oblivious to the situation.

    Dangerous as it may be, it was not like General Puyol and General Mart¨ªn would actually start a fight here.

    But Lucinda feared that if they were to continue to speak at daggers drawn, the others would get the impression that ¡°the two of them really wanted a fight¡°, which would add unnecessary tension to the rtion between the two countries.

    ¡°Although I do know that you two have just been joking around, a woman cannot help but be scared by it. Please apply yourself to me now, My Husband.¡±

    Emphasizing the fact that they were joking around, Lucinda looked up into the eyes of her now husband from the side.

    ¡°¡­Hmm, you are right. My bad. Soldiers are oblivious to the delicate mind of women by nature, but I do admit that we have gone a bit too far. Forgive me, Lucinda.

    General Mart¨ªn, let me introduce her. As of today, this is my wife Lucinda.¡±

    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, General Mart¨ªn. I am the eldest daughter of the Guzzle Family and as of now, the wife to Puyol Guill¨¦n, the current head of the Guill¨¦n Family. My name is Lucinda.

    I do have heard of your achievements, General. It is a great honour to get acquainted with you.¡±

    A gentle voice and calm pronunciation coupled with a modest smile.

    Without resorting to force, the newlywed wife pacified the atmosphere through mere words. General Mart¨ªn changed his attitude as well in light of her smile.

    ¡°What a lovely bride. My name is Mart¨ªn Nadal, a general from the Navarre Kingdom.

    It seems you are not just lucky on the battlefield, Sir Puyol. To think you actually managed to win such a fine wife.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am really d that I stayed single until today.¡±

    ¡°You tter me.¡±

    Peace set in between the bridal pair and the general from the neighbouring country, so the rest of the hall resumed their happy chit-chatting as well.

 Chapter Volume 7 3

    Chapter 03: For a Trivial Reason

    A marriage ceremony between important nobles in the bordend simply did not end after the ceremony itself.

    After all, influential nobles from far and wide, not to forget Royalty, had gathered here to celebrate it.

    The road and inn essibility in this world was nowhere good enough to cope with the situation, where the guests were told ¡°thanks foring¡± right after the ceremony and dispersed in small groups all at once.

    Most people actually wanted to stay longer in order to use this opportunity for socializing.

    And above all, it would be a grand event, when the groom General Puyol set out for the Capital with his wife Lucindater on.

    There was no way the other guests would leave ahead of them. The same naturally applied to Prince Consort Zenjirou as well.

    Consequently, the capital of the March of Guzzle was bustling with all the wedding guests even now.

    In his usual well-behaved way, Zenjirou spent the days in his allocated building without moving around much.

    It certainly was inconvenient to be separated from his electrical appliances, but he had already went through that experience in Valentia.

    Learning from his past mistakes, Zenjirou had brought along his portable music yer as well as two portable game consoles this time, all of them charged in full.

    Thanks to them, he had not been bored at night so far. Unfortunately he could only charge the devices in the Inner Pce, so he limited himself to use only one of them for one hour per day, but it was more than enough to pass the time in the otherwise uneventful nights.

    The music yer in particr yed a decisive role.

    Because Aura had recorded the chant for ¡°Teleport¡± on it.

    Listening to it on repeat, Zenjirou had set himself to learn the correct pronunciation of the ¡°Teleport¡± chant for now.

    ¡°Ru Mavaiaia Hastaobraguopena¡­ It¡¯s no good.¡±

    Zenjirou heaved a heavy sigh in the dimly lit room, which was only illuminated by the hand crank shlight and the disy light of the music yer.

    ¡°Grr¡­ I expected it, but it¡¯s still difficult! The intonation alone raises the difficulty quite a bit.¡±

    Putting the music yer onto the desk, Zenjirou stretched himself on the simple chair he was sitting on, muttering with a loud voice.

    Just like he had mentioned, the intonation for the ¡°Teleport¡± chant in the magguage was already pretty difficult by itself. He had practiced it whenever he had time on the way here, but so far, he had not seeded even once.

    As things stood at the moment, Zenjirou was still miles away from fathoming ¡°Teleport¡±.

    ¡°Will I really be able to use an awesome magic like ¡®Teleport¡¯ one day?¡±

    Not quiteining, nor exactly losing heart, Zenjirou muttered to himself while he turned off the music yer and took a silver bell from the desk, ringing it.

    It was met with an almost instant reaction.

    ¡°Yes, you called for me?¡±

    With these words, a middle-aged woman neatly wearing maid clothes entered the room: Waiting Maid Ines.

    The light from the shlight was quite selective, so the room was pretty much wrapped in darkness except for the desk, but Ines showed no sign of missing her footing.

    Because this world had no illumination tools whatsoever, its people had be a lot more ustomed to seeing in the night than Zenjirou. As one of them, Ines did not even feel inconvenienced by this level of darkness at which Zenjirou would not hesitate a second to turn on the lights.

    And since it was dangerous to walk around with a light source such as an oil pan, people generally refrained from carrying one as long as they still could see more or less in the dark, so Zenjirou was practically an exception to the exception.

    As his waiting maid came closer with her usual smooth steps, Zenjirou called out to her with a casual question.

    ¡°How¡¯s Princess Freya doing?¡±

    He could take this attitude, because he was all alone in the room with the well-acquainted waiting maid.

    Ines, too, was used to that behaviour.

    ¡°Princess Freya is being shown around the main building by Miss Nilda.¡±

    She answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

    ¡°Oh, I had heard they were getting along, but this well? I¡¯m a bit surprised.¡±

    ¡°They are somewhat close in age and Miss Nilda has quite the sociable personality, after all. And Princess Freya does not seem to be put off by her attachment, either.¡±

    Up to a certain age, Nilda had been raised in an uneventful farming vige, so she listened with genuine respect to the unusual exploits of Princess Freya from the bottom of her heart.

    Likewise, Princess Freya must be enjoying to be the target of admiration from a younger girl for a change.

    ¡°d to hear. Just having someone to talk to already fends off boredom.¡±

    ¡°You seem to have opened up to Princess Freya as well, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°A bit, yes.¡±

    When Ines gave him a light smile, Zenjirou showed a wry smile to hide his embarrassment.

    Although Zenjirou admitted that he found it difficult to deal with the openly affectionate Princess Freya, he could not help but be somewhat attracted to her, when she was smiling so innocently together with Nilda.

    Standing up from the chair, Zenjirou took the shlight from the desk and pointed it at his feet while talking to Ines.

    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go pick her up. It¡¯s almost time for dinner. Ines, can you take me to the main building?¡±

    ¡°Certainly. Are you sure, though? I can go by myself, if it is just to call her back.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t really do that. It would spread rumours that we don¡¯t get along.¡±

    She had been brought along as his partner for the marriage ceremony, so other people already had concluded that it was only a matter of time for her to be his concubine.

    If it were to seem like they were not getting along well now, it could harm the country in the future.

    ¡°Besides, I want to stretch my legs.¡±

    Perceptive as he was, Zenjirou realized the circumstances were moving towards an unfavourable oue for him and yet, that knowledge did not prevent him from taking action in that very direction.

    * * *

    Around the same time, Princess Freya was walking down the dim hallway of the main building with Nilda.

    Her bodyguard Skathi was following three steps behind them.

    ¡°Please watch your step, Princess Freya. Will you be fine?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can see rtively well in the night and even participated in a couple of night manoeuvres. Thank you for your concern.¡±

    Just like she had asserted, Princess Freya kept a firm walking pace.

    By the standards of Modern Earth, the stony hallway was wrapped in a considerable darkness, but Princess Freya and Skathi were ustomed to seeing in the dark more than enough, whereas Nilda knew her family home inside out. Even if she could not see as well, she could move around from memory.

    ¡°Wow. I take it that you took training for it?¡±

    ¡°Instead of specially training for it, it would be more urate to say that I naturally adopted to it. You see, huntings and sea or river travels do not necessarily end by nightfall, so you have no choice but to continue throughout the night. As a result, I came to be able to see at night.¡±

    She mentioned it most carefree, but that method was anything but it. At the very least, it was not something a princess was supposed to do.

    In fact, Skathi showed a wry smile behind them. As her bodyguard, she had been dragged into all of her hoydenish adventures.

    ¡°Mdy, we are near a corner.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can see it. Thank you, Skathi.¡±

    Keeping her back to her trusted bodyguard, the silver-haired princess answered her like that and safely turned at the right-angled corner.

    Nilda next to her followed suit as well.

    The first to notice it then was, as expected, the female warrior Skathi, as she was paying close attention to their surroundings with her eyes most ustomed to the darkness.

    ¡°Hm? There is someone ahead of us. I can see a silhouette.¡±

    Upon her remark, both Princess Freya and Nilda stopped and narrowed their eyes to a slit.

    ¡°Oh, right. Considering he ising from that direction, it must be one of our guards.¡±

    With the worst night vision from all of them, Nilda imed this, but Princess Freya cocked her head dubiously.

    ¡°Are you sure? I cannot see it all that well at this distance, but I would say it is someone from the ¡®Navarre Kingdom¡¯.¡±

    The delegation from the Navarre Kingdom was the only foreign group invited to this marriage ceremony, so Princess Freya had paid a bit more attention to them than to the others.

    Because of that, she could now recognize their military uniform from just a silhouette.

    ¡°Eh!?¡±

    Nilda eximed surprised, when she heard that.

    ¡°Excuse me for a moment.¡±

    Then she approached the silhouette with brisk steps.

    ¡°Pardon! Do you have a moment?¡±

    When Nilda called out to it with a loud voice, the silhouette flinched for a second, then stopped.

    The dimness hid all the fine features, but judging by the height, it was a man without doubt.

    ¡°¡­Yes?¡±

    And a young man, at that, going by his voice.

    His silhouette and voice assured Nilda that he was at least not associated with the House of Guzzle, so she named herself in the semidarkness.

    ¡°My name is Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle. May I ask you to name yourself?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes! I am Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom Delegation.¡±

    The silhouette performed the typical greeting gesture of a knight amidst the darkness and its voice was kind of t from nervousness.

    ¡°Then I shall address you as Sir Raymundo. Pardon my asking, Sir Raymundo, but did youe out of that middle hallway just now?¡±

    Her straightforward question turned out to be counterproductive, though.

    ¡°¡­No. You must have confused it. I came out of that other passage.¡±

    Saying this, the knight from the Navarre Kingdom pointed to the building¡¯s outmost hallway, the one opposite from which Nilda hade out.

    The hallways around here were set up a bitplicated.

    In this area, three passages were running parallel to each other: The hallway Nilda and the other two had walked through, the hallway the knight from the Navarre Kingdom had walked through and the hallway pointed out by the same knight just now.

    At some point, the two outer passages had a corner at a right angle and were merging with the middle passage. They were standing at that very intersection now.

    But even in this darkness, the excuse from the knight was somewhat overdoing things. Nilda definitely had seen himing out of the middle passage and as a matter of fact, she had stopped the knight right in front of the central hallway.

    Nilda showed a troubled smile.

    ¡°Well, so you say, but I definitely saw youing out from there.¡±

    She pressed him slightly.

    But even then, the knight did not change his attitude.

    ¡°It is quite dark here, so it is not strange for you to make a mistake. Well then, Miss Nilda, I will excuse myself now.¡±

    As if to shake her off, the knight left the ce with rapid steps.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    Nilda tried to reach out to him, but her hand only grasped at air.

    ¡°¡­What do I do now? I guess I will have to report this to my father.¡±

    Nilda cocked her head troubled, whereupon Princess Freya and Skathi came over after they had watched the situation unfold from afar.

    ¡°Should you have let him leave, Nilda? As far as I could tell, he seems to have set foot into a restricted area without permission.¡±

    The Southern Continent was foreignnd to Princess Freya and she was currently nothing more than the partner for Prince Consort Zenjirou.

    Not only did she not know much about themon sense here, she also had no real authority here, so she had just silently observed without interfering, but then she noticed that the situation had taken a rather serious turn.

    Nilda showed a troubled smile in reaction to the question from Princess Freya and nodded once.

    ¡°Yes. The area beyond that middle passage belongs to our military. That being said, it only contains a little watchtower we rarely ever use, so it is not really an issue, if someone goes there, but we have told the guests that the ce is off limits beforehand, so I had no choice but to broach the subject.¡±

    Even the mansion of a feudal lord had areas that were off limits to others, guests of state being to exception.

    It applied to the private chambers of the lord and his family, the treasury as it was the wallet of the domain and the military facilities as it was the shield of the domain.

    Just like Nilda had mentioned, the military facility beyond that hallway, where the knight of the Navarre Kingdom had set foot into, was not really all that important.

    As a matter of fact, an interested guest would have easily gotten permission to go there, if he simply asked for it.

    But it was a different matter altogether to ¡°ignore someone who had trespassed there¡±.

    If they were to let him get away with it here, they would soon have to do the same for the other restricted area as well.

    ¡°Seems like I will have to ask my father or brother to reprimand him tomorrow.¡±

    Nilda heaved a small sigh after these words. She held no official rank and was just the daughter of a mistress, regardless of her blood rtionship, so people always tended to make light of her.

    ¡°If you would like, I cane with you to make a testimony.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that would be much appreciated. I am sorry for the trouble, Princess Freya.¡±

    While they were having such an exchange, a bright light red up behind Nilda.

    ¡°Mdy, Miss Nilda, please stand back, just in case.¡±

    ¡°Oh my, where has the time gone?¡±

    ¡°That must be Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Princess Freya and Nilda spoke up without due care upon the warning from Skathi, but still obediently got behind her.

    The white light was a hundred, more probably a thousand times brighter than the moonlight. Zenjirou was the only person to possess such a thing.

    Hence the warning from Skathi had been nothing but a reflex and there was actually no need for wariness.

    ¡°Oh, here you are, Princess Freya, Miss Nilda. Then we should get back to the annex building now. The preparations for dinner seem to be done.¡±

    And as expected, Zenjirou appeared from the roofed crossing leading to the annex building with his crank-powered LED shlight in hand. His bodyguard Knight Natalio and waiting maid Ines followed behind him like always.

    ¡°Thank you for going out of your way to pick us up, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for letting us know, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Amidst the brilliance of the shlight, both Princess Freya and Nilda offered Zenjirou words of gratitude with a smile.

    During the past few days, the three of them had gotten close to the point that such an exchange was normal to them. The shortage of personnel was actually working in their favour here.

    Because of theck of staff, less people were involved in situations like this one. Moreover, there was not much hustle and bustle in the countryside to begin with, so without knowing, Zenjirou had started to assume quite the ¡°casual¡± attitude towards Princess Freya and Nilda.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t mention it. It allowed me to stretch my legs, too, after all. But it would be rude to let the cooks wait any longer.¡±

    ¡°You are right. Let us head back.¡±

    ¡°Okay, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Thebined group then went back to the annex building with a bit of chit-chat.

    * * *

    Nilda had caught a knight of the Navarre Kingdom at entering a restricted area without permission.

    In itself, that was not such a big deal.

    At the very least, the Guzzle Family would have been willing tough it off with a ¡°Be more careful next time¡± as long as the knight apologized with a ¡°I got lost¡± statement and that would be the end of it.

    The reason such a trivial matter escted into something bigger was that the knight in question thought he could wipe that trivial matter under the carpet as well as his superior supporting his im well and truly.

    ¡°So you refuse to admit it, no matter what, Sir Cristiano?¡±

    The one to speak with a strict voice like that was the third son and sessor-to-be of Marquis Guzzle: Xavier Guzzle.

    Cristiano Pinto, the Knight Captain of the Navarre Kingdom, assented to the words of the young heir with a deliberate smile as though showing off hisposure.

    On the morning after that night, Xavier Guzzle had been informed about the incident by his little sister Nilda and had immediately went to the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom, wanting them to exin the circumstances.

    ¡°Yes. It definitely is true that one of my subordinates, Knight Raymundo, was called to a halt by Miss Nilda in the evening of yesterday. But like he had exined back then, Raymundo did note out of the middle hallway, but had emerged from the outmost passage.¡±

    ¡°You mean to say it is nothing but a mistake from Nilda?¡±

    Xavier obviously sharpened his nce, but Knight Captain Cris did not let that attitude affect his smile and simply answered.

    ¡°Well, we are talking about evening here. The sun had already set. I dare to say it is not strange for a woman to make such a mistake. I mean, women are prone to fear the darkness, are they not?¡±

    ¡°¡­Nilda was not alone. Princess Freya as well as her bodyguard Victoria im the same circumstances.¡±

    ¡°Both women, too. Fear and surprise is known to be contagious. Once someone ims something, it is not all that unusual for others toe to the same misunderstanding.¡±

    His expression was overflowing with confidence while Knight Captain Cris answered like that. To an onlooker at least it seemed like he believed what he was saying from the bottom of his heart.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Sitting across from each other, they stared at each other wordlessly for a while.

    Knight Captain Cris was admittedly slender, but was by no means small with his height of more or less one-hundred and eighty centimetre.

    The petite Xavier was not even one-hundred and seventy tall, so there was an obvious height difference, which was still all too apparent, when they sat across each other.

    Considering that Knight Captain Cris was also a bit older than Xavier, it only looked like a David versus Goliath situation.

    From his behaviour, Xavier could tell that Knight Captain Cris was also the better fighter of them by far, so he had trouble to seize the reins of the negotiations.

    Taking a deep breath to provide his body with new oxygen, Xavier then said with a resolute look.

    ¡°Okay. It seems we are not on the same page here.¡±

    ¡°Instead of the same page, I say the end is just obvious?¡±

    When Knight Captain Cris gave him a faint smile, Xavier clenched his back teeth.

    ¡°I, for one, cannot bring myself to believe that all three witnesses made the same mistake.¡±

    ¡°Sir Xavier, do you mean to imply that a knight of our country is lying then?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is exactly what I mean.¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    For the first time today, Knight Captain Cris broke his calm mask in light of Xavier¡¯s clear statement.

    ¡°Sir Xavier, are you aware of the significance of your words?¡±

    Knight Captain Cris lowered the tone of his voice, whereas Xavier was extremely careful not to let his voice waver as he answered.

    ¡°Yes. I am aware that I wouldmit a grave defamation, if I were to be wrong. Should it turn out that I suspected the knight of your country wrongfully, I am prepared to make an official apology.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    He must not have expected Xavier to stage such a determined opposition. Knight Captain Cris was at a loss for words for a moment.

    In all objectivity, though, Xavier actually had no reason to humble himself here.

    As the next sessor to a March in the Major Power known as Carpa Kingdom, Xavier Guzzle was more or less on equal footing with Cristiano Pinto, who was the oldest son of a famous family with proximity of blood to the Royal Family in the Middle Power known as Navarre Kingdom.

    The Carpa Kingdom and Navarre Kingdom were officially acknowledging each other¡¯s sovereignty, so of course things would have gone a lot smoother if Xavier just had madepromises to Knight Captain Cris pro forma, but neither did he need to feel obliged to draw in his horns in his position, when their opinions were as contradictory as right now.

    ¡°Now, you mentioned earlier that the end was already obvious, but can I take it that you have acknowledged our im then?¡±

    ¡°¡­No, it seems we really are not on the same page.¡±

    Even while dding himself with a mask of inexpressiveness, Knight Captain Cris shook his head with a displeasure he could not conceal entirely.

    * * *

    Knight Raymundo, a member of the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom, had trespassed into a restricted area.

    Three people had witnessed that: Nilda Guzzle, Freya Upps and Victoria Kronkvist.

    Princess Freya was the partner for Zenjirou, Victoria aka. Skathi was her bodyguard and Nilda was tasked with taking care of Zenjirou here.

    So all three of them had a rather close rtion to him.

    Hence it was practically an inevitability that Zenjirou would get dragged into this incident as well.

    ¡°My deepest apologies, Master Zenjirou. I cannot express nowhere near enough regret for involving Princess Freya in a matter of our family.¡±

    As the morning sun beamed through the windows, Nilda Guzzle lowered her head with bitter regret. Zenjirou responded to her with the softest smile he could manage.

    ¡°No, as far as I see it, it was not your fault, Miss Nilda. Princess Freya says so, too. It was just an unfortunate course of events.

    And seeing as the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom is involved in this, it is no longer a domestic issue, but an international one. So, as a representative for Queen Aura, I am involved, too. I will help you to the best of my abilities.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Nilda was pepped up by his words and showed a bright smile.

    Her abundant disy of emotions made you worry if she could actually survive in the world of nobility.

    ¡°For that reason, can you lend her a hand, Princess Freya? If you run into some kind of trouble, you may use my name.¡±

    Princess Freya answered him with a charming smile.

    ¡°Of course. Just leave it to me, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Miss Nilda is a dear friend to me as well, so I personally want to help her out in this anyway.

    I may not look like it, but I am quite confident in my eyesight at night.¡±

    With these words, she jutted her chin forward in such a way that it seemed yfully at first, but her eyes were by no means smiling.

    Gender discrimination against women.

    Princess Freya had suffered the same treatment numerous times in her home country, but it was nothing one could get used to.

    Contrary to her outward appearance, Princess Freya was quite strong-willed, so she must have felt offended, too, when her own capability was looked down upon.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m counting on you, Princess Freya.¡±

    ¡°dly.¡±

    Keeping up her strong-willed smile, Princess Freya swept him adified curtsy.

    After the two girls left, Zenjirou eased his tension and grumbled in a peeved tone.

    ¡°Oh man¡­ What a pain.¡±

    Currently, Zenjirou was all alone in the room with his waiting maid Ines.

    A waiting maid was not really a suitable adviser for his current problem, but she was the only person, he could trust and confide in here.

    ¡°Hey, Ines, let¡¯s have a little talk. I just want to confirm some things and will make the ultimate decision by myself, but please let me hear your honest opinion.¡±

    ¡°Very well, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    The middle-aged maid just bowed politely as she seemingly had anticipated the request from her master.

    Zenjirou nodded once.

    ¡°Thanks. Well then, my first question might bemon sense, but I want to start with the basics.

    Will this incident be more weighty, if ¡®Nilda is not nobility¡¯?¡±

    He gave voice to his biggest worry first.

    In his opinion, it was quite likely that Nilda Guzzle was not a noble.

    Needless to say, his reasoning originated from the fact that Queen Aura had not told him about her existence.

    All nobility was listed on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± managed by the Royal Family.

    Looking at it the other way round, those not listed on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± were not officially recognized as noble, even if they legitimately were of noble birth.

    Considering Aura had not been aware of Nilda, it was extremely likely that her name was not listed on the Roll of Names.

    The middle-aged maid assented his question with aposed look.

    ¡°It definitely would be more weighty. In this case, a diplomatic issue.¡±

    Zenjirou heaved a sigh in light of his bad premonitioning true.

    ¡°I knew it. Just in case: Does the same still apply under the premise that Nilda ispletely right and the knight lying?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The hierarchy is more important in this case. The truth is irrelevant. To make things worse, the other party is a knight and the trespassing happened at night.

    Something could have been done, though, if it had been a male soldier,moner even, that stopped him.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so they being female is part of the problem, after all. But what could have been done, if it was a soldier? Is themon military that well esteemed?¡±

    His question was met with a diligent exnation from the middle-aged waiting maid.

    ¡°No. The reason is that this incident happened during the night patrol. People will even listen to amoner as long as he is specialized toment on the matter in question.¡±

    For example: A Knight purchases a weapon and then uses the cksmith to have swindled him with a defect product. The counterstatement from the cksmith would be taken into consideration as well then.

    Because the cksmith was even more specialized in weapons than the knight.

    But in this case, the incident concerned a trespassing at night.

    In a broader sense, it was a military issue. Needless to say, the knight was specializing in that and Nilda was nothing but a little girl with no connection to it.

    So, when she turned out to be no noble, like Zenjirou assumed, this incident would be rather troublesome.

    ¡°Oh god. Not good. Even if I¡¯m right in assuming that she¡¯s not nobility, Nilda currently doesn¡¯t seem to be aware of it.

    Depending on the circumstances, I might have to talk to Marquis Guzzle and work together with him.¡±

    ¡°I dare to say that his would be a bit too risky. Although the possibility is low, the Marquis still might be behind the concealment of her person. And even if no one is behind it, it could actually be a mistake made by the Royal Family.

    Considering that, I cannot rmend revealing everything to Marquis Guzzle so easily.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. You¡¯ve a point¡­ But this is a diplomatic issue, right? It¡¯s no longer just between the Royal Family and a Feudal Lord. It would be bad to ignore a diplomatic issue, just to protect the Royal Family. We can¡¯t confuse our priorities here.

    But in the unlikely event that Marquis Guzzle really is behind this, it would be the worst case scenario. Although it isn¡¯t all that likely, we still can¡¯t rule it out, so we must keep it in mind¡­¡±

    With no end to his worries in sight, Zenjirou looked up at the ceiling from his chair.

    There were two possibilities: Nilda had her name listed on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± or not. If it was not listed, there were another two possibilities: Someone plotted it or it was some kind of mistake.

    If it was indeed listed, there were no problems at all.

    Problems only arose, when her name was not listed on it.

    Assuming it was part of a plot, the mastermind behind it could be Marquis Guzzle and it would worsen the situation sharply to consult with him.

    On the other hand, if her name was not listed, because of a mere mistake in the paperwork, the best course of action would be to report it to Marquis Guzzle as quickly as possible.

    (I think a mistake is more likely, but if I act on that possibility and it turns out to be a plot after all, it¡¯s game over.)

    The slightest miscalction could let the best choice result in the worst ending.

    Zenjirou could not bring himself to choose a route that might lead to ruin, no matter how low the probability.

    ¡°Damn. Nilda sure has bad luck, or should I say bad timing?¡±

    He heaved a sigh, whereupon Ines interjected with a shake of the head.

    ¡°Not quite, Master Zenjirou. It was neither bad luck, nor bad timing. It was a bad line of action on her part.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled, so Ines exined.

    ¡°Even if she was of higher birth, a woman would generally be discreet on the surface towards a man in such a situation, where the man ims something to be ¡®different¡®. She ought to have dealt with him by putting a good gloss on her warning.¡±

    In other words, Nilda should have apologized with ¡°I see, please forgive my mistake¡± at the point, where the knight had imed ¡°No, you are wrong¡±.

    Then she would keep him in check by saying: ¡°But it is no surprise that a little girl like me would make a mistake, when you abide in such a suspect ce. I would appreciate it, if you could refrain from letting me ¡®misunderstand¡¯ in the future.¡±

    The knight would be able to bring everything to a smooth end then by answering with ¡°You are right. I am partly to me for lingering in such a suspicious ce, too. I will be more careful from now on. Thank you for your consideration.¡±.

    In short, the right line of action involved epting the im from the knight on the surface, but cautioning him between the lines.

    But Nilda had skipped past that etiquette and opposed him straight on by practically saying ¡°No, I am not mistaken. I saw it. Why are lying to me?¡±, so the knight ended up persisting on his stance, either due to obstinacy or surprise.

    In this sense, you could say that Nilda had made a mistake. Needless to say, it did not change the fact that the knight started all of this by trespassing into the restricted area without permission.

    ¡°Oh, right. You did say Nilda was raised in a rural vige for quite a while. I guess she hasn¡¯t learnt enough about noble etiquette yet.¡±

    ¡°I am afraid so. The fact that she was born and raised in a rural vige means that she initially internalized a different kind ofmon sense. It cannot be an easy endeavour to overwrite it with the noble mindsetter on.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡®t this even worse?¡±

    Although the knight from the Navarre Kingdom may fundamentally be at fault here, they were at a huge disadvantage, assuming that an actually non-noble girl had reacted in an unbefitting manner for nobility.

    ¡°¡­Maybe I should ask Princess Freya to take the me?¡±

    The conclusion Zenjirou reached after painstaking contemtion was a somewhat conflicting one for him.

    ¡°Princess Freya, you say?¡±

    Cocking her head, the maid asked him that, whereupon Zenjirou nodded and exined his train of thought in detail.

    ¡°Well, she was present at the scene, too, so I thought we could make her be in the spotlight instead. Things have already escted quite a bit, so the Guzzle Family can¡¯t back-pedal anymore and say Nilda was wrong after all at this point, either.

    On the other hand, it will be troublesome, when we carry on with Nilda in the spotlight and it bes apparentter that she is no noble.

    So I want Nilda to take a backseat and let Princess Freya assume the role of staging the protest. It should go a lot smoother then.¡±

    ¡°The current circumstances would greatly improve through that for sure, but are you fine with that? Princess Freya is basing her authority here primarily on you, Master Zenjirou.

    You would basically be propagating an even stronger bond between the two of you by doing so.¡±

    ¡°I bet¡­¡±

    Zenjirou heaved a sigh in light of Ines¡¯ advice.

    In addition, he would be owing Princess Freya a great debt for having her take the fall in this.

    Considering she was aiming to be his concubine, Zenjirou was sure she would never let this chance slip by.

    Having said this, he could note up with a better solution.

    And possessing a sense of responsibility stronger than the average as well as a timidness stronger than the average, Zenjirou inevitable had no choice but to pick the safest way out he could think of.

    ¡°I shall ask Princess Freya for help. I will consult with her in person as quick as possible today. We cannot let Miss Nilda know about it, so see to it that Princess Freyaes over alone.¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡±

    Ines made a brief bow to his orders.

    * * *

    Everything started as a trivial argument between Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom and Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle, but Knight Captain Cristiano and Xavier Guzzle were respectively negotiating on behalf of the former two and not yielding to the other, fanning the dying embers into a zing fire.

    If the fire were to spread like this, it could even cause some serious damage.

    Any person with a bit of prudence could see that the situation had ¡°gone south¡±.

    Fortunately enough, the respective people in charge of both parties, Marquis Miguel Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn Nadal, carried such prudence.

    ¡°First of all, let me express my deepest gratitude for setting up this meeting, Marquis Guzzle. It will allow us to prevent the situation to get even more out of hand.¡±

    ¡°No, I have to apologize for letting the inappropriate conduct of my daughter to escte that much, too, General Mart¨ªn. Besides, I am not the one, who set up this meeting.

    Your gratitude is due to my daughter¡­ I mean, Lady Guill¨¦n.¡±

    While the subordinate and son had red daggers at each other, the officer and father were exchanging greetings with a smile.

    ¡°Indeed. I shall properly thank Lady Lucindater on.¡±

    General Mart¨ªn nodded his assent a couple of times.

    Their conversation made it redundant to mention, but this meeting had indeed been set up by Lucinda, who had just married into the family of General Puyol.

    The two of them sat across each other in the anteroom Lucinda and General Puyol usually used.

    After the marriage ceremony, General Mart¨ªn had requested another meeting with the bridal pair, but Lucinda had ¡°identally¡± scheduled a meeting with her father Marquis Guzzle at the same time.

    So the bridal pair was now rearranging their schedule and had General Mart¨ªn and Marquis Guzzle wait in the ¡°same¡± anteroom in the meantime.

    As such, General Mart¨ªn and Marquis Guzzle were making use of the ¡°coincidental¡± asion of waiting in the same room to have an unofficial meeting, exchanging opinions as the ringleaders.

    The whole situation was easy to see through, but these kind of pretexts were very important in Higher Society.

    Neither side would be able speak their mind in an official meeting, where one side was the host and the other side the guest, because they had to keep up appearance.

    In an informal ce like this, the old Marquis and the middle-aged General could converse without restrain.

    After a simple greeting, Marquis Guzzle broached the topic at hand.

    ¡°To be honest, I am well aware that this is just a stupid argument about a trivial misunderstanding, so if possible, I want to end this without much fuss.¡±

    ¡°I agree. Normally this would be solved with a verbal warning and a verbal apology, so I would appreciate it, if we could do just that.¡±

    Although there was quite the age difference between them, they talked to each other on an equal footing.

    On top of being quite close in social standing, Marquis Guzzle respected General Mart¨ªn for being the better soldier of them, whereas General Mart¨ªn respected Marquis Guzzle for his long history of military services, making it a sound rtionship of mutual respect between them.

    Nevertheless, they were still a Feudal Lord and a General from bordering countries.

    Of course they were harbouring some negative feelings towards the other somewhere deep down in their hearts, but both of them held the other in high enough esteem to not let it show on their faces.

    Thanks to that, the meeting proceeded smoothly.

    ¡°Geez, Xavier takes too much after my younger self. In a bad way, that is. He is inflexible and always clings to appearance, when trying to resolve things. The actual truth aside, there would have been nothing wrong with formally admitting that Nilda had been in the wrong here.¡±

    ¡°I reckon you have your problems with him.¡±

    Even while agreeing with him like that, General Mart¨ªn could not keep himself from giving a wry smile.

    The words from Marquis Guzzle sounded like he wanted to say that he himself had be flexible by now, but that was by no means the case.

    The man called Miguel Guzzle was actually so bad at equivocation and charisma that it was rather impressive how he could live as nobility in a major power like that.

    ¡°Haha, you have got me there. Well, there is no point in beating around the bush now, so let me be frank:

    The knight in your group, I think his name was Raymundo, did trespass into the restricted area, right?¡±

    Although this was an unofficial meeting, the question from the elderly noble was sharply straight-forward, so General Mart¨ªn obfuscated the wry smile on his bear-like face and nodded once.

    ¡°Yeah. Cris does not seem to have pressed him enough, so we do not have a confession from the man himself, but given the circumstances, there can be no doubt he did it.¡±

    This honest concession could be made, precisely because it was an unofficial meeting. One that practically had never taken ce, so to speak.

    Marquis Guzzle was neither surprised, nor angered by his answer; He simply epted it with a nonchnt tone.

    ¡°I thought so. Well, Nilda is not one to lie about such things. And it is almostughable to call it a mistake, when there are three witnesses.¡±

    ¡°I wish Miss Nilda would have been a bit more tactful, though. My knight certainly started things, but she seemed to have pressed him direct and straight-forward.

    Even I would have been left with no other choices but to either apologize wholeheartedly or feign ignorance in face of such a cornering question.¡±

    General Mart¨ªn pulled a slightly wry face after these words.

    ¡°I have to bear the me for that instead of my daughter. My teachings were poorly. Forgive me. I am sure you already noticed it, but she is not the child of my legal wife and was raised in a rural vige until she was nine.¡±

    ¡°Oh, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders for all that, though. I take back my earlier words. You do have a good hand at raising your children.¡±

    ¡°No need to take it back. It is all thanks to Lucinda that Nilda has grown into what she is now. But it is my responsibility that she is stillcking education.¡±

    Marquis Guzzle shook his head with these words.

    The fact that he easily admitted that spoke for his integrity, but also for his ws as nobility.

    He unintentionally had given General Mart¨ªn a valuable piece of information: Marquis Guzzle was holding his daughter Lucinda in extremely high esteem.

    ¡°I see. You must be very proud of your eldest daughter.¡±

    Nodding with aposed look, General Mart¨ªn innerly renewed his wariness towards General Puyol.

    ¡°Well, enough of that. We were talking about Miss Nilda and Knight Raymundo.

    Under normal circumstances, this issue could have ended with a verbal warning and apology, but Knight Captain Cris and Sir Xavier have shed head-on, so it can no longer be resolved that easily.¡±

    ¡°We are meeting here to keep the consequences as little as possible.¡±

    When Marquis Guzzle said deratory, General Mart¨ªn showed a somewhat sly smile and replied provocative.

    ¡°Well, yes, but we two are already on the same page here. A further esction is basically off the table. Considering that, I kind of want to squeeze a profit from it now.

    So here is my proposal: How about we decide on some key conditions amongst us and let the youngsters give it a try until they contradict these? I dare to say it would be a valuable experience for Sir Xavier, too.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ You do have a point¡­ But I am not fond of lying to my son like that. Then again, it is an effective way¡­ Hmm.¡±

    The suggestion from General Mart¨ªn prompted Marquis Guzzle to frown ufortably, but he gave it some thought anyway.

    His proposal was not all that difficult to understand.

    He was basically saying: ¡°Why don¡¯t we use this opportunity to let our youngsters gain some experience while we clear up matters?¡±

    In fact, the current situation was predestinated for it.

    The two youngsters hadpletely different opinions and were shing with each other in negotiations, but behind their backs, their superiors aka. Marquis Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn had reached an agreement on not letting the matter escte any further.

    To be honest, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

    Because Knight Captain Cris and Xavier could experience a genuine negotiation coitant with all its pressure while their superiors could always step in when it looked like either side was about to screw up.

    In short: It was the perfect opportunity to let the two youngsters, who were not used to dealing with foreigners, gain experience in a riskless environment.

    Both of them would surely be offended, when they learned that their superiors had actually watched out for them all the time while they presumably negotiated in all seriousness, but that was also part of their ¡°training¡±.

    ¡°What do you say, Marquis Guzzle? Care to give it a try?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    Although he did understand its merits, Marquis Guzzle was still hesitating, simply because that method went against his preferences.

    As a truthful soldier, he never hesitated in the slightest to deceive his enemy, but he could not bring himself to cheat his allies or family that easily.

    Nevertheless, Marquis Guzzle had also told his soldiers before that reinforcements wereing, even though that was not the case, to keep up the morale. And sometimes he had exaggerated the strength of the enemy force for a battle they were expected to win with ease, to keep them on guard.

    Lies could be an expedient, too. Marquis Guzzle was not so obstinate that he would not understand that, so after a moment of careful deliberation, the elderly feudal lord nodded with a grim look.

    ¡°Oh well. Let us do it. Its merit is certainly beyond doubt. But are you fine with that? Knight Captain Cris does not know that the false testimony from your knight is the cause of all this, does he? If worstes to worst, he might lose his position.¡±

    ¡°Such is life.¡±

    When Marquis Guzzle remarked considerately, General Mart¨ªn brushed it aside tly.

    ¡°He cannot expect any mercy, if he rashly throws a fit.¡±

    ¡°I know. I will deal with him in that case. What about the opposite then?

    It is quite possible that my Cris will pull through and have your side admit that it was a mistake, too.¡±

    ¡°The official announcement aside, I want you to scold your knight and knight captain in private then. I will keep my son in check myself. It might not be pleasant, but I know that an ¡®unreasonable defeat¡¯ in a negotiation can be a valuable experienceter on.

    But emotions are a different matter altogether. I cannot stop my son and daughter from harbouring reservation towards you. Is that alright?¡±

    Marquis Guzzle asked just in case, whereupon General Mart¨ªn pondered for a while and then assented.

    ¡°Hmm, in that case, I personally shall apologize to Sir Xavier and Miss Nilda in private.¡±

    He certainly wanted to avoid having the sessor of a neighbouring domain harbour any ill feelings towards him.

    On this view, it would be more convenient for him, when Knight Captain Cris actually lost the case this time round.

    In case of his loss, General Mart¨ªn could let him experience the ¡±aftermath of a defeat¡± and have no bad blood with the Carpa Kingdom.

    On the other hand, a victory would only earn him the achievement of having enforced the lie of the knight, but at the cost of giving the sessor of the neighbouring March a bad impression of himself.

    Well, it would an extremely valuable experience for a different meaning, when the knight turned a lie into the truth through negotiations, so a victory would not be a bad deal per se, but a loss would still be a lot more advantageous inparison.

    Anyway, everything seemed to settle without a problem at a nce, but Zenjirou would surely turn pale in the face and raise a scream, if he could have listened to this conversation.

    Either the lie from Knight Raymundo was exposed and Knight Captain Cris had to apologize.

    Or the lie was approved and General Mart¨ªn unofficially apologized to Xavier and Nilda.

    The peaceful conclusion of both cases was build on the assumption that ¡°Nilda was nobility¡±.

    If it then became known at ater date that Nilda Guzzle was no official noble, it would turn into a real mess.

    But without the knowledge of that fundamental requirement, the conclusion from the two men was extremely reasonable and realistic.

    ¡°Good. It was a fruitful discussion. I definitely have to thank Lady Guill¨¦n for it.¡±

    ¡°Yes. No matter how it ends, we have avoided the worst scenario with this.¡±

    Oblivious to the fragile first piece in their line of reasoning, General Mart¨ªn and Marquis Guzzle exchanged these nonchnt words andughed together.</article>

 Chapter Volume 7 4

    Chapter 04: Neck-and-neck Argument

    ¡°Like I said before, I definitely saw Sir Raymundoing out of the middle pathway without a doubt. How often do I have to repeat myself? If you want to have it pegged as my mistake, please show me proper proof.¡±

    ¡°Please calm down, Princess Freya. Raymundo ims he exited from the outmost passage.

    I believe in my subordinate, so it pains me to say this, but there is no other exnation than you having made a mistake.¡±

    ¡°Then, do you have some kind of evidence to your im of me making a mistake? I would be fine with some proof to the validity of the testimony from Sir Raymundo as well. How do you expect me to calm down, when all you do is one-sidedly insist that I made a mistake without showing me any proof whatsoever?¡±

    ¡°I do know how you feel, Princess, but please calm down for now. We will not get anywhere, when we bicker right from the start.¡±

    Princess Freya argued vehemently with a glint of anger in her ice-blue eyes, whereupon Knight Captain Cris showed a troubled wry smile while replying like that.

    The smile seemed to imply that he still had someposure to spare on the matter, but his eyes were obfuscated with a tint of confusion.

    Well, that was only understandable. Originally, this incident had been acknowledged as a conflict of opinion between Raymundo, the Knight from the Navarre Kingdom, and Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle.

    And yet, Princess Freya was openly going on the offensive here despite being more or less just a bystander. Normally that was unthinkable.

    Moreover, themon sense of the South Continent dictated that a woman should notsh out at a man on an official asion like this, even if she happened to be a royal princess.

    Needless to say, Aura was an exception, because she was the Monarch, but women usually never cornered a man, even if she was of higher status.

    Princess Freya in particr was currently putting the moves on a man, namely Zenjirou, so one was actually expecting that she would refrain from doing anything that a man would generally consider as ¡°unsightly¡± or ¡°presumptuous¡°.

    With that in mind, Knight Captain Cris shifted his gaze towards Zenjirou sitting next to her for a moment, but it was like barking up the wrong tree.

    (Nice going! Keep it up, Princess Freya.)

    Zenjirou was supporting Princess Freya with all his might at heart.

    To begin with, Princess Freya wasunching the all-out attack here, because Zenjirou had asked her to, so he would end up betraying her, if he took offense at her actions now.

    Maintaining a fake smile, Zenjirou simply watched the matter unfold.

    ¡°I may be a woman, but I do have taken part in night activities during hunts or sea travels. I have even been on watch at sea during the night, albeit not on my own, as you might expect. So I just cannot let it go unchallenged, when you arbitrarily decide on a ¡®mistake¡¯ of mine without any proof.¡±

    The Navarre Kingdom was not the only side perplexed by the unexpected aggressive attitude from Princess Freya.

    Nilda Guzzle and her brother Xavier Guzzle, the original adversaries in this matter, could not conceal their bewilderment, either, and were speaking panic-stuck.

    ¡°P- Princess Freya? I will be just fine. Just having you by my side is already enough for me.¡±

    ¡°She is right, Princess Freya. Please calm down a bit. Master Zenjirou is watching, you know.¡±

    Nilda never had any intentions to make a big deal out of it, so she was stepping on the brakes before she knew it. The same applied to Xavier, even though he had been eager to fight it out with Knight Captain Cris before.

    Xavier was obviously signalizing him a SOS with his gaze, but Zenjirou pretended not to see it, even if he felt guilty about it at heart.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    He said nothing and just smiled as if to say ¡°I don¡¯t mind at all¡±, which in turn prompted Xavier to look bewildered and Knight Captain Cris to screw up his nose in contempt.

    They did not know his real motive, but everyone realized that he at least had no intentions to box Princess Freya in here and now.

    All of them averted their eyes from the silently smiling Zenjirou and resumed the discussion.

    Knight Captain Cris cleared his throat with a cough in order to pull himself together again.

    ¡°I do see your point, Princess Freya. You certainly seem to have a good eyesight at night for a woman. I was a bit too hasty in my judgement just now. I apologize for that.¡±

    Saying so, he lowered his head a bit while remaining seated on the couch.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Princess Freya did not object the apology with words, but her ice-blue eyes were obviously narrowed to slits in anger.

    Zenjirou considered it only natural that Princess Freya was getting angry, but apparently only Princess Freya herself and her bodyguard Skathi standing behind her were sharing that sentiment.

    No one perceived the ¡°apology¡± from Knight Captain Cris as offending. That obviously applied to the people from the Navarre Kingdom, but also to their own allies: Xavier and Nilda. Thetter even being a fellow woman. If anything, the majority of people would say that Princess Freya ¡°ought to ept his apology, even if only formally¡±, now that Knight Captain Cris had gone so far as to apologize to her.

    (But for Princess Freya, the ¡°for a woman¡± part sounded more like picking another fight with her. It¡¯s already plenty rude towards a captain, who seeded in travelling between the continents, as it is.)

    Princess Freya had developed a good eyesight at night through actual experiences during hunts or sea travels, so she prided herself on having an ability ¡°good enough to apply it in the field¡°, so even when she wasplimented with the words ¡°not bad for a woman¡°, it did not count as apliment at all.

    It was beyond all question for Zenjirou that Princess Freya would not ept the apology from Knight Captain Cris, but unfortunately, his moral values were not the standard on the South Continent. If anything, they were a severe abnormality.

    Somewhat displeased as expected, Princess Freya fortunately still had enough reasoning to not express her anger right here and now.

    She overlooked the apology from Knight Captain Cris and continued the discussion with even more direct words.

    ¡°You have been doing all the talking so far, Sir Cristiano, but I would like to hear the opinion from the man in question himself. Sir Raymundo, we did meetst night, correct? Do you still remember me?¡±

    Suddenly addressed, the young knight gulped surprised for a moment, but then answered with a stiff voice.

    ¡°Yes, of course I remember you. You did not speak upst night, so I cannot be certain for sure, but your hair was vividly revealed amidst the dim light.¡±

    As Knight Raymundo had mentioned, the blue-tinged silver hair from Princess Freya was standing out quite a bit, even in the darkness. Of course it would get lost in a pitch-ck darkness, but with the slightest bit of light, her silver hair would shine vividly even at night.

    Princess Freya seemed content with his answer for now as she nodded with a slightly more rxed expression.

    ¡°I am d you remember. Then we can proceed under the premise that I was present back then without a doubt. And I can say with certainty that I saw youing out of the ¡®middle hallway¡¯.

    I hereby dere now and here that I have no intentions to take back these words.

    Do you still refuse to admit it then, Sir Raymundo?¡±

    Princess Freya slowly narrowed her ice-blue eyes to slits challengingly, whereupon the young knight from the Navarre Kingdom kept an inexpressive look and answered her immediately with a firm voice, probably because his truculence had been triggered.

    ¡°Yes. I dide out of the outmost passage, not the middle one.¡±

    After things had escted this far, he probably could not pull back, even if he wanted to. The young knight insisted so, putting up a painful brave front.

    Their ims were pr oppositions. And neither side had any proof to invalidate the argument of the other.

    So they had no choice but to convince or else weaken the other side in a debate, but as things stood at the moment, it would end up a fruitless debate no matter how much words they exchanged.

    ¡°We both have confirmed the standpoint of the other, so how about we call it a day for now?¡±

    Hence Xavier suggested a break, to which no one objected.

    epting the call for a break from Xavier, the members of the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom left the room together with an obstinate look in their eyes.

    Once Knight Raymundo and Knight Captain Cris from the Navarre Kingdom had left, Zenjirou finally spoke up after keeping quiet for so long.

    ¡°Sir Xavier, we have stuck our noses in your business here.

    Of course we do not have forgotten that this is the March of Guzzle and that all responsibility and authority to amodate a difference here reside in the Marquis.

    The Marquis will have the final say in this matter and we have no intention to go against his judgement. I just wanted you to know this.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you for your consideration, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Zenjirou offered him an apology with a serious expression and an attitude as polite as possible between Royalty and his subject. Xavier epted it with a relieved look.

    This was the troublesome aspect of a feudal system.

    The Carpa Kingdom had an extraordinary powerful Royal Family for a feudal state, but even so, it would be extremely risky for them to trample on the authority of the feudal lords.

    As a general rule, the feudal lord had the right to handle everything that happened within his domain as he saw fit.

    Of course he would not have the authority to judge Zenjirou, if the Prince Consort himself were to be involved in the matter directly, but this case only involved his partner Princess Freya, so the final decision was still up to Marquis Guzzle.

    But it posed no problem, when Zenjirou asked the Marquis for some ¡°careful deliberation¡±, and it would only be natural for Marquis Guzzle to be mindful of the request.

    Nevertheless, the actual decision-making power had to lie with Marquis Guzzle whilst he took the request into consideration at most.

    So Zenjirou had announced that he was aware of that and had no intention to meddle with the authority of the feudal lord.

    Now that the atmosphere had loosened up a bit, Zenjirou frowned a bit troubled on purpose and nced at the northern princess sitting besides him.

    ¡°But I am taking Princess Freya¡¯s side here. Of course her being my partner right now is one reason, but more importantly, I believe in her testimony and acknowledge her opposition as legitimate.

    I just wanted to make that clear.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I shall keep it in mind.¡±

    Xavier lowered his head with a meek look in light of Zenjirou¡¯s deration.

    * * *

    Shortly afterwards, Zenjirou and Princess Freya returned to their allocated annex building.

    When waiting maid Ines closed the door with a thud, Zenjirou immediately faced the silver-haired princess.

    ¡°Princess Freya, you have my gratitude for giving in to my wish this time. I am well aware that I should not have asked this of ady, but you went along with me anyway, so I will be sure to reciprocate the favour in some wayter on.¡±

    As stated above, her earlier aggressive attitude had entirely been plotted by Zenjirou.

    It was highly likely that Nilda Guzzle was not nobility. As a consequence, it also made it possible that things would escte into major diplomatic issue, if they were to progress with the Nilda Guzzle vs. Knight Raymundo setting.

    Even if Nilda were to swallow his lie and apologized to him, the fact remained that she had ¡°rebuked a knight from a different country¡±. And in case that she was not noble, that fact would turn into ¡°amoner girl having criticized a knight¡±.

    ordingly, anyter repercussions would be less painful, when Princess Freya, the one with the highest status amongst the involved, just snatched away the spotlight.

    The best oue would be that Princess Freya won the negotiations, proving that Knight Raymundo had lied.

    Needless to say, Knight Raymundo had lied and fled the ce, so it was a stain on his reputation. One he would like to erase, if possible. The same applied to Knight Captain Cris, who had swallowed his lie and stood up for him.

    Under these circumstances, it was quite likely they would ept the proposal of ¡°pretending nothing of this ever happened¡±.

    And since it would have never happened to begin with then, they would not be able toin, when it turned outter that Nilda was not nobility.

    With that in mind, Zenjirou had asked Princess Freya to y the somewhat unfavourable role, but she had epted more eagerly than he had expected.

    ¡°Your wish is mymand, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Besides, I do not need to y-act in this case, actually.

    If anything, I am grateful you gave me a chance to speak my mind out.¡±

    Saying this, Princess Freya smiled while her eyes glinted with a wild resolve.

    ¡°I am d to hear that. Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the whole truth to you. It really weighs on my mind.¡±

    As he had mentioned, Zenjirou had not exined his assumption of ¡°Nilda likely not being nobility¡± to Princess Freya.

    That goes without saying. She might be set on bing his concubine and acting as his partner right now, but she was still the royalty from a different country after all.

    He could not trust her so much yet as to open his heart and reveal everything to her.

    Princess Freya was aware of that, too, of course.

    ¡°Please pay it no mind, Your Majesty. I am Royalty myself, so I do understand that we are sometimes forced to put aside our feelings or honesty.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Freya.¡±

    Zenjirou showed a relieved smile, but that unconscious reaction of his proved that he had grown closer to her.

    Between the lines of ¡°we are forced to put aside our feelings or honesty¡± was the hidden meaning of ¡°wanting to just say everything out aloud if not for their positions¡± and Zenjirou could not bring himself to deny that.

    In other words, he had be at least so attached to Princess Freya that he wanted to treat her with sincerity as much as possible, even without knowing it.

    Zenjirou himself did not seem to be aware of his change of heart, but Princess Freya had apparently noticed it.

    ¡°¡­..Ahem.¡±

    Behind the right hand she used to cover up her clearing her throat as she looked down, Princess Freya twisted her small lips into a faint smile.

    ¡°Pardon me.¡±

    By the time she raised her head, the smile had vanished, but her ice-blue eyes were the epitome of sincerity.

    ¡°I would like to confirm our future ns then. Am I right in thinking that I am to push the ¡¯truth¡¯ through obstinately from now on as well?¡±

    The conversation shifted to business, so Zenjirou pulled himself together, too, and pondered.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ That should be fine for now. But we cannot have the current deadlock go on forever, of course, so we definitely should settle this as quickly as possible.¡±

    At the present time, both parties stood in stark contrast to each other with their ims, neither of them having evidence or witness to make the other side surrender.

    It would probably be bad for the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom as well, when the current deadlock persisted.

    In the beginning, it might have only been a small quarrel, but depending on the circumstances, it could escte into a full-scale war between the two countries. The world was such a scary ce.

    In the past, an argument betweens hunters over a single Meat Dragon that had entered and copsed in another country had actually resulted in war between the two countries.

    Having said this, it did not mean one should avoid quarrels per se and always submit to the other party. That would chip away at the reputation and authority of the country.

    Hence, the representatives of countries were always keeping in mind ¡°not to escte things¡± while acting under the presumption that ¡°the other does not want things to escte either¡°, starting a game of chicken neither side wanted.

    And this case was showing signs of bing a game of chicken as well.

    They needed to resolve it before that happened. In his mind, Zenjirou had already formted a n for that.

    But that n was still full of loopholes right now and it was extremely unlikely it would hold out until the ¡°checkmate¡± point.

    Hence he asked Princess Freya for her cooperation once again.

    ¡°In any event, it is an undeniable fact that they are lying. Our problem is that we have no evidence to verify it. But even if we cannot do that, what we can do is winkle out an unmistakable statement from them.

    I more or less have a n for that, but I want your help in that. What do you say, Princess Freya?¡±

    In reaction, Princess Freya tilted her head so that her short silver hair waved.

    ¡°Of course I do not mind helping out. And I may be a bitte in asking this, but what makes you so sure that their knight is lying, Your Majesty Zenjirou?¡±

    She looked Zenjirou directly into the eyes.

    Needless to say, it was only obvious that Zenjirou wouldpletely side with Princess Freya in public, given his position, but his earlier phrasing seemed to say that it was not just for appearances¡¯ sake, but that he was actually profoundly convinced that Princess Freya was saying the whole truth and the knight from the Navarre Kingdom was lying on purpose.

    Zenjirou blinked surprised for a moment in light of her question, then answered with a soft smile.

    ¡°Oh, it is quite simple. I was pretty much present back then myself.

    Please think back on it. The ce in question is a crossroad, where three parallel hallwayse together.

    You three came out of the ¡®innermost hallway¡¯, which leads into the main building, ran into Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom, who came out of the ¡®middle hallway¡¯, which leads to the virtually restricted area, and rebuked him.

    But Knight Raymundo ims he did note out of the ¡®middle hallway¡¯, but out of the ¡®outmost hallway¡¯, which leads to the annex building. Am I right so far?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are.¡±

    Princess Freya nodded a little bit in agreement, whereupon Zenjirou gave a nod as well and went on with a slightly proud look.

    ¡°Have you forgotten already? A bit afterwards, I came to pick you up. Which hallway do you think I used back then?¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡±

    His hint prompted Princess Freya to exim in surprise all toote.

    ¡°Exactly. I passed through the ¡®outmost hallway¡¯. So if Knight Raymundo were saying the truth, he would have walked in front of me. But I did not see him at that time.

    In other words, he is obviously lying.¡±

    ¡°Now that you mention it¡­¡±

    Princess Freya replied to his exnation pensively.

    On second thought, it truly was self-exnatory.

    A little bit dyed, Zenjirou had indeede out of the hallway Knight Raymundo had imed to have passed through, so both of them should have met there, unless they were blind-folded.

    After all, the outmost hallway was drawing a long and straight line.

    There was no way to miss Knight Raymundo, if he had actually passed through there.

    ¡°Then if you just were to give a testimony¡­!¡±

    Princess Freya saw their chance in his testimony, so she blurted it out on the spot, but Zenjirou shook his head with a calm look on his face.

    ¡°It would be meaningless at this point of time. The matter has already be tooplicated after all. Even if I were to say something, the Navarre Kingdom will not budge from their obstinacy. And in fact, we have nothing to back up my testimony anyway.¡±

    Right after Knight Raymundo had left, Zenjirou had shown up from the outmost passage. It would be nothing but another subjective im from Princess Freya, though.

    Without mechanical clocks, this world had a rather vague sense of time, so even if Princess Freya were to im that ¡°Zenjirou appeared right after Raymundo left¡±, they would oppose by saying that ¡°more time must have passed than she initially thought¡± and they would be back to square one.

    ¡°But unlike in my case, would they not actually listen to you, Your Majesty Zenjirou?¡±

    Her expectation was partly wishful thinking and Zenjirou dismissed it with another shake of his head.

    ¡°I am afraid it will not be that easy. True, I may be Royalty and a male, but I am still not a ¡®soldier¡¯ after all.¡±

    As Royalty, his words definitely could not be taken lightly, but since he was always preaching that ¡°he was no fighter¡±, it became a huge disadvantage in this case.

    Even if he were to im that ¡°he came out of the passage shortly after, but did not see anyone there on that night¡±, everyone would just treat it as the ¡°whimsical opinion of a civilian, who was neither trained in seeing in the night, nor in mental power¡°, but not necessarily say it out aloud.

    Knight Captain Cris in particr seemed to look down on Zenjirou.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou was Royalty of the major power known as the Carpa Kingdom. If he were to push the issue through by saying ¡°I am in the right. And you actually dare to oppose me? I hope you are prepared for the consequences.¡±, people would usually cave in unless they were unsophisticated fanatics.

    But it goes without saying that it would be the worst method to bring this matter to an end.

    At the international level, it would actually be wiser to justpletely admit defeat and apologize for the three women seeing wrong, before doing that.

    Hence Zenjirou had to seal his greatest asset: the royal title.

    (Since I can¡¯t use my royal authority, I¡¯m just one of the many peasants¡­)

    Even while harbouring such a self-assurance that was close to self-torment, Zenjirou contemted on how to resolve this matter as smoothly as possible.

    (At this point, a wholesome conclusion doesn¡¯t seem viable. Well, that Knight Raymundo reaps what he sow. He¡¯ll have to swallow the bitter pill.)

    ¡°Anyway, it is obvious that Knight Raymundo is lying. So if we manage to expose his lie, it will be our win.

    I have an idea, or rather a little sham in mind for that and I would like to have your cooperation in it, Princess Freya.¡±

    ¡°Oh my, that sounds interesting. Of course I will participate.¡±

    Crossing her arms before her chest, Princess Freya showed a bright smile while her eyes revealed a sadistic glint, the type of pleasure you took from mowing your enemies down.

    ¡°Well, excuse me then.¡±

    Leaving these words behind, Princess Freya and her female bodyguard left the room, so Zenjirou was all alone with waiting maid Ines now.

    As such, Zenjirou could slovenly slouch on the couch.

    ¡°Whoa, this has be such a pain in the ass¡­¡±

    ¡°Stay strong, Master Zenjirou. You are sweating a bit around your neck.¡±

    ¡°Mm, thanks, Ines.¡±

    The considerate maid handed him a towel, which he used to wipe his neck and face clean. Feeling a bit refreshed, Zenjirou then took a deep breath.

    ¡°By the way, Ines, any word from Aura yet?¡±

    ¡°No. There have been no news from the Capital.¡±

    Zenjirou wrinkled his forehead in light of the straightforward answer from Ines.

    ¡°Weird¡­ Isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The Small Flying Dragon we sent should have arrived some time ago. If Her Majesty Aura had wanted to answer it, her reply would have arrived by now.¡±

    The instantaneous ¡°Teleport¡± aside, even the returning ¡°Small Flying Dragon¡± was strangely overdue for some time already.

    In other words, Queen Aura had no intention to send a reply.

    Zenjirou crossed his arms and pondered about its meaning.

    ¡°Does that mean Aura¡¯s not viewing this matter as that important?

    ¡­No, that can¡¯t be right. She would reassure me with a letter then.

    Then it¡¯s the other way round. I broached a subject so delicate that she can¡¯t ¡¯leap¡¯ a person or send a Small Flying Dragon so easily.¡±

    Before long, Zenjirou reached the same conclusion as Aura in the Capital.

    It was the kind of conclusion anyone with a bit of knowledge and minimal intellectual grasp could reach.

    Leaping a person with the ¡°Teleport Magic¡± was practically the same as announcing the ¡°urrence of an emergency¡± and messages with a Small Flying Dragon had a high risk of falling into the wrong hands.

    Thinking along these lines, it was only natural to reach the conclusion that ¡°the matter was too delicate for a simple reply¡±.

    ¡°¡­She¡¯s leaving me on my own here, eh. Then I probably shouldn¡¯t rely on the nobility attending the marriage ceremony, either.¡±

    Zenjirou tore his hair out, whereupon the middle-aged waiting maid by his side dered with a soft voice.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou, I do believe you are approaching this the right way, but I would advice you to do some behind-the-scenes negotiations as well. In my humble opinion at least, you should consult with General Puyol to some extent.¡±

    Hearing an unexpected name pop up, Zenjirou had a surprised look in the face.

    ¡°General Puyol!? Why him of all people? Isn¡¯t he the most troublesome person to get involved with?¡±

    As she had expected his reaction, the capable maid exined without breaking her matter-of-fact tone.

    ¡°It is precisely for that reason. If he were to intrude himself into the affairster on, things would be extremely troublesome. So I would suggest to discuss things with him beforehand.

    The matter involves a knight from the Navarre Kingdom and Miss Nilda after all. General Puyol is practically her brother-inw now that he has taken Lady Lucinda as his wife.

    He can always y a part in it as her ¡®family¡¯, even if it is pushing it a bit.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ You have a point¡­¡±

    Zenjirou showed an expression as if enduring toothaches and held his head in his hands in reaction to the advice from Ines.

    It certainly was stretching it a bit to involve yourself in it as the husband of the elder sister of the person in question, but it was not impossible with a bit of overbearance. And Puyol Guill¨¦n was the kind of able man, who could ovee a few difficulties, if it benefited him in the end.

    ¡°Instead of being dragged around by that rascal, it certainly would be better to work together with him from the beginning.¡±

    The reason he used an usual snidely tone for General Puyol was not only because of jealousy towards a former marriage candidate for Aura.

    Frankly speaking, Zenjirou and General Puyol handled cases like this one so differently that you might as well call them pr opposites.

    General Puyol prioritized profit in everything he did. Of course he was also considering things in the long term, so he was willing to ept a temporary loss for it, but he never spared any mercy for the feelings of the other party.

    In this case for example, Zenjirou was viewing it as the best oue, when everything would be treated like it never happened once it was exposed that the knight from the Navarre Kingdom was lying.

    Of course that took into consideration the fact that Nilda was no nobility, a circumstance that ought to be kept secret, but even without that, Zenjirou would not want an apology that drove the other party into a corner.

    Because he knew that the resentment he earned from that would outweigh the little profit it brought, in the future for sure.

    In a way, it was the limitation of a sryman from a peaceful country.

    On the other hand, General Puyol would show no mercy in this case.

    As long as he could find fault with the other party, he would rigorously attack that weakness to squeeze as much profit as possible from it.

    For example: Compensation money. For example: Extradition of the knight in question. For example: Defamation of the country through a formal apology. And so on. With no regard for the pride or feelings of the other party, he would make the most of it. If that earned him resentment as a result, so be it.

    And when the resentment got the better of them, he would just have to put them in their ce through force, demandingpensation again. Truly killing two birds with one stone. That was his way of doing things.

    ¡°It definitely wouldn¡¯t end well. I guess I need to talk to him and ask him take a backseat, if possible.

    But can I actually convince him on my own?¡±

    The task was obviously too heavy for him.

    When Zenjirou heaved a sigh, Ines practically drove him into a corner with a soothing tone.

    ¡°It is something only you can aplish, Master Zenjirou. However, how about asking Sir Raffaelo from the Marquez Family for help, if it simply proves to be too difficult for you? He is very talented, when ites to negotiations.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ No will do. I can¡¯t do that.¡±

    For a moment, he was swayed by her suggestion, but in the end, he shook his head.

    ¡°Since it concerns Nilda, it is better to involve as few people as possible.¡±

    Zenjirou was actually well-disposed towards the sociable Raffaelo Marquez, but Aura had ssified him ¡°as dangerous as General Puyol¡±.

    He should not rely on him that easily.

    Having resisted the temptation to just offload everything on Raffaelo, Zenjirou dered to Ines with a serious expression.

    ¡°I will persuade General Puyol by myself. That guy needs to stay out of this until everything is resolved or I won¡¯t be able to sleep at night.

    I want to have a private talk with him. Can you arrange it?¡±

    ¡°Of course. I shall prepare an unofficial meeting without raising suspicion. Incidentally, Master Zenjirou, what do you intend to do about Marquis Guzzle?¡±

    Her question prompted him to pondered with aplicated look on his face again.

    ¡°Marquis Guzzle, eh. A tough call. Hmm, he is Nilda¡¯s father and the Lord of this domain, so I shouldn¡¯t be acting behind his back, but¡­ the root of the problem is Nilda¡¯s status after all.

    I can¡¯t really talk him into it without mentioning that¡­¡±

    There was one more problem: When Zenjirou privately talked to him as the Prince Consort and partner for Princess Freya, the undertone of ¡°That is the will of the Prince Consort¡± would predominate, no matter what.

    Which in turn basically amounted to Royalty interfering with the authority of a Feudal Lord.

    Considering these circumstances, Zenjirou decided not to inform Marquis Guzzle ahead of things.

    ¡°I will not get in touch with Marquis Guzzle. I am scared of acting without consulting the local lord, but the possible consequences of telling him outweigh it.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    The faithful maid of middle age simply lowered her head courteously in light of the words from the Prince Consort.

 Chapter Volume 7 5

    Chapter 05: Nigh on Conclusion

    After the trivial dispute between Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom and Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle, had escted into the current incident, it was finally showing signs of a settlement after all this time now.

    Both sides had lead a fruitless discussion for numerous days.

    Those involved from the Navarre Kingdom and from the Guzzle Family were meeting up onest time in the spacious room this night, because Marquis Guzzle had announced that he would pass judgment today.

    From the point of view of someone living in a modern state under the rule ofw, it would be highly questionable to let the rtive, or more precisely the father, of the involved party pass judgment, but as the local lord within a feudal state, he was only carrying out his given right.

    And as a matter of fact, no one from the Navarre Kingdom was objecting in that regard.

    Having said this, they would hardly do the same, when that judgment turned out to be so unfair that they were not okay with it.

    While the involved parties were ring at each other tensely, their ringleaders Marquis Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn weremuting through eye contact with a stern face that could not fully conceal their perplexity.

    (Hey, what is going on here?)

    (No clue. You tell me.)

    If you were to put it into words, it would sound like that.

    Both of them had made arrangement behind the scenes to let their son and subordinate ¡°gain experience¡± through this incident, but that n seemed to have fallen through.

    Needless to say, Princess Freya was the biggest reason for that.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Even now, she was sitting in the centre with an expression that asserted her ¡°leading role¡± in all of this. The central figure from the Navarre Kingdom, Knight Captain Cris was sitting straight across from her.

    Nilda was just fidgeting around on the side and even Xavier, who was supposed to lead the negotiations, was obviously forced into taking a backseat.

    For a while now, Xavier was signalizing Zenjirou at the back with his eyes to ¡°do something about her¡±, but Zenjirou was just sitting there with a smile on his face.

    So Xavier came to a realization all toote.

    Zenjirou was not oblivious to his silent call for help.

    He was ignoring it knowingly.

    Xavier finally understood the real meaning behind his words, when Zenjirou had imed to side with Princess Freya.

    Even when Princess Freya was acting somewhat udylike, Zenjirou was not reprimanding her for it.

    In other words, this meeting was sure to be messed up by her.

    Although the utterances of a womancked significance, it was hard to ignore her, when she was Royalty from a different country and the official partner for Royalty of the own country.

    With her presence alone, Princess Freya had already foiled the n of Marquis Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn to let Xavier and Knight Captain Cris gain some practical experience.

    And the final nail in the coffin was the imposing man sitting in the gallery.

    With his new wife Lucinda at his side, General Puyol had crossed his log-thick arms and watched the situation unfold with an obviously amused grin on his face.

    Asserting his involvement due to Nilda being his little sister-inw now, he had requested to attend this meeting.

    Although he had promised not to interfere unless the need arises, Marquis Guzzle actually did not trust his words at all.

    Puyol Guill¨¦n was an ambitious and greedy man with the resolution and capability to make his visione true.

    In light of the intrusion of that troublesome man, Marquis Guzzle had lost all confidence to keep hisposure till the end of today.

    Going by that, it was probably fortunate that it was night already.

    Various oil pans around the room and on the table were burning brightly, dispelling the dark of the night, but even with ttery, the room could only be called ¡°dimly lit¡± at best.

    The reason they met sote at night was because Zenjirou had insisted on a rare asion that he could not spare time otherwise.

    Grateful to the wilfulness of the Prince Consort just this once, Marquis Guzzle took a deep breath to pull himself together without letting anyone notice, speaking up with a loud voice.

    ¡°Looks like everyone is here. Then let us have the final hearing.

    Both involved parties have taken up a clear position. Now square with your conscience, when you espouse your im.

    Once I have listened to your opinions, I shall assume full responsibility as the Marquis and pass judgment on this incident.

    If anyone wants to object my decision, go through the appropriate channelster on. Got it?¡±

    The ¡°appropriate channels¡± in this case were the respective Royal Families.

    In the case that the Navarre Kingdom Delegation hadints about the decision from Marquis Guzzle, they would bring up the matter to the Navarre Royal Family, who would then raise an official protest to the Carpa Royal Family, telling them to talk it out with Marquis Guzzle.

    At the same time, it would turn the matter into an official diplomatic issue between the two countries.

    But it was rather unrealistic that the Navarre Kingdom would raise an official protest to the Major Power Carpa Kingdom just because a mere knight might or might not have entered a restricted area.

    On the other hand, Xavier and Nilda belonged to the March of Guzzle, so they had no ¡°appropriate channel¡± to go through to begin with. Even as his daughter and son, they were not allowed to object the absolute instruction from their Feudal Lord.

    Considering all that, it was obvious how much of a nuisance the interference from Princess Freya was.

    She was an official guest in the Carpa Kingdom, so she could actually raise a protest through the ¡°appropriate channel¡±, namely the Carpa Royal Family, if she were to disapprove of the decision from Marquis Guzzle.

    (How did it turn out like this?)

    Marquis Guzzle suppressed his urge to massage his throbbing temple and dered with a low, but clear voice to everyone.

    ¡°No objections, I see. Then I shall ask you three some questions in order to validate your ims. Answer with nothing but the truth.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡±

    The illegitimate child, the knight from the other country and the princess from the northern continent consented one after another to the words from the power of authority on thisnd.

    Amidst the illumination from the mes burning on the oil pans, Marquis Guzzle saw all of them nodding their head lightly and called out to his own daughter with a really strict tone first of all like he had intended to.

    ¡°Good. Then I will start with Nilda Guzzle.

    Please exin it easy to understand what you saw on that night and where.¡±

    Addressed by the father first, the illegitimate child opened her mouth, which was still dry from nervousness.

    ¡°Yes, Marquis. On that night, I met a knight, when I turned around the corner of the hallway.¡±

    They were just doing a question and answer session right now, so even though Nilda was not used to this kind of situation, she managed to answer smoothly without stuttering.

    ¡°Who was it?¡±

    ¡°It was too dark to confirm it myself, but when I called him to a halt, he named himself as ¡®Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom¡¯.¡±

    Upon that reply, Marquis Guzzle turned body and nce alike to Knight Raymundo.

    ¡°Knight Raymundo from the Delegation of the Navarre Kingdom, you have heard what Nilda ims. Do you have any objections to what she said?¡±

    The fierce nce of the noble lord had not lost its touch even in his old age, so the young knight swallowed his saliva with a gulp and answered with an enthusiastic loud voice.

    ¡°No, Sir Marquis. I was certainly called to a halt by Miss Nilda on that night and gave her my name. This much is certain.¡±

    Up to this point, both parties had the same understanding of the situation, so the young knight had no reason to object and simply agreed to it. What followed after was an issue, though.

    Marquis Guzzle cleared his throat with an affected cough, then asked his own daughter again.

    ¡°It happened at the small cross-shaped intersection, where the three hallways converge. Nilda, which hallway do you say Knight Raymundo came out of at that time?¡±

    ¡°Sir Raymundo came out of the ¡®central hallway¡¯.¡±

    The young knight gave a small jerk to Nilda¡¯s resolute im, but he had enough self-restrain to not speak up without permission here.

    ¡°Knight Raymundo, do you have objections to what Nilda ims?¡±

    When he was addressed again, the young knight stood up from his chair and spoke up.

    ¡°Yes, I have. I did note out of the ¡®central hallway¡¯, but the ¡®outmost hallway¡¯.¡±

    Just like it had happened numerous times before, Knight Raymundo was stating somethingpletely different than Nilda right here and now as well.

    At this point, no one was surprised about their shing of opinion anymore. The matter had been dragged out for so long because of it, after all. So his objection was anything but unexpected.

    If anything, Marquis Guzzle felt like heaving a sigh, when he was thinking about how he still had to question ¡°one more person¡±.

    Nevertheless, the elder noble lord kept his strict look on his face and spoke to the third involved person.

    ¡°Freya Upps, you apanied Nilda on that day. Do you have anything to add?¡±

    In light of his question, the princess from the northern continent let her blue-tinged silver hair shimmer in the light of the mes and asserted with a determined tone.

    ¡°Yes, I only have one thing to say: I saw Sir Raymundoing out of the ¡®central hallway¡¯. That is all.¡±

    Then she red at Knight Captain Cris sitting across from her, not the actual Knight Raymundo in question.

    In the discussions before, Princess Freya seemed to have made Knight Captain Cris her main target.

    For Zenjirou, that was only natural.

    The attitude Knight Captain Cris took towards Princess Freya was basically the same as towards an ¡°insolent woman¡±.

    Of course he was properly minding his etiquette towards Royalty in his public utterances and behaviour, but his moral values such as ¡°It¡®s just the delusion of a woman.¡° and ¡°Why can¡®t she be more of a woman and quietly listen to the man?¡± were seeping out here and there.

    To the eyes of Zenjirou, it only looked like Knight Captain Cris was assertively trying to pick a fight with her, but unfortunately, Knight Captain Cris himself was not aware of it in the slightest.

    If anything, he seemed to be acting like that out of the goodness of his heart in order to calm Princess Freya down and solve things peacefully.

    (It¡¯s not easy to be a woman in this world.)

    Although he knew it was rude, Zenjirou looked at Princess Freya with a mixture of respect and pity.

    Because he had been close to Queen Aura, an exception to the exception, so far, Zenjirou had apparently missed out on realizing how difficult it was for women in this world to conduct themselves in public.

    While Zenjirou thought about these things, Marquis Guzzle looked at everyone and droned on.

    ¡°I have heard your ims. Raise your hand, if you want to add something, justify yourself or ask a question. I will allow you to speak up in order.

    Anyone speaking up without permission will be expelled from the room. Keep that in mind.¡±

    The three people in question, Nilda, Princess Freya and Knight Raymundo obviously nodded their approval to it, but all the others present did so as well.

    Strictly speaking, there was another involved person, namely the bodyguard from Princess Freya: the female warrior Skathi. But she had no right to speak up.

    This had nothing to do with her status or gender. It was a more fundamental issue: Her upation.

    As the retainer and bodyguard of Princess Freya, Skathi was practically her girl Friday.

    Maybe she did it in private, but it was unlikely she would ever say something to inconvenience her master at an official hearing like this.

    So allowing Skathi to express her opinion would effectively be the same as counting only the im from Princess Freya twice.

    Marquis Guzzle had said that he ¡°could not allow one person to raise both arms in a majority vote¡± and as expected, Princess Freya had no choice but to ept it.

    But on the other hand, Skathi could have acted as a ¡°representative¡± for Princess Freya, if she were more eloquent than her, and Princess Freya would have to stay silent.

    Anyway, you could voice your opinion now as long as you raised your hand first, but for a while, no one did raise their hand.

    That was not really surprising, either.

    At the moment, both parties were not only having opposing views, they also had no proof whatsoever to weaken the argument of the other.

    So whoever spoke up first, might slip up and dig its own grave, ending up with a disadvantage.

    There might be exceptions, but hardly any team would choose to bat first, when batting second was actually more advantageous. Having said this, they could not remain silent forever.

    Raising his hand amidst the heavy atmosphere of reluctance by the dim light of the oil pans was none other than Knight Captain Cristiano Pinto from the Navarre Kingdom.

    ¡°Cristiano Pinto is allowed to speak.¡±

    With these words from Marquis Guzzle, Knight Captain Cris stood up smoothly from his chair and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Then with your permission, I would like to ask Miss Nilda a question. You seem to have run into Knight Raymundo at the corner on said night, but do you remember what kind of shoes he had been wearing back then?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Shoes?¡±

    Nilda raised a dumbfounded voice in reaction to the unexpected question.

    ¡°Do not speak without permission, Nilda Guzzle. Please answer the question of Cristiano Pinto now.¡±

    Reprimanded by her father Marquis Guzzle, Nilda stood up bewildered, surprised and ashamed alike. She recalled the situation and answered.

    ¡°Ehm¡­ I did not pay attention to his shoes.¡±

    ¡°Is that so. Well, you coincidentally met at night, so I guess that is to be expected. Truth be told, Raymundo was wearing the same leather shoes for knight as right now.

    Sir Marquis, do I have your permission to let Raymundo showcase his shoes?¡±

    ¡°Granted.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much. Raymundo, stand up.¡±

    With the permission from Marquis Guzzle, Knight Captain Cris ordered his subordinate Knight Raymundo to stand up.

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±

    Upon the order from the young captain, the even younger Knight Raymundo stood up with a jerk.

    When the solid leather boots hit the stony ground, a thud sound resonated through the room.

    Knight Captain Cris revealed a faint smile.

    ¡°As you could hear, the shoes for knights have a firm sole and make a loud sound, when you walk on stony ground. It is not as loud in a wide room as this one, but in a small hallway with stone walls on both sides it is resounding quite a lot. Raymundo, take a step.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±

    Prompted by Knight Captain Cris, Knight Raymundo started to walk on the spot with thuds.

    The young knight continued to step on the ground in the dim light of the mes from the oil pans.

    And Nobility and Royalty watched over him without saying anything.

    It was a rather ridiculous scene, but no one wasughing.

    ¡°Miss Nilda, you should have heard these footsteps in the hallway. At what point did you became aware of them?¡±

    ¡°Well, that is¡­ I was talking to Princess Freya while walking, so I only noticed the footsteps once I saw a silhouette.¡±

    When the honest Nilda answered truthfully, Knight Captain Cris showed a triumphant smile on his face for a moment, whereas Princess Freya looked like she had swallowed something bitter.

    ¡°Is that so? In other words, you were so immersed in your conversation that you ¡®did not even notice these loud footsteps¡®.¡±

    ¡°Aw¡­¡±

    All toote, Nilda realized what Knight Captain Cris was getting at, too, and went pale in the face.

    The crux of the matter was whether Knight Raymundo came out of the central hallway or out of the outmost hallway.

    Nilda and Princess Freya were iming that he came out of the central hallway while Raymundo himself insisted that he came out of the outmost hallway.

    Needless to say, Raymundo would be a liar, if Nilda and Princess Freya were saying the truth, and if Raymundo was saying the truth, Nilda and Princess Freya would have ¡°made a mistake¡±.

    And right now, Knight Captain Cris had tickled a testimony out of Nilda that ¡°she was too immersed in her conversation on the go that she did not hear the loud footsteps¡±.

    In other words, it was a new piece of information that lent credibility to the im of the Navarre Kingdom that Nilda and Princess Freya had seen wrong.

    If they were so engrossed in conversation that they did not even notice such loud footsteps, then it stood to reason that they also did not notice himing out of the outmost hallway and mistook it for the central hallway.

    The line of argument was a bit highhanded, but convincing nevertheless.

    Xavier realized that the bnce had tipped in their favour, even if just a bit, and raised his hand in haste.

    ¡°Marquis, please allow me to speak!¡±

    ¡°Okay, you may speak, Xavier Guzzle.¡±

    Receiving the permission from his father Marquis Guzzle, Xavier stood up with an expression so enthusiastic it was recognizable even in the dim light of the mes.

    ¡°I have a question for Sir Raymundo. You did not only meet Nilda and Princess Freya on that night, but also Lady Skathi, who apanied them as the bodyguard for the princess.

    Nilda and Princess Freya were wearing shoes with soft soles, but Lady Skathi was wearing the same kind of shoes as you, Sir Raymundo. Were you able to hear her footsteps?¡±

    The argument desperately put forward by Xavier was extremely simple.

    If Raymundo had not noticed the footsteps of Skathi, just like Nilda had not noticed his, then it was only usual not to hear them, making it invalid as an argument.

    Xavier was trying to shift reasoning like that.

    But his argumentation had a w.

    The young knight from the Navarre Kingdom answered the question baffled.

    ¡°No, I did not hear them. Because, like I just mentioned, Miss Nilda and Princess Freya were approaching me while making conversation. Their voices must have cancelled out the sound of the footsteps.

    I did hear their voices, of course.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    Xavier was at a loss for words due to the all too obvious rification.

    On second thought, it was only natural. No matter how loud the footsteps might be, they would still be quieter than speaking voices.

    Raymundo had noticed their approach not from the footsteps, but from their voices and because they had been talking so vividly, Raymundo had not heard the footsteps.

    Xavier had identally proved that Raymundo have had a better understanding of the surroundings than the women on that night.

    ¡°¡­Grr.¡±

    Flushing his lightly tanned face bright red, Xavier was rendered speechless. Watching him from behind, Zenjirou realized it was about time to leave the backseat.

    (Man, I was kind of hoping the situation would be closer to a decision before I act, but things look bad, if I remain silent at this rate. It¡¯ll be quite a gamble, but I¡¯ve got no other choice.)

    Making up his mind with a deep breath, Zenjirou slowly raised his right hand.

    ¡°Marquis Guzzle, I wish to speak up.¡±

    Although his voice was not all that loud, everyone present looked to be quite taken aback by it.

    That goes without saying.

    Up until now, Zenjirou had given ¡°free rein¡± to Princess Freya and maintained the attitude that this got nothing to do with him.

    He himself might not be an authoritarian character, but his title as the Prince Consort was by no means to be taken lightly.

    ¡°¡­You are allowed to speak, Zenjirou Carpa.¡±

    While Marquis Guzzle gave him permission, his expression revealed a tint of wariness as well.

    Feeling an ufortable itch on his back from all the gazes on him, Zenjirou stood up on the spot.

    ¡°I have a question for Knight Captain Cristiano from the Navarre Kingdom. You have been discussing the audibility or inaudibility of the footsteps for a while now, but is it even that important to begin with?¡±

    Maybe he did not expected to be asked first, but Knight Captain Cris showed a nk expression for a moment before showing his confident smile once again and answering the question.

    ¡°Well, I would not call it all that important, but it certainly is decisive in this case.

    You may not know this as a nonbatant, but a warrior spends as much time refining his senses of hearing and seeing at night as he trains with weapons.

    Pointing out the different capabilities of someone with such training and someone with no such training, helps a great deal in understanding this situation.¡±

    His careful and thorough exnation was steeped in disdain for the non-militant man called Zenjirou.

    As a matter of fact, Princess Freya had keenly spotted the contempt and was narrowing her eyes to slits angrily. Even General Mart¨ªn, sitting in the back, was heaving a small troubled sigh.

    But the person in question, Zenjirou paid no attention to the attitude of the young knight captain and continued his questioning.

    ¡°I see now. Then the reason I did not see him, nor hear his footsteps in the ¡®outmost hallway¡¯ on that night must be myck of these capabilities. Am I right in thinking that, Sir Cristiano?¡±

    This question certainly caused a big surprise.

    While Knight Captain Cris uttered a dumbfounded ¡°Huh?¡±, Zenjirou exined the circumstances with a serious look.

    ¡°Truth be told, I arrived at the scene a bitter on that night as well. Through the ¡®outmost passage¡¯, that is. When I got to the crossroad point, Princess Freya and the other two were still standing there, so I assume not much time had passed since Sir Raymundo left the ce.

    So while I was passing through the ¡®outmost hallway¡¯, Sir Raymundo must have walked ahead of me. Yet I did not see him there, nor did I hear any footsteps. Oh, and I was not talking with anyone and kept quiet the whole time. Just saying.¡±

    The incriminating im from Zenjirou prompted Knight Raymundo to break out in a cold sweat and look flustered.

    Seeing his subordinate panic like that, Knight Captain Cris positioned himself protective in front of him and replied with a smile.

    ¡°Forgive me for saying this, but this seems to be indeed an issue of your capabilities, Your Majesty.

    I may be speaking out of turn, but it does not look like you have received any training as a soldiers whatsoever.

    In that case, it only appears to be inevitable that you did not notice Raymundo, when he was walking quite a bit ahead of you.¡±

    Knight Captain Cris somewhat talked down Zenjirou for not being a soldier, but Zenjirou kept hisposure and nodded a few times.

    ¡°Yes, that makes sense. But what about the other way round?

    As you have mentioned, I am no soldier. My eyesight at night, my sense of hearing and above all, my handling of weapons is literally on par with a woman or child. Hence I am always taking Knight Natalio with me wherever I go.

    He, too, is wearing the same shoes for knights. Needless to say, they should have made the same loud noise. Now then, Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom:

    Did you hear such footsteps behind you, when you were walking down the ¡®outmost passage¡¯ on that night?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    It looked like the sweating Knight Raymundo was one-sidedly driven into a corner as he was struggling for words, but this was actually quite a challenge for Zenjirou as well.

    Unless Raymundo told a lie now just like Zenjirou wanted him to, Zenjirou would not be able to spring the ¡°trap¡± he had thought of.

    So nervous that he was afraid that the others could hear his heart beating fast, Knight Raymundo seemed to make up his mind and opened his mouth.

    ¡°Now that you mentioned it, I remember that on my way, I turned around once, because I thought I had heard footsteps. But I believed it to be the echo of my own footsteps, so I paid it no mind afterwards.¡±

    With these words, the young knight nodded his head confidently.

    Zenjirou became so euphoric that he wanted to scream ¡°Gotcha!¡±.

    Noticing the ted Zenjirou, Knight Captain Cris jumped to his feet and advocated for Knight Raymundo as the superior officer.

    ¡°Your Majesty Zenjirou, the footsteps indeed echo well in a hallway with stone walls, just like Raymundo said. It is by no means umon that even a trained soldier may mistake the footsteps from someone afar as the echo of his own.¡±

    He might have heard footsteps, or he might have not.

    The testimony was rather vague, but that was to be expected. Knight Captain Cris had intended to support his subordinate, but as far as Zenjirou was concerned, that advocacy had been absolutely meaningless.

    For him, it was not important whether the footsteps were heard or not. The following ¡°I turned around once¡± utterance had sealed the deal.

    The trap had already sprung and perfectly caught its prey. All that was left was to reel it in carefully.

    Zenjirou showed an extremelyposed smile and slowly began to borate.

    ¡°Sir Raymundo, Knight Captain Cris. You were right, when you said I had no training whatsoever as a soldier, so I have no military abilities to speak of.

    I agree that it is no wonder that I did not see a silhouette in front of me, nor heard any footsteps. But my trusted bodyguard, Knight Natalio, has not perceived any of it, either.¡±

    After having remained silent so far, Marquis Guzzle had to speak up now, as the presiding judge so to say.

    ¡°Zenjirou Carpa, the testimony from a bodyguard or subordinate will not be acknowledged here.¡±

    It was the same reason why Skathi was not allowed to speak up as the bodyguard for Princess Freya.

    The important thing for a bodyguard, who had sworn loyalty to a master, was agreeing with his master, not the truth of the matter. Hence the testimony from a bodyguard or subordinate was generally ignored, because he would only agree with the opinion of the master anyway.

    Zenjirou had brought up the name of his bodyguard despite that, because he had wanted to emphasise how much they were talking at cross purposes.

    ¡°Your Majesty Zenjirou, the hallway in question is extremely long and it was rather dark already. So it is not strange at all that neither you, nor your knight took notice of Raymundo walking quite a bit ahead of you.

    Raymundo himself seems to have barely picked it up and even wrote it off as the echo of his own footsteps, so I assume that there must have been quite the distance between you.¡±

    Hence there were not contradicting each other. Or so Knight Captain Cris imed. Zenjirou nodded a bit affected.

    ¡°I see. That certainly sounds usible. But I am still doubtful. Sir Raymundo had been trained as a soldier, so how did he not notice that I was walking behind him?¡±

    ¡°Like I said, he did notice, but he waved it off as his imagination¡­¡±

    With a slightly annoyed look, Knight Captain Cris repeated what he had mentioned earlier, but Zenjirou cut him short and continued himself.

    ¡°I have not received training as a soldier. I see as much as a child or woman at night. And I am afraid that my courage is on the same level as a child or woman, too.

    So once it gets dark, I ¡®cannot go outside without light¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­!?¡±

    In light of these words, Knight Captain Cris went pale in the face for the first time tonight.

    Certain that his intentions had gotten across, Zenjirou allowed himself to show a broad grin and took out his favourite ¡°hand-cranked LED shlight¡± from his pocket.

    To maximize the effect, he had purposefully insisted to have this meeting at night.

    ¡°This is something I brought along from my home country. I will spare you of the technical details. In short, it is a like a magic tool for illumination.

    On the night in question, I was walking while using this.¡±

    After saying this, Zenjirou turned on the switch of the LED shlight. Needless to say, he had charged it plenty in advance by cranking the handle.

    ¡°Guh!?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­!¡±

    ¡°Wha!?¡±

    ¡°This¡­?¡±

    The white light of the LED was so bright it did not evenpare to the mes on the oil pans, so everyone present squinted their eyes in surprise.

    ¡°Well then, Sir Raymundo. You said earlier that you thought you had heard footsteps and ¡®turned around once¡¯, right?

    I will ask you the same question again now: How did you not notice that I was walking behind you?¡±

    At the same time, Zenjirou deliberately bathed the young knight from the Navarre Kingdom in the light of the LED shlight.

    The artificial white light cleared away the night and revealed the pale face, trembling lips and sweating forehead of the young knight for everyone to see.

    ¡°Ah¡­ I, I¡­¡±

    Seeing the young knight flustered like that, Zenjirou immediately felt the euphoria that had ran through his whole body earlier, subdue.

    (I ended up backing him into a corner with no way out at an official meeting.)

    That was not how Zenjirou had actually wanted to resolve the situation, because the loser was quick to hold a grudge, when you embarrassed him at such an official asion.

    But that had been the only way for him, if he wanted to wrap it up as a victory for their side this time.

    (Raffaelo M¨¢rguez would have surely been able to end this more smoothly. And I doubt General Puyol would have given a damn about grudges or anything. He would squeeze the most profit with all his might.)

    Although he knew it was pointless, he ended upparing himself to more capable people.

    ncing over to General Puyol, who was showing a faint smile in the back, for a moment, Zenjirou somehow shook that thought off and gave the final push to end this incident once and for all.

    ¡°Can someone actually fail to notice such a light behind him in a straight hallway? Especially, if he ¡®turned around once¡¯ at some point.

    I am repeating myself here, but I am no soldier. My eyesight at night is worse than a child or woman. But even then, I would definitely notice it, when such a bright light illuminates the straight path behind me, no matter how far away.

    Now then, Sir Raymundo, can you please exin it satisfactorily to us how you, a trained soldier, failed to notice a light even someone like me would have noticed?¡±

    Backed into a corner with nowhere to run. A question without a viable answer. And a bright light not allowing oneself to hide in the dark of the night.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom seemed to have realized that it was impossible to talk his way out of this, seeing as he broke down on his chair defeated.

    The rest would be extremely simple.

    Now that Knight Raymundo had broken down, it would be smooth sailing once he admitted that the root of the problem had been his lie and that he had actually came out of the central hallway.

    ¡°Then you admit to having made a false testimony, Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡­.Yes.¡±

    The young knight from the Navarre Kingdom replied affirmative with a weak voice to Marquis Guzzle while sinking into his chair.

    ¡°Hmm, what to do¡­¡±

    With a resolution to the issue on the table now, Marquis Guzzle wrinkled his brow and pondered.

    Who was right? Who was wrong?

    The conclusion had practically arrived already, but the problem on how to punish the mistaken party remained.

    It was a difficult decision.

    To begin with, Knight Raymundo hadmitted an illegal trespassing into a restricted area.

    Although it sounded like a grave offense, even Marquis Guzzle was actually considering the ce to be easily mistaken, so it would not be strange, when someone stepped into there by mistake. Moreover, the area was not really important enough to cause harm, when someone actually got there.

    Hence a simple ¡°verbal rebuke¡± would be more than adequate for an offense like this one.

    But some people would not ept that, now that things had escted this far.

    Marquis Guzzle nced at the forerunner of ¡°these people¡± and checked their fierce expression.

    As expected, the young girl with her characteristic blue-tinged silver hair was showing an aggressive smile as if saying ¡°Yeah, what are you going to do about this?¡± while ring at the Knight Captain and young knight from the Navarre Kingdom.

    It was unthinkable that the northern princess would be content with just a ¡°verbal rebuke¡±.

    But then again, the Navarre Kingdom would already be shamed a great deal just because of a mere misstep.

    If there was some kind of punishment on top of that, they would surely hold a grudge, even if they knew it was misced.

    The concerned Knight Raymundo was still in a state of lethargy, but his advocate Knight Captain Cris was biting down on his lip and suppressing the humiliation. He probably thought that ¡°he had been taken for a fool¡±.

    Hopefully this did not leave behind any unnecessary trouble. Marquis Guzzle feared as such, but when he looked at General Mart¨ªn sitting at the back, the giant general was closing his eyes for a moment and slightly shook his bearish head to the side.

    (It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll take care of itter.)

    Perceiving the intentions of General Mart¨ªn through this small gesture, Marquis Guzzle heaved a sigh of relief.

    Known for his excellent control over his subordinate, General Mart¨ªn was going to take responsibility for the aftermath, so half of the problem was already solved.

    A heavy weight off his shoulders, the elder feudal lord looked then at the male Royalty, who had brought about this conclusion.

    ¡°Then I shall announce the verdict. Do you have anything else to say before that, Master Zenjirou?¡±

    He was now addressing Zenjirou politely with the title of ¡°Master¡±. It was clearly different from how he had addressed him during the ¡°trial¡±.

    In other words, he was going to announce the verdict, but was trying to show some ¡°consideration¡± for the royal Zenjirou before that.

    Discerning that, Zenjirou frantically searched for the right words in order to bring across his endeavour as smoothly as possible.

    ¡°¡­Well, I believe that we had to sit down like this, because some things ended up confounding the situation unnecessarily.

    So as long as the Navarre Kingdom admits their wrongdoing in this case, I wish for nothing further. To begin with, I cannot understand why it escted like this. In my opinion, it was a trivial misunderstanding we could have get on without.¡±

    To trante his words: ¡°Sorry that Princess Freya messed up things recklessly. I¡¯m okay with a verbal apology from the Navarre Kingdom. If anything, can we pretend all of this never happened to begin with?¡±

    Since it was not phrased all that ambiguous, even Marquis Guzzle with his bare minimum of eloquence for a noble, understood what he wanted to say.

    The elder noble let his frowned face blossom into a smile for a moment, but immediately cleared his throat with a cough to gloss over it.

    ¡°O- Okay. I certainly have heard you out.

    Then I, the Lord of the March of Guzzle, shall announce the verdict for this case.¡±

    In reaction to his words, everyone present cast down their eyes and solemnly held their peace. The same applied to Zenjirou.

    The Marquis was still the man with the highest authority on thisnd. A Feudal Lord did not have the authority to judge Royalty, but on the other hand, even Royalty could not go against the decision of the Feudal Lord made within his own territory.

    Marquis Guzzle had tapped the full potential, when he had ¡°asked and considered a word of advice¡± from Zenjirou earlier.

    ¡°There are two issues at hand. First, Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom ¡®stumbled¡¯ into a restricted area of our house. Second, he tried to obfuscate it with a lie, when that fact was pointed out.

    Trespassing into the restricted area by itself is not such a serious matter. We are partly to me for it, since we did not put up any signs or guards there.

    But I cannot overlook the fact that he forcefully tried to disguise the truth as the ¡®mistake¡¯ of another.

    I hereby sentence the involved party from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom to admit their mistake and apologize for it.¡±

    ¡°¡­Understood.¡±

    Knight Captain Cristiano Pinto from the Navarre Kingdom answered with a stiff voice, his earlier undaunted expression now frozen inexpressively.

    It was an extremely irksome result for him, but he realized how foolish it would be to still go against the decision of the marquis.

    Marquis Guzzle nodded briefly to the answer from Knight Captain Cris.

    ¡°Good. Then this case is now closed. No one would benefit from discussing this any further.

    The guilty party will admit their mistake and apologize, whereas the other party will ept said apology. This will be the end of it. I would like to suggest we no longer speak of this matter anywhere, but what do you all say?¡±

    He suggested with a probing tone.

    The reason it was a ¡°suggestion¡± in the end was because that part alone exceeded his authority as a Feudal Lord.

    The Feudal Lord carried responsibility for everything that happened within his domain, but this time it involved people of another country and even Royalty of the own country.

    As foreigners, the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom could ¡°appeal¡± by turning the matter into a diplomatic issue through their Royal Family, and as Royalty himself, Zenjirou could enter an ¡°objection¡± right away as long as he had the permission from Queen Aura.

    Needless to say, Marquis Guzzle would still be responsibility for the revision, whether it was an ¡°appeal¡± or an ¡°objection¡±, so it would not turn out all that different, but it wouldplicate things for sure.

    Fortunately enough, Knight Captain Cris agreed to the suggestion from Marquis Guzzle right away.

    ¡°Understood. I do not have any objections to keep this matter to ourselves.¡±

    His excessive pride had caused him to be emotional, but even under the influence of emotions, Knight Captain Cris was apparently not the type to make irrational decisions.

    To begin with, this issue had brought discredit on the knight of the Navarre Kingdom. If they could sweep it all under the carpet, it was more than the Navarre Kingdom could ask for.

    On this asion, Zenjirou expressed his consent as well.

    ¡°Certainly. I have no objections, either. In favour of the friendly contact between our countries, I believe it is in our best interest to forget that this ever happened. What do you say, Princess Freya?¡±

    ¡°¡­If you say so, Your Majesty Zenjirou.¡±

    The silver-haired princess kept her fierce re fixated on Knight Captain Cris while she uttered her approval with an affectedly monotone voice.

    It was obvious at a nce that her dissatisfied attitude was meant to convey: ¡°I actually do not want to reconcile with you, but His Majesty Zenjirou told me to, so I am making peace.¡±

    Everyone present must have thought that Zenjirou had put Princess Freya in her ce.

    Grinding her teeth udylike, the woman reluctantly obeyed the words of the man without concealing her dissatisfaction.

    Princess Freya was giving the impression that she wasplying with the man known as Zenjirou from the bottom of her heart, and not just as his partner for the marriage ceremony.

    Zenjirou was quite annoyed by that performance, but Marquis Guzzle actually gave him a respectful look for it.

    ¡°Then I dere the meeting closed now.¡±

    When the Feudal Lord dered the end of the meeting, you could practically see the tension from this troublesome issue melt away from him.

    ¡°Princess Freya, Miss Nilda, I apologize for my shoring in this case.¡±

    Meanwhile, Knight Raymundo from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom lowered his head deeply in front of the two girls.

    In light of the haggard bow from the young knight, the open-hearted Nilda forgot all about their earlier dispute, disying sympathy andpassion on her face.

    ¡°All is well as long as you are careful not to repeat such a behaviour from now on.¡±

    But even with her superficial and makeshift education as a noble, Nilda realized that she had to act her part here, so she left her response at that.

    On the other hand, the ¡°open-hearted¡° Princess Freya still remembered the dispute and went into raptures over a feeling of aplishment and superiority.

    ¡°I shall put my faith in you that you will not act like this anymore.¡±

    But with an education befitting for ady, she understood it that it would be bad for diplomacy, if she were to make him prostrate before her, so she left her response at that.

    ¡°I will excuse myself now.¡±

    When his apology was epted a lot easier than he had thought, Knight Raymundo could not help but show a look of relief and tried to leave.

    However, he was called to a halt before that.

    ¡°Wait. I believe we are not done here yet.¡±

    The voice belonged to the person, who had watched the scene unfold next to Princess Freya: Zenjirou.

    Not only the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom was surprised, when the unexpected utterance stopped them from leaving, but also Princess Freya and Nilda widened her eyes in surprise.

    ¡°I recall that Marquis Guzzle sentenced ¡®the involved party from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom to admit their mistake and apologize for it¡¯.

    Sir Raymundo had been telling the lie, so his apology alone might be enough for all intents and purposes, but Sir Cristiano actually involved himself in the negotiations in ordance with a false impression.

    Sir Cristiano, you do not need to apology, but you need to admit right here and now that you assumed incorrectly.

    Namely: Princess Freya has an eyesight as good as a soldier at night, and she is not the squeamish type to make a mistake in fear of the darkness.¡±

    ¡°!?¡±

    Not having expected to be the targeted here, Knight Captain Cris showed an expression as if he had been punched from the side all of a sudden.

    Seeing that, Zenjirou thought to himself ¡°Did I do something unnecessary?¡° with a bit of regret, but it absolutely had to be done from his point of view.

    It was not a matter for the benefit of the Carpa Kingdom, but more of a personal matter of sincerity towards Princess Freya.

    Princess Freya had been in the hot seat for this incident and thus suffered a ¡°loss¡± in her evaluation as a woman by the standards of the South Continent.

    Needless to say, she had done that, because Zenjirou had asked her to. And without even being told why he wanted her to stand in the political breach, at that. (Zenjirou was not absolutely sure yet, if his assumption about Nilda being no nobility was right or wrong, so he could by no means let that information leak.)

    In other words, Zenjirou thought that ¡°she had unterally drawn the short straw, obeying his will without knowing the circumstances behind it¡±.

    As the typical Japanese, Zenjirou represented the moral values of being anxious to repay a favour as soon as possible, so he automatically tended to cower before people, whom he owned a favour.

    Having said all this, Knight Captain Cris had nothing to do with these thoughts of his.

    From his point of view, it only sounded like ¡°he was singled out as well after he had to endure the shame of being unable to protect his subordinate¡±.

    And by the ¡°nonbatant¡± man he had looked down on, at that.

    Annoyance, displeasure, anger and defeat. These bottled-up negative feelings crossed into dangerous territory as Knight Captain Cris automatically reached out for his waist with his right hand. At the same time, he took half a step backwards¡­ stepping into a shallow ¡°puddle¡± with sshing noise.

    ¡°?¡±

    Shot up by the boots, the water drops wetted his ankle.

    Why was there a puddle in a ce like this? Before he could even wonder about that, Knight Captain Cris was brought back to reason by the coldness of the water.

    He perfectly understood that he was about to draw his sword on the spur of the moment, when Royalty of a Major Power had expected the enforcement of a decision from the Feudal Lord of a Major power.

    (What the heck am I doing!)

    With his head cooled down in an instant, Knight Captain Cris felt a flood of cold sweat running down his back in the next moment.

    Although he had attempted to draw his sword, he fortunately had not moved all that much and only for a second, at that. Hardly anyone seemed to have noticed it. Good thing the light from the oil pans kept the surroundings in semi-darkness.

    ¡°You are right. I should correct myself.

    I made a mistake. Princess Freya, you certainly have an eyesight on par with a soldier at night along with the courage to not let it cloud your judgment. It was wrong of me to assume that you are an ordinary woman.¡±

    He talked quickly in order to gloss over his earlier blunder and admitted his own mistake like Zenjirou had wanted.

    The best his pride allowed him to do was to admit his mistake, but not to directly apologize for it.

    It was surely on purpose that he threw out his chest and up his chin, when he bended over and lowered his head, as it reinforced its apologetic and self-critical impression.

    To Zenjirou, it just seemed ridiculous.

    (This looks like a parent apologizing to his child against his will after getting rebuked by a teacher.)

    While Zenjirou harboured an impression that would make Knight Captain Cris throw a fit, if he were to hear it, Princess Freya showed a triumphant smile as she answered.

    ¡°I am d you understand, Sir Cristiano.¡±

    If Knight Captain Cris just had left now without saying anything, it might have put an end to things peacefully.

    But he probably thought that leaving right after his concession would look like he was ¡°running away¡±, or else he just could not suppress the urge to say something in return. Either way, Knight Captain Cris stayed where he was and started talking to Zenjirou with an affectedugh.

    ¡°Reminds me, Her Majesty Aura seems to be a brave person, who achieved various deeds during the previous war. Not that I had the honour to see her yet, though.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. I have not seen it myself, either, but I have heard of the same.¡±

    Once the main objective was cleared, Zenjirou was not really holding anything against him, and he engaged in some small talk with the young knight, albeit not all that enthusiastic.

    ¡°Her Majesty Aura and Princess Freya are both extremely charming women, but also have an unexpected valiant side to them for a female. I guess it is true then that people are attracted to those who ¡®possess what they themselvesck¡®?¡±

    Needless to say, it was biting sarcasm making digs at Zenjirou for not being a soldier.

    At his side, Princess Freya wiped the smile off her face and revealed her anger, whereas Zenjirou actually burst out inughter and responded to the younger knight captain from the foreign country.

    ¡°Hahaha. Might be. But attraction cannot be exined so easily. Assuming it could, what kind of woman would you be attracted to then, Sir Cristiano?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­ I¡­¡±

    Knight Captain Cris was at a loss for words in light of the counter question.

    The captain was good-looking, well-versed in martial arts, quick on the uptake, healthy and had a prideful spirit. On top of that, he was even born into a distinguished family that inherited the blood of the Royal Family.

    Going hand in hand with these strong points was a big ego.

    Endowed like that, Knight Captain was obviously at a loss for an answer, when asked what kind of woman he preferred on the supposition that people were attracted to those who ¡°possessed what they themselvescked¡±.

    If he said ¡°beautiful woman¡±, it would mean he himself was ugly, whereas the ¡°smart woman¡± answer would make him out to be stupid. And mentioning a ¡°good-hearted woman¡± would equate to admitting that his own personality was twisted.

    At the same time, it was hard to say that he preferred women without such virtues, too.

    Zenjirou had only asked it for some casual chit-chat, but pressed for an answer, Knight Captain Cris felt like one had been pulled over him again, all on his own.

    His stubbornness to not ept defeat here was probably his biggest weakness.

    The young knight could not stand being on the losing side all the time, so he replied even more snarky while keeping up his fake smile.

    ¡°You do have a point, Your Majesty Zenjirou. It was imprudent of me. Being attracted to those who possess what you yourselfck might only apply to a few people whock a very certain quality.¡±

    Even Zenjirou grimaced a bit in reaction to these words.

    Of course it was not out of anger from having hit his bullseye.

    (Oh god, he¡¯s taking it that far right here?)

    He was bewildered and surprised.

    It goes without saying that Zenjirou was Royalty of the major power known as Carpa Kingdom and not just any Royalty, but rather the exalted Prince Consort of Queen Aura.

    Although he was the eldest son of a distinguished family with blood rtions to the Royal Family, the knight captain from the middle power known as Navarre Kingdom was ranked quite a bit lower on the socialdder.

    Maybe it was time to reprimand him a bit?

    Zenjirou started to consider that, but unfortunately, it was a bit toote for that.

    ¡°Knight Captain Cristiano Pinto from the Navarre Kingdom. What did you just say? Who do you think you are talking to?¡±

    Someone else questioned him with a stern voice before Zenjirou. It was the Hero of the Carpa Kingdom: General Puyol Guill¨¦n.

    ¡°General Puyol?¡±

    When Zenjirou uttered surprised, the giant general bowed to him subservient and turned to Knight Captain Cris with an aura of anger all around him.

    ¡°Up until now, I may have let some remarks slide, but that was only because Marquis Guzzle was holding the trial. That is no longer the case.¡±

    Zenjirou immediately understood that the words from General Puyol, uttered in a low, but loud voice, were actually directed at him, even if his broad back was turned to him.

    (Oh fuck! He got me!)

    Doing his utmost to keep his expression in check, Zenjirou metaphorically clenched his teeth in the head.

    He had done secret negotiations with General Puyol in advance to prevent this from happening.

    As a result, Zenjirou had somehow managed to make General Puyol ept his request to ¡°stay out of this case¡±.

    Thanks to that, General Puyol had remained silent the whole time during the trial, but right now, the ¡°case had been closed¡± and they were chit-chatting, so the ¡°promise¡± from the negotiations was no longer valid.

    (Oh god! Stupid Cris! Stupid Puyol! And I¡¯m the most stupid of all!)

    While Zenjirou wailed over his own carelessness, General Puyol besieged the young knight captain at once.

    ¡°Cristiano Pinto, you seem to have forgotten it, but Master Zenjirou here is Royalty of our country. And he is the exalted husband of Her Majesty Queen Aura, at that. So what did you just say to him? Repeat it to me once more.¡±

    Beleaguered like that, Knight Captain Cris immediately lost all the colour in his face. Even amidst the semi-darkness, you could see it all too well.

    So far, he had run his mouth with sarcasm and quips, but it had not be a problem at all, precisely because the other party had not made a big deal out of it. Knight Captain Cris was reminded of that fact all toote.

    ¡°My apologies! I spoke out of turn!¡±

    He lowered his head with a snap.

    The room fell silent and all the attention was focussed on him.

    (Seriously, this is bad. I need to put an end to it somehow.)

    Zenjirou panicked as the situation had escted all at once, but right now, General Puyol was only scolding a foreigner in order to protect the dignity of the Prince Consort.

    If he were to stop the general at this point, it would be ¡°self-defeating¡± instead.

    (I definitely can¡¯t stop him, when he¡¯s acting for my sake. Wait, that¡¯s surely part of his n. Damn it!)

    It seemed paranoiac, but Zenjirou knew Puyol Guill¨¦n all too well to write it off as just that.

    He could not take action. In the meantime, General Puyol thrust himself onto Knight Captain Cris.

    ¡°I said nothing about apologizing. I told you to repeat yourself. Come on, say it. You already said it directly to Royalty, so you should be able to say it to me, his subject, too.¡±

    ¡°¡­My deepest apologies.¡±

    It only looked like irrelevant bullying, but there was actually a meaning behind it.

    ¡°Again, do not apologize just like that. If you want to apologize, first you have to admit what you did wrong and to whom. After that, you can apologize.¡±

    Knight Captain Cris tried to ride it out with his head lowered humbly, but General Puyol showed no mercy at all. He insisted that the captain admitted from his own mouth to what faux pas he hadmitted and to whom.

    Of course, Knight Captain Cris realized he would betray a decisive weakness, if he were to admit that, so he desperately kept apologizing, nothing else.

    ¡°My apologizes. It was imprudent of me. Please forgive me.¡±

    Unexpectedly put on the spot, Knight Captain Cris was obviously supported by his highest superior from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom: General Mart¨ªn Nadal.

    ¡°Your Majesty Zenjirou, my subordinate has spoken out of line. I apologize on his behalf.¡±

    With these words, General Mart¨ªn bended his bear-like giant body over, lowering his head deeply in front of Zenjirou.

    ¡°G- General¡­!¡±

    Seeing the well-respected hero of his own country bow like that, Knight Captain Cris was at a loss for words.

    General Mart¨ªn was a peerless hero in the Navarre Kingdom. He had admittedly the same rank as General Puyol, but was enjoying more trust in his own country aspared to General Puyol.

    The major power Carpa Kingdom had Marquis Rh, a lord rivalling General Puyol, and numerous other suitable qualified lords like Marquis Guzzle.

    In terms of bothpetence and international renownedness, General Mart¨ªn was an outstanding figure in the Navarre Kingdom. In a way, he might even be more prominent than the current King of the Navarre Kingdom.

    And such an important pir of his home country was deeply lowering his head for the captain in order to smooth over the differences of his faux pas.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Cristiano Pinto finally grasped the gravity of his mistake now.

    ¡°My sincere apologizes, Your Majesty Zenjirou!¡±

    He once again lowered his head, this time even lower than his respected general.

    His now exasperated attitude no longer showed any sign of the earlier arrogance towards Zenjirou.

    Just through their title, Royalty from a major power were a formidable adversary one should not look down on, even if they had no martial talent or a timid personality. The young knight was made painfully aware of that fact.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou appreciated this asion, since he wanted to conclude this as peacefully as possible.

    The man in question and his superior had both lowered their heads. Of course Zenjirou would not let this opportunity slip and spoke up at once.

    ¡°Excuse the question, but could it be that it is Sir Cristiano¡¯s first appearance on the international scene?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡±

    Sensing that Zenjirou was offering him a lifeline, General Mart¨ªn affirmed his question respectfully.

    He was, of course, telling the truth. Not even twenty yet, Cristiano Pinto was on his first official duty out of the country.

    Hearing the response from General Mart¨ªn, Zenjirou shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly and heaved a sigh.

    ¡°Well, that exins it. Sir Cristiano, the culture,mon sense and mindset of people drastically change once you cross a border. I am sure you realized it through this incident?¡±

    Zenjirou had never set a foot outside of Japan back then, nor the Carpa Kingdom now, so it was preposterous for him to be saying that, but that did not matter right now. What mattered was to find an ¡°excuse to forgive¡± Knight Captain Cris for his mistake.

    ¡°Yes, I learned it the hard way.¡±

    Oblivious to Zenjirou¡¯s circumstances of life, Knight Captain Cris answered afflicted with his head still lowered.

    Then Zenjirou shifted his gaze towards the bowing General Mart¨ªn besides him.

    ¡°General Mart¨ªn, everyone makes mistakes in their youths. And it is the duty of seniors and veterans to teach and guide these youngsters. Am I right?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely, Your Majesty. This is another negligence on my part.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Zenjirou nodded satisfied.

    As his superior, General Mart¨ªn was responsible for any mistakes Knight Captain Cris maymit. It would not be all that strange to ept the apology and bow from General Mart¨ªn, a renowned hero from another country, as atonement.

    General Puyol might feel discontent about this, since he prioritized practical benefits, but the achievement of making the Hero of the Navarre Kingdom, General Mart¨ªn, lower his head in front of Royalty from the Carpa Kingdom was not trivial, either.

    At the very least, it enhanced the ¡°prestige¡± of Zenjirou, a fledgling Royalty, greatly.

    But before Zenjirou could ¡°close the case¡±, the insatiable wolf aka. General Puyol interjected with a bright voice, quite different from before.

    ¡°Oh, that reminds me, Sir Cristiano is the eldest son of the Pinto Family. I guess ites to no surprise that no one in the Navarre Kingdom would dare to strictly scold the talented eldest son of a famous family.

    Considering that, I might have been a bit too mean in my scolding earlier.¡±

    His mild-mannered speech might as well be called ttering already. Zenjirou and General Mart¨ªn immediately had a bad premonition, but Knight Captain Cris did not know General Puyol all that well, so he readily jumped at the honeyed avenue of escape.

    ¡°Yes, Sir. As shameful as it is, I let my immaturity get the better of me.¡±

    When the knight in question affirmed his words, General Puyol shed his jet-ck eyes.

    ¡°Then how abouting to our country? You are still young and I am sure it wille in handy for your future, when you learn from contact with higher-ranking people of another country.¡±

    General Puyol seemed to suggest this out of the goodness of his heart, but no matter how you look at it, he would be nothing but a ¡°hostage¡± in reality.

    Confronted with a sudden ¡°arrest¡± by the neighbouring major power, the young knight captain ceased all thinking for a while.

    Still lowering his head next to him, General Mart¨ªn now raised his head and red at the neighbour general with sweat on his forehead.

    ¡°That will not be necessary, General Puyol. To begin with, he is still green as a soldier. Of course it is important to take part in negotiations and social intercourse, but prioritizing that at the cost of his military training would be putting the car before the horse.¡±

    ¡°Oh, fret not, General Mart¨ªn. I personally will take full responsibility to train him while he stays here. Or are you dissatisfied with me as his teacher? What do you say, Sir Cristiano?¡±

    General Puyol smiled, baring his teeth like a threatening beasts, whereupon Knight Captain Cris was stumped for an answer.

    ¡°W- Well¡­¡±

    Puyol Guill¨¦n was too well-known for his skills on the South Continent to be actually dissatisfied with him. But unless he said so, he would definitely head towards his life as a hostage.

    And on the surface, the general was supposedly suggesting this out of the goodness of his heart after ¡°forgiving him for his mistake¡±, which only made it even worse.

    ¡°I know why you are so concerned, General Mart¨ªn. Sir Cristiano certainly has a brilliant talent. I shall pull no punches and do my utmost to nurture his promising skills.¡±

    The hero from the neighbouring country showed a joyful expression like a carnivore licking its lips in anticipating before its captured prey.

    Was this the end? Knight Captain Cris was already starting to resign himself to his fate, when it happened.

    ¡°Oh my? Does that mean you are going to turn your back on your new wife already? You sadden me, Sir Puyol.¡±

    While General Puyol showed a bright smile, a woman suddenly interjected from the side.

    ¡°!? Lucinda?¡±

    For the first time today, General Puyol looked dumbfounded in reaction to that voice.

    The clear voice belonged to Lucinda, who approached her newlywed husband of a few days with small steps that let her elegant blue dress flutter a bit.

    ¡°Are we housing a guest already, Sir Puyol? I have entertained guests from the Navarre Kingdom a couple of times here in the Guzzle Mansion, but I am afraid it will be my first time doing so in your house. Of course I shall strive to do my best, but I cannot help but be worried about making a mistake.

    To my shame, I have to admit that I once caused the Guzzle Household a lot of trouble by weing people from a foreign country the wrong way.¡±

    On the fact of it, she seemed to be an irresponsibly woman oblivious to the circumstances, when she mentioned that while cocking her head a bit.

    But having spent thest few days in the same room with her, General Puyol knew that she was not that kind of foolish woman.

    Considering that, he could read another meaning between the lines.

    ¡®I have entertained guests from the Navarre Kingdom a couple of times here in the Guzzle Mansion¡¯ implied that the March of Guzzle and the Navarre Kingdom shared a direct border.

    And reading between the lines of ¡®I shall strive to do my best¡¯ meant: ¡®I am already part of the Guill¨¦n Family now, so I will obey whatever you, the head of the family, decide.¡¯

    Finally, the ¡®I once caused the Guzzle Household a lot of trouble¡¯ sentence could be understood as ¡®It will affect my parental house, the Guzzle Family, if we offend the Navarre Kingdom, so could you please show some consideration?¡¯.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±

    General Puyol nced over to Marquis Guzzle at the back.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    When their eyes met by the light of the oil pans, the aged feudal lord sharpened his look to the point that you could feel the tension in the air.

    ¡°Causing me all this trouble! And you still call yourself my son-inw!?¡±

    He was obviously telling him that through eye-contact.

    General Puyol quickly weighed the odds inside his head.

    The merit of having a supposedly important person for the next generation of the Navarre Kingdom under his thumb versus the demerit of incurring the wrath of Marquis Guzzle after obtaining a connection to him through marriage.

    It was a no-brainer. Once he knew what he had to do, he felt not the slightest hesitation or shame to take back his earlier words. From a human point of view, he might have to feel embarrassed by going back on a decision, but this attitude was actually beneficial for surviving in Higher Society.

    ¡°It certainly sounds unreasonable to apply myself to raising a disciple at the cost of neglecting my newlywed wife.

    This being the case, I am sorry, Sir Cristiano, but I am withdrawing my earlier offer.¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I appreciate the thought at least.¡±

    With his head still lowered, Knight Captain Cris heaved a long sigh of relief, releasing all the air from holding his breath until now.

 Chapter Volume 7 6

    Chapter 06: In the Aftermath

    Although with some unexpected turns and twists, everything somehow wrapped up without problems and Zenjirou returned to the annex building with Princess Freya.

    Behind them followed their two bodyguards: Knight Natalio and the female warrior Skathi. Waiting Maid Ines, who had been with Zenjirou ever since he left the Royal Pce, was otherwise engaged for the moment.

    Apparently she had ¡°identally spilled some water¡± and was going to clean it up before returning as well.

    Zenjirou could not imagine her ever making a mistake on the job, but no matter how capable, the maid was still a human, so she was bound to make a mistake at some point.

    Back in the annex building, Zenjirou separated from Princess Freya and changed clothes in his allocated room.

    A well-rounded waiting maid of middle age in the service of the Guzzle Family helped him with it.

    He felt a bit ufortable having someone else than the waiting maids of the Inner Pce help him change, but there was no other way, since he had only brought along Ines as his waiting maid.

    Fortunately enough, the plump waiting maid seemed quite capable, so Zenjirou managed to change the stiff third formal attire for his casual wear in no time.

    ¡°Well done. You may leave. Oh, and send Nilda to me, when she arrives.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I shall take my leave now.¡±

    The plumpish maid swept a curtsy and left the room.

    ¡°¡­Puh.¡±

    Unlike with the waiting maids of the Inner Pce, Ines included, Zenjirou was vignt about his conduct and speech in front of other maids, so he was tensed up at these times.

    Sitting down on a simple couch prioritising functionality, he turned his head with small cracking sounds to relieve the tension.

    ¡°Ehm, where¡¯s the towel again? ¡­Ah, there. The nights here sure are irksome.¡±

    Zenjirou shined on the table in front of the couch with the LED shlight in his right hand and somehow managed to find the towel.

    Technically speaking, there was an oil pan on the table for a light source, but the small me was of no use for him, seeing as his night vision was poorly developed to begin with.

    Slouching on the couch, Zenjirou wiped the sweat off his face and neck with the towel in his left hand, then looked down on the LED shlight in his other hand.

    ¡°This thing sure saved the day¡­¡±

    In order to avoid trouble, he kept the various tools he had brought along from Japan a secret as much as possible, but he was unable to do so this time.

    Without revealing it, he would not have been able to expose the lie from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom.

    And a defeat absolutely had to be avoided in thetest trial.

    If it had ended with their defeat, the result would have been that ¡°a woman hadined to a knight, but had actually been wrong and apologized for it¡±.

    And then it was quite likely that word got around that the woman in question, Nilda Guzzle, was actually not nobility.

    That in turn would bring about the worst case scenario, namely that ¡°amoner woman started a fight with a knight and had actually be wrong about it¡±.

    ¡°At least we avoided the worst case¡­ Yeah, I did well, if I may say so.¡±

    Zenjirou praised himself on a rare asion.

    Not only had he avoided the worst case scenario, he also worked out the promise that ¡°the case was closed for good now and would not be spoken about ever again¡±.

    Due to that, it was impossible that this case gained any more ground. Zenjirou certainly had ¡°done well¡±.

    ¡°The problem is Princess Freya, though. I made her y a really unrewarding role¡­ Argh, I get the feeling I¡¯m digging my own grave deeper and deeper.¡±

    The heavy sigh from Zenjirou slowly dispersed in the semi-darkness of the wide room.

    * * *

    As the winner, Zenjirou was fatigued from his aplishment, but as the losers, the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom was wearied from their defeat.

    ¡°General Mart¨ªn, I apologize for the troubles I have caused this time.¡±

    Just where had his usual confidence gone to? Cristiano Pinto had fallen into a deep depression and lowered his head to the respected hero of his country with these words.

    Thistest case had been quite arduously, especially at the end, when General Puyol had practically tried to abduct him.

    ¡°Well, you went through a lot, too. At least, you know now that the world is full of scary people. Keep that lesson in mind.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±

    General Mart¨ªn generouslyforted his favoured young subordinate, but he was actually even more shaken than Knight Captain Cris at heart.

    (Oh god, the yground the Marquis and I prepared in secret was perfectly blown to pieces.)

    The situation had escted beyond his control to the point that he wanted to smack himself for ever thinking that it was the perfect opportunity for letting Knight Captain Cris and Xavier Guzzle experience a real negotiation, a few days ago.

    Needless to say, it was all due to Princess Freya, who had butted in right from the beginning, Zenjirou, who had given the decisive blow in the middle of the trial, and General Puyol, who had tried to squeeze profit from it at the very end.

    Thanks to them, Xavier was pushed onto a backseat and Knight Captain Cris was one-sidedly beaten up.

    (Well, even geniuses need to taste defeat and realize that there are people they absolutely cannot beat right now.)

    In retrospect, General Mart¨ªn was not all that dissatisfied with the result.

    ¡°It is not wrong per se to stand up for your subordinate, even when he is in the wrong, but if you deal arbitrarily with it, it will only earn you the resentment from friend and foe alike, so act with care.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will take it to heart.¡±

    Assessed by his respected superior like this, Knight Captain Cris finally looked a bit more calm.

    The words from General Mart¨ªn were not just meant as constion.

    Generally speaking, it was hardlymendable to cover for a subordinate, who hadmitted a mistake, but in the army, it was not a bad choice for when the superior wanted to gain the trust of his subordinates.

    Especially in a supposedly low profile case like this one, the superior could give his subordinate the favourable impression ¡°I¡¯m on your side!¡± by actively standing up for him.

    Having said all this, it was necessary to draw a clear line at it, because if not, some subordinates would think that their superior would protect them no matter what they did.

    Because of that, General Mart¨ªn did not consider the behaviour from Knight Captain Cris as fundamentally wrong this time.

    It also had been a good choice to not bring the main culprit, Knight Raymundo, here.

    Knight Captain Cris must have expected to get severely scolded by General Mart¨ªn.

    Not bringing Knight Raymundo along showed his resolve to shoulder the reprimand from the general all by himself.

    A man, who could protect you not only from enemies, but sometimes even from superiors, was well-liked in the army.

    Nevertheless, Knight Captain Cris certainly had not been without w in his approach.

    General Mart¨ªn changed the expression on his bear-like face into a strict one and rebuked the young knight captain with a low voice.

    ¡°Your biggest mistake was to reflexively take up a fighting stance in front of His Majesty Zenjirou. I was sweating bullets back then. Learn to control yourself a bit better.¡±

    ¡°Y- You noticed that!?¡±

    When Knight Captain Cris eximed in surprise, General Mart¨ªn knitted his brow.

    ¡°Of course. General Puyol surely did as well. If you had actually touched your sword, he would have jumped in.

    In that sense, it was a close call. The little self-restrain you had left truly saved your life.¡±

    (That female warrior seemed to have noticed it, too, but I better not tell him that.)

    He calmly concluded that right now, Knight Captain Cris was in no state to ept the fact that a woman was stronger than him.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The young knight captain widened his eyes dumbfounded in reaction to the words from his respected general.

    He had only taken up the stance for a second and to be honest, he did not thought anyone had noticed amidst the semi-darkness.

    Knight Captain Cris admitted that his character and leadership qualities were still falling behind, but even the quality he had the most confidence in, namely fighting strength, was apparently nowhere near a match for the heroes of the previous war.

    ¡°Actually¡­ I only managed to restrain myself by chance. When I took a step backwards, I stepped into a small puddle. Its coldness somehow made mee back to my senses.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s what I call a stroke of luck.¡±

    General Mart¨ªn cocked his head a bit, when he heard about the puddle on the stony floor of the room, but brushed it off as a mishap from an earlier cleaning session.

    ¡°Anyway, I will be frank with you: Our Navarre Kingdom is by no means a big country on the western part of the South Continent. We are more often the inferior party in diplomatic negotiations.

    Unless you learn some discretion, we cannot let you leave the country again. Not everyone will necessarily be as generous as His Majesty Zenjirou. If anything, consider people like General Puyol the norm.¡±

    Zenjirou and General Puyol were obviously extreme on both ends of the spectrum and thus extremely rare exceptions, but he deliberately chose to scold his subordinate with an exaggerated opinion.

    ¡°Yes, Sir. I understand. Such an idiocy will never happen again.¡±

    Knight Captain Cris promised solemnly, full of vim and vigor, so General Mart¨ªn nodded a ¡°Good¡± in response.

    * * *

    Around the same time, Marquis Guzzle and his children were sharing their feeling of happiness of having passed the storm en famille.

    ¡°It sure was an ordeal, Nilda, Xavier.¡±

    The son and daughter replied with a smile to their father Marquis Guzzle.

    ¡°No, my ipetence brought this all about. Fortunately enough, Master Zenjirou lent us his power and protected Nilda¡¯s reputation, but I could not protect my important little sister by myself.

    And just when Big Sister Lucinda had entrusted everything to me after getting married. How am I supposed to face her now?¡±

    ¡°Please do not feel so down, Brother. You really did your best to protect me. I was really happy.¡±

    ¡°Yet there¡¯s no point, if I achieve nothing.¡±

    Looking troubled, the little sister from a different motherforted her depressed older brother sitting next to her with all her might.

    Watching over them, Marquis Guzzle inadvertently cracked a smile, because of the heart-warming rtionship between the siblings.

    But considering the future, this was no time to be all smiles.

    The eldest daughter Lucinda was the reason why the Guzzle Family had such a pleasant interaction.

    She had helped her father with his work, raised her little brother into the next head of the family and gave her country bumpkin of a little sister from a different mother a strict training in high society etiquette, all the while giving them enough love to make everyone feel like ¡°family¡°.

    Even now, Lucinda had kindly held General Puyol back at the very end, warding off any further trouble.

    But she was no longer with them.

    ¡°Anyway, I am d it went off without a hitch. Xavier, I am sure you have to reflect on a lot of things, but do not let it drag you down. Learning from your past mistakes means you will do better in the future.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Father.¡±

    His son nodded obediently with a most sincere look, whereupon the father shifted ufortable in his seat.

    He had said these words more to himself than anything.

    (Man, I really should stick to what I¡¯m used to. Because I let General Mart¨ªn sweet-talk me into doing this, things almost got out of hand. I¡¯m a simple-minded idiot, so I shouldn¡¯t be greedy and solve problems one after another.)

    One of his strong points was to quickly get back on track once he had reflected on things.

    When the marquis had pulled himself together, he shifted his gaze from his son to his daughter.

    ¡°You did not have it easy, either, Nilda. But remember that you are partly to me for this. You are already fifteen years old, so you need to act in an appropriate manner for a noble woman.¡±

    Looking a bit younger than her actual age, the fifteen-year-old girl looked down dejected, so that her short ponytail swayed a bit.

    Seeing his daughter clearly being in low spirits, Marquis Guzzle did not soften his strict expression, but was shaken at heart.

    (Aw, is she going to cry? Damn. Lucinda usually helped mefort her at times like these. I ended up scolding her like always.)

    The old feudal lord cleared his throat with a cough.

    ¡°So I say, but with Lucinda gone now, there is no one left to teach you properly here.¡±

    Needless to say, Lucinda had not been the only noble woman in the March of Guzzle.

    As the lord of the March, the Guzzle Family had a lot of vassals serving them and there obviously were women amongst these families.

    However, they were just vassals in the end. Although technically nobility as well, their etiquette andmon sense somewhat changed ording to the status.

    A court nobility would take a family specialized on teaching etiquette as a vassal, but unfortunately, the Guzzle Family was a military family and had no such educated human resources.

    ¡°Then what am I supposed to do, Father?¡±

    When the daughter cocked her head worriedly, her aged father revealed his n.

    ¡°I had nned this for a long time already, but when I am returning to the capital, you will apany me. I know a person or two there, who can teach you.¡±

    In light of these words, her face suddenly lit up with tion.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to the capital? Really!?¡±

    Like any other girl her age, she obviously longed for the morous capital.

    ¡°Yeah, you official came of age this year. I have to introduce you to higher society in the capital at least once.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Oh, speaking of, Master Zenjirou offered to show me around, when I evere to the Capital. Will it actually be alright to take him at his word?¡±

    Her father raised an eyebrow for a second in reaction to her unexpected announcement.

    ¡°Hmm? Master Zenjirou actually said that? How intriguing. It does sound to be more than just mere pleasantry. Once we are in the capital, you can try sending him a letter. If it was indeed no pleasantry, he will surely reply favourably.¡±

    ¡°Yes. But about that letter¡­¡±

    ¡°Of course you will have to write it yourself.¡±

    ¡°¡­Okay.¡±

    Nilda made heavy weather of writing of all things, so she frowned a bit troubled.

    Happily observing each and any adorable demeanour of his daughter, the father mumbled under his breath.

    ¡°Still, a teacher for Nilda, eh. The most suited would be Amanda, but¡­ I doubt it will work out. Well, it cannot hurt to ask at least.¡±

    And like this, Marquis Guzzle considered contacting his far younger cousin, who was working as the Supervisory Maid of the Inner Pce.

    * * *

    Inside a different room of the annex building than Zenjirou, Princess Freya stripped off her light blue formal dress and swapped it for a one-piece casual wear.

    Her bodyguard and attendant, Skathi, helped her with it.

    During their trip between the continent, they had been the only women aboard anyway. Although it was not her main job, Skathi had adequate skills as a waiting maid.

    ¡°Thanks, Skathi. Are you not going to change?¡±

    When her master asked her after having changed clothes, the female warrior brandished her favourite spear.

    ¡°I am your bodyguard after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thank you as always, Skathi. But at least sit down, please.¡±

    ¡°Okay, if you insist.¡±

    ording to the plea from Princess Freya, the tall warrior sat down on the couch across from her master. Needless to say, her spear with the tusk of a sea monster was resting against the rest of the couch and in order to be ready to jump into action at any moment, she was not stretching out and rxing as much as Princess Freya.

    The oil pan burning on top of the table coloured the short silver hair from Princess Freya and the long blonde hair from Skathi in a mystic red.

    Amidst this semi-darkness, the northern princess hugged herself and showed a gleeful smile.

    ¡°Aw, did you see that, Skathi? That expression on the knight, when His Majesty Zenjirou cornered him! He was literally scared to death! I wish you would praise me for not rejoicing over it right then and there!¡±

    The veteran female warrior gave a wry smile to her strangely excited master.

    ¡°Mdy, please calm down a bit. Well, I cannot deny that it was a fantasticeback, either.¡±

    ¡°I know, right! Moreover, His Majesty Zenjirou did not only pry a confession out of the knight in question, but also out of that conceited Knight Captain Cris. I fell for His Majesty all over again!¡±

    When her master was very outspoken about it, the subservient female warrior put on a worried expression.

    ¡°When you say all over again, you mean you had fallen for him before already?¡±

    The serious question from Skathi was affirmed by Princess Freya without any hesitation whatsoever.

    ¡°Why, yes. But saying I had ¡¯fallen for him¡¯ before already, might a bit of an overstatement. I definitely harboured an ¡¯affection¡¯ toward him, though.

    I mean, I had such a nice time during our trip from the Capital to the March of Guzzle and I can basically count these asions in my life on one hand.¡±

    ¡°Well, you do have a point.¡±

    Having spent most of her life alongside Princess Freya, Skathi knew she was speaking from the bottom of her heart.

    On the North Continent, Princess Freya also had participated in hunts and the like, but the group of soldiers still had treated her as a ¡°princess¡± in the end.

    And she was only allowed to hunt foxes or rabbits by herself to begin with. Even when she was taking down a deer or reindeer, numerous soldiers secured the area while she send an arrow at best.

    Whereas here she was allowed to finish off a dragon with a spear in her own hands.

    It was undoubtedly the memory of a lifetime to her.

    She was keeping the forehead horn of the in Meat Dragon in safe custody and apparently intended to have a craftsman make an ornament out of it once she was back in the Capital.

    Then Princess Freya replied with a smile.

    ¡°Of course the dragon hunt left the deepest impression with me, but there is more to it than just that. I greatly enjoyed the time inside the carriage with His Majesty Zenjirou as well.

    He was being considerate to me, not because I am a ¡®woman¡®, but because I am a fellow human¡­ I cannot express it well, but I did not get a headache with him, like I do, when I converse with other men. It was a really pleasant atmosphere.¡±

    For better or worse, Zenjirou was still clinging to his moral values as a Japanese. Of course he was being educated in etiquette and manner of speaking, so he changed his mannerism depending on the status and gender of whom he dealt with, but the fundamental value that everyone was equal could not be taken from him.

    The longer you dealt with him, the more obvious it got that he was ¡°not looking down on you¡±.

    ¡°And not to forget thetest incident. It really makes my heart jump for joy that he is so different from other men.¡±

    Princess Freya had been put in the line of fire for this incident and Zenjirou was feeling guilty about having ¡°brought her into disrepute¡±, but she herself was not regarding it as something bad.

    From the very beginning, she could not stomach the attitude from Knight Raymundo, putting the me on them, anyway.

    Nevertheless, she kept herself in check, because she could not afford to cause trouble for Zenjirou as his partner. But then he had told her: ¡°It¡¯s okay. Break loose. I¡¯ll take responsibility.¡±

    Princess Freya could not have been happier about this.

    Although Zenjirou seemed to regret to have dragged her reputation on the South Continent through the mire, it was no big deal for her.

    The only one she wanted to marry on the South Continent was Zenjirou anyway, so as long as he himself harboured no ill feelings towards her, there was no need to worry about the opinion of others.

    And if her marriage with him were to not work out for some reason, she would just be called home to the North Continent for a political marriage.

    She would never set foot on the South Continent again then, so a somewhat bad reputation there would have no effect on her life.

    Well, the reason Princess Freya could honestly not bother with a bad reputation was surely because her spirit was more resilient than the average.

    ¡°His Majesty Zenjirou had put his faith into me. Not the kind of blind faith people throw around, but actual faith in my ¡®capabilities¡¯, such as seeing in the dark or memorizing circumstances calmly.

    And he even demanded that Knight Captain Cris, who had doubted mypetence from the very start, corrects himself.¡±

    ¡°He sure did.¡±

    While agreeing with her, Skathi calmly observed her respected master.

    She truly seemed to have ¡°fallen for him¡±. Or more precisely, her previous ¡°favourable impression¡± had developed into a ¡°genuine love¡±.

    Nevertheless, it was the kind of love she would get over in no time, if her father were to put a stop to it by telling her to give up. In this sense, Princess Freya had a profound understanding of natural-born Royalty. Even so, it did not change the fact that she was in love.

    Serving Princess Freya for as long as she could remember, Skathi was having mixed feelings.

    (My little tomboy princess fell in love with a man, who never held a sword in his hands. She only seemed to be scheming something, when she proposed to His Majesty Zenjirou, though. Love works in mysterious ways.)

    The female warrior was waxing sentimental. In the meantime, the northern princess flushed her snow-white cheeks a bit and continued.

    ¡°So Skathi, I want to hear your opinion. His Majesty Zenjirou mentioned he never received any military training and I believe him, but what do you say?¡±

    ¡°Yes, there is no doubt. Pardon me for saying this, but his military prowess truly is that of a woman or child.¡±

    So the atypical woman said.

    She was practically badmouthing her future husband candidate, but Princess Freya actually smiled brighter in response.

    ¡°I knew it. Then I would like to discuss something with you. I came up with a n to get closer to His Majesty on the trip back.¡±

    ¡°¡­I am all ears.¡±

    Skathi got a bad feeling about where the conversation was going, but she could not stop her master based on a hunch alone.

    Without noticing that her retainer narrowed her auburn eyes to slits, Princess Freya exined her idea with a beaming smile.

    ¡°On the way back, we are going to spend a few nights in the carriage, right? That is when I will make my move. I have the strength of a soldier, so I should be able to push down His Majesty. No worries! He might resist at first, but once we get to the steamy part¡­¡±

    ¡°Mi-dy!¡±

    Skathi scolded her master with a low voice, when she proposed a gender reversal of the ¡°night adventurer¡± she had learned from the crude sailors.

 Chapter Volume 8 intermission 1

    <strong>Intermission 1: Amanda gives Advice</strong>

    A certain day during the ¡°Rainy Season¡± in the Carpa Kingdom.

    Marquis Miguel Guzzle was meeting with Supervisory Maid Amanda in a room of the Royal Pce.

    ¡°It has been a while, Amanda.¡±

    ¡°Yes. You seem to be doing well, Master Miguel.¡±

    Sitting across from each other, the elderly feudal lord and the middle-aged supervisory maid exchanged a friendly greeting.

    In the first ce, Amanda was a blood rtive of Marquis Guzzle.

    To be precise, she was the daughter of the little brother of the previous Marquis, which made her a cousin to Miguel, the current Marquis.

    ¡°Sorry for calling you out today. I know how busy you are as the Supervisory Maid and how difficult it is for you toe here to the Royal Pce.¡±

    When the Marquis apologized briefly, Supervisory Maid Amanda softened her usual stern expression and shook her head a bit.

    ¡°Not quite. Fortunately enough, I enjoy quite a bit of trust from Her Majesty Aura, so leaving the Inner Pce is actually not all that difficult for me. Besides, it is a valuable opportunity to meet with you, Master Miguel.

    By the way, is he doing well?¡±

    When a married woman like Amanda was casually inquiring about a man like that, she was obviously referring to her husband.

    ¡°Yes, quite well. But the recent ¡®Roll of Name¡¯ incident had taken a bit of a toll on Joseph.

    He is all better now, though, and wasining how he did not lose any weight, even though he could not eat well during the incident.¡±

    ¡°Fufu, I can just picture it.¡±

    Off-duty here, Amandaughed happily while listening to the activities of the husband she married over twenty years ago.

    All her children had long since came of age and she had taken on the important duty as the Supervisory Maid of the Inner Pce, so Amanda was certainly missing her family after not seeing him for over a year.

    ¡°Well, when he is doing well, I guess that means the matter with Miss Nilda caused no further problems.¡±

    Marquis Guzzle nodded affirmative to the smiling Amanda.

    ¡°Yes. I was taken aback quite a bit, when I came to know about it, but fortunately enough, it went off without a hitch. All thanks to Master Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°d to hear that. Speaking of Miss Nilda, is she in the Capital right now as well?¡±

    ¡°Indeed. She is running high all around our residence, because everything is new to her. I know I should be stopping her, but I just cannot bring myself to reprimand her¡­

    I would not think twice about scolding my subordinates, though.¡±

    With that, Marquis Guzzle scratched his head.

    ¡°You only realize what you have until it is gone. Lady Lucinda has left arge void.¡±

    Supervisory Maid Amanda said teasingly, whereupon Marquis Guzzle screw up his nose poutingly.

    ¡°I always knew what I had with her. The problem is, she went away so suddenly. I had no time to make preparations.¡±

    ¡°She basically did everything from managing the domain to taking care of her siblings to their education, on her own after all.¡±

    ¡°Yes and the education is actually the problem. As you know, Nilda was raised in a vige until she was nine. So her education is far from perfect. Of course she knows her basics, seeing as she safely got through the audience with Her Majesty in the Pce, but I am still worried. But now that Lucinda married into another family, I have no one suited to teach Nilda anymore.¡±

    ¡°I see. That is the most pressing matter right now, is it not?¡±

    Amanda deeply bowed her in approval.

    ¡°It is. I feel bad for relying on others already, but I am afraid I do not have all that many connections. So, do you know of anyone suitable in your set of acquaintances, Amanda?¡±

    The request from the head of the main family prompted the capable woman in charge of the waiting maids in the Inner Pce to look up at the ceiling and ponder for a moment.

    ¡°Just to be sure: You want to educate Miss Nilda as a proper Lady of the Guzzle Main Family, correct? That narrows the possibilities down quite a bit, even here in the Capital.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    The Guzzle Household was one of the ten most prominent nobles in the current Carpa Kingdom. It goes without saying that very few people were qualified to teach the daughter of such a family.

    Nevertheless, Supervisory Maid Amanda mentioned the name of one of these rare candidates.

    ¡°The first thates to mind would be Lady Octavia, the wife of Count M¨¢rguez. Even more so than her beauty, the main reason they call her the flower of higher society is because of her conduct and character, so she makes the perfect teacher.

    Even Master Zenjirou, the Prince Consort, is being taught by her in manners, etiquette and even basic magic. Hence I can rmend herpetence by all means.¡±

    The wife of Count M¨¢rguez: Lady Octavia.

    Hearing that name, Marquis Guzzle wore a scowl on his face.

    ¡°Lady Octavia certainly is a sensible choice¡­ but if possible, I would like to avoid to be indebted to Count M¨¢rguez. Whenever you sit at the negotiation table with him, you will end up owing him in the end, even if he was the one asking for a favour.

    And I would be asking a favour this time. To be honest, I am too scared to think about how that would turn out.¡±

    Marquis Guzzle and Count M¨¢rguez were equals as influential nobles, but there methods were the exact opposite of each other.

    A warrior through and through to the point that others called him unsuited for nobility, Marquis Guzzle would definitely be at a disadvantage, when negotiating with Count M¨¢rguez, who was the role model noble excelling at rhetoric and manipting things behind the scenes.

    Although somewhat pathetic, his reason had an undeniable truth to it.

    Supervisory Maid Amanda gave a wry smile to his words and mentioned the next candidate.

    ¡°Then how about the wife of Count Alb¨¦niz? She may be a bit strict, but is well known for her teaching of girls.¡±

    ¡°No, a strict teacher would be bad. Lucinda might have taught her well, but Nilda stilles from a small vige. Even now, she sometimes does things that ¡®give away her origin¡¯ on unexpected asions.

    So it has to be someone, who can turn a blind eye to some extent.¡±

    ¡°What about Marquis Rh¡¯s wife then? She is not staying in the Capital, but in their own domain, so it might be a little bit worrying that you would have to send Miss Nilda there, but she is generous and strict in equal measure. There is nothing toin about her skills, either.

    After all, Her Majesty Aura chose her as her wet nurse.¡±

    ¡°No. The Marquis and his wife are known to be perfectionists. They would not return Nilda until she perfectly internalized the etiquette. Besides, Nilda would get lonely so far away from home.¡±

    ¡°¡­Sheesh. Then you might as well send her over to the Guill¨¦n Family? Lady Lucinda could finish her education while Miss Nilda works as her chambermaid.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t really impose on her any further. I mean, she almost missed out on getting married, because I had her look after the house. And her standing in the new family would suffer, if I were to make her work for me just the same.¡±

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Seeing as Marquis Guzzle kept rejecting all of her suggestions, Supervisory Maid Amanda fell silent with a nk expression.

    ¡°Sorry for being so selfish, when I¡¯m asking a favour of you.¡±

    While her older cousin slumped down ashamed, Amanda was still dealing with him earnestly.

    ¡°Let us take one thing at a time. First off, what kind of conditions must the teacher fulfill at all costs? Please tell me all of them.¡±

    Prompted by her, Marquis Guzzle slowly answered while sorting out his thoughts.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. This is kind of obvious, but it needs to be someone with an appropriate background worthy of teaching the daughter of a Marquis.

    On top of that, the person must be lenient to some extent towards any problems Nilda will cause due to her upbringing in the vige.

    Moreover, I want it to happen in the Capital, if possible, so I can rush over and apologize in the case Nilda causes some serious trouble.

    And if I may have my way, I want an affable person, who doesn¡¯t scowl Nilda into silence.¡±

    The conditions he gave were not all that unreasonable taken by themselves, but bundled together, it turned into quite the tall order.

    You could find a noble, who was worthy to teach high nobility. You could also find a noble, who was lenient enough to turn a blind eye to problematic behaviour to some extent. A lot of nobles were living in the Capital, too. And you could surely find an affable noble amongst them as well.

    But it was quite difficult to find a person, who met these criteria all at once.

    In fact, the first suggestion from Supervisory Maid Amanda, Count M¨¢rguez¡¯s wife Lady Octavia was the closet to that ideal, but if he were to chose her, he would owe the cunning old bird Count M¨¢rguez one. Just thinking about that made him shiver.

    ¡°Guess I¡¯m asking too much.¡±

    It seemed like he had to bite the bullet for the sake of his cute daughter and negotiate with his nemesis.

    Marquis Guzzle was just about to make his resolve, when

    ¡°No, I still have one person, or rather a ce in mind.¡±

    Supervisory Maid Amanda unexpectedly answered like that.

    ¡°Wh- Who is it!?¡±

    The Marquis raised his head in surprise, whereas Amanda dered businesslike.

    ¡°Yours truly. Or maybe are you dissatisfied with me?¡±

    Supervisory Maid Amanda give him a little smile, but Marquis Guzzle was taken byplete surprise and could not hide the bewilderment in his words.

    ¡°No¡­ Wait¡­ Do you mean you will quit working as the Supervisory Maid in the Inner Pce? I definitely cannot ask you to go that far for me.¡±

    But Amanda denied his words with a shake of the head.

    ¡°Not quite, Master Miguel. I mean the opposite. My suggestion is to send Miss Nilda into the Inner Pce as a Waiting Maid.¡±

    ¡°Nilda as a Waiting Maid!? But that¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know. We can merely rmend Miss Nilda. It is up to Her Majesty Aura to ept her or not.

    Fortunately enough, the Inner Pce is currently looking for more Waiting Maids, so I believe she has a good chance.¡±

    ¡°Well, it certainly would be reassuring to have you teach her personally, but to be honest, I can¡¯t help but worry about Nilda doing something inappropriate in front of Her Majesty Aura or Master Zenjirou.¡±

    His worry was obviously justified.

    Originally, only the best ended up being a Waiting Maid of the Inner Pce. They were hired for their already acquiredpetences and proper etiquette, not for actually teaching it to them.

    Having said this, that was nothing but the general image. In reality, traits like character, lineage, reliability and connections were far more important than skills and etiquette, so young waiting maids were not really expected to have mastered all the skills and etiquette, but Marquis Guzzle was somewhat badly informed about that, because he kept away from the political bustle in the Capital.

    ¡°You do have a point, but please rest assured.

    As far as I know, Master Zenjirou is the most tolerant person amongst Royalty and Higher Nobility on the South Continent, when ites to sociability and generosity of forgiving unintentional blunders.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­. Is that so.¡±

    Zenjirou once again rose in Marquis Guzzle¡¯s esteem.

    Since Marquis Guzzle deemed strictness only necessary in the military, he actually preferred it, when his superiors aka. Royalty valued lenience over discipline.

    Of course that was only his personal preference and others would surely frown upon such a meek ruler.

    Anyway, the Inner Pce seemed not to be such a bad idea, if Supervisory Maid Amanda could be trusted.

    ¡°Okay. Then I shall write Her Majesty Aura a letter of rmendation for Nilda soon.¡±

    As if everything had been resolved now, Marquis Guzzle disyed a bright expression, but Amanda did not forget to remind him.

    ¡°It goes without saying that it is up to Her Majesty Aura to ept Miss Nilda into the Inner Pce or not. Please keep in mind that she might get rejected by her, so you should feel Lady Octavia out as the next best choice, just in case.¡±

    ¡°I, I know that.¡±

    The elderly Feudal Lord replied sour-faced.

    * * *

    A dragon carriage drawn by two Raptorial Dragons was running along the street of the Capital amidst the heavy rain.

    The stone-gged street might not be affected by the ¡°Rainy Season¡±, but there was less traffic for sure.

    Wealthy nobles like Marquis Guzzle were travelling in a solid closed carriage, so it was rtively irrelevant whether it was raining or not, but these people were a minority based on the total poption.

    With a lot of nobles, the Capital had a lot of dragon carriage running on its streets, so there was a business specializing in removing the feces left behind by these dragons, but the daily wages during the ¡°Rainy Season¡± were twice as much as during the ¡°Vibrant Season¡±.

    It was quite a fortune for a daybourer, but even then, it was difficult to find enough people to clean up the dragon feces during the ¡°Rainy Season¡±.

    Well, considering they had to run around therge Capital in the pouring rain and pick up muddy dragon feces from the side of the road, it might belong to human nature to stop short of it, even if the pay was good.

    Needless to say, a high noble like Marquis Guzzle could not fathom that kind of anguish of themoners.

    The dragon carriage with the Marquis inside returned from the Royal Pce to his personal residence in the Capital with heavy ttering.

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    ¡°Wee back, Milord.¡±

    Returning home, Marquis Guzzle was weed at the entrance by Joseph, who was in charge of the residence in the Capital.

    With his chubby physique and helmet-like bowl haircut, Joseph was always giving off a droll aura that soothed the atmosphere, just by standing there.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks. Amanda was doing fine, Joseph. And she was worrying about you.¡±

    Hearing the present condition of his beloved wife from his lord, Joseph showed a big smile on his round face.

    ¡°d to hear. So, what did you tell her?¡±

    ¡°I told her how you wereining about not losing any weight, of course.¡±

    ¡°Milord¡­ Why take the trouble to especially tell my wife about my bad points?¡±

    Marquis Guzzle slightly shrugged his shoulders, when his retainer red at him with a miserable face.

    ¡°Well, she asked for it. In fact, Amanda was quite happy to hear about it.¡±

    ¡°Geez, you need to be more considerate of your subordinates, Milord.¡±

    Joseph rebuked his lord with a wry face, but itcked authenticity due to his well-rounded facial traits.

    ¡°Hahaha, okay, I will keep it in mind.¡±

    ¡°Knowing your memory, it surely will not be there for long, Milord.¡±

    Even while adhering to the right tone, their bantering was quite casual. The Marquis and Joseph seemed to share an intimate friendship.

    While the two of themrked around politely like that, the pitter-patter of light footsteps could be heard from inside the residence.

    ¡°Wee back, Father!¡±

    With a bright smile on her face, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle, Nilda Guzzle appeared before them.

    She looked younger than her actual age, because of her small stature and baby-face, but she was fifteen years old, which made her an adult in the Carpa Kingdom.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m back, Nilda.¡±

    Even the fierce expression of Marquis Guzzle softened, when he saw the innocent smile of his daughter.

    Born and raised in a rural vige, Nilda had been thrown into the world of nobility all of a sudden, but probably thanks to a kind environment, she still had not lost her affable and innocent smile that flustered its beholder.

    Herck of wariness was a cause of worry to Marquis Guzzle, but at the same time, he was healed by it, so it did have its merits.

    ¡°How is it going, Nilda? Have you written the letter?¡±

    Before he left, Marquis Guzzle had given his daughter some homework, so he asked about it now.

    The letter was referring to nothing else but a letter addressed to Zenjirou.

    When Nilda had taken care of Zenjirou during his stay in the March of Guzzle, he had promised her to ¡°show her around the Capital, if she ever came over¡±.

    She was going to confirm whether that verbal promise had just been a pleasantry or a genuine offer, through an official letter.

    The daughter smiled proudly in light of her father¡¯s question

    ¡°Yes, I have written one! Will you look it over?¡±

    and looked up to him with herrge ck eyes.

    ¡°Yeah, bring it over.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Thereat the little girl quickly toddled back to her own room.

    She was going a tad too fast, but she was still the keeping dignity of ady with her pace, holding the hem of the skirt in ce.

    ¡°Hmm, seeing that, it might be safe to present her in public after all.¡±

    But when Marquis Guzzle mumbled that, Joseph denied it with a sigh next to him.

    ¡°And where exactly are you looking, Milord?¡±

    ¡°Mh? What do you mean? She looked like a finedy to me. Are you thinking otherwise?¡±

    Marquis Guzzle was aware that he himself knew little about etiquette, so he became concerned with the negative answer from his retainer, asking him again.

    Joseph kneaded his temples with the thumb and middle finger of his right hand as if it was a ¡°lost case¡±, and answered without hiding his disapproval.

    ¡°Her conduct might get a passing grade, but that is not even the problem here. Why does a Lady of the Guzzle Family need to fetch a letter ¡®by herself¡¯?

    What does she think the servants are here for?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­?¡±

    When his lord eximed dumbfounded, Joseph continued his lecture.

    ¡°Miss Nilda is taking too much after you, Milord.¡±

    ¡°U, Ugh¡­¡±

    Hit home, Marquis Guzzle averted his eyes.

    Just like Joseph had pointed out, Marquis Guzzle was too carefree, considering his position.

    It was too troublesome to get other people do every little thing for him, so he ended up doing it himself instead.

    To begin with, Nilda had been raised in a vige, where it was only natural to do things yourself, and with the bad influence from Marquis Guzzle on top of it, it was only understandable she would forget to make use of the servants.

    ¡°Hmm, then it could actually have the opposite effect, if I let her work as a waiting maid in the Inner Pce with that kind of mindset.¡±

    ¡°Milord?¡±

    Since Marquis Guzzle muttered it to himself in a very quiet voice, not even Joseph standing right next to him seemed to have heard it well and truly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll exinter. I want to hear your opinion, too.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I understand.¡±

    While the lord and his retainer were having this conversation, Nilda came back with pitter-pattering again. She was holding a dragon leather parchment as big as a post card.

    ¡°Here it is, Father.¡±

    ¡°Let me see.¡±

    Taking the dragon leather parchment from Nilda, Marquis Guzzle read through the small letter.

    Postcard-sized, the letter did not contain all that much words.

    After formally addressing Zenjirou, she started with a seasonal greeting, then asked him if she may take him up on his verbal promise and ended it with an apology for writing him all of the sudden, signing it with her name.

    Although Marquis Guzzle was not all that good with education, he did know the basics as a high-ranking noble.

    So he could at least judge if the letter was written politely and neatly enough.

    ¡°Hmm, seems to be alright.¡±

    Saying so, Marquis Guzzle handed the dragon leather parchment back to his daughter.

    ¡°Really!?¡±

    Having looked at him anxiously up till now, Nilda now showed a bright smile on her face.

    ¡°Yeah. I could point out a few things, but it will not cause any problems for now, if you send it to Master Zenjirou like that. You did well, Nilda.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Praised by her father, the daughter replied happily from the bottom of her heart.

    Seeing her like that, the Marquis remembered what Lucinda, the daughter he married off not long ago, said before.

    ¡®Please remember to praise Nilda for her sess, no matter how trivial it may be. She was raised as amoner for some time, so she is always worried if she is acting appropriate for a noble.¡¯

    Nilda had been raised by Lucinda, and definitely not by him.

    Bing painfully aware again of the hole the eldest daughter left behind, Marquis Guzzle spoke to his other daughter.

    ¡°I know how much you dislike studying, so you must have worked really hard for this. Have you been looking forward to it that much?¡±

    ¡°Yes! The garden in the Royal Pce seems to have all kind of things like a beautiful fountain or a pond with a lot of goldfishes! I really want to see that!¡±

    ¡°I see.

    Marquis Guzzle showed a wry smile in light of her answer.

    Seeing as she was trying to get closer to Prince Consort Zenjirou, the father had suspected she might harbour the ambition to get involved with the Royal Family, but the moral values of his daughter were apparently much more youthful than he had thought.

    ¡°That¡¯s definitely something to look forward to.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    It would be distasteful to question her any further, so Marquis Guzzle just looked at the dazzling smile of his daughter for a while.

 Chapter Volume 7 epilogue

    Prologue: On the Way There

    Chapter 01: Arrival

    Chapter 02: The Marriage Ceremony

    Intermission I: The Queen in the Capital

    Chapter 03: For a Trivial Reason

    Intermission 2: The Queen has Confidence

    Chapter 04: Neck-and-neck Argument

    Chapter 05: Nigh on Conclusion

    Chapter 06: In the Aftermath

    Epilogue: The Way Back Home

    <b>Prologue: On the Way There</b>

    The "Meat Dragon" was a four-legged herbivore dragon that had been domesticated as a livestock on the South Continent for its meat. It breed often, grew up quickly and most of its body could be eaten, so these characteristics earned it the name "Meat Dragon" against its will.

    The majority of the meat that currentlynded on the dining tables of the South Continent came from domesticated "Meat Dragons", but needless to say, there were numerous wild "Meat Dragons" living in the wilderness as well.

    It was extremely easily to differentiate between a wild Meat Dragon and a domesticated Meat Dragon: The wild ones still had their two horns growing on their heads while the domesticated ones had them cut off.

    With their horns cut off, the Meat Dragons did not only lose their means for a physical attack, but also became less aggressive in their nature, which made it easier to rear them. Hence the horns of cultivated Meat Dragons were cut off after they reached a certain age. On the other hand, it meant that the wild Meat Dragons were surprisingly aggressive and dangerous.

    The furious onught from a wild Meat Dragon with its two horns could sometimes even catch a hunter or soldier off-guard.

    So a powerless viger would avoid any contact with wild Meat Dragons as much as possible.

    But it would bepletely different matter, when they banded together as an armed group. With a glint in their eyes, they would then kill the wild Meat Dragon.

    The Carpa Kingdom had a lot more preserved food than the North Continent for example, since it was the biggest producer of salt and spices, but it was not all that pleasant to keep living off just them for a long time.

    Forced to eat mainly jerked meat seasoned with salt and pepper along with dry tbread every day, the people started to see the initially dangerous wild Meat Dragons as nothing but a source for "juicy meat".

    And Zenjirou and his group on their way to the March of Guzzle were no exception.

    As a result, the wild Meat Dragon, who carelessly had revealed itself from the forest along the Salt Road, was hunted by the soldiers with bloodshot eyes.

    "GROWL!"

    "There it is!"

    "Don''t let it get away!"

    "It''sing your way, get ready!"

    Several soldiers were chasing after one Meat Dragon in the thick forest besides the Salt Road.

    An experienced hunter would immobilize it with a trap and finish it off with arrows from afar, but the ordinary soldiers took a more primitive approach: Cursorial Hunting.

    "Uwah!?"

    "It''s friggin'' huge!"

    "Don''t you dare to let it get away!"

    With their brandished spears, the soldiers chevied the Meat Dragon towards the road from all sides.

    A silver-haired girl and a blonde female soldier were awaiting it on the road.

    Princess Freya, the silver-haired girl, could neither conceal her tension, nor her excitement, as she held a long spear that was almost twice the height of herself with both hands.

    "Here ites, Mdy. Maybe I should take over after all?"

    Skathi, the blonde female soldier standing next to her, took one step forward as though protecting her master with the short spear and wooden shield in her hands, when she called out to her like that.

    But Princess Freya firmly shook her head in light of the consideration of her trusted retainer, so that her short silver hair fluttered about.

    "No, let me do this, Skathi. I will not get another chance to take down a dragon like this again."

    Even more than nervousness, her two eyes, fixated on the forest before her, revealed an eager glint of excitement while she said that.

    "Very well. From what I have heard, the Meat Dragon seems to behave like a boar. Please do not face it head-on, but rather attack it from the side with your spear."

    "Yes, I know."

    With the approval of her bodyguard, the princess from the Northern Continent showed a smile consisting of nervousness and tion alike, and red into the thick forest.

    "GROWL!"

    A few momentster, it appeared in the forest near the road.

    The wild Meat Dragon proudly bore the two horns on its head forward and jumped out onto the road while breaking through the thick branchwood with its massive body.

    "Watch out, Mdy!"

    "Y- Yes!"

    Princess Freya definitely was nervous, when she saw a wild dragon for the first time.

    Theparison to a boar had been suitable, seeing as it rushed at her in a straight line with its small round eyes bloodshot with agitation. Its appearance was quite redolent of the dinosaur called "triceratops" that had lived on Earth a long time ago. But unlike the triceratops, it had no horn on its nose.

    The biggest difference between a Meat Dragon and a boar was the size.

    Assuming the Meat Dragon in front of Princess Freya had the size of an average specimen of his race, it meant that the Meat Dragon was two or three times bigger than a boar.

    "GROOOWL!"

    When the Meat Dragon rushed straight at her with a battle cry, Princess Freya inadvertently raised the corners of her mouths into a crescent-shaped smile.

    At home, they only had her let hunt rabbits, foxes or a deer at best, but here, she was allowed to face a dragon, even if it was only a herbivore one.

    A shiver of excitement ran down her spine and she suppressed the urge tounch an attack herself. Instead she peered hard at the approaching huge dragon with the long spear in hand.

    "GROWL!"

    "Now!"

    She evaded the Meat Dragon by quickly stepping out of its path and then stabbed her long spear into the side of the dragon at full tilt.

    "Hah!"

    "GRRR!"

    Her all-out attack perfectly pierced the left shoulder of the dragon.

    But even though the attack from the light-weighted princess did harm the Meat Dragon, it did not finish it off.

    "Huh?"

    Moreover, she was suddenly in the path of its onught again, either because she had not stepped away far enough before or because she had pressed forward too far for her attack afterwards.

    The watching female soldier reacted to the predicament faster than the person in question herself.

    "Mdy! Down!"

    She was ordering her master like a pet dog, but given the circumstances, it could not be helped.

    "Yes!"

    Princess Freya obediently did like she was told and ducked down, practically throwing herself onto the ground.

    "Hah!"

    In the next moment, the leg of the female soldier swept over the ducked back of her master like a gust of wind.

    Skathi was pretty much a giant of a woman, but even then, her body mass was not even a quarter of the Meat Dragon. It definitely was impossible for her to stop the onught of the dragon head-on.

    But she could at least deflect it to the side for a bit by using a technique that applied all of her bodyweight to the impact of her leg.

    "GRR!"

    Skathi performed a perfect textbook example of a roundhouse kick, kicking the Meat Dragon right into its side.

    Just like she had nned, her attack deflected the onught of the Meat Dragon to the side and it staggered past the ducked princess.

    After thebined attack from Princess Freya''s spear and Skathi''s leg, the Meat Dragon tripped over its own legs and fell t onto the road. It seemed that it was not dead yet, seeing as it convulsed in pain on the ground with the white of its eyes showing, but it had obviously lost consciousness.

    "Well done, Mdy. Now, please finish it off before it wakes up again."

    The tall female warrior held out her hand to her prostrated master.

    "Thank you, Skathi. But now it counts as your kill and not mine, or am I wrong?"

    Princess Freya stood up with Skathi''s help, casually wiped the dirt off her cheeks with her sleeve and uttered displeased with puckered lips.

    It certainly looked like the kick from Skathi had been the decisive blow.

    Her grumbling was not met with a response from Skathi, but from a soldier of the Carpa Kingdom, who had chased the Meat Dragon here.

    "Not at all, Princess Freya. You inflicted a lethal wound on the Meat Dragon without doubt. It would have only been a matter of time until it died. Miss Victoria merely intervened to protect you."

    In view of that, Princess Freya squatted down near the Meat Dragon and examined the piercing wound she herself had inflicted on it.

    "¡­I see. That certainly seems to be the case."

    Looking at the copsed dragon confirmed that her spear had pierced into its flesh quite deeply. Apparently the soldier had not been ttering her, when he had said that her spear attack had inflicted a lethal wound.

    "Okay. Then¡­"

    Princess Freya honestly acknowledged their pleas and drew her favourite hatchet from its holster at her waist.

    "Where do I have to stab it to kill it? I have to admit that it is my first time going up against a dragon."

    "Right here in the back of the neck, Your Highness. Are you sure that you do not want to use a iron spear instead?"

    The soldier asked her worriedly. His concern was reasonable. It was by no means an easy task to finish off arge dragon with a strong vitality.

    But Princess Freya just smiled warmly.

    "I appreciate your concern, but I will be fine. This is my speciality."

    With these words, she confidently raised up her right hand holding her favourite hatchet in a fluent motion.

    As a matter of fact, Princess Freya was not lying. As a svenskar and a woman, she had a rather petite physique, so her overall fighting capacity was no better than an ordinary soldier, no matter how harsh she may train, but at least her skill with the hatchet was first-rate. Moreover, it absolutely suited her personality.

    Hence she had never failed to finish off her "prey" with it, whether it was a two-legged or four-legged animal. And her achievement was not tainted on the South Continent, either.

    "So, right here? Okay, here I go!"

    Princess Freya swiftly struck with her hatchet and severed the neck of the Meat Dragon with one strike just like the soldier had rmended.

    While Princess Freya worked up a sweat in the dragon hunt, Zenjirou patiently waited inside the carriage at the side of the road for its conclusion.

    The young girl was bravely participating in the hunt, whereas the grown-up man holed up inside the dragon carriage. This sounded rather pathetic by itself, but as a matter of fact, Zenjirou would be of no help and just a burden, even if he were to go out there, because he did not even know proper self-defence.

    He could only make himself useful by letting the princess protect him.

    Zenjirou wriggled about on his chair inside the wide carriage a bit ufortable, when he suddenly heard the cheers of the soldiers from outside before long.

    "Natalio?"

    "Yes, it seems the hunt has ended sessfully. It should be fine to head outside now. Will you go out, Master Zenjirou?"

    Zenjirou agreed with Natalio sitting across from him.

    "Indeed. You will take the lead, Natalio, Ines."

    "Yes, Sire."

    "Understood."

    Prompted like that, the knight and maid sitting across from him stood up together.

    The dragon carriage Zenjirou was currently boarding was a huge carriage drawn by eight dragons for royalty only.

    Its ceiling was so high that a grown-up man did not need to worry about bumping his head, when standing up.

    The whole carriage was actually so big that a person from Modern Earth would rather associate it with a passenger wagon of a train than a carriage.

    Just in case, Knight Natalio left the carriage first and checked, whether the situation was under control.

    "Everything is alright, Master Zenjirou."

    "Good."

    Hearing his words, Zenjirou also got off the carriage.

    "Phew, so bright."

    Stepping out of the carriage into the midday sun, he blinked a few times, because his eyes watered from the sudden change in light.

    While he squinted against the sun, the soldiers, who had guarded the carriage so far, gathered around him and formed a protective wall.

    As a formermoner, Zenjirou felt extremely ufortable to be nked by armed soldiers at all sides, but now that he was royalty, it was a given that he was apanied by so many guards, whenever he went outside.

    Knight Natalio was leading the guards. For now, he was the only knight that had sworn loyalty to Zenjirou himself.

    The guards, starting with Knight Natalio, stayed at his side by the same distance to him at all times, even without any directions.

    Whether he slowed down, because he looked around, stopped for a moment, because of a misstep, or quickened his pace, because he wanted to gloss over his misstep, the circle of soldiers around him never got into a state of disorder.

    Even if he were to suddenly start sprinting, it was unlikely he would be able to shake them off.

    So Zenjirou advanced on the "Salt Road", chaperoned by these diligent soldiers.

    "Feels like I hit upon a wide forest trail on my way to my mountain cabin."

    Walking on the road of soil overgrown with weeds, Zenjirou mumbled to himself. People of Modern Earth rarely got to see roads that were not asphalted.

    Zenjirou came from a country vige in the middle of nowhere, but even there, the main road had properly been asphalted. You would onlye across a holey path of soil as a cart track between fields or an abandoned mountain track.

    And because he was still not used to wearing the leather boots of this world, Zenjirou struggled along a bit clumsily, when the maid Ines suddenly passed by him.

    She outpaced him with a normal walking pace, so Zenjirou felt no need to reprimand her about it and just let it slide.

    Overtaking her master, the maid smoothly went over to Knight Natalio keeping watch in front of Zenjirou, and whispered a word or two into his ear.

    "!?"

    Knight Natalio gave a jerk to her words for a moment, but in the next moment, he pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back, quickly nocked it and send it towards the crown of a tree.

    "Hah!"

    The arrow was released with a small outcry from Knight Natalio and hit the "something" that was hiding high up in the treetop.

    "GYA!?"

    That "something" raised a shrill scream from high up and fell straight down to the side of the road.

    Zenjirou impulsively stopped in his track, when he heard that scream and its thud.

    Standing protective before Zenjirou, Knight Natalio still kept the dragon bow in his left hand ready and gave orders to the cautious soldiers near by.

    "It was a ''Thieving Dragon''. I think I finished it off, but you three, go take a look. Kill it if it is still alive. Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled!"

    "Yes, Sir!"

    With the instructions from Knight Natalio, three of the soldiers guarding Zenjirou rushed over to the side of the road.

    "Hmp!"

    "GII¡­"

    Apparently it was still alive as one of the soldiers impaled it with the short spear in his hands.

    "All clear. It''s dead now!"

    When the soldier waved his hand with these words, Knight Natalio acted as well.

    "Master Zenjirou, the danger has been averted. Please move on."

    "O- Okay."

    Overwhelmed by the all too fast development in front of his eyes, Zenjirou nodded absentmindedly and picked up the pace again.

    Before long, he arrived at the side of the road, where it had fallen down.

    "Well, this¡­ is not a pretty sight."

    Seeing the dead dragon, Zenjirou frowned unconsciously.

    "The ''Thieving Dragon'' is an outcast of the forest in more than one way after all."

    Knight Natalio consented to Zenjirou with a wry smile.

    In fact, it was quite the eerie sight.

    Almost half as big as a grown man, its whole body was covered by dark green scales, so it was a dragon aka. reptile, but its physique was closer to that of a monkey.

    Short legs and long arms coupled with a long and narrow tail. It had the typical build of an animal living on top of trees, but the face was that of a lizard.

    As it was already dead, its long forked tongue hung out limply from its pointed snout, which only added to its eeriness.

    "An outcast of the forest? So its appearance is not the only issue?"

    Knight Natalio nodded shortly to the question from Zenjirou.

    "Yes. As its name implies, it is a dragon that steals. It hides itself in the crown of the trees and attacks its prey from above, when it passes by. They are pretty daring in their efforts, so even pack animals like carnivore dragons fall an easy prey to them and get their eggs or nestlings stolen.

    Needless to say, we humans are no exception. Children or small women are targeted by the ''Thief Dragons'' first and if there is no such target, they go for the next best prey. In other words, they steal a ''part of their prey'' by tearing it off with their sharp fangs."

    In case of humans, a part would probably be an arm or the head.

    Zenjirou grimaced terrified in light of the exnation from Knight Natalio.

    "That¡­ sounds dreadful. I am d you killed it, Natalio."

    "It was not me, but Ines, who noticed the ''Thieving Dragon''. Please direct these words at her."

    Surprised by the knight''s words, Zenjirou shifted his gaze to the middle-age attendant, but came to a realisation at the same time.

    Earlier, Ines had suddenly passed him from behind to whisper something into the ear of Knight Natalio at the front. At that time, she must have told him about the Thieving Dragon.

    "I just happened to spot it. If anything, I say Sir Natalio deserves the praise for his swift and urate reaction."

    Ines shook her head with wry smile and praised the skills of Knight Natalio like that.

    "Yes, certainly."

    Looking up the tree, Zenjirou was convinced by her words.

    Even the smaller ones amongst the big trees standing on both sides of the road were at least bigger than an electricity pole, whereas the bigger ones were sometimes twice as big.

    Knight Natalio had sent an arrow up that high and had hit the vitals of the "Thieving Dragon" with his bow, so his masterful skills were beyond all question. Moreover, he had done so quite quickly without taking proper aim at the hidden "Thieving Dragon".

    Even if you took into consideration that he was using a superior dragon bow, it was still quite the feat.

    "It''s reassuring. Unfortunately I am no stronger than a woman or a child, so I will be counting on you well and truly."

    "Yes, Sire. Please rest assured. I will protect you, even if it costs my life."

    While talking with Knight Natalio like that, Zenjirou moved along the road and in time, Princess Freya and the others came into sight.

    Princess Freya noticed him first of all and waved with a bright smile.

    "Ahaha¡­"

    Zenjirou waved back, but his face was showing a dry smile.

    "Her Highness Freya seems to be quite the active person."

    Maid Ines interjected somewhat far-fetched, to which Zenjirou nodded assenting without breaking his dry smile.

    "Yeah, her vigour sure is to be envied."

    The hand the smiling princess waved with was firmly holding the blood-smeared hatchet.

    <b>Chapter 01: Arrival</b>

    Aside from some encounters with wild dragons, Zenjirou and his group arrived safely in the March of Guzzle without any further incidents.

    The capital of the March of Guzzle was a city fortified with high walls.

    Needless to say, it was nothing out of the ordinary. The South Continent was housing obviously hostile creatures in form of dragons, so every human settlement in the bordends was protected by walls to a greater or lesser extent.

    On top of that, the building of the feudal lord in the middle of the capital resembled a fortress, symbolizing the fortitude and straightforwardness of the Guzzle Family.

    In other words, it was a fortification within a fortification.

    That fortress was quiterge, giving the townspeople the opportunity to withdraw there in case of need, but it had practically no pompous beautification.

    Truth be told, it deserved the term "shabby", whenparing it to the Royal or Inner Pce, where Zenjirou usually spent his time, or even the Mansion in Valentia, where he had stayed for a month not long ago.

    But Zenjirou was d to be in a proper building again after he had spent thest few days in the bumpy carriage and foreign wilderness.

    Having reached his destination, he finally cast off his travelling attire and heaved a sigh of relief.

    "Hah, sweet freedom¡­"

    In the building allocated to him within the residence of the feudal lord, Zenjirou sloppily got rid of his shoes and socks, flopped himself onto the couch and rested his bare feet on the low table.

    He rarely ever disyed such an ill-mannered behaviour, not even in his Inner Pce, but right now, he was too tired to care. The ride in the carriage without proper suspension and the unfamiliar camping outside had exhausted his stamina and mind to the limit.

    "You have done well, Master Zenjirou. Would you like some water?"

    Waiting Maid Ines gave a warm smile and offered him a silver goblet with cold water.

    She and Zenjirou were currently the only ones in the room. In front of the acquainted maid of the Inner Pce, he could unwind.

    "Yeah, thanks, Ines. But I''ve to say, you sure are tough. You should actually be even more tired than me, since you took care of me the whole time."

    Saying this, Zenjirou looked up to the waiting maid standing next to the couch.

    Just like he had mentioned, the dignified appearance of Ines showed not the slightest hint of exhaustion.

    The middle-aged maid showed a faint smile in reaction to the appreciation of her master.

    "Well, I am used to it. I have been serving Her Majesty Aura on the battlefield during the previous war as well."

    "Oh, wow. Not bad."

    Zenjirou was honestly surprised at the confession from Ines. He was certainly surprised, but at the same time, he made sense of it. Ines surely had been sent with him this andst time, because she had that kind of backbone.

    The attendance in the wilderness would be difficult for a normal waiting maid that had never left the Royal or Inner Pce before.

    Ines took the empty goblet out of Zenjirou''s hand and said.

    "It seems that you will be staying in this building. I am sure there will be all kind of inconveniences, but please bear with it."

    "Yeah, I know. It''s no problem. I expected this from the beginning."

    Still slumping down in the couch sloppily, Zenjirou answered Ines like that.

    The oldest daughter of the Guzzle Family, Lucinda, was going to marry General Puyol. Zenjirou hade all the way to the March of Guzzle to attend their marriage ceremony.

    It goes without saying that General Puyol was the guest of honour this time around. Hence the main building of the residence of the feudal lord was used by General Puyol and his rtives as well as the Guzzle Family itself.

    So it was inevitable that Zenjirou was ced in the adjacent building, even as royalty. He usually did not need all that much personal space, so the annex building was not bothering him at all.

    He had been a bit perplexed, when he found out that the building had no own bath, but they were going to prepare a bathtub for him every day, so he could put up with it. Of course he would refuse to live his life in a house without a bath, but it was no reason to be willful, when he was just staying in it for the period of his visit.

    "Fuh¡­"

    For a while, he justzed around on the couch, when Ines suddenly called out to him.

    "Master Zenjirou. I am sorry to interrupt your rest, but I think it is about time the Guzzle Family will send a messenger to wee you.

    Pleasepose your clothing a bit. Even casual wear will be alright."

    "Oh, already thatte? Got it."

    With these words, Zenjirou reached out for some socks and indoor shoes.

    The only maid he had brought along from the Inner Pce on this asion was Ines. After all, the marriage between the eldest daughter of a feudal lord and a brass hat of the military was a big event, so an unbelievable number of nobles was rushing for the March of Guzzle.

    The capital of the March of Guzzle was built to withstand long-time sieges, so it was big enough to amodate that unbelievable amount of nobles, but it did not change the fact that the guests were putting arge strain on the capacity of their sleeping quarters as well as food provisions.

    Because of that, the number of servants they brought along was supposed to be kept to a bare minimum.

    Zenjirou fixed his attire and sat down on the couch again, mannerly this time. Before long, the door was knocked.

    Three women entered the room. Two of them were obviously past their youth, but the third one was a girl so small that she still looked like a child.

    Although they might as well be mother and daughter in age, it was obvious at a nce that the little girl was the important figure of them. For one thing she was standing in the middle, for another thing she alone was wearing different clothes.

    The two middle-aged women wore something in, almost like an uniform, whereas the girl was wearing a dress of clearly superior cloth, even if its design was simple.

    She was not a mere messenger, but obviously the daughter of a noble.

    (Is she the child of a branch family?)

    While this thought crossed Zenjirou''s mind, the girl opened her mouth with an expression stiff from nervousness.

    "It- It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Zenjirou. My name is Nilda, the second daughter of the Guzzle Family.

    My father has asked me to take care of you during your stay here. Please just say the word, if you need anything."

    She must have practiced it beforehand. Despite her nervousness, the little girl, Nilda smoothly delivered her speech without stuttering and then lowered her head politely so that her short ponytail swung around.

    "Okay. Then I shall take you up on your offer. By the way, could it be that you are the little sister of Lady Lucinda and Sir Xavier, seeing as you said that you are the second daughter?"

    Zenjirou was puzzled by her introduction at heart, but kept hisposure on the outside for now as he asked this.

    Unaware of these inner thoughts of the Prince Consort, the little girl widened her alreadyrge ck eyes even further

    "Yes, quite so! Although our mothers are different, Lucinda is my older sister and Xavier is my older brother!"

    and replied like that in an energetic voice. Judging by her expression seized with pride and joy, she seemed to harbour an honest affection for Lucinda and Xavier.

    It was not umon that siblings of different mothers were harbouringplicated feelings towards each other in High Society, but that did not seem to be the case for the Guzzle Family.

    "Sir Xavier looked after me in Valentia. If the chance arises, I would like to speak to him again."

    "Thank you for your kind words. I will ry it to my brother."

    Nilda smiled even happier as a result of his words.

    "Then I already have the first request. Can you arrange a bath for me? I worked up a sweat on the way here and would like to wash it off before dinner."

    "Yes, of course. I shall arrange for it immediately."

    When Zenjirou requested that, the petite girl straightened herself and bowed with a jerk. Then she left the room together with the two middle-aged servants.

    "¡­Ines."

    Zenjirou remained silent for a while after Nilda and the other two were gone, then called out the name of the waiting maid standing next to him with a stern expression.

    "Yes, what is the matter, Master Zenjirou?"

    "Her Majesty Aura has briefed me about the important people of the Guzzle Family prior to this. However, a Nilda Guzzle was not amongst them.

    Can I assume that Her Majesty purposefully did not tell me about her?"

    He was alone with Ines now, but he still kept the attitude and tone of Royalty, so she must have discerned the importance of his question from that.

    The faithful maid kept her stern expression, when she immediately shook her head to the question of her master.

    "No. I dare to say that is not the case. Her Majesty Aura has no reason to keep her existence from you, even if she is the daughter of a mistress."

    Zenjirou rxed his shoulders a bit relieved, when Ines answered him t out.

    Aura was his beloved wife, but before that, she was also the Queen of a country, so he did understand that she obviously kept some things from him or schemed some ploys unknown to him, but at the same time, it was obviously not a pleasant feeling to have your wife do that to you.

    Hence he immediately felt better, when that possibility was ruled out.

    "Then she did not cause this misinformation on purpose. The easiest exnation would be that it ''slipped her mind to tell me''¡­"

    "Her Majesty is only human, too, after all, so that possibility is not unthinkable, but I would say we can rule it out for now, because Secretary Fabio is with her."

    "Then the only other exnation is that Her Majesty did not know about her, either¡­ Is that even possible? That Her Majesty does not know about a child from an influential feudal lord?"

    Zenjirou cocked his head doubtful, whereupon Ines responded with a businesslike tone.

    "It is rtively well-known, when an illegitimate child does not get acknowledged. But it also not unheard of that a feudal lord tried to conceal his child from Royalty in the past, either.

    But in neither of these cases, they would have made Lady Nilda appear before you like this.

    So it would mean that she is abiding by some kind of conspiracy, but for that, Lady Nilda showed no guilt in her eyes and behaved straightforward, even if a bit nervous. And above all, the Guzzle Family is not known for acting underhanded like this, so I believe that possibility is extremely unlikely as well."

    "In the end, this got us nowhere."

    "So it would seem."

    The situation was obviously strange, but the other party was not behaving conspicuous, so their intentions were not perceptible.

    "¡­.."

    Slumping deep into the couch, Zenjirou pondered for a while with his hand against his chin, but in the end, there was only one conclusion he could arrive at.

    "I will inform Her Majesty Aura and await her instructions. Until then, we will not stir up this matter any further."

    "Very well. I will prepare everything at once."

    Like always, Zenjirou was going to rely on Aura''s judgment. Ines just lowered her head respectfully.

    * * *

    Evening of the same day.

    After washing off the sweat from the travel in the bathtub, Zenjirou had taken a short nap to relieve his fatigue. Now waiting maid Ines woke him up and informed him about the dinner ns.

    "Ehm, in other words, today''s dinner will be an ''open-air banquet hosted by Princess Freya'' in the garden of this building?"

    "Yes. Or more precisely, Princess Freya does want to hold it like that and is awaiting your approval for it.

    We still have a lot of the smoked meat of the ''Meat Dragon'' from the other day left over, so she suggested we share it with everyone. Well, if you are against it, the whole meat will just be gifted to the Guzzle Family."

    "Oh, that meat."

    A few days ago, Princess Freya had killed a wild Meat Dragon along the Salt Road and Zenjirou still had not forgotten about it.

    Most of the killed dragon had been consumed for dinner on that very day, but they had smoked the leftovers and put them into the supply cart.

    Apparently Princess Freya wanted to host a great banquet with that smoked meat now.

    "I do not really mind giving my permission for it, but what are the respective consequences for allowing or refusing it?"

    The middle-aged maid smoothly answered the question from her master without pause.

    "Well, considering that the banquet shall be held in the garden, you would have to invite Lady Nilda, because she is responsible for this building, as well as some other nobles, too.

    And when Princess Freya is the host of such an event with your permission, it will only reinforce their impression that she will be your concubine.

    On the other hand, if you were to refuse it, it will give the opposite impression. Namely that you have reservations towards Princess Freya."

    "I see¡­"

    Zenjirou could not help but grimace in reaction to the detailed exnation from the waiting maid.

    In short, he would practically be announcing to the guests that he himself was weing Princess Freya as his concubine, if he were to ept her request.

    He would literally do away with himself with that decision, seeing as he actually did not want to take a concubine.

    Then he should just refuse her request. But unfortunately, it was not that simple. Refusing her in turn would be like officially announcing that he did not ept Princess Freya.

    Queen Aura herself had officially recognized her concubine matter insofar as allowing her to attend this marriage ceremony as a partner for Zenjirou.

    If Zenjirou were to reject Princess Freya in the open now, it would give other people the misunderstanding that the Queen and her Prince Consort had a conflict of opinions.

    "Fine. Tell her she has my permission."

    In the end, Zenjirou could only do this, even if he knew that he was putting his own head in the noose.

    His own self-interest against the reputation of the Queen. It goes without saying which he ought to prioritize.

    His waiting maid lowered her head briefly in light of her master''s response.

    "Understood, Master Zenjirou. I will convey it to her."

    "Good."

    With this short reply, Zenjirou stood up from the couch and started to change his clothes.

    By now, he had gotten less reluctant to let the maids see him in pyjamas or underwear, so he tantly took off his blue-striped pyjama and let Ines help him put on the traditional clothes of the Carpa Kingdom.

    These clothes were the same as the third official attire he often wore in the Royal Pce, but with less decoration and easier to move in. Zenjirou had gotten used to the traditional clothestely, so he had faith in himself to put them on by himself, but ording to the waiting maids of the Inner Pce, it would turn into a "scandal", if he were to appear in public after putting them on without their help.

    While changing his clothes, he made some small-talk with Ines.

    "Are you getting along well with Princess Freya, Master Zenjirou?"

    "Hmm. I''m sure we''ve grown pretty close on the way here. After all, we spent several days together in the same carriage. And I don''t really dislike her personality, anyway."

    He was being honest, when he said that.

    Her behaviour and choice of words was certainly sophisticated, but Princess Freya did not really beat around the bush like nobility usually did, liked to move around and disyed a variety of expression, so Zenjirou was by no means put off by her.

    "Then there should be no problem to ept her as a concubine, right?"

    But he firmly shook his head in reaction to the question from Ines.

    "These are two different things altogether. The problem is not my feelings towards her, but my fear of disrupting our domestic peace by taking a second wife."

    It would work out, if they were "a happily married couple + a woman on friendly terms with both of them", but Zenjirou could not envision a bright future, when "two women loved the same man", no matter how well these two women might actually get along.

    He did acknowledged the difference in their culture and moral values in the head, but his heart had a hard time catching up to it.

    "It''s reallyfortable in the Inner Pce with Aura, Zenkichi and me right now.

    I know Princess Freya is a good girl, but to be honest, I''m scared to add her to our harmonic family."

    Ines narrowed her eyes to slits, like being blinded, when Zenjirou gave her his honest opinion.

    "You sure love Her Majesty Aura and Prince Carlo-Zen from the bottom of your heart."

    "Ah, well, yeah. Oh, speaking of Zenkichi, you always call him Carlo-Zen."

    Embarrassed by the straightpliment, Zenjirou stammered a bit and quickly changed the topic.

    Carlos Zenkichi. In short, Carlo-Zen. In fact, Zenjirou was the only one calling him Zenkichi and about everyone else called him Carlos. Ines was actually one of the very few that referred to him as Carlo-Zen.

    Zenjirou had brought up the matter without any ulterior motive. He just had wanted to change the topic, but it was somewhat meaningful for Ines.

    "You are right. The title of ''Princess Carlos'' always reminds me of Histe Majesty Carlos II. after all."

    With a distant look in her eyes, Ines uttered mncholic.

    "His Majesty Carlos II.? You mean Aura''s predecessor? Now that you mention it, they do have the same name. Ah, but shouldn''t it be ''His Majesty Carlos'' instead of ''Prince Carlos'' for him?"

    Recalling the knowledge he learned from Lady Octavia, Zenjirou asked this, whereupon Ines shook her head a bit, the distant look still in her eyes.

    "Yes, you are right. But His Majesty had only assumed the throne for less than a year. I was always calling him ''Prince Carlos'', back then when I served him."

    "Say what!? You have served thete king?"

    He widened his eyes in surprise, but it was actually only normal that she did.

    Ines was ten years older than Aura, so it was not all that surprising that she had served a different master before Aura.

    "Yes. That is why I cannot help but recall His Late Majesty, when I hear the title ''Prince Carlos'', so I would rather use the address of ''Prince Carlo-Zen''. If you have a problem with it, I can correct myself, though?"

    She asked him that, but Zenjirou shook his head with a smile.

    "No, keep it up. I was just curious about it."

    No matter what she called him, it was beyond all question that Ines treated his son with respect and affection, so there was no need to stick at such trifles.

    She must have noticed the faith he put in her.

    "Thank you very much, Master Zenjirou. Okay, we are done now."

    After helping him dress up, Ines showed a warm smile and lowered her head a bit.

    * * *

    For High Society, it was nothing special to host a banquet in the garden, so the yard of the annex building in the residence of the Guzzle Family had all the necessary equipment as well.

    Well, it was just a well for washing the ingredients, a counter for preparing the food and a stone hearth for cooking, but it was enough to do some simple cooking like a barbeque without problems.

    The roasting meat and vegetables gave off an aromatic smell while the fire illuminated the smiling face of Princess Freya, which Zenjirou was observing from a bit apart.

    "Okay, it looks done. I will slice it up, so please give me a moment."

    Princess Freya truly seemed to enjoy herself in the role of the head chef. With a smile on her face the whole time, she moved around busily while her short silver hair was dyed red by the fire.

    She was supposed to be true-blood royalty, but her bright smile as she sliced the meat was genuine without doubt.

    (Maybe she likes cooking?)

    Arge silhouette approached Zenjirou while he harboured that thought.

    "Your Majesty Zenjirou, if you would like, please take this."

    He was offered a silver te with a meat and vegetable skewer by a woman so tall he had too look up to her. It was Victoria Kronkvist alias Skathi.

    "Oh, Miss Victoria. Thanks."

    Zenjirou took the skewer from the te the trusted retainer of Princess Freya held out to him and thanked her while holding up the skewer.

    "No, I should be thanking you, Your Majesty.

    Thank you very much for allowing the Mdy to host this banquet tonight.

    I am expressing the greatest gratitude in ce of my master."

    The female warrior solemnly lowered her head with these words, whereas Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled with the skewer still in hand.

    By allowing her to host this banquet, Zenjirou had taken another step forward to epting Princess Freya as his concubine, but he got the feeling that Skathi was not thanking him for that reason.

    "¡­I am not familiar with the culture of the North Continent, but does an open-air banquet happen to have some kind of special meaning to it there?"

    Zenjirou wondered, if he had been deceived, so he automatically asked this with a somewhat stiff voice, but the tall woman shook her head unintimidated.

    "No, Your Majesty. You have nothing to fear from it.

    But it is indeed somewhat special. You see, the Mdy has always dreamed of hosting an official banquet with the prey she had finished off herself.

    In our country, only ''warriors'' are giving that privilege."

    He more or less discerned what Skathi was getting at. After taking a bite from the skewer and chewing it thoroughly, he opened his mouth.

    "¡­That means Princess Freya is not a warrior? Our soldiers were praising her spearmanship, when she finished off the Meat Dragon, though."

    In the Carpa Kingdom, women could never be warriors, but it should be different for their mothend, the Upps Kingdom. After all Skathi, the woman in front of him, had proimed to be a "warrior" herself.

    She must have realized why Zenjirou asked that.

    Skathi shook her head with a small smile.

    "Mdy certainly does have the minimum fitness to fight. But a woman cannot be a ''warrior'' with that.

    For a woman to be a warrior, she needs to be at least as strong as a ''Hundra'', which is three ranks above her current level."

    Even in the Upps Kingdom, the men generally took up the arms. So when a woman was only as strong as an average man, she was obliged to fulfil her role as a woman instead.

    Their reasoning was that any other man could take her ce, but only a woman could give birth, so she ought to fulfil that duty.

    But precious few women were born with a talent for martial arts so great that it would be "a waste to force them into the role of a woman".

    Only women, who outperformed an average man by far, were allowed to be "warriors", because their martial art skills were more profitable to the country or tribe than motherhood.

    The female warriors of the Upps Kingdom literally had to be mannish women and more mannish than your average guy, at that.

    "I see¡­"

    Zenjirou was convinced by that exnation.

    It was not hard to imagine how much Princess Freya yearned for the title for a "warrior", seeing as she was not content with getting stereotyped.

    So it was most understandable that she could not rein in her excitement for putting on a banquet with the prey she had finished herself, a privilege that was usually only given to warriors.

    Zenjirou sat down on a trimmed tree stump and looked around.

    The banquet resembled the outdoor camping event from his middle school days, but most of the participants here were the soldiers that had guarded him up till now.

    Because this event was held in appreciation for the hard work of the soldiers, only a handful of nobility from rear vassals of the Guzzle Family had been invited in addition to Nilda Guzzle, the nominal caretaker of this annex building.

    Everyone was busy preparing for theing marriage ceremony, so it would nothing but trouble, if Royalty were to throw a big party here.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou did not have to deal with troublesome conversations. Something he was very d about.

    "I cordially thank you for inviting me today, Master Zenjirou."

    While he was making himselffortable on the stump, a little girl approached him: Nilda Guzzle.

    With herrge ck eyes beaming out on him, Nilda took hold of her skirt and did a curtsy.

    "Well, it is not my party, but Princess Freya''s, though. The dishes from a Meat Dragon she killed herself, too. I hope it suits your taste."

    "Yes, she was kind enough to share some with me earlier. It is really delicious."

    Themon tinge of ttery was absent in her bright smile, when she answered like that.

    The skewer of smoked meat seasoned with spices and salt was actually a rather in dish, but she was eating it with relish.

    "Princess Freya sure is courageous for finishing off a wild Meat Dragon with a spear. I have seen a wild dragon once, when I was still living in the vige, but I cannot even imagine going up against one. My legs would give in just from standing in front of it."

    Nilda shivered with fright, whereupon Zenjirou smiled vaguely.

    "You lived in a vige?"

    "Yes. I was born and raised there by my mother. My father Marquis Guzzle found me, when I was nine, and acknowledged me as someone from the Guzzle Family."

    "I see¡­"

    In other words, the feudal lord hadid hands on a female subject, making an illegitimate child without intending to.

    That sounded like a difficult upbringing, if it was really true, but with that said, her expression was not tainted with sadness in the least.

    (Maybe she was born with a carefree nature? Or did she have really kind people around her in both households?)

    Completely unaware of his thoughts, Nilda kept on talking with an amiable bright smile.

    "So I do have taken care of domestic Meat Dragons or Hulking Dragons before, but docile dragons are still plenty scary.

    To think that she stood up against a wild dragon. I really respect that."

    Her big eyes gleamed with respect, just like she had said.

    At some point, the girl had all forgotten about her nervousness and reservation, talking to him most affable. Zenjirou gave her a wry smile and carefully picked his words to caution her.

    "Yes, Princess Freya certainly is formidable. But you know, Nilda, it would be better, if you refrained from speaking so openly, even if it is meant as praise.

    A lot of people in High Society tend to be offended by it and sometimes it can even cause a dispute."

    "Yes, Master Zenjirou. I will take it to heart from now on. Thank you very much for your advisement."

    Nilda looked bashfully at the ground as a result of his warning, exactly the kind of frankness Zenjirou literally had cautioned her about a moment ago.

    (At the very least, there''s no doubt that she isn''t a natural-born noble.)

    He came to that conclusion, when he looked at her ever-changing expressions.

    On a closer look, Nilda appeared a bit awkward in her behaviour and choice of words.

    That was surely the result of "deliberately putting her mind on" acting like nobility, just like Zenjirou did it.

    (It does worry me. She''s a bit too unmindful and friendly. I mean, she IS nobility after all.)

    At the beginning, Nilda had been nervous and reserved, but she had opened up at the open-air banquet in no time, just like a little puppy to its owner.

    (If that''s all part of their scheme, I tip my hat to the Guzzle Family, but Ines said they aren''t really like that.)

    The reason Zenjirou was thinking about the Guzzle Family along these lines was because the girl named Nilda quickly made a favourable impression on him.

    The girl did not harbour fear or wariness towards Royalty or Nobility, even though she had been adopted into a noble family at a young age. It suggested the assumption that the Guzzle Family had not treated her badly.

    Zenjirou was actually quite fond of people with such rich expressions. Props to them, if that was what they were after.

    "Master Zenjirou, is the Royal Capital really that big? I have heard that the Royal Pce is supposed to be quite a sight to be see, but I cannot quite envision it. Would you be so kind to tell me about it?"

    "Well, I rarely ever leave the Royal or Inner Pce, so my opinion is pretty biased, but I believe it is quite beautiful.

    The buildings are uniformly built with white stones and look sturdy, but also stylish. The gardens are affectionally maintained as well, growing beautiful flowers and trees, and the fountains or ponds have water as clear as crystal. A few ponds even have fishes in them to look at.

    Its surface sparkles goldfish yellow, because of the golden fishes and clear water. Definitely well worth seeing."

    "Oh, wow. Fantastic! I would like to go there and see it!"

    The Royal and Inner Pce were practically "his home" now, so he was happy, but also a bit bashful to see the outright admiration in her eyes.

    "You have never gone to the Capital before? The Guzzle Family does have a residence there, no?"

    "My family seems to have always attached more importance to its own territory, so only a bare minimum of personnel stays in the Capital. And I am still a minor, so I seldom if ever leave this ce.

    Ah, but I am pretty sure that I will be brought to the Capital once I turn fifteen!"

    "I see. Unfortunately, I cannot show you around town in my position, but what I can do is show you around the pce, when youe by."

    It was extremely rare that Zenjirou made such a promise of his own ord. He seemed to have let his guard down a bit around the open-hearted Nilda.

    "Yes, I am looking forward to it."

    Nilda answered him with a bright smile.

    As the host, Princess Freya had been busy sharing the food with everyone, but she more or less finished exchanging pleasantries and had some time for herself now.

    "You did well, Princess Freya. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."

    Zenjirou stood up and greeted Princess Freya, who approached him with a satisfied smile.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty Zenjirou. May I sit down next to you?"

    The silver-haired princess took a silver goblet with fruit wine from the tray waiting maid Ines offered her, had a taste of it and asked him that with a dazzling smile.

    Zenjirou could not help but show his bewilderment.

    He was currently sitting on nothing extravagant like a bench, but a mere "stump of a tree". Needless to say, her question was not referring to another seat next to him, but whether she was allowed to sit down on the same stump.

    It was quite the bold proposal, but it would not make a good impression, if he were to refuse her.

    With a smile, Zenjirou took off the vest he had been wearing and covered the stump with it.

    "Yes, of course, Princess Freya. Please have a seat."

    "Thank you very much, Your Majesty."

    Although the stump was rtively big, with two people on it, they were sitting close enough to feel each other''s body warmth.

    The hem of her dress was even touching his foot. Zenjirou might as well put his arm around her waist to make this proximity morefortable.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­.."

    A man and a woman were sitting together on a single stump of a tree in a garden at night.

    The me of the fire bathed the silver hair and pale-white skin of Princess Freya in a reddish light.

    Zenjirou was entranced by her without meaning to. The silver-haired princess cocked her head a bit as she smiled at him.

    "Allow me to express my gratitude once more, Your Majesty. A dream of mine hase true thanks to you."

    Her illuminated smile was not the kind of superficial smile nobility always used, but one that revealed her honest feelings.

    "I am d to be of help. The customs of your homnd do not apply here on the South Continent, so I believe you may act as you see fit."

    "So Skathi told you. It is a bit embarrassing to have your childhood dream exposed. But I was really happy.

    Hunting a dragon with my own hands and hosting a feast for the soldiers somehow makes me feel like an hero of old."

    On the South Continent, dragons were nothing but livestock, but on the North Continent, they were the stuff of legends. Creatures you only found, when you ventured deep into the uninhabited mountains.

    It definitely was somewhat heroic to y one of these with your own hands and prepare a feast with it.

    Zenjirou neither had the guts, nor the skills to do something like that, so he did not even think about trying it, but he did understand her admiration for that kind of thing.

    "I admire your courage and zest for action. That strong heart of yours surely has enabled you to make the long voyage between our countries."

    "Fufu. ording to my brother back home, I am merely reckless and restless. I was just trying my best in my own way, though.

    I practiced the bow as well as the spear and learned how to camp outside. For sea travel, I even memorized the sailor''s knot and the handling of a cordeddder. On top of that, I learned the necessary magic for long-distance sea-travels such as ''Water Maniption'' and ''Drinking Water Treatment''.

    None of these skills will help me get married in the future. On the contrary, they will be a burden."

    "But you are now here, precisely because of these efforts. In my opinion, every knowledge and skill you gain will be an asset for life."

    Zenjirou did utter these words as a praise, but at the same time, they came from the heart.

    The Carpa Kingdom was even more set on enforcing the gender roles than the Upps Kingdom, the home country of Princess Freya, but Zenjirou was married to Queen Aura, an exception to the exception, so he barely had adopted themon sense of this country.

    ording to his moral values, learning seafaring or even a little bit of martial arts was a legit virtue.

    To begin with, he would have never fallen for Aura, if he had deemed martial arts or vigour unnecessary for a woman.

    Princess Freya must have noticed that his words were more than just simple fair-seeming.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty. Shameful as it may be, I do like running around in the wildness with my spear or crossing the vast ocean in a boat.

    I am well aware that I am going against allmon sense, so I do not me anyone for frowning upon my behaviour or reprimanding me for it.

    But nothing could make me happier, when someone actually epts what I like to do with a passion."

    "Haha, it makes me feel embarrassed, when you are this happy about it. But I did mean what I said earlier."

    The man from a different world and the girl from the North Continent had all forgotten about the fact that they were sitting so close to each other that their feet were touching, and were happily engulfed in their chit-chat.

    * * *

    It was obvious that the open-air banquet wasing to an end. The meat and vegetables were all eaten up, the empty barrels of alcohol were multiplying and the fire was starting to burn out. Anyone could tell that the party was nearing its end.

    The earlier loudughter and tone-deaf songs died down and only some hushed conversations remained. At this point in time,

    DONG, DONG.

    The sound of arge bell suddenly resonated through the dark night.

    "Ines?"

    Zenjirou immediately stood up from the stump and consulted the waiting maid standing at attention behind him, but Ines shook her head with aposed look.

    "It seems to being from the main building, but I do not know why. However, I believe it is not an emergency, seeing as Lady Nilda is not reacting to it."

    His gaze automatically shifted to Nilda and she certainly did not seem surprised by it, nor did look the least bit worried or frightened.

    When Nilda noticed his gaze, she stood up with a jerk and came trotting over to him.

    "My apologies, Master Zenjirou. I did forget to inform you about this. The bell just know only signalizes that a guest has arrived at the main gate.

    You there, please go over to the main building for more information."

    "Yes, understood."

    Upon her order, one of the soldiers on watch went off.

    "A guest thiste at night?"

    Zenjirou could not help but cock his head puzzled.

    Right now, nobility from all across the country wereing together in the March of Guzzle for the marriage ceremony, so a guest itself was nothing out of the ordinary. But it was strange that one would arrive at such an hour. It goes without saying that travelling at night was quite dangerous in various ways.

    They were not pressed for time, since the marriage ceremony was not going to be held tomorrow or anything, so they would normally not push their luck and rather spent one more night in a suitable ce, arriving here first thing in the morning instead.

    While Zenjirou was mulling over this, the soldier came back from the main building.

    Even amidst this darkness, you could tell from afar that the soldier was rushing over as fast as he could. He then reported with a loud voice.

    "Reporting in! Just now, the delegation from the ''Navarre Kingdom'' has arrived!"

    "The Navarre Kingdom?"

    As the name sounded familiar to him, Zenjirou recalled the necessary information in his head.

    The Navarre Kingdom was a middle power situated in the middle west of the South Continent. It bordered on the Carpa Kingdom with a steep mountain range in-between them as a buffer. And that very border area happened to be the March of Guzzle.

    In other words, they were practically neighbours, if not for that mountain.

    It seemed somewhat odd that a neighbouring country would send a delegation to the marriage ceremony of local nobility, but it was not really unusual for a feudal state.

    The feudal lords in the bordends were given a certain level of freedom in regards to independent contact with bordering countries.

    As soon as he remembered that, Zenjirou could get his head around their arrival.

    "Oh, I see. If they areing from the Navarre Kingdom, it makes sense that they travelled through the night to arrive by today."

    The mountain range between the March of Guzzle and the Navarre Kingdom was quite dangerous in terms of terrain and dragons living there.

    It certainly was true that the risk of travelling at night was lower than staying an additional night in such a dangerous ce.

    Because he remembered these circumstances, Zenjirou epted the situation and the soldier, still out of breath, continued his report.

    "Moreover, the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom is headed by General Mart¨ªn Nadal!"

    The reaction to that name was dramatic.

    Before, the garden had be so silent you could have heard a water drop hit the ground, but in the next moment, amazed outcries echoed through the night.

    "Th- That General Mart¨ªn!?"

    "No way! Who''s protecting their country then!?"

    "It shows how serious they take the liaison between the Guzzle Family and General Puyol."

    Be it the soldiers Zenjirou had brought along from the Royal Capital, the soldiers from the March of Guzzle or even the rear vassals of the Guzzle Family, no one could keep their surprise and excitement in check, saying whatever they wanted.

    The only exceptions were Princess Freya and Skathi, since they had never heard of the name of General Mart¨ªn and just cocked their heads puzzled, and waiting maid Ines, who never broke her calm mask.

    Looking around, Zenjirou relied on Ines for information.

    "Ines, who is General Mart¨ªn?"

    "Yes. Mart¨ªn Nadal is the most prominent general in the Navarre Kingdom.

    He emerged from the previous war as the hero with a lot of achievements and it is said that most of the credit for surviving the war belongs to him, considering the Navarre Kingdom is by no means a major power."

    She must have expected his question. The middle-aged waiting maid calmly answered him in a business-like tone.

    Zenjirou widened his eyes surprised, when the evaluation turned out even better than he had expected.

    "In short, he has the same standing as General Puyol in our country?"

    His question was met with immediate approval from the middle-aged maid.

    "Indeed. General Mart¨ªn is on par with General Puyol."

    "Hm?"

    Something about her phrasing bothered Zenjirou. She had not used the phrasing "is said to be on par", nor the phrasing "is considered to be on par".

    He was bewildered that she had called him his literal equal with all certainty. Ines amplified her exnation as though clearing up his confusion.

    "More precisely, he is the very person that inflicted the wounds that General Puyol has on his cheek and forehead."

    "¡­I see."

    The guest had an unbelievably meaningful connection to the groom, so Zenjirou bid adieu to his wishful thinking that this marriage ceremony would end without trouble.

    <b>Chapter 02: The Marriage Ceremony</b>

    General Mart¨ªn Nadal was a man in the prime of his life, a little bit over forty.

    Also known as the Guardian Deity of the Navarre Kingdom, this man looked exactly like what you would expect from his title.

    One-hundred and ny centimetre tall and over hundred kilogram heavy.

    He was one head shorter than the almost two metre tall General Puyol, but surpassed him in body width. Needless to say, that did not mean that he was fat.

    His body was a stronghold of trained muscles to the point that it did not show his age of over forty years at all.

    Despite his massive boar-like build, he moved around smoothly like a feline predator.

    General Mart¨ªn was sitting on a chair in one room of the building the Guzzle Family had allocated to him, and cracked a wry smile.

    "Oh man, have got to give the Carpa Kingdom credit. Or should I say, the Guzzle Family, in this case? Either way, they are not to be underestimated."

    When the hero of their country uttered this almost fearfully, the young knight standing at attention behind him gave a nervous response.

    "Could you exin what you mean by that, General Mart¨ªn? The Carpa Kingdom always had more fighting power than our country."

    "Hm, you don''t understand? Look at this chair and desk. The chair doesn''t even bulge under my weight and is quitefortable. The desk has the right height, too.

    And they immediately brought me to this room, when I arrived, without having to wait."

    Being told that much, the young knight came to understand what the general was implying as well.

    "¡­In other words, word got out somewhere that you will be attending this marriage ceremony as our representative?"

    The general was one-hundred and ny centimetre tall and weighted over a hundred kilogram, so a normal chair and desk would obviously not meet his needs. The chair would squeak rmingly, if he sat down rashly, or it could turn into a catastrophe, when he sat down in a chair with armrests, because his firm bottom did not fit in.

    But nothing of the sort happened with the chair he currently sat in. It was a simple wooden chair without decorations, but easily supported the hundred kilogram of the general and was a perfect fit for him in terms of height and width.

    "Well, I''m not sure about an information leak. I think they just anticipated it. After all, my connection to General Puyol is rather well-known."

    Saying this, General Mart¨ªn unconsciously put his right hand on his breastbone and scratched his old wound over the clothes.

    General Puyol had given him that wound in the previous war.

    Not really the type to dwell on things, General Mart¨ªn still could not help but pay attention to General Puyol, though.

    "Did he arrange this? Maybe not. This is thend of his bride. Not even General Puyol has that much to say here, yet.

    The only other logical exnation is that the Guzzle Family arranged it. But I can''t see the Marquis being so considerate. Does he have a smart adviser¡­?"

    The giant general lost himself deeply in thought, but was brought back to reality by the gaze of the young knight in the corner of the eye.

    "Hmm, what''s up?"

    The young knight had been staring at one corner of the table for a while now.

    His gaze went to a small rectangle box. It contained cinnamon sugar hardened in stick form.

    It was an unnecessary provision for General Mart¨ªn, since he hated sweets, but the young knight had a weak spot for it despite his virile appearance, so he could not ignore it.

    "Ah, no, it is nothing."

    The young knight deliberately averted his gaze from it with a cough, whereupon General Mart¨ªn smiled wryly.

    "You sure love sweets."

    "¡­Something wrong with that?"

    Turning a bit red in the face from shame, the young knight puckered his lips.

    "Not per se. But I do hate them."

    "I do like them."

    "Yes and that''s the problem. Why do you think these are left here, when I hate them, but you like them?"

    "¡­Oh?"

    For a moment, the young knight was at a loss for words, when the general pointed it out.

    Seeing the knight turn pale in the face, General Mart¨ªn smiled sympathetic and called the things as they were.

    "That''s right. Not many men like sweet things like that. I can''t be dead certain, but I say it''s quite likely these are for you, Cristiano Pinto."

    The hero of the previous war called the young knight by his name.

    "It goes without saying for a person with a standing like you, General, but why would they be aware of an obscure guy like myself?"

    "Oh,e on, Cris. Don''t be so hard on yourself. Any person with a spark of intelligence would obviously keep the name Cristiano Pinto in mind."

    General Mart¨ªn was by no means lying, when he said that.

    Not even twenty years old yet, Cristiano was still young, but he had already risen to the envious position of a Knight Captain affiliated to the general. One reason for that was his ancestry: He was the oldest son of the famous Pinto Family, which had inherited the royal blood quite strongly. But the bigger reason was his own martial skills.

    The general was not so shallow as to pick him based on the right pedigree alone. To begin with, General Mart¨ªn had worked his way up from nothing, so he valued actions over words and thought little of lineage.

    With these views, General Mart¨ªn had pinned his hopes on Cristiano Pinto as the "next protector of the country".

    Nevertheless, it was a fact that it needed a really perceptive person to take notice of him from a different country at this point of time.

    "Arge territory does not make a major power, neither does arge poption. Maintaining thatrge territory andrge poption by employing the right personnel is what makes a nation a major power.

    Never forget that."

    "Sir, yes, Sir."

    The general and his prot¨¦g¨¦e from the Navarre Kingdom called the caution against major powers, the Carpa Kingdom in particr, to mind once again.

    * * *

    Around the same time, the people from the Guzzle Family were extremely busy with preparing for the marriage ceremony and greeting the arriving guests in the main building.

    That was nothing out of the ordinary by itself. The marriage between influential nobles was such a big event after all.

    "Lady Lucinda, the adjustments to your wedding dress have been finished. Please try it on now."

    "I understand. Wait for me in the room next door. I wille over as soon as I am done here."

    "Lady Lucinda, Master Zenjirou and his group have had dinner and Miss Nilda reported that there were no problems."

    "Good. Tell Nilda to drop by my room before going to bed. I want to hear the report from herself, just to be sure."

    "Lady Lucinda, we have ushered the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom to their rooms. They have not expressed any displeasure for now."

    "d to hear that. Of course we cannot privilege a certain group, but it would be an international affair, if something were to happen with them, so please be extra careful, when dealing with them."

    The only abnormality here was the fact that Lucinda Guzzle, the bride-to-be herself, was managing the versatile nning in its entirety.

    She had always been in charge of the territory, because the Marquis was generally working in the capital, but her duties did not even change on this special asion.

    Lucinda Guzzle was still unmarried at twenty-six, even though the etiquette in the Carpa Kingdom considered it to be already toote, when you had not married before twenty. Normally that would mean that she was unattractive or quick-tempered, but in actual fact, that was not the case with her.

    Her facial features were admittedly in, because of an inconspicuous small nose and mouth, but did not prevent her to be called a "spruce beauty" by some and there were no problems with her personality, either, seeing as the servants of the March trusted in her.

    If anything, her zeal for running the business of the March despite being a woman, was somewhat contradicting themon sense of the Carpa Kingdom, but Lucinda always emphasised that she was just "filling in for her father until her little brother was old enough to take over".

    She was not the kind of unorthodox woman, who cleverly wielded the highest authority in the country despite being a woman such as Queen Aura or unashamedly risked her life on sea travel like Princess Freya.

    To begin with, she only missed her timing to get married, because her nubile years happened to ovep with the previous war. In ce of her father, who was out on the battlefield, Lucinda had to take care of the territory and her little brother, leaving her no time to think about marriage. These reasons had beenpletely beyond her control, so she was different from the usual "marriage failures".

    Once she had listened to all the reports from the servants, Lucinda turned to the table and looked through the documents with a cool-headedness that made you question whether she really was a noble daughter on the brink of marriage.

    "As expected, the Navarre Kingdom sent General Mart¨ªn as their representative. I did not foresee that Knight Captain Cris would apany him, though.

    I hope the sugar snacks were prepared in time?"

    "Yes, we put them in the room before letting them in."

    "Well done. Thanks."

    Everything had been done on behalf of her. The right furniture was prepared for General Mart¨ªn, because Lucinda had anticipated him as the messenger from the Navarre Kingdom, and the sugar snacks were served at such short notice, because she had acquired the information that Knight Captain Cris liked sweets.

    As a proxy for her father working in the capital, but de facto leader of the March, Lucinda had paid special attention to the neighbouring Navarre Kingdom across the mountain and gathered all kind of information.

    For the Carpa Kingdom as a whole, the Navarre Kingdom was nothing but a small middle power not worth their attention, but the neighbouring country posed enough of a threat to the independent March of Guzzle.

    Hence Lucinda was as cautious about the Navarre Kingdom as General Mart¨ªn was about the Carpa Kingdom.

    "I have heard that General Mart¨ªn is a lot more perceptive than his militant appearance lets on. He must have noticed the meaning behind the special furniture and snacks.

    I just hope the feint will work."

    Lucinda mumbled and put the dragon bone quill in her right hand back into its stand.

    In fact, General Mart¨ªn had figured out that the matching furniture for him and the favourite snack for Knight Captain Cris had been a message from Lucinda.

    A message that read: "I know all this about your activities."

    Lucinda was going to get married, which meant that the March of Guzzle would lose her as its representative.

    Of course she had immediately started with the preparations for her session as soon as her marriage was set in stone.

    Her little brother Xavier, the next head of the family, and the mayordomo rear vassal were taught the necessary work and were introduced to as many spokesmen of their subjects as possible, passing on the informationwork she had build up till today.

    But these were nothing but rough-and-ready measures in the end. Nothing could be done about it, though, since her marriage came on an extremely short notice, even by higher nobility''s standards.

    Once Lucinda was gone, the March would more or less be thrown into turmoil, so she had wanted to send a warning to the neighbouring country not to take advantage of that turmoil.

    "At any rate, I reallye to appreciate the consideration from Master Zenjirou in this situation. I have to properly express my gratitudeter on."

    The consideration was referring to his following words: "I am looking forward to seeing the newlywed couple on the day of the marriage ceremony."

    In other words, he had dered that they did not need to entertain him until the day of the marriage ceremony. Thanks to that, the Guzzle Family could give Royalty, originally the most high-maintenance guest, a short shrift by just assigning a bare minimum of servants to the annex building.

    If not for his consideration, Zenjirou would havee to greet the Marquis in advance and congratted the bride as soon as possible as Royalty. In that case, the Guzzle Family would have been overwhelmed with obligations by now.

    Lucinda felt a shiver ran down her spine in light of that scary imagination. In the meantime, the door was opened and closed with a tter.

    "Excuse me, Sister. I have just returned from doing my rounds in the city."

    These words were uttered by the next head of the Guzzle Family: Xavier Guzzle.

    Just like he had imed, he had been patrolling the city and was still wearing his leather armour and longsword at thiste hour.

    "Well done, Xavier. Has the city been quiet?"

    Lucinda thanked her little brother for his efforts with a warm smile and signalized the servant next to her to pour him some cold tea.

    The siblings then sat down across each other on the couches.

    "Yes, it has. Nothing worth mentioning has taken ce. The people are all celebrating your wedding from the bottom of their hearts."

    Sitting on the couch, Xavier reported proudly while throwing out his chest.

    He had lost his mother had at an early age, so Lucinda was more like a mother, who raised him, than an older sister to him.

    No one was more happy about her marriage, dyed by unfortunate circumstances, than him.

    Lucinda giggled embarrassed to herself, when she saw the joy in the eyes of her little brother as though it was his own wedding.

    "Is that so. I am d to hear that. So no one is picking any fights, because they are drunk?"

    Maybe in order to hide her embarrassment, she quickly talked business.

    Xavier looked a bit troubled and averted his eyes, when she pointed that out.

    "Actually, a lot of that is happening. Should I have banned the alcohol instead?"

    "No. It would be tasteless to celebrate the marriage without alcohol. Just continue to take those into custody, who cause a ruckus.

    But please keep in mind to not let anyone without permission near the residence until the ceremony is over. We cannot risk a strife with another noble family."

    "Yes, I understand, Sister."

    The older sister gave instructions and the little brother epted them as a matter of course. Considering that he was going to be the next family head, that hierarchy was not quite favourable.

    "¡­I was anxious about leaving home after my sudden marriage, but it actually might be better that way. If I were to stay here any longer, I think I would cause more problems than I can solve."

    "Hmm? Did you say something?"

    "No, just talking to myself."

    Lucinda brushed it off like that while heaving a sigh at heart.

    If she were to remain in the March while Xavier seeded the position of the family head, it would undoubtedly disrupt the bnce of power.

    At the very least, the rear vassals and influential citizens would rather trust Lucinda than Xavier in domestic affairs, and above all else, Xavier himself was too fixated on his elder sister.

    In the worst case, the March might even split into two opposing camps, when she remained here unmarried and could not get along with any future sister-inw Xavier might take in.

    So Lucinda was of the opinion that her marriage was already worth it, even if avoiding that future was the only good thing that came out of it.

    While she was on these train of thoughts, she might as well give her little brother a final lecture.

    "Xavier, I will marry General Puyol in a few days and leave the March afterwards."

    "Of course. Congrattions on getting married, Sister!"

    Lucinda gave her teary-eyes little brother a wry look.

    "Thanks, dear. Anyway, this will be thest time I can give you an heartfelt piece of advice with only your wellbeing in mind, so please listen well."

    After that prelude, she wiped her usual warm smile off her face and showed a stern expression.

    "O- Okay."

    Xavier instinctively sat up straight and rested his clenched fists on hisp. A saying ims that the child is the father of man and in ordance with that, Xavier fundamentally could not go against his elder sister, who had raised him in ce of a mother.

    "Once I am the wife of General Puyol, you may not blindly trust me like before anymore."

    "S- Sister¡­?"

    While the little brother was at a loss for words, the older sister overwhelmed him with further exnations.

    "As soon as I marry him, I will have left the Guzzle Family and be a part of the Guill¨¦n Family. From then on, my first priority will be the Guill¨¦n Family. The Guzzle Family onlyes in second.

    I will belong to a different family and you do not blindly trust someone like that."

    "B- But¡­"

    Xavier was baffled, but Lucinda was only stating a fact.

    Nobility valued their house, so it was only natural that they took the view that you had to put the family you married into above all and adopted their customs.

    Needless to say, that opinion was more of an idealism, if anything, and hardly anyone put it into practice to such an extent.

    In fact, the majority of people still considered themselves a member of their parental home at heart, even if they married into a new family.

    The best example for that would be the little sister of General Puyol: Fatima Guill¨¦n. She really loved her older brother and valuated him above all things, so it was hard to imagine that she would suddenly prioritize her new family over him, when she got married at some point.

    However, that general rule did not apply to the woman called Lucinda Guzzle.

    She had naturally epted that she, as a noble daughter, would devote her everything to her new family henceforth, now that she had been asked for her hand in marriage. The aforementioned idealism was embodied by her to an inhumane level.

    "Are you saying you will be my political opponent from now on, Sister?"

    Her little brother turned pale in the face, whereupon Lucinda realized that her exnation had been a bitcking.

    She deliberately softened her expression and cleared up the doubt of her brother with her usual kind voice.

    "Not at all. I did not mean it in such a radical way. To begin with, our two families were never on such bad terms to call us enemies and my marriage will actually stabilize our rtionship even further.

    In reality, I doubt that I will ever be able to bring harm to the Guzzle Family or you, Xavier."

    "I- I know, right!"

    Crying in one moment, smiling in the next. Her little brother changed expressions at his own convenience, whereas the older sister smiled back at him troubled.

    "Marriage is a kind of contract for nobility. From now on, I have to bear the profit for the Guill¨¦n Family in mind, but as long as it does not harm the Guill¨¦n Family, I will obviously be allowed to bear a profit for the Guzzle Family in mind as well."

    Forget all about your parental home once you marry.

    That would be way too disadvantageous for the family providing the bride. Hence the bride was allowed to draw a profit for her parental home as long as it did not affect her new family adversely.

    Xavier listened to her exnation with a meek look.

    "Considering the current standings of the Guill¨¦n and Guzzle Family in the Carpa Kingdom, I dare to say that it will be quite unlikely that the Guill¨¦n Family will cause harm to the Guzzle Family.

    But the future is not set in stone. If one day, the interests of both families were topletely contrast each other, then I will bring harm to the Guzzle Family in order to make a profit for the Guill¨¦n Family.

    I just want you to bear that possibility in mind, okay?"

    "¡­Okay, I understand, Sister."

    Looking meek, the little brother answered with a nod to the warning of his older sister before she was going to marry into a different family.

    * * *

    A few dayster.

    The day of the ceremony arrived without any incidents.

    They were holding the marriage ceremony in the banquet hall in the main building of the Guzzle residence.

    It was not as pompous as the "Room of the Dragon King", where Zenjirou and Aura had held their wedding, but it was almost as big.

    Therge hall was filled with numerous round tables and the invited nobles sat on chairs in a circle around them.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou was one of them. With him at the same table sat his partner Princess Freya and her trusted retainer Skathi as well as his bodyguard, the Knight Natalio.

    Ines stood at attention behind him in her usual maid clothes.

    A marriage ceremony in the Carpa Kingdom was not all that starchy, so the guests casually enjoyed some chitchat with some drinks until the bridal couple made their entrance.

    "So this is a marriage ceremony on the South Continent. I see that it is not all that different from ours."

    Lowering the silver goblet with fruit juice from her mouth, Princess Freya started talking to Zenjirou next to her with a lovely smile ying on her lips.

    "Oh, is that so. I''m not all that familiar with the culture on the South Continent, either, but I''ve heard that they used to sit on a soft carpet during the ceremony in the past.

    It might be the influence of the North Continent that all the guests are sitting on chairs at tables now."

    "That is quite usible. I would like to thank my ancestors for it then."

    Zenjirou realized what she was implying, so he casually asked with a yful tone.

    "Oh my, you are ufortable with sitting on a carpet?"

    "Yes, I am afraid so."

    Princess Freya looked down a bit embarrassed, when she was exposed.

    Although the culture of sitting down on a carpet was a thing of the past on the South Continent, it had not entirely vanished yet. Some traditional events still required you to sit cross-legged on top of a carpet and some tradition-conscious noble houses were refraining from setting up chairs and tables in the dining room to this day, setting and eating the dishes from atop the carpet instead.

    Due to that, the nobility in the Carpa Kingdom was more or less used to sitting on a carpet, but Princess Freya was nobility hailing from the North Continent, so she could note to like that custom.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou was pretty much okay with the custom, too. Modern Japan was certainly seeing more and more appearances of chairs and tables, but there were still plenty asions to sit cross-legged on the ground like in a room with Tatami mats.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou did not suffer as much during traditional events without chairs and tables.

    (Won''t she have more troubles like that, when she actually bes my concubine?)

    Zenjirou was worried like that, but the only way to find out would be to directly ask her.

    But if he were to tell her that he was worried about her life as a concubine, he would practically admit to epting her as a concubine.

    At the present time, everything was pointing to Princess Freya bing his concubine. It was probably already impossible for him to avert that development by his own effort, but even then, there was no reason for him to speed up that process, either.

    While Zenjirou pondered about that, the stroke of arge gong rang out and echoed through the hall.

    "Oh."

    "Looks like it is time."

    The gong attracted the attention from all the chit-chatting guests and today''s centrepiece, the bridal couple made their appearance.

    "¡­"

    The first to show up was the groom, Puyol Guill¨¦n.

    Wearing his full dress uniform, the giant general imposingly strode over the red carpet while the decorative bronze sword hung from his waist.

    It was typically of him to wear the military uniform instead of the traditional attire of the Carpa Kingdom at his wedding ceremony. As a matter of fact, an uniform suited him the best anyway.

    Close to two metre tall and a hundred kilogram heavy, the steeled soldier wore the extravagant military uniform decorated with gold threads like a second skin. He personified themon image of a "General of the Army" par for par.

    "¡­"

    After him followed a woman in herte twenties wearing a white long dress.

    Zenjirou was seeing her for the first time, but there was no question about it that she was the bride, Lucinda Guzzle.

    ording to the proper etiquette, she followed a step behind by the side of her preceding groom.

    Aura and Zenjirou had walked alongside one another, when they had gotten married as the Queen and Prince Consort, but that had been an extremely rare exception to the exception.

    Normally, the bride followed diagonally behind the groom at a marriage ceremony in the Carpa Kingdom.

    The groom was attracting the most attention, but Zenjirou was looking at the bride, since he was seeing her for the first time.

    (So she is Lucinda. Not the prettiest out there, but still beautiful.)

    She looked smaller, because she was trailing behind the almost two metre tall General Puyol, but she actually had an average height and build.

    Her ck hair was full and morous, her ck eyes beamed with kindness and her skin had themon brown tinge of a person from the Carpa Kingdom. Even d in the snow-white wedding dress, she still looked somewhat in, but her features were well-defined enough to get an immediate positive answer, when asking someone whether she was a beauty or not.

    In the meantime, the bridal couple advanced on the red carpet and went up to the podium.

    There an elder priest was awaiting them. He was going to perform the marriage ceremony.

    Since the main religion on the South Continent, the faith in spirits, was not really institutionalized, the priest were only responsible for a hand of ceremonial asions such asing-of-age, marriage or burial.

    The elderly priest faced the bridal couple standing in front of him and opened his mouth covered by a white beard.

    "Under the protection of the Spirits, this man and woman will enter into the holy bond of marriage today. May the Spirits smile to their future.

    From time immemorial, the brave man has always protected the frail woman behind him, whereas thepassionate woman has always offered the foolish man constion in her arms. The Spirits are sure to respond to their mutual empathy."

    Because the Spirit Faith on the South Continent had neither been systemized, nor institutionalized, the ritual words at these asions were generally determined by the priest on duty.

    Zenjirou curiously listened to the self-penned speech of the priest, but he suddenly felt ufortable, so he looked around from the corner of his eye while keeping his gaze focussed on the bridal couple.

    (Hmm? I sense a gaze on me? From whom?)

    He could not see him all that clearly, because he was just looking out of the corner of his eye, but he did see a sturdy silhouette of a soldier.

    (The foreign guests should be seated over there¡­ So that''s General Mart¨ªn from the Navarre Kingdom?)

    In reality, Zenjirou was not looking at General Mart¨ªn, but at Knight Captain Cris sitting next to him, but he could not discern it that well, because he was still looking ahead.

    Having said this, Knight Captain Cris was slender and only one hundred and eighty centimetre tall, whereas General Mart¨ªn was practically a giant with his almost two metre height and hundred kilogram weight.

    Their auras were too different to begin with.

    Zenjirou was puzzled as to why he was the target of his attention instead of the bridal couple in the middle of the ceremony, but it was actually not all that strange.

    He was the Prince Consort of the major power known as the Carpa Kingdom. In short, a genuine Royalty with a bloodline magic.

    So a foreign authority was obviously going to pay him more attention than the bridal couple.

    In the meantime, the ceremony was moving along.

    On the South Continent, the marriage ceremonies followed all kind of procedures like the speech from the priest or the marriage vows from the couple, but this ceremony was a bit different at the end.

    "The couple will now exchange the weddings rings."

    The unfamiliar ritual of exchanging wedding rings prompted the guests to murmur agitated and Zenjirou to widen his eyes in surprise.

    In that very moment, General Puyol faced Zenjirou and gave him an appreciative look while smirking for a second.

    Zenjirou understood with that.

    (Oh, right. Aura did tell me that my marriage rings had started the custom of exchanging wedding rings in this country, too.

    So General Puyol also picked up on it, eh.)

    The earlier look must have expressed his gratitude to Zenjirou for introducing them the custom of exchanging wedding rings.

    Under the watchful eyes of the guests, the bridal couple took the pair rings from the priest and put them on the finger of their partner.

    Zenjirou did not go as far as telling them that the wedding ring belonged to the ring finger of the left hand. It just happened naturally, since that finger provided the least inconveniences for wearing a ring at all times.

    The same reason probably applied to its simple gold design without any gems.

    As a soldier, General Puyol would by no means profit from wearing a cumbersome jewellery on his finger. The in ring without any gem had probably been apromise on his part.

    It might be a bit too in for a woman, though. Even in this world, most of the women had a thing for beautifulrge gems.

    A thought suddenly crossed Zenjirou''s mind.

    (Maybe I should tell them about ''engagement rings'', too? Women are sure to love a brilliant ring, but the men will have to bear the costs. I guess the wedding rings are enough for now.)

    Apparently Lucinda was different from the majority of women as she narrowed her eyes happily, when General Puyol put the unadorned golden ring on her hand.

    "Thank you, My Husband."

    For some reason, the soft voice of the bride resonated through the whole hall.

    * * *

    In the Carpa Kingdom, the marriage ceremony of higher nobility or wealthy people was followed by a ritual called the "Rite of Unveiling".

    As its name implied, the rite dealt with the bridal couple showing themselves in front of those, who could not attend the ceremony itself, and announcing their marriage. The invited guests of the ceremony were asked to abstain from attending the "Rite of Unveiling".

    On the za in front of the residence of the feudal lord, the newlyweds put themselves on disy for the citizens of the March in their wedding attire. In the meantime, the guests of the ceremony were regaled with food and drinks in a different room.

    The host of that gathering was the family of the bride, namely the Guzzle Family, but the people from the Guill¨¦n Family were also functioning as co-organizers.

    "Master Zenjirou, I cannot thank you enough for going out of your way to attend the marriage of my daughter today."

    Marquis Guzzle himself approached Zenjirou first of all with these words.

    He was as tall as Zenjirou, but a multiple of him widthwise. His neck was fatter than his face wide, his shoulders were sloping from excess muscle mass and his arms were round like a log. He should be over forty by now, but even an amateur like Zenjirou could tell that his body was still that of an active soldier.

    A bit overwhelmed at heart, Zenjirou showed nothing of the sort on the outside and responded with a smile.

    "No need to thank me, Marquis. The Guzzle Family as well as the Guill¨¦n Family are important pirs of our country. It goes without saying that I would attend the union of your families as a representative for Queen Aura."

    Zenjirou emphasized the fact that he was only a representative for Queen Aura, whereat Marquis Guzzle answered with an honest smile, which was quite rareing from a high-ranking nobility.

    "You honour me with your words. Of course I am grateful to Sir Puyol for taking my daughter after she missed out on marriage for too long due to my shorings, but I am even more grateful to Her Majesty Aura for allowing the normally unthinkable marriage between the Guill¨¦n and Guzzle Family. I, Miguel Guzzle, shall never forget this favour!"

    "You have earned this trust by devoting your everything to the country so far.

    Her Majesty sincerely hopes that you will not cease your endeavours."

    "Of course. I would not dream of doing so."

    Zenjirou reminded him that he admittedly had gotten a connection to the hearnd now, but should not use this asion to start meddling with the power struggle there, so the elderly marquis lowered his head deeply.

    As a matter of fact, Queen Aura was really trusting Marquis Guzzle.

    Of course the Guzzle Family was no different from the other feudal lords, so they put their own territory first and the kingdom second, but they were also known for their fidelity and loyalty.

    Even in the previous war, the army of the marquis had obediently followed the orders of the country, which had been a great help.

    Setting Marquis Rh, pretty much a rtive to Aura, aside, it would be no exaggeration to say that she trusted Marquis Guzzle the most of all nobility.

    "Anyway, today is a day to be celebrated, so let this be enough of formalities. Let me introduce you:

    This is Princess Freya Upps, the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom. She is apanying me as my partner, because Her Majesty Aura could not leave the Capital.

    Princess Freya, this is Marquis Guzzle. He is usually working in the Capital, so maybe you have seen him before?"

    Upon these words, the princess from the North Continent took one step forward as she had politely waited behind Zenjirou so far.

    "My name is Freya Upps. Congrattions on your daughter Lucinda getting married!"

    She grasped the hem of her simple blue skirt and did a curtsey.

    The etiquette in the Upps Kingdom was slightly different from the one in the Carpa Kingdom, but her gesture was so gracious that it would be rude to point it out now.

    "Thank you very much, Princess Freya. As you can see, we live in the middle of nowhere, but please make yourself at home."

    Marquis Guzzle responded politely, but much to his regret, Zenjirou was unable to tell whether his respect was attributed to her current title as a "princess from the North Continent" or her future title as a "concubine of the Prince Consort of the Carpa Kingdom".

    "I appreciate the hospitality, Marquis Guzzle. We are being cared for quite courteously in the annex building. Am I right, Your Majesty Zenjirou?"

    "Yes, that is right."

    She probably had asked for his opinion with a smile on purpose, because she wanted to spell out for the others that she was staying under the same roof as him.

    "Heh, I am d to hear that. You have done well, Nilda."

    Whether he was aware of her intentions or not, Marquis Guzzle showed a bright smile and called out to his beloved daughter standing behind him.

    "Yes, Father. Thank you, Princess Freya."

    The little girl lowered her head with her big eyes shining. She did look a bit tense from nervousness, but more than that, she gave off an affectionate aura like a tamed little animal.

    When he was looking back at his daughter, Marquis Guzzle was showing a soft expression as well. Or at the very least, Zenjirou could not catch any sight of some intrigue or ulterior motive in it.

    (Even at the ceremony, he openly let Nilda sit with the rest of the family. That means he really isn''t trying to hide her? It''s getting more and more puzzling.)

    The girl, who was apparently unknown to Royalty, was being treated as a normal daughter at an official event in the March. And not only that, she was even assigned the role to look after Royalty.

    Zenjirou somehow started to get the feeling that the whole thing was just a in old misunderstanding.

    To begin with, the girl called Nilda and the man called Marquis Guzzle were way too sincere to actually consider this as some kind of scheme.

    "By the way, I have heard that Miss Nilda has a different mother than Sir Xavier and Lady Lucinda?"

    Just in case, Zenjirou probed them like this, whereat the elderly feudal lord scratched his greying head and honestly affirmed it, even if a bit reluctant.

    "Yes, that is correct. Xavier and Lucinda as well as my other two sons, who died in the previous war, are the children of my legal wife.

    On the other hand, Nilda is the product of my juvenility¡­ Well, I was not at an age to call it that anymore, though. Anyway, she is the child I made with a female subject of mine."

    Saying so, Marquis Guzzle patted the head of his daughter standing next to him.

    "Fufu¡­"

    Having her head patted, the little girl narrowed her eyes happily like a puppy.

    A person from Modern Japan would surely get offended, when its own birth was called a "product of juvenility", even ifing from a parent, but Nilda showed no sign of concern.

    Maybe it meant that the parentage was just too important in this world? Or maybe father and daughter were getting along so well that she would not get disheartened just from that kind of crude phrasing.

    Zenjirou would like to say it was thetter, seeing her disy of affection.

    "As Princess Freya said before, Miss Nilda is taking good care of us. She is always so bright and cheerful. I often catch myself copying her. So far, I had a great time here, because of that. So let me express my gratitude once more: Thank you, Miss Nilda."

    "Oh no, your words are wasted on me, Master Zenjirou."

    At any rate, Zenjirou concluded that he should not dig any deeper into the issue without instructions from Aura, so he dropped the subject at a suitable point.

    Even if Zenjirou and Princess Freya were the most important guests, Marquis Guzzle could not afford to spend all his time on a single group as the father of the bride.

    After the marquis left, Zenjirou was unsurprisingly flocked by the other guests to exchange pleasantries.

    The etiquette of the Carpa Kingdom dictated that it was bad manners for one of lower status to call out to someone of higher status, but marriage or burial ceremonies were an exception to that rule.

    Apparently, all the guests were considered to be of equal rank in the sense that they all had the same motive, either congratting the bridal couple at a marriage ceremony or mourning the deceased at a burial ceremony.

    Due to that, Zenjirou had no time to enjoy the actual banquet and was busy dealing with nobility one after another.

    "It is nice to make your acquaintance, Master Zenjirou. Her Majesty Aura was so generously to bestow me with the title of a viscount. My name is Primo Guill¨¦n. The groom Puyol happens to be my nephew."

    "Master Zenjirou, thank you very much for going out of your way to attend the marriage ceremony of my brother today."

    With these words, a man in his early fifties and a tall girl lowered their heads at the same time.

    Just like he had introduced himself, the man was the uncle of General Puyol: Primo Guill¨¦n; The little girl was the little sister of General Puyol: Fatima Guill¨¦n.

    "Oh, thank you for the polite introduction, Sir Primo. I am Zenjirou, the husband of Her Majesty Aura. And I am d to see you are doing well, Miss Fatima."

    Primo Guill¨¦n was a tall man with the blood of the Guill¨¦n Family running through his veins.

    He definitely was not as tall as the two metre tall Puyol, but there was still an obvious gap between him and Fatima, so he must be at least one hundred and eighty-five centimetre tall.

    Nevertheless, there was no overwhelming auraing from him like General Puyol did, when he was just standing there.

    Although this might sound a bit rude, his height was his only redeeming feature.

    In fact, Fatima was drawing far more attention in her moss-green dress as she stood self-confidently next to him.

    "Yes, Master Zenjiou. As his little sister, it gives me a piece of mind that my brother has tied the knot."

    But if you looked carefully, you could tell that her smile as she said that was somewhat forced.

    (Well, she practically got a brotherplex, so it''s no wonder she can''t sincerely be happy about his marriage.)

    And even more so, when his bride was the twenty-six years old Lucinda. Since the South Continentbelled women older than twenty as a lost case for marriage, she was practically the epitome of an old woman well past her prime.

    Without exaggerating it, Fatima firmly believed her brother to be the "best man on the South Continent", so it was no surprise that she was dissatisfied with such ate bloomer being his brother''s legal wife.

    Despite that, she was making an effort to not let it show in her attitude and words, because she realized how important the marriage with Lucinda and thereby the connection to the Guzzle Family was.

    Having said this, Fatima would never even think of opposing her older brother to begin with, no matter how much displeasure she harboured about his decision.

    "Well then, Master Zenjirou, if you will excuse me."

    "It was a pleasure to have met you, Master Zenjirou."

    When Primo Guill¨¦n and Fatima Guill¨¦n left, the next guest took their ce.

    "It has been a long time, Master Zenjirou. I am d we worked out that incident in Valentia together."

    A man wearing the traditional attire of the Carpa Kingdom like a second skin, greeted Zenjirou with an affable smile.

    "Oh, Sir Raffaelo. You definitely yed a big role in it."

    Zenjirou responded to the greeting of the sessor to the M¨¢rguez Family, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez, with a smile as well.

    At the same time, he looked at the "fianc¨¦e of Raffaelo", who was standing behind him at an angle.

    Keen as he was, Raffaelo notice the gaze and showed a broad grin.

    "Allow me to introduce her, Master Zenjirou. She is my betrothed: Keyshia from the Massana Family."

    With these words, he put his arm around her waist and ushered her in front of Zenjirou.

    Zenjirou was a bit captivated by the woman brought before his eyes.

    Her morous long ck hair was beautifully pinned up and her red dress revealed her bare shoulders and neck. Everyone knew what a faithful husband he was, himself included, but even then, Zenjirou could not help but be smitten by her beauty and charm.

    She was an eye-catching extraordinary beauty with well-proportioned long arms and legs, smiling with conviction and confidence.

    Keyshia had already been a sight for sore eyes in her maid clothes, but Zenjirou was in raptures about her enchanting dress.

    "It is my first time seeing you wear anything else than maid clothes, Keyshia, but I must say, you are truly beautiful. Your charm was already standing out in the Inner Pce, but seeing you all dressed up like this makes me speechless."

    Praised by the man, who had been her master not long ago, the bewitching woman widened her eyes affected and puckered her lips a bit petnt.

    "Oh my, thank you very much, Master Zenjirou. But what a surprise. I never thought I would see the day, where youpliment my appearance, because I thought for sure that you only have eyes for Her Majesty Aura."

    "I am human, too. When I see something beautiful, I will appreciate it."

    Zenjirou gave the well acquainted former maid of the Inner Pce a wry smile with a shrug of his shoulders.

    That reaction of his prompted the nearby nobility from the Carpa Kingdom, who had been listening in so far, to be taken aback.

    It happened very seldom that Zenjirou talked that casually with a woman. He was always "ying it safe" at official night banquets.

    Zenjirou himself was no aware of it, but his reaction increased the value of being a "waiting maid of the Inner Pce".

    The waiting maids of the Inner Pce proved to be a connection to the Prince Consort.

    While the nearby nobility renewed their understanding like that, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez already had a former waiting maid as his betrothed and said with a smooth smile.

    "Well then, Master Zenjirou, we will excuse ourselves for today."

    "Okay. Take good care of Keyshia, Sir Raffaelo."

    He could have kept the conversation going for as long as he wanted by using his fianc¨¦e, but Raffaelo parted from Zenjirou with these words.

    If anything, his time with Zenjirou was quite short,pared to other nobility.

    In the past, Raffaelo had suggested his father Manuel M¨¢rguez to keep their distance from the "monstrous" Zenjirou for now, and he was faithfully abiding by his own words.

    Be it the bride''s Guzzle Family, the groom''s Guill¨¦n Family or the M¨¢rguez Family, they were all important enough that Royalty could not afford to neglect making allowances for them, but since they were nobility of the same country, Zenjirou somewhat knew how to deal with them and even if he were to make a mistake, things could be smoothed overter on.

    But right now, he was facing the guests of another country on whom these advantages did not work.

    Namely: The representative of the Navarre Kingdom, General Mart¨ªn and his attendant Knight Cristiano Pinto.

    When the obviously trained foreigners approached Zenjirou and Princess Freya, their bodyguards Knight Natalio and Skathi put themselves on the alert behind them. Only waiting maid Ines kept cool and collected.

    "Nice to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty Zenjirou.

    My name is Mart¨ªn Nadal, a general in the army of the Navarre Kingdom. I am extremely grateful to be given the chance to meet you today.

    And this is Cristiano, a young knight in our army."

    "I am Knight Captain Cristiano, the eldest son of Marquis Pinto. It is an honour to meet you, Your Majesty Zenjirou."

    The general in his forties and the young knight probably still in his teens, bowed their heads to Zenjirou in unison.

    By the way, General Mart¨ªn and Knight Captain Cris were an exception in the sense that they were attending the ceremony without a female partner.

    If possible, a marriage ceremony was usually attended with a partner, but there was no ironw that forbid to attend it alone.

    They practically had passed over the mountain on a footslog, so no women had been capable of apanying them.

    Under such circumstances, a man was not really frowned upon for attending alone.

    "Much obliged, General Mart¨ªn. I am Zenjirou, the husband of Her Majesty Aura, the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom. Your reputation precedes you as even I have heard of it.

    And this is Princess Freya Upps, the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom on the North Continent."

    "My name is Freya. I am from the North Continent, so I am afraid that I have not heard of your achievements, but it is nevertheless an honour to make your acquaintance, General."

    Following the introduction from Zenjirou, Princess Freya also introduced herself and lowered her head a bit.

    Zenjirou withdrew his left hand he had put around Princess Freya''s waist, and faced the two man standing in front of him.

    (So he''s General Mart¨ªn, the Hero of the Navarre Kingdom. A giant of a man. And his presence is even bigger.)

    Wearing a smile, Zenjirou managed to not let his anxiety show on his face, but at heart, he instinctively was afraid of the man standing in front of him.

    The seasoned warrior in front of him was close to two metre tall and almost twice as heavy as him, so it already deserved praise that Zenjirou faced him without backing off.

    As Royalty, Zenjirou was technically wearing a decorative sword at his waist, whereas the foreign general was unarmed, but there was no way that such a thing wouldpensate for the difference in their strengths.

    "Greetings to you, Princess Freya. It is an honour to make your acquaintance."

    "Pleased to meet you, Princess Freya."

    General Mart¨ªn and Knight Captain Cris returned the greeting to Princess Freya.

    "But I must say, I am surprised to see you here today, General Mart¨ªn. I assume your rtion to General Puyol is the reason that a famous general attends a marriage ceremony of a neighbouring country?"

    In reality, Zenjirou had not even heard of his name before, but he did not mention that, of course.

    Nevertheless, he did have a point there.

    It was not all that strange that they would send a messenger to the marriage ceremony of a feudal lord family from a neighbouring country, but it was an exception for sure that an important general was chosen for that role.

    For anyone, who knew that General Puyol and General Mart¨ªn had a feud with each other from the previous war, it was only natural to assume that General Mart¨ªn came here especially for General Puyol.

    All the nearby nobility curiously pricked up their ears, when Zenjirou asked that.

    With all the attention on him, the famous general shrugged his shoulders a bit and affirmed it with a brazen smile.

    "Well, to be honest, that is definitely the biggest reason.

    Nheless, the Carpa Kingdom is an important neighbour to the Navarre Kingdom, so if not for me, they would surely have send someone of equal status."

    To be more precise: General Mart¨ªn had been concerned about the character of General Puyol.

    It was well-known after all that General Puyol was an ambitious man.

    That capable and ambitious general was going to bond with the feudal family on their border in form of marriage, so the Navarre Kingdom obviously could not sit back and do nothing.

    He was enough of a "threat" to send in their important general to check on him.

    Zenjirou pretended not to have noticed that implied nuance in the answer from General Mart¨ªn and responded with a smile.

    "Yes, neighbours should get along well. I do hope we both do not forget that fact and continue to work towards it."

    "My sentiments exactly, Your Majesty Zenjirou."

    Two authorities from bordering countries were having a typical two-faced conversation.

    Local affairs aside, Zenjirou was not yet used to dealing with foreign countries appropriately, so he could not help but y it safe.

    Their conversation naturally avoided diving into political waters and shifted towards personal preferences instead.

    "This reminds me, we are neighbours, but is our food culture actually different? I did hear that it is not unusual for a culture to change beyond the border."

    "Well, I am not all that familiar with your cuisine, but as far as I can tell, it is not all that different. If I had to name something, it would be the fruit wine. The fruit wine of the Carpa Kingdom generally tends to be sweeter than ours.

    Thanks to that, Knight Captain Cris is treating himself to some on a rare asion. Am I right, Cris?"

    "S- Sir, you¡­"

    Suddenly addressed, the young knight was at a loss for words for a moment and red at the respectable general of his own country.

    A lot of men with a sweet tooth were very self-conscious about it and apparently Knight Captain Cris was one of them.

    Having said this, he had somewhate to terms with it, seeing as he was not forcing himself to drink dry wine at an official event for appearance''s sake.

    "You cannot help to like what you like after all. I do know that it is childish of me, but I let them prepare my food without certain herbs, too."

    Zenjirou tried to help him out by revealing a peculiarity of his own, but Knight Captain Cris was not man enough to honestly ept his good intentions.

    "¡­Why, thank you."

    Although he lowered his head, he was giving Zenjirou a resentful re. To him, it must have seemed like General Mart¨ªn and Zenjirou were pairing up to make fun of his fondness for sweets.

    Zenjirou read in the expression of the young knight that it would be unwise to pursue this topic any further, so he changed the subject somewhat forcefully.

    "What about this then, General Mart¨ªn? Does a drink like this suit your taste? This alcohol is the recent product of the Capital. It is quite strong, albeit light in taste. General Puyol seems to have taken a liking to it."

    With these words, Zenjirou rmended General Mart¨ªn a silver goblet with the "distilled liquor" from the Capital.

    "Oho! If it has your approval, I will have to try it. ¡­Hmm, it certainly is strong enough to burn your throat, but it is a bit too tasteless to my liking."

    "I thought so. You are not the first to say this. I guess we have to think about improving the taste."

    "That sounds promising. I would like to try it once you have done so."

    "Please share it with your country then. I do hope it will be a local speciality of our country after all."

    Knight Captain Cris regained hisposure while Zenjirou and General Mart¨ªn were chatting like that, so he asked Zenjirou dubious.

    "Your Majesty seems to think like a merchant. Maybe youe from such a family?"

    General Mart¨ªn frowned in light of the phrasing from the young knight captain. It was well-known that Zenjirou was not true-born royalty, but calling him a merchant could be considered an insult.

    However, Zenjirou was not offended by it.

    "Well, not quite correct, but not entirely wrong, either, I guess."

    He affirmed it to some extent without getting angry.

    Originally, Zenjirou had been working in the sales department, so it was not all that wrong to call him a merchant.

    "This reminds me, I have heard that Your Majesty has achieved a major victory against dragons the other day."

    General Mart¨ªn had no way of divining what Zenjirou was thinking, so he touched on a ttering topic as though smoothing over the problematic statement of his subordinate about royalty from a different country. Unfortunately for him, he was barking up the wrong tree in the case of Zenjirou with that idea.

    "Oh, I was just overseeing things there. To begin with, I ampletely unsuited for battle. I was stretching myself to the limit not to get in the way. That alone made me break out in a cold sweat already, so I never want to have anything to do with it again."

    "Err¡­ Is that so."

    His answer obviously bewildered General Mart¨ªn, seeing as he stumbled on his words.

    "¡­.."

    And Knight Captain Cris next to him could not quite conceal his contempt and disdain for him in his expression.

    But he could not really be med for it, because Zenjirou was too much of an abnormality in this world for stating so brazenly that "he could not fight and was weary of it".

    A noble man in his prime that could not fight belonged to the minority and was usually ashamed of belonging to that minority.

    Judging by the moral values of this world, it only looked like Zenjirou was putting up a defiant front.

    "Then Your Majesty is not training on a daily basis?"

    Knight Captain Cris was obviously looking at his hand, when he asked that, so Zenjirou showed him his hands with a wry smile.

    "Yes, as you can see. And it would be an useless effort to start now. I resigned myself to it."

    As if emphasizing his words, the palms of his hands had no calluses and were as lean as a child''s or woman''s by the standards of this world.

    If he had done baseball or kendo in university, he might have fooled them to some extent, but unfortunately, he had belonged to the ser club. His road of life had not been the kind, where he got any calluses.

    "It is never in vain to practice martial arts, even if only a little. Your Majesty should set aside any biases and just try it out."

    The words from Knight Captain Cris sounded like he was saying it in the interest of Zenjirou, but the contempt for him was still present in his eyes and voice.

    Zenjirou was not so dim-witted that he would fail to notice that, but he also knew that it would be a pain in the ass, if he were toment on it now.

    "Haha, you are right. I will keep it in mind for next time."

    After a moment of deliberation, Zenjirou conquered his feelings and decided to ignore the vicious remark from Knight Captain Cris.

    "¡­I am d I could make you understand."

    "¡­.."

    As Knight Captain Cris did not abandon his contemptuous attitude, General Mart¨ªn thanked Zenjirou for his lenience by casting down his eyes.

    After the bridal couplepleted the "Rite of Unveiling", it wasmon practice that they returned to the banquet hall and participated in the party btedly.

    Unlike the marriage ceremony, the banquet was a sociable party, so the guests were allowed to speak directly with the bridal pair.

    In a way, it was the main event for those, who had attended the marriage ceremony for diplomatic reasons.

    Under the pretext of congratting the newlyweds, they could approach them regardless of social standing after all.

    But right now, not a single person was approaching the groom General Puyol, even though the bridal couple had finally made an appearance here.

    The hall had fallen dead silent and everyone was just awaiting the issue without moving an inch.

    Creasing his face into a smile, General Puyol was looking at General Mart¨ªn, who was showing him the same kind of smile.

    The awed guests in the hall were just supporting actors for the confrontation between the two great heroes of the previous war.

    "Long time no see, General Mart¨ªn. I''m d you haven''t kicked the bucket yet."

    Shortening the distance between them at a leisurely pace, General Puyol spoke first.

    It remained unclear whether he scratched the scar over his eyebrow with his left hand on purpose or unconsciously.

    "Of course I''m alive and kicking, General Puyol. After all, I haven''t seen you in a while. There''s no way I would get wounded unless I''m fighting you, right?"

    Replying like that, General Mart¨ªn ced his right hand on broad his breast bone quite purposefully.

    There was a scar under his clothes. The shallow, but long cut across his breast bone had been inflicted by General Puyol.

    Both of them were veterans that had survived the previous great war and the countless scars on their bodies told its tale.

    But most of these wounds were inflicted by projectiles like arrows or stones and the few wounds from melee weapons were all suffered through chaotic scuffles.

    The only wounds they had inflicted on each other directly were the scars on the face of General Puyol or the scar across the breast bone of General Mart¨ªn.

    On the battlefield, one was always having a brush with death, no matter how brave or heroic they were. In that sense, neither General Puyol, nor General Mart¨ªn were anything special.

    But considering that they still could thrust death into your face, even if you were to keep yourself in perfect shape, sharpen your mind without the slightest neglect and ward off any ill fortune, you could not avoid calling both of them "special" after all.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­.."

    General Puyol was almost two metre tall and over a hundred kilogram heavy, whereas General Mart¨ªn was one-hundred and ny centimetre tall and over a hundred kilogram heavy.

    ordingly, General Puyol surpassed him by ten centimetre in height, but General Mart¨ªn outweighed him breadthwise.

    While they red at each other like a sabre-tooth tiger and a grizzly, the air in the hall was at an heavy standstill.

    "Looks like you didn''t neglect training. It must be tough finding free time for training in your position as a general. I must say, I''m impressed, General Puyol."

    "Yeah, thanks. I dare to say I''ve grown stronger since then. I''m also d to see that you still have been training, General Mart¨ªn."

    "I had to work my way up after all. Strength has a bearing on your leadership skills, so I can''t afford to ck off. Yet the best I could do this year was maintaining my current form."

    "Oho, if that is true, you might prove to be an equal opponent now."

    "Pfft, cut the ttering. Back then, we were evenly matched, but right now, you are definitely stronger. That doesn''t mean you will win, though, if we have a bout."

    "Oho¡­"

    "Heh¡­"

    Neither of the two heroes was usually the chatty type, but the more words they exchange, the broader their smile got. At the same time, the tension and will tobat rose between them proportional to that smile, though.

    Were they going to go at it right here?

    Maybe they both had been joking in the beginning, but identally reached the point of no return?

    Everyone was holding their breath with these worries, but the woman standing next to the groom, namely the bride, released them from that sorrow.

    "My Husband, I do understand that you have a lot to catch up on with your old friend, but for how long are you going to neglect your new wife on this special day? I would like you to introduce me to him."

    Lucinda Guzzle, or rather Lucinda Guill¨¦n now, said this with a soft smile and tugged at the sleeve of her husband reminding.

    Her expression was the quintessence of affability and you could not find a single trace of tension or fear anywhere on her.

    It seemed like she was "cutting into the conversation of the two men thoughtlessly, because she was sulking about her husband not paying any attention to her", but reality was different.

    On the contrary, she had given thought to it more than anyone and concluded that it would be dangerous to let them continue like this, so she went in to stop them by pretending to be oblivious to the situation.

    Dangerous as it may be, it was not like General Puyol and General Mart¨ªn would actually start a fight here.

    But Lucinda feared that if they were to continue to speak at daggers drawn, the others would get the impression that "the two of them really wanted a fight", which would add unnecessary tension to the rtion between the two countries.

    "Although I do know that you two have just been joking around, a woman cannot help but be scared by it. Please apply yourself to me now, My Husband."

    Emphasizing the fact that they were joking around, Lucinda looked up into the eyes of her now husband from the side.

    "¡­Hmm, you are right. My bad. Soldiers are oblivious to the delicate mind of women by nature, but I do admit that we have gone a bit too far. Forgive me, Lucinda.

    General Mart¨ªn, let me introduce her. As of today, this is my wife Lucinda."

    "It is a pleasure to meet you, General Mart¨ªn. I am the eldest daughter of the Guzzle Family and as of now, the wife to Puyol Guill¨¦n, the current head of the Guill¨¦n Family. My name is Lucinda.

    I do have heard of your achievements, General. It is a great honour to get acquainted with you."

    A gentle voice and calm pronunciation coupled with a modest smile.

    Without resorting to force, the newlywed wife pacified the atmosphere through mere words. General Mart¨ªn changed his attitude as well in light of her smile.

    "What a lovely bride. My name is Mart¨ªn Nadal, a general from the Navarre Kingdom.

    It seems you are not just lucky on the battlefield, Sir Puyol. To think you actually managed to win such a fine wife."

    "Yes, I am really d that I stayed single until today."

    "You tter me."

    Peace set in between the bridal pair and the general from the neighbouring country, so the rest of the hall resumed their happy chit-chatting as well.

    <b>Intermission I: The Queen in the Capital</b>

    Unlike before, Zenjirou had started to take on some jobs as Royalty in recent times.

    Now that he was away from the Capital, it meant that the work he had been doing was left undone. Some of these jobs could temporarily be dyed, seeing as he was only going to be away for a month, but that was not the case for all of them, so these other jobs had to be done by someone else.

    For example: Entertaining Prince Francesco and Princess Bona from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell. With Zenjirou gone, Queen Aura had no choice but to take on that role upon herself.

    "Oh, it''s been a while, Your Majesty Aura. How is Prince Carlos doing?"

    Prince Francesco made himselffortable on the couch as though he was at home and spoke to the red-haired Queen sitting across from him.

    The casual tone from the blonde prince did not agitate Queen Aura as she just nodded with a smile.

    "Thanks to you, he is doing well. I owe you a great deal, Prince Francesco. And I am even putting Princess Bona through a lot of trouble, so that we can meet like this."

    She replied with a calm tone.

    "If that''s how you feel, please turn rhetoric into actionter on."

    "That I shall."

    Princess Bona was a chaperone for Prince Francesco. Because of that, Prince Francesco was generally not able to attend an official gathering without her.

    In order to get her out of the picture, Aura had requested a peculiar magic tool from Princess Bona as payment for their residence here.

    Her request had been an "outdoor candlestick". As the name implied, it was just an borate illuminant, but it actually required thebination of three different spells.

    Namely the "me" magic as the source of light, the "Wind Wall" magic as a protection against outside influences as well as the "Water Maniption" magic as an amplifier through reflections.

    Each spell was rtively low ss and would not take all that long to imbue into a magic tool. But the problem was that only one marble had been arranged for all three required spells.

    The main "me" magic could be imbued within one day, if the marble was used as its medium, but the other two spells had to be imbued the normal way.

    So no matter how hard Princess Bona might try, she would take at least one month for each bestowal. Adding the time required to craft the candlestick itself, she would need around three to four months toplete the tool.

    Consequently, Princess Bona was going to be busy for a long time.

    Needless to say, she was not going to spent the whole day working, even if she did allocate a lot of time to it, but she was going to be upied for at least half a day every day until the tool was done.

    During that time, Prince Francesco could act on own his behalf.

    "This reminds me, His Majesty Zenjirou is attending the wedding by now, isn''t he? I must say I sure was surprised that you acknowledged the northern princess as his partner. You are as bold as ever, Your Majesty Aura."

    The blonde prince grinned broadly, whereas the red-haired queen kept herposed smile.

    "Love is a matter of the heart. No matter how much influence you may wield, it is impossible to capture the heartpletely through it."

    "Wise words, Your Majesty."

    Aura insisted that Princess Freya had only be his partner due to personal feelings, whereupon Prince Francesco nodded his assent exaggeratedly a few times.

    Seeing as the reaction from the blonde prince was as unreadable as ever, Queen Aura obfuscated her smile and asked him.

    "What about you, though? I am sure you know what it symbolizes to bring another woman besides your wife to a wedding ceremony. Is there nothing you want to tell me, considering our countries have a secret agreement in regards to the concubines of my husband?"

    "Ahaha, oh please! No one actually expected that agreement to be kept."

    On the other hand, the reply from Prince Francesco was so blunt it made you question it instead.

    Nevertheless, he had been telling the whole truth.

    The secret agreement was not about "restricting concubines for Zenjirou", but rather recited "what had to be done, when Zenjirou had a child with a concubine".

    "Then I can assume that Princess Bona is another chess piece in the same game?"

    The reason Aura threw him such a provoking question was that Princess Freya had changed the situation drastically.

    For the nobility of the Carpa Kingdom it was already only a matter of time before Princess Freya would be a concubine.

    And since a second concubine would not make much of a difference anyway then, they had resumed their own offensive to push a concubine onto Zenjirou.

    With the "secret contract" at work, Aura needed to know the intention of the Sharrow Royal Family, when they were going to increase the number of concubines for Zenjirou.

    Having said this, it was almost impossible to have a reasonable discussion on the level of "sounding each other out" with Prince Francesco.

    "Hmm, at the very least, the Sharrow Family won''t intervene if Bona gets intimate with His Majesty Zenjirou. Well, in my opinion, something will only happen between them when His Majesty visits the Twin Kingdom."

    "¡­"

    The prince revealed the scheme of his own country with a nonchnt expression, whereat even Queen Aura had to fall silent for a moment.

    It sounded too usible to brush it off as a joke or bluff, but neither could she take it at face value.

    In the end, she had no choice but to proceed cautiously.

    "Oh, so you are saying the Sharrow Family would receive my husband with open arms to the Capital of the Twin Kingdom?"

    "Why, yes, of course! Except maybe His Majesty himself, everyone is always ''ready and waiting'' to wee him."

    "¡­That sounds more like they are ready to catch or capture him, rather than wee him."

    "Haha, you''re as perceptive as ever."

    Prince Francesco practically admitted it with his answer, whereupon Aura wrinkled her brow without breaking her poker face.

    (I feel like I am fighting against an amorphous monster.)

    The blonde prince showed not the slightest reaction to the deliberately shown displeasure of the Queen, and just grinned stupidly.

    "I shall tell my husband toe back right away, if he ever feels to be in danger."

    "Nothing wrong with that. Oh, can I ask His Majesty Zenjirou to deliver a letter, when he visits the Twin Kingdom? I would like to write my parents and siblings back home once in a while."

    Prince Francesco had the "Burning Pair Parchment" to get into contact with them, but it was a scarce magic tool. He could not use it for a personal message.

    The request from Prince Francesco prompted Aura to blink once in surprise.

    "Hmm? Does that mean you are staying here? I thought for sure you two would take the chance to return home together with my husband."

    Aura suspected that Prince Francesco hade to the Carpa Kingdom to check upon the bloodline magic disposition of Prince Carlos Zenkichi and let them know about his special ability to use two different bloodline magic.

    Princess Bona on the other hand was probably sent here to serve as a honey trap for Zenjirou.

    The former one had already achieved his goal and thetter one would have the best chances to achieve hers, when they returned home together with Zenjirou.

    But Prince Francesco dismissed these conjectures with a shake of the head.

    "As if. I actually like it better here, because there''s too much nagging back home."

    "Princess Bona does it here, too, though?"

    "She is the only one here. There are a lot more at home, who keep nagging at me.

    But I want to give my family a status report or rather show them a sign of life from me. Hence a letter. Is that too much to ask for?"

    "¡­.."

    Somehow or other, Aura discerned that Prince Francesco was telling the truth behind his nonchnt tone, so she narrowed his eyes and cleared up a misunderstanding he had made.

    "Yes. That is exactly why I suggested you return together with my husband. You see, my husband will only visit the Twin Kingdom once he has learned the ''Teleport'' magic.

    The spell allows you to go back and forth between our Royal Pces within one day in an extreme case.

    I would send you there with my ''Teleport'' magic and my husband would send you back from there with his ''Teleport'' magic. Needless to say, it will cost you."

    "Oh, I see."

    Prince Francesco pped his hands enlightened.

    Just like she had said, they could establish a kind of finite warp gate between the Capitals of the Carpa Kingdom and the Twin Kingdom, when Zenjirou learned ''Teleport'' and used it to go to the Twin Kingdom.

    Considering the travel was going to be instantaneous and safe, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona had no reason to not go back home temporarily.

    "If that is the case, I will dly take you up on the offer. Ah, and I want you to do the same for Bona on a different day, too. Do you take gold coins as a payment?"

    Prince Francesco asked with a beaming face, whereat Queen Aura replied with a sober voice.

    "A magic tool would be more to my liking. I shall provide you with the gem for the medium, so I would like you to create a magic tool with ''Teleport''."

    "¡­.."

    That request surprised even Prince Francesco.

    Rendered speechless for a moment, he then showed a bright smile.

    "That definitely sounds like a worthwhile task, but I think the price is a bit too expensive for applying ''Teleport'' four times. How about this: I pay you in gold coins for my request, but make two magic tools with ''Teleport'' in addition, from which I get one inpensation for my efforts."

    The "Teleport" magic was the pivotal element of the Carpa Royal Family. So the Twin Kingdom had approached them numerous times to turn that spell into a magic tool, but the previous rulers of the Carpa Kingdom had never allowed this.

    As Aura was proposing to break that taboo now, Prince Francesco leaned forward with a big grin, but Queen Aura just shook her head ungracious.

    "No, just one. And even that one has to be a ''disposable'' one with only a single use. If that is impossible, I will not force you.

    Gold coins will just be fine as payment in that case."

    Whether she was just bargaining or never actually expected it to be possible, Aura outright rejected him with a steadfast tone.

    "Hmm¡­ Well¡­ I would really like to get my hands on ''Teleport'', though. But then again¡­"

    Prince Francesco crossed his arms, wrinkled his brow and mumbled to himself for a while.

    Before long, he seemed to have reached a decision. The blonde prince pped himself on the knees and spoke.

    "Okay, I''ll give up on the ''Teleport'' for myself. But I do want that gem. You still have plenty of them, right? I want three of them, including the one I will need for your ''Teleport'' magic tool. How does that sound?"

    "You are being a bit too greedy now. I would be willing topromise on two. But you will need to tell me for what kind of magic tool you want to use the second gem in advance. Otherwise I cannotply."

    Strictly speaking, her answer was only to be expected.

    Right now, Prince Francesco was staying in the guesthouse of the Carpa Royal Pce. Aura obviously had to make sure he was not going to make a dangerous magic tool.

    But it apparently was not that obvious to Prince Francesco, seeing as he kept staring at the ceiling for a while.

    "What for, you ask? Hmm, do I really have to tell you?"

    "You do."

    "Really?"

    "Yes."

    "Hmm¡­"

    His inner conflict continued for some while, but at some point, he seemed to have made a decision and faced Aura with a resolute expression.

    "Fine. I will tell you in confidence. But keep it between you and me. Not even Royalty must know about it."

    "Okay. I shall not tell my husband about it."

    Aura nodded confirmatory, but Prince Francesco shook his head.

    "No, not just him, but all ''other Royalty''."

    "All other Royalty?"

    She cocked her head puzzled, but realized what he meant after a moment of pondering.

    Except Aura and Zenjirou, the only other Royalty in the Carpa Kingdom was the infant Carlos Zenkichi. He surely did not mean to keep it a secret from a child, who could not even speak yet.

    It was also unlikely he would remind her to not reveal it to Royalty of an unrted country such as Princess Freya at this point in time.

    So there was only one possibility remaining: Concealing it from the other involved Royalty from the Twin Kingdom.

    "¡­You mean to keep it a secret from Princess Bona?"

    Aura narrowed her eyes to slits and asked him with feigned ignorance, whereupon Prince Francesco answered with a profound grin.

    "Not just Bona. I also mean my father and grandfather back home. Especially them, actually. They snapped at me, when I tried to make that magic tool once before. Man, it was hell on earth."

    Prince Francesco scratched his head with a carefree smile, but even Queen Aura of all people became somewhat anxious now.

    But there was no backing down aftering this far.

    "Very well. I will keep it between you and me. Not a single soul shall learn of it from me. So tell me, Prince Francesco, what exactly are you trying to make?"

    "Well, a magic tool imbued with ''Bestowal Magic''."

    While he answered like that, his eyes beamed with rampant aspiration.

    * * *

    "¡­."

    After Prince Francesco had left the meeting room, Queen Aura slouched on the couch and heaved a sigh.

    "What a troublemaker. Announcing an important matter just like that¡­"

    A magic tool of the "Bestowal Magic". If it was actually possible to make such a thing, it could shake the civilized world to the very foundations.

    To be honest, his motivations were too uncertain, so she should not let him make one.

    "But I really want a magic tool with ''Teleport''. Without one, I would be too worried to let Zenjirou leave the country as it stands. The Twin Kingdom may not be as much of a worry, but I definitely cannot let him leave for the Upps Kingdom like this."

    This was what Aura have had in mind.

    Princess Freya was supposed to go home to get permission for her marriage, after the issue with the Twin Kingdom was more or less resolved, and Aura wanted Zenjirou to apany her on the "Yellow Leaves" on that asion.

    The biggest advantage of "Teleport" was that you could instantly go back and forth between ces you had visited before.

    Because of that, the Carpa Royalty had split up to visit allied and neutral countries before the great war, expanding their possible targets for the "Teleport" magic.

    If Princess Freya did officially became a concubine for Zenjirou and they realized an intercontinental trade with the Upps Kingdom in the future, it would do no harm to have a person, who could go back and forth between their countries with "Teleport".

    The problem, however, was that the intercontinental sea travel was far from begin safe, even with arge sailing ship like the "Yellow Leaves" from Princess Freya.

    Aura loved her husband, of course, but even more importantly, Zenjirou was the Prince Consort, the only grown-up male in the Royal Family for now.

    No matter how much of an advantage it was to be able to "Teleport" to the North Continent and back, it was not worth risking his life over it.

    She needed something that could ensure his safety, namely the "Teleport" magic tool.

    The "Teleport" spell was normally too difficult to cast in emergencies. This technically applied to all magic, because the magic would not activate without properly envisioning its effect. Hence it was impossible to invoke the magic in a life-threatening situation unless you had nerves of steel.

    "And I do not see Zenjirou having these nerves."

    Aura truly loved her husband from the bottom of her heart, but she did not let that feeling cloud her judgment about his abilities.

    Going by his nerves and personality, it was pretty much impossible to cast magic for him already, when someone next to him simply drew his sword.

    Even if he were able to actually use "Teleport", he would not be able to use it as a means of escape in an emergency.

    As a consequence, Aura wanted a magic tool with the "Teleport" magic.

    Depending on its setting, the magic tool could be used even when you were nervous or frightened as long as you still had a bit of reasoning left.

    Zenjirou would be able to escape with it, when, for example, the ship capsized and sunk. Or when the delegation was dragged into some kind of conflict onnd. Or even when the Upps Kingdom tried to detain him for some reason after he arrived there.

    "I really want that magic tool, but for how much should Ipromise? Prince Francesco even revealed that sensible information about a ''Bestowal'' magic tool to me.

    Knowing him, he surely is going to go ahead with it on his own anyway.

    I guess they do not call him a genius creator of magic tools for nothing."

    On the other hand, they did not call him a carefree idiot for everything else for nothing, either.

    "I need to put some thought into how much I can afford to yield to The Twin Kingdom or the Upps Kingdom and how I can draw the best profit from them for my country."

    Aura generally preferred to keep a bnce between domestic and external policies.

    Of course her own country always came first, but whenever possible, she chose not to get on the bad side of her negotiation partners just for a quick profit, nor did she treat them too favourable and let them get overbearing.

    Her careful consideration was interrupted by the dry sound of a knock on the door.

    "! Enter."

    "Excuse me, Your Majesty."

    Called in after the knock, a middle-aged man with a slender face entered the room. It was Secretary Fabio.

    "Master Zenjirou has sent a Small Flying Dragon from the March of Guzzle. Here you are."

    Expressionless as ever, the secretary ced three wooden cylinder the size of a finger in front of Aura with these words.

    Taking one of them, Aura pulled the small Dragonskin Parchment out of it and read what was written on it.

    "Hmm¡­ Mh? Nilda Guzzle? Fabio, do you know of anyone called ''Nilda Guzzle''?"

    The faithful secretary immediately answered the question of the Queen.

    "No, I do not. Who is that supposed to be?"

    "ording to my husband, she is the ''second daughter'' of Marquis Guzzle. Apparently she just came of age this year, so fifteen years old, and is the illegitimate child the Marquis had with a woman from his domain."

    Hearing the exnation from the Queen, the Secretary shifted his gaze to the ceiling and pondered for a moment, but shook his head resolutely in the end.

    "Still does not ring a bell with me. Marquis Guzzle had four children. Three sons and one daughter. The first and second son both died in battle, so there is only his youngest son Sir Xavier and his daughter Lady Lucinda right now."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Certainly. Or at the very least, they are the only ones listed on the ''roll of names."

    "I see¡­ I am not questioning your memory, but check the ''roll of names'' again, just in case."

    "dly."

    The so-called "roll of names" was a document from the Royal Family, where all the names of the local nobility were listed on.

    Anyone on that list was nobility and vice versa.

    In other words, the girl named Nilda Guzzle was "not officially acknowledged as nobility", even when Marquis Guzzle actually imed that she was his own daughter.

    "It seems that very Nilda was entrusted with the duty to take care of my husband. It is unthinkable that amoner would get to take care of Royalty, even if she may be his real daughter. In any other case, I would suspect a plot now, but¡­"

    As though finishing her sentence, Secretary Fabio dered assertively.

    "That is not possible. At the very least, its mastermind cannot be Marquis Guzzle. The best he could plot would be a pitfall."

    The Queen assented to his words with a wry smile.

    "I see you are still not mincing your words, Fabio, But yes, I agree with you. It is hard to believe the Marquis can hatch aplicated plot.

    In that case, we might as well just ask him about it. Fabio."

    "Yes?"

    "Dispatch an envoy to the residence of Marquis Guzzle here in the Capital. I assume most of them have returned to the March for the wedding, but someone must have remained to look after the ce.

    Make hime here. He might know something about it."

    "Very well. I shall arrange it immediately."

    The secretary bowed down to the order of the Queen so perfectly it seemed inhuman.

    <b>Chapter 03: For a Trivial Reason</b>

    A marriage ceremony between important nobles in the bordend simply did not end after the ceremony itself.

    After all, influential nobles from far and wide, not to forget Royalty, had gathered here to celebrate it.

    The road and inn essibility in this world was nowhere good enough to cope with the situation, where the guests were told "thanks foring" right after the ceremony and dispersed in small groups all at once.

    Most people actually wanted to stay longer in order to use this opportunity for socializing.

    And above all, it would be a grand event, when the groom General Puyol set out for the Capital with his wife Lucindater on.

    There was no way the other guests would leave ahead of them. The same naturally applied to Prince Consort Zenjirou as well.

    Consequently, the capital of the March of Guzzle was bustling with all the wedding guests even now.

    In his usual well-behaved way, Zenjirou spent the days in his allocated building without moving around much.

    It certainly was inconvenient to be separated from his electrical appliances, but he had already went through that experience in Valentia.

    Learning from his past mistakes, Zenjirou had brought along his portable music yer as well as two portable game consoles this time, all of them charged in full.

    Thanks to them, he had not been bored at night so far. Unfortunately he could only charge the devices in the Inner Pce, so he limited himself to use only one of them for one hour per day, but it was more than enough to pass the time in the otherwise uneventful nights.

    The music yer in particr yed a decisive role.

    Because Aura had recorded the chant for "Teleport" on it.

    Listening to it on repeat, Zenjirou had set himself to learn the correct pronunciation of the "Teleport" chant for now.

    "Ru Mavaiaia Hastaobraguopena¡­ It''s no good."

    Zenjirou heaved a heavy sigh in the dimly lit room, which was only illuminated by the hand crank shlight and the disy light of the music yer.

    "Grr¡­ I expected it, but it''s still difficult! The intonation alone raises the difficulty quite a bit."

    Putting the music yer onto the desk, Zenjirou stretched himself on the simple chair he was sitting on, muttering with a loud voice.

    Just like he had mentioned, the intonation for the "Teleport" chant in the magguage was already pretty difficult by itself. He had practiced it whenever he had time on the way here, but so far, he had not seeded even once.

    As things stood at the moment, Zenjirou was still miles away from fathoming "Teleport".

    "Will I really be able to use an awesome magic like ''Teleport'' one day?"

    Not quiteining, nor exactly losing heart, Zenjirou muttered to himself while he turned off the music yer and took a silver bell from the desk, ringing it.

    It was met with an almost instant reaction.

    "Yes, you called for me?"

    With these words, a middle-aged woman neatly wearing maid clothes entered the room: Waiting Maid Ines.

    The light from the shlight was quite selective, so the room was pretty much wrapped in darkness except for the desk, but Ines showed no sign of missing her footing.

    Because this world had no illumination tools whatsoever, its people had be a lot more ustomed to seeing in the night than Zenjirou. As one of them, Ines did not even feel inconvenienced by this level of darkness at which Zenjirou would not hesitate a second to turn on the lights.

    And since it was dangerous to walk around with a light source such as an oil pan, people generally refrained from carrying one as long as they still could see more or less in the dark, so Zenjirou was practically an exception to the exception.

    As his waiting maid came closer with her usual smooth steps, Zenjirou called out to her with a casual question.

    "How''s Princess Freya doing?"

    He could take this attitude, because he was all alone in the room with the well-acquainted waiting maid.

    Ines, too, was used to that behaviour.

    "Princess Freya is being shown around the main building by Miss Nilda."

    She answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

    "Oh, I had heard they were getting along, but this well? I''m a bit surprised."

    "They are somewhat close in age and Miss Nilda has quite the sociable personality, after all. And Princess Freya does not seem to be put off by her attachment, either."

    Up to a certain age, Nilda had been raised in an uneventful farming vige, so she listened with genuine respect to the unusual exploits of Princess Freya from the bottom of her heart.

    Likewise, Princess Freya must be enjoying to be the target of admiration from a younger girl for a change.

    "d to hear. Just having someone to talk to already fends off boredom."

    "You seem to have opened up to Princess Freya as well, Master Zenjirou."

    "A bit, yes."

    When Ines gave him a light smile, Zenjirou showed a wry smile to hide his embarrassment.

    Although Zenjirou admitted that he found it difficult to deal with the openly affectionate Princess Freya, he could not help but be somewhat attracted to her, when she was smiling so innocently together with Nilda.

    Standing up from the chair, Zenjirou took the shlight from the desk and pointed it at his feet while talking to Ines.

    "Well then, let''s go pick her up. It''s almost time for dinner. Ines, can you take me to the main building?"

    "Certainly. Are you sure, though? I can go by myself, if it is just to call her back."

    "I can''t really do that. It would spread rumours that we don''t get along."

    She had been brought along as his partner for the marriage ceremony, so other people already had concluded that it was only a matter of time for her to be his concubine.

    If it were to seem like they were not getting along well now, it could harm the country in the future.

    "Besides, I want to stretch my legs."

    Perceptive as he was, Zenjirou realized the circumstances were moving towards an unfavourable oue for him and yet, that knowledge did not prevent him from taking action in that very direction.

    * * *

    Around the same time, Princess Freya was walking down the dim hallway of the main building with Nilda.

    Her bodyguard Skathi was following three steps behind them.

    "Please watch your step, Princess Freya. Will you be fine?"

    "Yes, I can see rtively well in the night and even participated in a couple of night manoeuvres. Thank you for your concern."

    Just like she had asserted, Princess Freya kept a firm walking pace.

    By the standards of Modern Earth, the stony hallway was wrapped in a considerable darkness, but Princess Freya and Skathi were ustomed to seeing in the dark more than enough, whereas Nilda knew her family home inside out. Even if she could not see as well, she could move around from memory.

    "Wow. I take it that you took training for it?"

    "Instead of specially training for it, it would be more urate to say that I naturally adopted to it. You see, huntings and sea or river travels do not necessarily end by nightfall, so you have no choice but to continue throughout the night. As a result, I came to be able to see at night."

    She mentioned it most carefree, but that method was anything but it. At the very least, it was not something a princess was supposed to do.

    In fact, Skathi showed a wry smile behind them. As her bodyguard, she had been dragged into all of her hoydenish adventures.

    "Mdy, we are near a corner."

    "Yes, I can see it. Thank you, Skathi."

    Keeping her back to her trusted bodyguard, the silver-haired princess answered her like that and safely turned at the right-angled corner.

    Nilda next to her followed suit as well.

    The first to notice it then was, as expected, the female warrior Skathi, as she was paying close attention to their surroundings with her eyes most ustomed to the darkness.

    "Hm? There is someone ahead of us. I can see a silhouette."

    Upon her remark, both Princess Freya and Nilda stopped and narrowed their eyes to a slit.

    "Oh, right. Considering he ising from that direction, it must be one of our guards."

    With the worst night vision from all of them, Nilda imed this, but Princess Freya cocked her head dubiously.

    "Are you sure? I cannot see it all that well at this distance, but I would say it is someone from the ''Navarre Kingdom''."

    The delegation from the Navarre Kingdom was the only foreign group invited to this marriage ceremony, so Princess Freya had paid a bit more attention to them than to the others.

    Because of that, she could now recognize their military uniform from just a silhouette.

    "Eh!?"

    Nilda eximed surprised, when she heard that.

    "Excuse me for a moment."

    Then she approached the silhouette with brisk steps.

    "Pardon! Do you have a moment?"

    When Nilda called out to it with a loud voice, the silhouette flinched for a second, then stopped.

    The dimness hid all the fine features, but judging by the height, it was a man without doubt.

    "¡­Yes?"

    And a young man, at that, going by his voice.

    His silhouette and voice assured Nilda that he was at least not associated with the House of Guzzle, so she named herself in the semidarkness.

    "My name is Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle. May I ask you to name yourself?"

    "¡­Yes! I am Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom Delegation."

    The silhouette performed the typical greeting gesture of a knight amidst the darkness and its voice was kind of t from nervousness.

    "Then I shall address you as Sir Raymundo. Pardon my asking, Sir Raymundo, but did youe out of that middle hallway just now?"

    Her straightforward question turned out to be counterproductive, though.

    "¡­No. You must have confused it. I came out of that other passage."

    Saying this, the knight from the Navarre Kingdom pointed to the building''s outmost hallway, the one opposite from which Nilda hade out.

    The hallways around here were set up a bitplicated.

    In this area, three passages were running parallel to each other: The hallway Nilda and the other two had walked through, the hallway the knight from the Navarre Kingdom had walked through and the hallway pointed out by the same knight just now.

    At some point, the two outer passages had a corner at a right angle and were merging with the middle passage. They were standing at that very intersection now.

    But even in this darkness, the excuse from the knight was somewhat overdoing things. Nilda definitely had seen himing out of the middle passage and as a matter of fact, she had stopped the knight right in front of the central hallway.

    Nilda showed a troubled smile.

    "Well, so you say, but I definitely saw youing out from there."

    She pressed him slightly.

    But even then, the knight did not change his attitude.

    "It is quite dark here, so it is not strange for you to make a mistake. Well then, Miss Nilda, I will excuse myself now."

    As if to shake her off, the knight left the ce with rapid steps.

    "Ah!"

    Nilda tried to reach out to him, but her hand only grasped at air.

    "¡­What do I do now? I guess I will have to report this to my father."

    Nilda cocked her head troubled, whereupon Princess Freya and Skathi came over after they had watched the situation unfold from afar.

    "Should you have let him leave, Nilda? As far as I could tell, he seems to have set foot into a restricted area without permission."

    The Southern Continent was foreignnd to Princess Freya and she was currently nothing more than the partner for Prince Consort Zenjirou.

    Not only did she not know much about themon sense here, she also had no real authority here, so she had just silently observed without interfering, but then she noticed that the situation had taken a rather serious turn.

    Nilda showed a troubled smile in reaction to the question from Princess Freya and nodded once.

    "Yes. The area beyond that middle passage belongs to our military. That being said, it only contains a little watchtower we rarely ever use, so it is not really an issue, if someone goes there, but we have told the guests that the ce is off limits beforehand, so I had no choice but to broach the subject."

    Even the mansion of a feudal lord had areas that were off limits to others, guests of state being to exception.

    It applied to the private chambers of the lord and his family, the treasury as it was the wallet of the domain and the military facilities as it was the shield of the domain.

    Just like Nilda had mentioned, the military facility beyond that hallway, where the knight of the Navarre Kingdom had set foot into, was not really all that important.

    As a matter of fact, an interested guest would have easily gotten permission to go there, if he simply asked for it.

    But it was a different matter altogether to "ignore someone who had trespassed there".

    If they were to let him get away with it here, they would soon have to do the same for the other restricted area as well.

    "Seems like I will have to ask my father or brother to reprimand him tomorrow."

    Nilda heaved a small sigh after these words. She held no official rank and was just the daughter of a mistress, regardless of her blood rtionship, so people always tended to make light of her.

    "If you would like, I cane with you to make a testimony."

    "Yes, that would be much appreciated. I am sorry for the trouble, Princess Freya."

    While they were having such an exchange, a bright light red up behind Nilda.

    "Mdy, Miss Nilda, please stand back, just in case."

    "Oh my, where has the time gone?"

    "That must be Master Zenjirou."

    Princess Freya and Nilda spoke up without due care upon the warning from Skathi, but still obediently got behind her.

    The white light was a hundred, more probably a thousand times brighter than the moonlight. Zenjirou was the only person to possess such a thing.

    Hence the warning from Skathi had been nothing but a reflex and there was actually no need for wariness.

    "Oh, here you are, Princess Freya, Miss Nilda. Then we should get back to the annex building now. The preparations for dinner seem to be done."

    And as expected, Zenjirou appeared from the roofed crossing leading to the annex building with his crank-powered LED shlight in hand. His bodyguard Knight Natalio and waiting maid Ines followed behind him like always.

    "Thank you for going out of your way to pick us up, Your Majesty Zenjirou."

    "Thanks for letting us know, Master Zenjirou."

    Amidst the brilliance of the shlight, both Princess Freya and Nilda offered Zenjirou words of gratitude with a smile.

    During the past few days, the three of them had gotten close to the point that such an exchange was normal to them. The shortage of personnel was actually working in their favour here.

    Because of theck of staff, less people were involved in situations like this one. Moreover, there was not much hustle and bustle in the countryside to begin with, so without knowing, Zenjirou had started to assume quite the "casual" attitude towards Princess Freya and Nilda.

    "No, don''t mention it. It allowed me to stretch my legs, too, after all. But it would be rude to let the cooks wait any longer."

    "You are right. Let us head back."

    "Okay, Master Zenjirou."

    Thebined group then went back to the annex building with a bit of chit-chat.

    * * *

    Nilda had caught a knight of the Navarre Kingdom at entering a restricted area without permission.

    In itself, that was not such a big deal.

    At the very least, the Guzzle Family would have been willing tough it off with a "Be more careful next time" as long as the knight apologized with a "I got lost" statement and that would be the end of it.

    The reason such a trivial matter escted into something bigger was that the knight in question thought he could wipe that trivial matter under the carpet as well as his superior supporting his im well and truly.

    "So you refuse to admit it, no matter what, Sir Cristiano?"

    The one to speak with a strict voice like that was the third son and sessor-to-be of Marquis Guzzle: Xavier Guzzle.

    Cristiano Pinto, the Knight Captain of the Navarre Kingdom, assented to the words of the young heir with a deliberate smile as though showing off hisposure.

    On the morning after that night, Xavier Guzzle had been informed about the incident by his little sister Nilda and had immediately went to the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom, wanting them to exin the circumstances.

    "Yes. It definitely is true that one of my subordinates, Knight Raymundo, was called to a halt by Miss Nilda in the evening of yesterday. But like he had exined back then, Raymundo did note out of the middle hallway, but had emerged from the outmost passage."

    "You mean to say it is nothing but a mistake from Nilda?"

    Xavier obviously sharpened his nce, but Knight Captain Cris did not let that attitude affect his smile and simply answered.

    "Well, we are talking about evening here. The sun had already set. I dare to say it is not strange for a woman to make such a mistake. I mean, women are prone to fear the darkness, are they not?"

    "¡­Nilda was not alone. Princess Freya as well as her bodyguard Victoria im the same circumstances."

    "Both women, too. Fear and surprise is known to be contagious. Once someone ims something, it is not all that unusual for others toe to the same misunderstanding."

    His expression was overflowing with confidence while Knight Captain Cris answered like that. To an onlooker at least it seemed like he believed what he was saying from the bottom of his heart.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­.."

    Sitting across from each other, they stared at each other wordlessly for a while.

    Knight Captain Cris was admittedly slender, but was by no means small with his height of more or less one-hundred and eighty centimetre.

    The petite Xavier was not even one-hundred and seventy tall, so there was an obvious height difference, which was still all too apparent, when they sat across each other.

    Considering that Knight Captain Cris was also a bit older than Xavier, it only looked like a David versus Goliath situation.

    From his behaviour, Xavier could tell that Knight Captain Cris was also the better fighter of them by far, so he had trouble to seize the reins of the negotiations.

    Taking a deep breath to provide his body with new oxygen, Xavier then said with a resolute look.

    "Okay. It seems we are not on the same page here."

    "Instead of the same page, I say the end is just obvious?"

    When Knight Captain Cris gave him a faint smile, Xavier clenched his back teeth.

    "I, for one, cannot bring myself to believe that all three witnesses made the same mistake."

    "Sir Xavier, do you mean to imply that a knight of our country is lying then?"

    "Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

    "!?"

    For the first time today, Knight Captain Cris broke his calm mask in light of Xavier''s clear statement.

    "Sir Xavier, are you aware of the significance of your words?"

    Knight Captain Cris lowered the tone of his voice, whereas Xavier was extremely careful not to let his voice waver as he answered.

    "Yes. I am aware that I wouldmit a grave defamation, if I were to be wrong. Should it turn out that I suspected the knight of your country wrongfully, I am prepared to make an official apology."

    "¡­.."

    He must not have expected Xavier to stage such a determined opposition. Knight Captain Cris was at a loss for words for a moment.

    In all objectivity, though, Xavier actually had no reason to humble himself here.

    As the next sessor to a March in the Major Power known as Carpa Kingdom, Xavier Guzzle was more or less on equal footing with Cristiano Pinto, who was the oldest son of a famous family with proximity of blood to the Royal Family in the Middle Power known as Navarre Kingdom.

    The Carpa Kingdom and Navarre Kingdom were officially acknowledging each other''s sovereignty, so of course things would have gone a lot smoother if Xavier just had madepromises to Knight Captain Cris pro forma, but neither did he need to feel obliged to draw in his horns in his position, when their opinions were as contradictory as right now.

    "Now, you mentioned earlier that the end was already obvious, but can I take it that you have acknowledged our im then?"

    "¡­No, it seems we really are not on the same page."

    Even while dding himself with a mask of inexpressiveness, Knight Captain Cris shook his head with a displeasure he could not conceal entirely.

    * * *

    Knight Raymundo, a member of the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom, had trespassed into a restricted area.

    Three people had witnessed that: Nilda Guzzle, Freya Upps and Victoria Kronkvist.

    Princess Freya was the partner for Zenjirou, Victoria aka. Skathi was her bodyguard and Nilda was tasked with taking care of Zenjirou here.

    So all three of them had a rather close rtion to him.

    Hence it was practically an inevitability that Zenjirou would get dragged into this incident as well.

    "My deepest apologies, Master Zenjirou. I cannot express nowhere near enough regret for involving Princess Freya in a matter of our family."

    As the morning sun beamed through the windows, Nilda Guzzle lowered her head with bitter regret. Zenjirou responded to her with the softest smile he could manage.

    "No, as far as I see it, it was not your fault, Miss Nilda. Princess Freya says so, too. It was just an unfortunate course of events.

    And seeing as the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom is involved in this, it is no longer a domestic issue, but an international one. So, as a representative for Queen Aura, I am involved, too. I will help you to the best of my abilities."

    "Thank you very much, Master Zenjirou."

    Nilda was pepped up by his words and showed a bright smile.

    Her abundant disy of emotions made you worry if she could actually survive in the world of nobility.

    "For that reason, can you lend her a hand, Princess Freya? If you run into some kind of trouble, you may use my name."

    Princess Freya answered him with a charming smile.

    "Of course. Just leave it to me, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Miss Nilda is a dear friend to me as well, so I personally want to help her out in this anyway.

    I may not look like it, but I am quite confident in my eyesight at night."

    With these words, she jutted her chin forward in such a way that it seemed yfully at first, but her eyes were by no means smiling.

    Gender discrimination against women.

    Princess Freya had suffered the same treatment numerous times in her home country, but it was nothing one could get used to.

    Contrary to her outward appearance, Princess Freya was quite strong-willed, so she must have felt offended, too, when her own capability was looked down upon.

    "Yes, I''m counting on you, Princess Freya."

    "dly."

    Keeping up her strong-willed smile, Princess Freya swept him adified curtsy.

    After the two girls left, Zenjirou eased his tension and grumbled in a peeved tone.

    "Oh man¡­ What a pain."

    Currently, Zenjirou was all alone in the room with his waiting maid Ines.

    A waiting maid was not really a suitable adviser for his current problem, but she was the only person, he could trust and confide in here.

    "Hey, Ines, let''s have a little talk. I just want to confirm some things and will make the ultimate decision by myself, but please let me hear your honest opinion."

    "Very well, Master Zenjirou."

    The middle-aged maid just bowed politely as she seemingly had anticipated the request from her master.

    Zenjirou nodded once.

    "Thanks. Well then, my first question might bemon sense, but I want to start with the basics.

    Will this incident be more weighty, if ''Nilda is not nobility''?"

    He gave voice to his biggest worry first.

    In his opinion, it was quite likely that Nilda Guzzle was not a noble.

    Needless to say, his reasoning originated from the fact that Queen Aura had not told him about her existence.

    All nobility was listed on the "Roll of Names" managed by the Royal Family.

    Looking at it the other way round, those not listed on the "Roll of Names" were not officially recognized as noble, even if they legitimately were of noble birth.

    Considering Aura had not been aware of Nilda, it was extremely likely that her name was not listed on the Roll of Names.

    The middle-aged maid assented his question with aposed look.

    "It definitely would be more weighty. In this case, a diplomatic issue."

    Zenjirou heaved a sigh in light of his bad premonitioning true.

    "I knew it. Just in case: Does the same still apply under the premise that Nilda ispletely right and the knight lying?"

    "Yes. The hierarchy is more important in this case. The truth is irrelevant. To make things worse, the other party is a knight and the trespassing happened at night.

    Something could have been done, though, if it had been a male soldier,moner even, that stopped him."

    "Ah, so they being female is part of the problem, after all. But what could have been done, if it was a soldier? Is themon military that well esteemed?"

    His question was met with a diligent exnation from the middle-aged waiting maid.

    "No. The reason is that this incident happened during the night patrol. People will even listen to amoner as long as he is specialized toment on the matter in question."

    For example: A Knight purchases a weapon and then uses the cksmith to have swindled him with a defect product. The counterstatement from the cksmith would be taken into consideration as well then.

    Because the cksmith was even more specialized in weapons than the knight.

    But in this case, the incident concerned a trespassing at night.

    In a broader sense, it was a military issue. Needless to say, the knight was specializing in that and Nilda was nothing but a little girl with no connection to it.

    So, when she turned out to be no noble, like Zenjirou assumed, this incident would be rather troublesome.

    "Oh god. Not good. Even if I''m right in assuming that she''s not nobility, Nilda currently doesn''t seem to be aware of it.

    Depending on the circumstances, I might have to talk to Marquis Guzzle and work together with him."

    "I dare to say that his would be a bit too risky. Although the possibility is low, the Marquis still might be behind the concealment of her person. And even if no one is behind it, it could actually be a mistake made by the Royal Family.

    Considering that, I cannot rmend revealing everything to Marquis Guzzle so easily."

    "Oh, right. You''ve a point¡­ But this is a diplomatic issue, right? It''s no longer just between the Royal Family and a Feudal Lord. It would be bad to ignore a diplomatic issue, just to protect the Royal Family. We can''t confuse our priorities here.

    But in the unlikely event that Marquis Guzzle really is behind this, it would be the worst case scenario. Although it isn''t all that likely, we still can''t rule it out, so we must keep it in mind¡­"

    With no end to his worries in sight, Zenjirou looked up at the ceiling from his chair.

    There were two possibilities: Nilda had her name listed on the "Roll of Names" or not. If it was not listed, there were another two possibilities: Someone plotted it or it was some kind of mistake.

    If it was indeed listed, there were no problems at all.

    Problems only arose, when her name was not listed on it.

    Assuming it was part of a plot, the mastermind behind it could be Marquis Guzzle and it would worsen the situation sharply to consult with him.

    On the other hand, if her name was not listed, because of a mere mistake in the paperwork, the best course of action would be to report it to Marquis Guzzle as quickly as possible.

    (I think a mistake is more likely, but if I act on that possibility and it turns out to be a plot after all, it''s game over.)

    The slightest miscalction could let the best choice result in the worst ending.

    Zenjirou could not bring himself to choose a route that might lead to ruin, no matter how low the probability.

    "Damn. Nilda sure has bad luck, or should I say bad timing?"

    He heaved a sigh, whereupon Ines interjected with a shake of the head.

    "Not quite, Master Zenjirou. It was neither bad luck, nor bad timing. It was a bad line of action on her part."

    "Huh?"

    Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled, so Ines exined.

    "Even if she was of higher birth, a woman would generally be discreet on the surface towards a man in such a situation, where the man ims something to be ''different''. She ought to have dealt with him by putting a good gloss on her warning."

    In other words, Nilda should have apologized with "I see, please forgive my mistake" at the point, where the knight had imed "No, you are wrong".

    Then she would keep him in check by saying: "But it is no surprise that a little girl like me would make a mistake, when you abide in such a suspect ce. I would appreciate it, if you could refrain from letting me ''misunderstand'' in the future."

    The knight would be able to bring everything to a smooth end then by answering with "You are right. I am partly to me for lingering in such a suspicious ce, too. I will be more careful from now on. Thank you for your consideration.".

    In short, the right line of action involved epting the im from the knight on the surface, but cautioning him between the lines.

    But Nilda had skipped past that etiquette and opposed him straight on by practically saying "No, I am not mistaken. I saw it. Why are lying to me?", so the knight ended up persisting on his stance, either due to obstinacy or surprise.

    In this sense, you could say that Nilda had made a mistake. Needless to say, it did not change the fact that the knight started all of this by trespassing into the restricted area without permission.

    "Oh, right. You did say Nilda was raised in a rural vige for quite a while. I guess she hasn''t learnt enough about noble etiquette yet."

    "I am afraid so. The fact that she was born and raised in a rural vige means that she initially internalized a different kind ofmon sense. It cannot be an easy endeavour to overwrite it with the noble mindsetter on."

    "Isn''t this even worse?"

    Although the knight from the Navarre Kingdom may fundamentally be at fault here, they were at a huge disadvantage, assuming that an actually non-noble girl had reacted in an unbefitting manner for nobility.

    "¡­Maybe I should ask Princess Freya to take the me?"

    The conclusion Zenjirou reached after painstaking contemtion was a somewhat conflicting one for him.

    "Princess Freya, you say?"

    Cocking her head, the maid asked him that, whereupon Zenjirou nodded and exined his train of thought in detail.

    "Well, she was present at the scene, too, so I thought we could make her be in the spotlight instead. Things have already escted quite a bit, so the Guzzle Family can''t back-pedal anymore and say Nilda was wrong after all at this point, either.

    On the other hand, it will be troublesome, when we carry on with Nilda in the spotlight and it bes apparentter that she is no noble.

    So I want Nilda to take a backseat and let Princess Freya assume the role of staging the protest. It should go a lot smoother then."

    "The current circumstances would greatly improve through that for sure, but are you fine with that? Princess Freya is basing her authority here primarily on you, Master Zenjirou.

    You would basically be propagating an even stronger bond between the two of you by doing so."

    "I bet¡­"

    Zenjirou heaved a sigh in light of Ines'' advice.

    In addition, he would be owing Princess Freya a great debt for having her take the fall in this.

    Considering she was aiming to be his concubine, Zenjirou was sure she would never let this chance slip by.

    Having said this, he could note up with a better solution.

    And possessing a sense of responsibility stronger than the average as well as a timidness stronger than the average, Zenjirou inevitable had no choice but to pick the safest way out he could think of.

    "I shall ask Princess Freya for help. I will consult with her in person as quick as possible today. We cannot let Miss Nilda know about it, so see to it that Princess Freyaes over alone."

    "As you wish."

    Ines made a brief bow to his orders.

    * * *

    Everything started as a trivial argument between Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom and Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle, but Knight Captain Cristiano and Xavier Guzzle were respectively negotiating on behalf of the former two and not yielding to the other, fanning the dying embers into a zing fire.

    If the fire were to spread like this, it could even cause some serious damage.

    Any person with a bit of prudence could see that the situation had "gone south".

    Fortunately enough, the respective people in charge of both parties, Marquis Miguel Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn Nadal, carried such prudence.

    "First of all, let me express my deepest gratitude for setting up this meeting, Marquis Guzzle. It will allow us to prevent the situation to get even more out of hand."

    "No, I have to apologize for letting the inappropriate conduct of my daughter to escte that much, too, General Mart¨ªn. Besides, I am not the one, who set up this meeting.

    Your gratitude is due to my daughter¡­ I mean, Lady Guill¨¦n."

    While the subordinate and son had red daggers at each other, the officer and father were exchanging greetings with a smile.

    "Indeed. I shall properly thank Lady Lucindater on."

    General Mart¨ªn nodded his assent a couple of times.

    Their conversation made it redundant to mention, but this meeting had indeed been set up by Lucinda, who had just married into the family of General Puyol.

    The two of them sat across each other in the anteroom Lucinda and General Puyol usually used.

    After the marriage ceremony, General Mart¨ªn had requested another meeting with the bridal pair, but Lucinda had "identally" scheduled a meeting with her father Marquis Guzzle at the same time.

    So the bridal pair was now rearranging their schedule and had General Mart¨ªn and Marquis Guzzle wait in the "same" anteroom in the meantime.

    As such, General Mart¨ªn and Marquis Guzzle were making use of the "coincidental" asion of waiting in the same room to have an unofficial meeting, exchanging opinions as the ringleaders.

    The whole situation was easy to see through, but these kind of pretexts were very important in Higher Society.

    Neither side would be able speak their mind in an official meeting, where one side was the host and the other side the guest, because they had to keep up appearance.

    In an informal ce like this, the old Marquis and the middle-aged General could converse without restrain.

    After a simple greeting, Marquis Guzzle broached the topic at hand.

    "To be honest, I am well aware that this is just a stupid argument about a trivial misunderstanding, so if possible, I want to end this without much fuss."

    "I agree. Normally this would be solved with a verbal warning and a verbal apology, so I would appreciate it, if we could do just that."

    Although there was quite the age difference between them, they talked to each other on an equal footing.

    On top of being quite close in social standing, Marquis Guzzle respected General Mart¨ªn for being the better soldier of them, whereas General Mart¨ªn respected Marquis Guzzle for his long history of military services, making it a sound rtionship of mutual respect between them.

    Nevertheless, they were still a Feudal Lord and a General from bordering countries.

    Of course they were harbouring some negative feelings towards the other somewhere deep down in their hearts, but both of them held the other in high enough esteem to not let it show on their faces.

    Thanks to that, the meeting proceeded smoothly.

    "Geez, Xavier takes too much after my younger self. In a bad way, that is. He is inflexible and always clings to appearance, when trying to resolve things. The actual truth aside, there would have been nothing wrong with formally admitting that Nilda had been in the wrong here."

    "I reckon you have your problems with him."

    Even while agreeing with him like that, General Mart¨ªn could not keep himself from giving a wry smile.

    The words from Marquis Guzzle sounded like he wanted to say that he himself had be flexible by now, but that was by no means the case.

    The man called Miguel Guzzle was actually so bad at equivocation and charisma that it was rather impressive how he could live as nobility in a major power like that.

    "Haha, you have got me there. Well, there is no point in beating around the bush now, so let me be frank:

    The knight in your group, I think his name was Raymundo, did trespass into the restricted area, right?"

    Although this was an unofficial meeting, the question from the elderly noble was sharply straight-forward, so General Mart¨ªn obfuscated the wry smile on his bear-like face and nodded once.

    "Yeah. Cris does not seem to have pressed him enough, so we do not have a confession from the man himself, but given the circumstances, there can be no doubt he did it."

    This honest concession could be made, precisely because it was an unofficial meeting. One that practically had never taken ce, so to speak.

    Marquis Guzzle was neither surprised, nor angered by his answer; He simply epted it with a nonchnt tone.

    "I thought so. Well, Nilda is not one to lie about such things. And it is almostughable to call it a mistake, when there are three witnesses."

    "I wish Miss Nilda would have been a bit more tactful, though. My knight certainly started things, but she seemed to have pressed him direct and straight-forward.

    Even I would have been left with no other choices but to either apologize wholeheartedly or feign ignorance in face of such a cornering question."

    General Mart¨ªn pulled a slightly wry face after these words.

    "I have to bear the me for that instead of my daughter. My teachings were poorly. Forgive me. I am sure you already noticed it, but she is not the child of my legal wife and was raised in a rural vige until she was nine."

    "Oh, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders for all that, though. I take back my earlier words. You do have a good hand at raising your children."

    "No need to take it back. It is all thanks to Lucinda that Nilda has grown into what she is now. But it is my responsibility that she is stillcking education."

    Marquis Guzzle shook his head with these words.

    The fact that he easily admitted that spoke for his integrity, but also for his ws as nobility.

    He unintentionally had given General Mart¨ªn a valuable piece of information: Marquis Guzzle was holding his daughter Lucinda in extremely high esteem.

    "I see. You must be very proud of your eldest daughter."

    Nodding with aposed look, General Mart¨ªn innerly renewed his wariness towards General Puyol.

    "Well, enough of that. We were talking about Miss Nilda and Knight Raymundo.

    Under normal circumstances, this issue could have ended with a verbal warning and apology, but Knight Captain Cris and Sir Xavier have shed head-on, so it can no longer be resolved that easily."

    "We are meeting here to keep the consequences as little as possible."

    When Marquis Guzzle said deratory, General Mart¨ªn showed a somewhat sly smile and replied provocative.

    "Well, yes, but we two are already on the same page here. A further esction is basically off the table. Considering that, I kind of want to squeeze a profit from it now.

    So here is my proposal: How about we decide on some key conditions amongst us and let the youngsters give it a try until they contradict these? I dare to say it would be a valuable experience for Sir Xavier, too."

    "Hmm¡­ You do have a point¡­ But I am not fond of lying to my son like that. Then again, it is an effective way¡­ Hmm."

    The suggestion from General Mart¨ªn prompted Marquis Guzzle to frown ufortably, but he gave it some thought anyway.

    His proposal was not all that difficult to understand.

    He was basically saying: "Why don''t we use this opportunity to let our youngsters gain some experience while we clear up matters?"

    In fact, the current situation was predestinated for it.

    The two youngsters hadpletely different opinions and were shing with each other in negotiations, but behind their backs, their superiors aka. Marquis Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn had reached an agreement on not letting the matter escte any further.

    To be honest, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

    Because Knight Captain Cris and Xavier could experience a genuine negotiation coitant with all its pressure while their superiors could always step in when it looked like either side was about to screw up.

    In short: It was the perfect opportunity to let the two youngsters, who were not used to dealing with foreigners, gain experience in a riskless environment.

    Both of them would surely be offended, when they learned that their superiors had actually watched out for them all the time while they presumably negotiated in all seriousness, but that was also part of their "training".

    "What do you say, Marquis Guzzle? Care to give it a try?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    Although he did understand its merits, Marquis Guzzle was still hesitating, simply because that method went against his preferences.

    As a truthful soldier, he never hesitated in the slightest to deceive his enemy, but he could not bring himself to cheat his allies or family that easily.

    Nevertheless, Marquis Guzzle had also told his soldiers before that reinforcements wereing, even though that was not the case, to keep up the morale. And sometimes he had exaggerated the strength of the enemy force for a battle they were expected to win with ease, to keep them on guard.

    Lies could be an expedient, too. Marquis Guzzle was not so obstinate that he would not understand that, so after a moment of careful deliberation, the elderly feudal lord nodded with a grim look.

    "Oh well. Let us do it. Its merit is certainly beyond doubt. But are you fine with that? Knight Captain Cris does not know that the false testimony from your knight is the cause of all this, does he? If worstes to worst, he might lose his position."

    "Such is life."

    When Marquis Guzzle remarked considerately, General Mart¨ªn brushed it aside tly.

    "He cannot expect any mercy, if he rashly throws a fit."

    "I know. I will deal with him in that case. What about the opposite then?

    It is quite possible that my Cris will pull through and have your side admit that it was a mistake, too."

    "The official announcement aside, I want you to scold your knight and knight captain in private then. I will keep my son in check myself. It might not be pleasant, but I know that an ''unreasonable defeat'' in a negotiation can be a valuable experienceter on.

    But emotions are a different matter altogether. I cannot stop my son and daughter from harbouring reservation towards you. Is that alright?"

    Marquis Guzzle asked just in case, whereupon General Mart¨ªn pondered for a while and then assented.

    "Hmm, in that case, I personally shall apologize to Sir Xavier and Miss Nilda in private."

    He certainly wanted to avoid having the sessor of a neighbouring domain harbour any ill feelings towards him.

    On this view, it would be more convenient for him, when Knight Captain Cris actually lost the case this time round.

    In case of his loss, General Mart¨ªn could let him experience the "aftermath of a defeat" and have no bad blood with the Carpa Kingdom.

    On the other hand, a victory would only earn him the achievement of having enforced the lie of the knight, but at the cost of giving the sessor of the neighbouring March a bad impression of himself.

    Well, it would an extremely valuable experience for a different meaning, when the knight turned a lie into the truth through negotiations, so a victory would not be a bad deal per se, but a loss would still be a lot more advantageous inparison.

    Anyway, everything seemed to settle without a problem at a nce, but Zenjirou would surely turn pale in the face and raise a scream, if he could have listened to this conversation.

    Either the lie from Knight Raymundo was exposed and Knight Captain Cris had to apologize.

    Or the lie was approved and General Mart¨ªn unofficially apologized to Xavier and Nilda.

    The peaceful conclusion of both cases was build on the assumption that "Nilda was nobility".

    If it then became known at ater date that Nilda Guzzle was no official noble, it would turn into a real mess.

    But without the knowledge of that fundamental requirement, the conclusion from the two men was extremely reasonable and realistic.

    "Good. It was a fruitful discussion. I definitely have to thank Lady Guill¨¦n for it."

    "Yes. No matter how it ends, we have avoided the worst scenario with this."

    Oblivious to the fragile first piece in their line of reasoning, General Mart¨ªn and Marquis Guzzle exchanged these nonchnt words andughed together.

    <b>Intermission 2: The Queen has Confidence</b>

    "Then Nilda is a member of the Guzzle House without a doubt?"

    The Queen checked with the plump middle-aged noble sitting across her, who then nodded his sweaty head.

    "Y- Yes. Of that there is no doubt. I have always been serving here in the Capital, so I have not confirmed it with my own eyes, but we actually do have an attested copy of the ''Roll of Names''. Please address the Marquis directly, if you wish to confirm it."

    He replied with a resolute tone.

    "Yes, I shall allow myself to do soter on. It is not like I am doubting the Guzzle House, but the name Nilda Guzzle is not listed on our ''Roll of Names''."

    "I- Impossible¡­"

    Taken by surprise, the middle-aged noble agitatedly shook his round head with a double chin.

    "Calm down, Sir Severo. I will repeat myself: I am not doubting the Guzzle House. Marquis Guzzle found out about Nilda during the previous war, correct? So a natural exnation could be that there was a discrepancy in themunication during all themotion of the war."

    Aura maintained herposure as she reassured the round-faced noble of middle age called Severo.

    Severo was a vassal serving Marquis Guzzle, tasked with the position as his representative in the Capital. It goes without saying that it was one of the best appointments amongst the vassals of the Guzzle House.

    It might be easier to understand, whenparing it with the Karou of Edo Japan, representatives of the Feudal Lords dispatched to the Shogun in Edo.

    Anyway, Severo calmed down a bit in light of the words from the Queen and answered while wiping the sweat of his forehead with a handkerchief.

    "C- Certainly. I apologize for losing myposure just now."

    "I do not me you. It is quite the surprise for me as well."

    "Hearing that gives me a little peace of mind."

    "Good. I have no intention to stir up the matter, but a mistake in the ''Roll of Names'' can by no means be overlooked. I wish to resolve this situation as quickly as possible. Depending on the circumstances, I may have to ''leap'' a messenger from here to the March of Guzzle, so prepare ordingly."

    "V- Very well!"

    Severo lowered his head so deeply it looked like he was folding his corpulent body.

    When the door closed with a click, Aura immediately wiped the serene expression off her face and said with a voice deep like a growling beast.

    "¡­What a pain this has be."

    "It sure has."

    Standing next to her, the secretary gave a cold reply, whereupon Queen Aura shot a fierce nce of anger at him for a moment, but regained herposure right after.

    "Judging by his reaction, the Guzzle House really seems to have heard nothing about this."

    "That much seems clear. The people of the Guzzle Family are often not adept at deception to begin with and I am sure they are very well aware how much of risk it would be to make a false testimony about a copy of the ''Roll of Names''."

    The "Roll of Names" assured the status of nobility, so any forgery or falsehood of its copies was immediately punished with the death sentence. It would be far to risky to get involved in that, considering the Guzzle House was actually in the Royal Family''s confidence the most of all the Feudal Lords.

    "Then this issue is not caused by a scheme from someone, but rather a simple misunderstanding. A mere act of negligence, so to say. Moreover, the name is not in our ''Roll of Names'', but is listed on their copy, so it is quite likely our mistake."

    For some kind of reason, the "Roll of Names" from the Royal Family wascking a name. That was the only possible exnation right now. And as much as it pained her to admit it, Aura had an idea about what caused that discrepancy.

    "Marquis Guzzle took Nilda in, when she was nine years-old. Right now, she is fifteen years-old. With a little bit of math, you can easily figure out who the ''culprit'' is."

    "His Late Majesty Sancho."

    "Yeah, Sancho alright."

    Aura assented with a bitter expression.

    Sancho I. He was the King of the Carpa Kingdom two generations ago and also the little brother of Aura.

    Also known as the "King of Revenge", he had sworn to avenge his beloved brother Enrique IV., who had been king before him, and spent the majority of his short reign on the battlefield. To the bitter end in fact. With a spear deeply pierced into his stomach, his chest prated by arrows and beheaded from behind with a straight cut, his corpse had been mutted to the point that it was unclear which of his wounds had been the fatal one.

    During the time Nilda was supposedly added to the "Roll of Names", that very Sancho I. had been on the throne.

    It was not unthinkable that they forget to update the "Roll of Names" during the turmoil of the war.

    "But in that case, it is entirely our¡ª the Royal Family''s fault. We have to handle this carefully or we will sow unnecessary resentment."

    "On top of that, we must be apprehensive of more far reaching repercussions than just the Guzzle Family. If your assumption proves to be right, Your Majesty, it would not be all that strange for a couple of other nobles to be in the same situation as Miss Nilda."

    The war did not only im the life of Sancho I, but also a part of the "Roll of Names" along with him. It would be excessively optimistic to assume that the name of Nilda Guzzle was the only one missed out like that.

    "¡­I bet. But for now, our problem is Nilda. Ultimately, I will check on her and their copy of the ''Roll of Names'' before adding her name to the list once more, but the problem is how and when I should broach that subject to them."

    "It only takes a moment to leap someone with official documents over there with your magic, I reckon?"

    The Queen pondered on the suggestion from her secretary for a while, but shook her head in the end.

    "¡­No. Now is not a good time. The March of Guzzle currently has a lot of nobility attending the marriage ceremony, so it would bring shame on the Guzzle House, if that information were to be delivered now.

    Marquis Guzzle has appointed Nilda as the caretaker of my husband. It would totally get out of hand, if it bes known that Nilda is no noble under these circumstances."

    If it turned out that he had appointed his illegitimate and non-noble daughter to wait on Royalty, it would be a huge scandal. Of course it would work out, when it became known that the Royal Family had been at fault for it, but depending on the timing for revealing the information, others might initially get the impression that "Marquis Guzzle had been overstepping the mark".

    "Yes, and given his personality, it certainly would be audacious to expect Marquis Guzzle to smooth things over properly once he learns of the truth, so I understand your reasoning, but I dare to say that we neither cannot ignore the possibility that some kind of problem will arise, when we leave him in the dark like this. What is your view on this subject, Your Majesty?"

    The Queen''s answer to her secretary''s question was extremely simple.

    "I will leave it up to my husband."

    "Oho?"

    Secretary Fabio had a curious glint in the eyes, whereupon Aura shrugged her shoulders a bit and waved around the letter Zenjirou had sent with the Small Flying Dragon.

    "Seeing as he sent me such a report, my husband also noticed that Nilda might actually not be nobility. You know how prudent he is. He will without a doubt assume the worst case scenario and act upon the premise that ''Nilda is no nobility''. So even if something were to happen, it will be nothing critical."

    "You seem to have a lot of confidence in him."

    The Queen threw out her voluminous chest and replied to thement of her secretary.

    "Obviously. Apart from his capabilities, I trust no one more than my husband, when ites to personality or rting to my will. Even though he admittedly does not have the ability to achieve the best possible oue, I can ensure that he does have the ability to avoid the worst case scenario."

    From her point of view, Zenjirou was akin to a Raptorial Dragon that ran into the direction she wished for, even without any instructions. Although he might not be all that fast and was more of a pack dragon variant of the pack horse, Aura was feeling absolutely confident that he would rather stay put then and there instead of proceeding into a direction opposing her will.

    Considering her profound faith in Zenjirou, it was easily understandable why Aura decided against leaping someone to the March of Guzzle.

    Leaping a person with "Teleport" was exactly the same as announcing publicly that the matter was of great urgency. It would clearly draw unnecessary attention to it.

    On top of that, one could not really call Marquis Guzzle, the would-be receiver of the message, to be good at sophistry, even as ttery. So it was more than likely that they would open a can of worms instead.

    "Then we will be entrusting the matter to Master Zenjirou until he returns?"

    "Yes, indeed. As long as it does not put his life at risk like in Valentia, I can fully trust in his judgment. We are better off not taking any hasty actions in this case."

    "Very well. Then I shall prepare everything for resuming the discussion as soon as Master Zenjirou returns to the Capital."

    "Yes, do that."

    And just like that, the Queen and her trusted retainer arrived at a conclusion that would make Zenjirou scream "too much responsibility!", if he were to hear of it.

    <b>Chapter 04: Neck-and-neck Argument</b>

    "Like I said before, I definitely saw Sir Raymundoing out of the middle pathway without a doubt. How often do I have to repeat myself? If you want to have it pegged as my mistake, please show me proper proof."

    "Please calm down, Princess Freya. Raymundo ims he exited from the outmost passage.

    I believe in my subordinate, so it pains me to say this, but there is no other exnation than you having made a mistake."

    "Then, do you have some kind of evidence to your im of me making a mistake? I would be fine with some proof to the validity of the testimony from Sir Raymundo as well. How do you expect me to calm down, when all you do is one-sidedly insist that I made a mistake without showing me any proof whatsoever?"

    "I do know how you feel, Princess, but please calm down for now. We will not get anywhere, when we bicker right from the start."

    Princess Freya argued vehemently with a glint of anger in her ice-blue eyes, whereupon Knight Captain Cris showed a troubled wry smile while replying like that.

    The smile seemed to imply that he still had someposure to spare on the matter, but his eyes were obfuscated with a tint of confusion.

    Well, that was only understandable. Originally, this incident had been acknowledged as a conflict of opinion between Raymundo, the Knight from the Navarre Kingdom, and Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle.

    And yet, Princess Freya was openly going on the offensive here despite being more or less just a bystander. Normally that was unthinkable.

    Moreover, themon sense of the South Continent dictated that a woman should notsh out at a man on an official asion like this, even if she happened to be a royal princess.

    Needless to say, Aura was an exception, because she was the Monarch, but women usually never cornered a man, even if she was of higher status.

    Princess Freya in particr was currently putting the moves on a man, namely Zenjirou, so one was actually expecting that she would refrain from doing anything that a man would generally consider as "unsightly" or "presumptuous".

    With that in mind, Knight Captain Cris shifted his gaze towards Zenjirou sitting next to her for a moment, but it was like barking up the wrong tree.

    (Nice going! Keep it up, Princess Freya.)

    Zenjirou was supporting Princess Freya with all his might at heart.

    To begin with, Princess Freya wasunching the all-out attack here, because Zenjirou had asked her to, so he would end up betraying her, if he took offense at her actions now.

    Maintaining a fake smile, Zenjirou simply watched the matter unfold.

    "I may be a woman, but I do have taken part in night activities during hunts or sea travels. I have even been on watch at sea during the night, albeit not on my own, as you might expect. So I just cannot let it go unchallenged, when you arbitrarily decide on a ''mistake'' of mine without any proof."

    The Navarre Kingdom was not the only side perplexed by the unexpected aggressive attitude from Princess Freya.

    Nilda Guzzle and her brother Xavier Guzzle, the original adversaries in this matter, could not conceal their bewilderment, either, and were speaking panic-stuck.

    "P- Princess Freya? I will be just fine. Just having you by my side is already enough for me."

    "She is right, Princess Freya. Please calm down a bit. Master Zenjirou is watching, you know."

    Nilda never had any intentions to make a big deal out of it, so she was stepping on the brakes before she knew it. The same applied to Xavier, even though he had been eager to fight it out with Knight Captain Cris before.

    Xavier was obviously signalizing him a SOS with his gaze, but Zenjirou pretended not to see it, even if he felt guilty about it at heart.

    "¡­.."

    He said nothing and just smiled as if to say "I don''t mind at all", which in turn prompted Xavier to look bewildered and Knight Captain Cris to screw up his nose in contempt.

    They did not know his real motive, but everyone realized that he at least had no intentions to box Princess Freya in here and now.

    All of them averted their eyes from the silently smiling Zenjirou and resumed the discussion.

    Knight Captain Cris cleared his throat with a cough in order to pull himself together again.

    "I do see your point, Princess Freya. You certainly seem to have a good eyesight at night for a woman. I was a bit too hasty in my judgement just now. I apologize for that."

    Saying so, he lowered his head a bit while remaining seated on the couch.

    "¡­.."

    Princess Freya did not object the apology with words, but her ice-blue eyes were obviously narrowed to slits in anger.

    Zenjirou considered it only natural that Princess Freya was getting angry, but apparently only Princess Freya herself and her bodyguard Skathi standing behind her were sharing that sentiment.

    No one perceived the "apology" from Knight Captain Cris as offending. That obviously applied to the people from the Navarre Kingdom, but also to their own allies: Xavier and Nilda. Thetter even being a fellow woman. If anything, the majority of people would say that Princess Freya "ought to ept his apology, even if only formally", now that Knight Captain Cris had gone so far as to apologize to her.

    (But for Princess Freya, the "for a woman" part sounded more like picking another fight with her. It''s already plenty rude towards a captain, who seeded in travelling between the continents, as it is.)

    Princess Freya had developed a good eyesight at night through actual experiences during hunts or sea travels, so she prided herself on having an ability "good enough to apply it in the field", so even when she wasplimented with the words "not bad for a woman", it did not count as apliment at all.

    It was beyond all question for Zenjirou that Princess Freya would not ept the apology from Knight Captain Cris, but unfortunately, his moral values were not the standard on the South Continent. If anything, they were a severe abnormality.

    Somewhat displeased as expected, Princess Freya fortunately still had enough reasoning to not express her anger right here and now.

    She overlooked the apology from Knight Captain Cris and continued the discussion with even more direct words.

    "You have been doing all the talking so far, Sir Cristiano, but I would like to hear the opinion from the man in question himself. Sir Raymundo, we did meetst night, correct? Do you still remember me?"

    Suddenly addressed, the young knight gulped surprised for a moment, but then answered with a stiff voice.

    "Yes, of course I remember you. You did not speak upst night, so I cannot be certain for sure, but your hair was vividly revealed amidst the dim light."

    As Knight Raymundo had mentioned, the blue-tinged silver hair from Princess Freya was standing out quite a bit, even in the darkness. Of course it would get lost in a pitch-ck darkness, but with the slightest bit of light, her silver hair would shine vividly even at night.

    Princess Freya seemed content with his answer for now as she nodded with a slightly more rxed expression.

    "I am d you remember. Then we can proceed under the premise that I was present back then without a doubt. And I can say with certainty that I saw youing out of the ''middle hallway''.

    I hereby dere now and here that I have no intentions to take back these words.

    Do you still refuse to admit it then, Sir Raymundo?"

    Princess Freya slowly narrowed her ice-blue eyes to slits challengingly, whereupon the young knight from the Navarre Kingdom kept an inexpressive look and answered her immediately with a firm voice, probably because his truculence had been triggered.

    "Yes. I dide out of the outmost passage, not the middle one."

    After things had escted this far, he probably could not pull back, even if he wanted to. The young knight insisted so, putting up a painful brave front.

    Their ims were pr oppositions. And neither side had any proof to invalidate the argument of the other.

    So they had no choice but to convince or else weaken the other side in a debate, but as things stood at the moment, it would end up a fruitless debate no matter how much words they exchanged.

    "We both have confirmed the standpoint of the other, so how about we call it a day for now?"

    Hence Xavier suggested a break, to which no one objected.

    epting the call for a break from Xavier, the members of the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom left the room together with an obstinate look in their eyes.

    Once Knight Raymundo and Knight Captain Cris from the Navarre Kingdom had left, Zenjirou finally spoke up after keeping quiet for so long.

    "Sir Xavier, we have stuck our noses in your business here.

    Of course we do not have forgotten that this is the March of Guzzle and that all responsibility and authority to amodate a difference here reside in the Marquis.

    The Marquis will have the final say in this matter and we have no intention to go against his judgement. I just wanted you to know this."

    "Yes, thank you for your consideration, Master Zenjirou."

    Zenjirou offered him an apology with a serious expression and an attitude as polite as possible between Royalty and his subject. Xavier epted it with a relieved look.

    This was the troublesome aspect of a feudal system.

    The Carpa Kingdom had an extraordinary powerful Royal Family for a feudal state, but even so, it would be extremely risky for them to trample on the authority of the feudal lords.

    As a general rule, the feudal lord had the right to handle everything that happened within his domain as he saw fit.

    Of course he would not have the authority to judge Zenjirou, if the Prince Consort himself were to be involved in the matter directly, but this case only involved his partner Princess Freya, so the final decision was still up to Marquis Guzzle.

    But it posed no problem, when Zenjirou asked the Marquis for some "careful deliberation", and it would only be natural for Marquis Guzzle to be mindful of the request.

    Nevertheless, the actual decision-making power had to lie with Marquis Guzzle whilst he took the request into consideration at most.

    So Zenjirou had announced that he was aware of that and had no intention to meddle with the authority of the feudal lord.

    Now that the atmosphere had loosened up a bit, Zenjirou frowned a bit troubled on purpose and nced at the northern princess sitting besides him.

    "But I am taking Princess Freya''s side here. Of course her being my partner right now is one reason, but more importantly, I believe in her testimony and acknowledge her opposition as legitimate.

    I just wanted to make that clear."

    "Yes, I shall keep it in mind."

    Xavier lowered his head with a meek look in light of Zenjirou''s deration.

    * * *

    Shortly afterwards, Zenjirou and Princess Freya returned to their allocated annex building.

    When waiting maid Ines closed the door with a thud, Zenjirou immediately faced the silver-haired princess.

    "Princess Freya, you have my gratitude for giving in to my wish this time. I am well aware that I should not have asked this of ady, but you went along with me anyway, so I will be sure to reciprocate the favour in some wayter on."

    As stated above, her earlier aggressive attitude had entirely been plotted by Zenjirou.

    It was highly likely that Nilda Guzzle was not nobility. As a consequence, it also made it possible that things would escte into major diplomatic issue, if they were to progress with the Nilda Guzzle vs. Knight Raymundo setting.

    Even if Nilda were to swallow his lie and apologized to him, the fact remained that she had "rebuked a knight from a different country". And in case that she was not noble, that fact would turn into "amoner girl having criticized a knight".

    ordingly, anyter repercussions would be less painful, when Princess Freya, the one with the highest status amongst the involved, just snatched away the spotlight.

    The best oue would be that Princess Freya won the negotiations, proving that Knight Raymundo had lied.

    Needless to say, Knight Raymundo had lied and fled the ce, so it was a stain on his reputation. One he would like to erase, if possible. The same applied to Knight Captain Cris, who had swallowed his lie and stood up for him.

    Under these circumstances, it was quite likely they would ept the proposal of "pretending nothing of this ever happened".

    And since it would have never happened to begin with then, they would not be able toin, when it turned outter that Nilda was not nobility.

    With that in mind, Zenjirou had asked Princess Freya to y the somewhat unfavourable role, but she had epted more eagerly than he had expected.

    "Your wish is mymand, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Besides, I do not need to y-act in this case, actually.

    If anything, I am grateful you gave me a chance to speak my mind out."

    Saying this, Princess Freya smiled while her eyes glinted with a wild resolve.

    "I am d to hear that. Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the whole truth to you. It really weighs on my mind."

    As he had mentioned, Zenjirou had not exined his assumption of "Nilda likely not being nobility" to Princess Freya.

    That goes without saying. She might be set on bing his concubine and acting as his partner right now, but she was still the royalty from a different country after all.

    He could not trust her so much yet as to open his heart and reveal everything to her.

    Princess Freya was aware of that, too, of course.

    "Please pay it no mind, Your Majesty. I am Royalty myself, so I do understand that we are sometimes forced to put aside our feelings or honesty."

    "Thank you, Princess Freya."

    Zenjirou showed a relieved smile, but that unconscious reaction of his proved that he had grown closer to her.

    Between the lines of "we are forced to put aside our feelings or honesty" was the hidden meaning of "wanting to just say everything out aloud if not for their positions" and Zenjirou could not bring himself to deny that.

    In other words, he had be at least so attached to Princess Freya that he wanted to treat her with sincerity as much as possible, even without knowing it.

    Zenjirou himself did not seem to be aware of his change of heart, but Princess Freya had apparently noticed it.

    "¡­..Ahem."

    Behind the right hand she used to cover up her clearing her throat as she looked down, Princess Freya twisted her small lips into a faint smile.

    "Pardon me."

    By the time she raised her head, the smile had vanished, but her ice-blue eyes were the epitome of sincerity.

    "I would like to confirm our future ns then. Am I right in thinking that I am to push the ''truth'' through obstinately from now on as well?"

    The conversation shifted to business, so Zenjirou pulled himself together, too, and pondered.

    "Hmm¡­ That should be fine for now. But we cannot have the current deadlock go on forever, of course, so we definitely should settle this as quickly as possible."

    At the present time, both parties stood in stark contrast to each other with their ims, neither of them having evidence or witness to make the other side surrender.

    It would probably be bad for the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom as well, when the current deadlock persisted.

    In the beginning, it might have only been a small quarrel, but depending on the circumstances, it could escte into a full-scale war between the two countries. The world was such a scary ce.

    In the past, an argument betweens hunters over a single Meat Dragon that had entered and copsed in another country had actually resulted in war between the two countries.

    Having said this, it did not mean one should avoid quarrels per se and always submit to the other party. That would chip away at the reputation and authority of the country.

    Hence, the representatives of countries were always keeping in mind "not to escte things" while acting under the presumption that "the other does not want things to escte either", starting a game of chicken neither side wanted.

    And this case was showing signs of bing a game of chicken as well.

    They needed to resolve it before that happened. In his mind, Zenjirou had already formted a n for that.

    But that n was still full of loopholes right now and it was extremely unlikely it would hold out until the "checkmate" point.

    Hence he asked Princess Freya for her cooperation once again.

    "In any event, it is an undeniable fact that they are lying. Our problem is that we have no evidence to verify it. But even if we cannot do that, what we can do is winkle out an unmistakable statement from them.

    I more or less have a n for that, but I want your help in that. What do you say, Princess Freya?"

    In reaction, Princess Freya tilted her head so that her short silver hair waved.

    "Of course I do not mind helping out. And I may be a bitte in asking this, but what makes you so sure that their knight is lying, Your Majesty Zenjirou?"

    She looked Zenjirou directly into the eyes.

    Needless to say, it was only obvious that Zenjirou wouldpletely side with Princess Freya in public, given his position, but his earlier phrasing seemed to say that it was not just for appearances'' sake, but that he was actually profoundly convinced that Princess Freya was saying the whole truth and the knight from the Navarre Kingdom was lying on purpose.

    Zenjirou blinked surprised for a moment in light of her question, then answered with a soft smile.

    "Oh, it is quite simple. I was pretty much present back then myself.

    Please think back on it. The ce in question is a crossroad, where three parallel hallwayse together.

    You three came out of the ''innermost hallway'', which leads into the main building, ran into Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom, who came out of the ''middle hallway'', which leads to the virtually restricted area, and rebuked him.

    But Knight Raymundo ims he did note out of the ''middle hallway'', but out of the ''outmost hallway'', which leads to the annex building. Am I right so far?"

    "Yes, you are."

    Princess Freya nodded a little bit in agreement, whereupon Zenjirou gave a nod as well and went on with a slightly proud look.

    "Have you forgotten already? A bit afterwards, I came to pick you up. Which hallway do you think I used back then?"

    "Ah?"

    His hint prompted Princess Freya to exim in surprise all toote.

    "Exactly. I passed through the ''outmost hallway''. So if Knight Raymundo were saying the truth, he would have walked in front of me. But I did not see him at that time.

    In other words, he is obviously lying."

    "Now that you mention it¡­"

    Princess Freya replied to his exnation pensively.

    On second thought, it truly was self-exnatory.

    A little bit dyed, Zenjirou had indeede out of the hallway Knight Raymundo had imed to have passed through, so both of them should have met there, unless they were blind-folded.

    After all, the outmost hallway was drawing a long and straight line.

    There was no way to miss Knight Raymundo, if he had actually passed through there.

    "Then if you just were to give a testimony¡­!"

    Princess Freya saw their chance in his testimony, so she blurted it out on the spot, but Zenjirou shook his head with a calm look on his face.

    "It would be meaningless at this point of time. The matter has already be tooplicated after all. Even if I were to say something, the Navarre Kingdom will not budge from their obstinacy. And in fact, we have nothing to back up my testimony anyway."

    Right after Knight Raymundo had left, Zenjirou had shown up from the outmost passage. It would be nothing but another subjective im from Princess Freya, though.

    Without mechanical clocks, this world had a rather vague sense of time, so even if Princess Freya were to im that "Zenjirou appeared right after Raymundo left", they would oppose by saying that "more time must have passed than she initially thought" and they would be back to square one.

    "But unlike in my case, would they not actually listen to you, Your Majesty Zenjirou?"

    Her expectation was partly wishful thinking and Zenjirou dismissed it with another shake of his head.

    "I am afraid it will not be that easy. True, I may be Royalty and a male, but I am still not a ''soldier'' after all."

    As Royalty, his words definitely could not be taken lightly, but since he was always preaching that "he was no fighter", it became a huge disadvantage in this case.

    Even if he were to im that "he came out of the passage shortly after, but did not see anyone there on that night", everyone would just treat it as the "whimsical opinion of a civilian, who was neither trained in seeing in the night, nor in mental power", but not necessarily say it out aloud.

    Knight Captain Cris in particr seemed to look down on Zenjirou.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou was Royalty of the major power known as the Carpa Kingdom. If he were to push the issue through by saying "I am in the right. And you actually dare to oppose me? I hope you are prepared for the consequences.", people would usually cave in unless they were unsophisticated fanatics.

    But it goes without saying that it would be the worst method to bring this matter to an end.

    At the international level, it would actually be wiser to justpletely admit defeat and apologize for the three women seeing wrong, before doing that.

    Hence Zenjirou had to seal his greatest asset: the royal title.

    (Since I can''t use my royal authority, I''m just one of the many peasants¡­)

    Even while harbouring such a self-assurance that was close to self-torment, Zenjirou contemted on how to resolve this matter as smoothly as possible.

    (At this point, a wholesome conclusion doesn''t seem viable. Well, that Knight Raymundo reaps what he sow. He''ll have to swallow the bitter pill.)

    "Anyway, it is obvious that Knight Raymundo is lying. So if we manage to expose his lie, it will be our win.

    I have an idea, or rather a little sham in mind for that and I would like to have your cooperation in it, Princess Freya."

    "Oh my, that sounds interesting. Of course I will participate."

    Crossing her arms before her chest, Princess Freya showed a bright smile while her eyes revealed a sadistic glint, the type of pleasure you took from mowing your enemies down.

    "Well, excuse me then."

    Leaving these words behind, Princess Freya and her female bodyguard left the room, so Zenjirou was all alone with waiting maid Ines now.

    As such, Zenjirou could slovenly slouch on the couch.

    "Whoa, this has be such a pain in the ass¡­"

    "Stay strong, Master Zenjirou. You are sweating a bit around your neck."

    "Mm, thanks, Ines."

    The considerate maid handed him a towel, which he used to wipe his neck and face clean. Feeling a bit refreshed, Zenjirou then took a deep breath.

    "By the way, Ines, any word from Aura yet?"

    "No. There have been no news from the Capital."

    Zenjirou wrinkled his forehead in light of the straightforward answer from Ines.

    "Weird¡­ Isn''t it?"

    "Yes. The Small Flying Dragon we sent should have arrived some time ago. If Her Majesty Aura had wanted to answer it, her reply would have arrived by now."

    The instantaneous "Teleport" aside, even the returning "Small Flying Dragon" was strangely overdue for some time already.

    In other words, Queen Aura had no intention to send a reply.

    Zenjirou crossed his arms and pondered about its meaning.

    "Does that mean Aura''s not viewing this matter as that important?

    ¡­No, that can''t be right. She would reassure me with a letter then.

    Then it''s the other way round. I broached a subject so delicate that she can''t ''leap'' a person or send a Small Flying Dragon so easily."

    Before long, Zenjirou reached the same conclusion as Aura in the Capital.

    It was the kind of conclusion anyone with a bit of knowledge and minimal intellectual grasp could reach.

    Leaping a person with the "Teleport Magic" was practically the same as announcing the "urrence of an emergency" and messages with a Small Flying Dragon had a high risk of falling into the wrong hands.

    Thinking along these lines, it was only natural to reach the conclusion that "the matter was too delicate for a simple reply".

    "¡­She''s leaving me on my own here, eh. Then I probably shouldn''t rely on the nobility attending the marriage ceremony, either."

    Zenjirou tore his hair out, whereupon the middle-aged waiting maid by his side dered with a soft voice.

    "Master Zenjirou, I do believe you are approaching this the right way, but I would advice you to do some behind-the-scenes negotiations as well. In my humble opinion at least, you should consult with General Puyol to some extent."

    Hearing an unexpected name pop up, Zenjirou had a surprised look in the face.

    "General Puyol!? Why him of all people? Isn''t he the most troublesome person to get involved with?"

    As she had expected his reaction, the capable maid exined without breaking her matter-of-fact tone.

    "It is precisely for that reason. If he were to intrude himself into the affairster on, things would be extremely troublesome. So I would suggest to discuss things with him beforehand.

    The matter involves a knight from the Navarre Kingdom and Miss Nilda after all. General Puyol is practically her brother-inw now that he has taken Lady Lucinda as his wife.

    He can always y a part in it as her ''family'', even if it is pushing it a bit."

    "Yeah¡­ You have a point¡­"

    Zenjirou showed an expression as if enduring toothaches and held his head in his hands in reaction to the advice from Ines.

    It certainly was stretching it a bit to involve yourself in it as the husband of the elder sister of the person in question, but it was not impossible with a bit of overbearance. And Puyol Guill¨¦n was the kind of able man, who could ovee a few difficulties, if it benefited him in the end.

    "Instead of being dragged around by that rascal, it certainly would be better to work together with him from the beginning."

    The reason he used an usual snidely tone for General Puyol was not only because of jealousy towards a former marriage candidate for Aura.

    Frankly speaking, Zenjirou and General Puyol handled cases like this one so differently that you might as well call them pr opposites.

    General Puyol prioritized profit in everything he did. Of course he was also considering things in the long term, so he was willing to ept a temporary loss for it, but he never spared any mercy for the feelings of the other party.

    In this case for example, Zenjirou was viewing it as the best oue, when everything would be treated like it never happened once it was exposed that the knight from the Navarre Kingdom was lying.

    Of course that took into consideration the fact that Nilda was no nobility, a circumstance that ought to be kept secret, but even without that, Zenjirou would not want an apology that drove the other party into a corner.

    Because he knew that the resentment he earned from that would outweigh the little profit it brought, in the future for sure.

    In a way, it was the limitation of a sryman from a peaceful country.

    On the other hand, General Puyol would show no mercy in this case.

    As long as he could find fault with the other party, he would rigorously attack that weakness to squeeze as much profit as possible from it.

    For example: Compensation money. For example: Extradition of the knight in question. For example: Defamation of the country through a formal apology. And so on. With no regard for the pride or feelings of the other party, he would make the most of it. If that earned him resentment as a result, so be it.

    And when the resentment got the better of them, he would just have to put them in their ce through force, demandingpensation again. Truly killing two birds with one stone. That was his way of doing things.

    "It definitely wouldn''t end well. I guess I need to talk to him and ask him take a backseat, if possible.

    But can I actually convince him on my own?"

    The task was obviously too heavy for him.

    When Zenjirou heaved a sigh, Ines practically drove him into a corner with a soothing tone.

    "It is something only you can aplish, Master Zenjirou. However, how about asking Sir Raffaelo from the Marquez Family for help, if it simply proves to be too difficult for you? He is very talented, when ites to negotiations."

    "Hmm¡­ No will do. I can''t do that."

    For a moment, he was swayed by her suggestion, but in the end, he shook his head.

    "Since it concerns Nilda, it is better to involve as few people as possible."

    Zenjirou was actually well-disposed towards the sociable Raffaelo Marquez, but Aura had ssified him "as dangerous as General Puyol".

    He should not rely on him that easily.

    Having resisted the temptation to just offload everything on Raffaelo, Zenjirou dered to Ines with a serious expression.

    "I will persuade General Puyol by myself. That guy needs to stay out of this until everything is resolved or I won''t be able to sleep at night.

    I want to have a private talk with him. Can you arrange it?"

    "Of course. I shall prepare an unofficial meeting without raising suspicion. Incidentally, Master Zenjirou, what do you intend to do about Marquis Guzzle?"

    Her question prompted him to pondered with aplicated look on his face again.

    "Marquis Guzzle, eh. A tough call. Hmm, he is Nilda''s father and the Lord of this domain, so I shouldn''t be acting behind his back, but¡­ the root of the problem is Nilda''s status after all.

    I can''t really talk him into it without mentioning that¡­"

    There was one more problem: When Zenjirou privately talked to him as the Prince Consort and partner for Princess Freya, the undertone of "That is the will of the Prince Consort" would predominate, no matter what.

    Which in turn basically amounted to Royalty interfering with the authority of a Feudal Lord.

    Considering these circumstances, Zenjirou decided not to inform Marquis Guzzle ahead of things.

    "I will not get in touch with Marquis Guzzle. I am scared of acting without consulting the local lord, but the possible consequences of telling him outweigh it."

    "Very well."

    The faithful maid of middle age simply lowered her head courteously in light of the words from the Prince Consort.

    <b>Chapter 05: Nigh on Conclusion</b>

    After the trivial dispute between Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom and Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle, had escted into the current incident, it was finally showing signs of a settlement after all this time now.

    Both sides had lead a fruitless discussion for numerous days.

    Those involved from the Navarre Kingdom and from the Guzzle Family were meeting up onest time in the spacious room this night, because Marquis Guzzle had announced that he would pass judgment today.

    From the point of view of someone living in a modern state under the rule ofw, it would be highly questionable to let the rtive, or more precisely the father, of the involved party pass judgment, but as the local lord within a feudal state, he was only carrying out his given right.

    And as a matter of fact, no one from the Navarre Kingdom was objecting in that regard.

    Having said this, they would hardly do the same, when that judgment turned out to be so unfair that they were not okay with it.

    While the involved parties were ring at each other tensely, their ringleaders Marquis Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn weremuting through eye contact with a stern face that could not fully conceal their perplexity.

    (Hey, what is going on here?)

    (No clue. You tell me.)

    If you were to put it into words, it would sound like that.

    Both of them had made arrangement behind the scenes to let their son and subordinate "gain experience" through this incident, but that n seemed to have fallen through.

    Needless to say, Princess Freya was the biggest reason for that.

    "¡­.."

    Even now, she was sitting in the centre with an expression that asserted her "leading role" in all of this. The central figure from the Navarre Kingdom, Knight Captain Cris was sitting straight across from her.

    Nilda was just fidgeting around on the side and even Xavier, who was supposed to lead the negotiations, was obviously forced into taking a backseat.

    For a while now, Xavier was signalizing Zenjirou at the back with his eyes to "do something about her", but Zenjirou was just sitting there with a smile on his face.

    So Xavier came to a realization all toote.

    Zenjirou was not oblivious to his silent call for help.

    He was ignoring it knowingly.

    Xavier finally understood the real meaning behind his words, when Zenjirou had imed to side with Princess Freya.

    Even when Princess Freya was acting somewhat udylike, Zenjirou was not reprimanding her for it.

    In other words, this meeting was sure to be messed up by her.

    Although the utterances of a womancked significance, it was hard to ignore her, when she was Royalty from a different country and the official partner for Royalty of the own country.

    With her presence alone, Princess Freya had already foiled the n of Marquis Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn to let Xavier and Knight Captain Cris gain some practical experience.

    And the final nail in the coffin was the imposing man sitting in the gallery.

    With his new wife Lucinda at his side, General Puyol had crossed his log-thick arms and watched the situation unfold with an obviously amused grin on his face.

    Asserting his involvement due to Nilda being his little sister-inw now, he had requested to attend this meeting.

    Although he had promised not to interfere unless the need arises, Marquis Guzzle actually did not trust his words at all.

    Puyol Guill¨¦n was an ambitious and greedy man with the resolution and capability to make his visione true.

    In light of the intrusion of that troublesome man, Marquis Guzzle had lost all confidence to keep hisposure till the end of today.

    Going by that, it was probably fortunate that it was night already.

    Various oil pans around the room and on the table were burning brightly, dispelling the dark of the night, but even with ttery, the room could only be called "dimly lit" at best.

    The reason they met sote at night was because Zenjirou had insisted on a rare asion that he could not spare time otherwise.

    Grateful to the wilfulness of the Prince Consort just this once, Marquis Guzzle took a deep breath to pull himself together without letting anyone notice, speaking up with a loud voice.

    "Looks like everyone is here. Then let us have the final hearing.

    Both involved parties have taken up a clear position. Now square with your conscience, when you espouse your im.

    Once I have listened to your opinions, I shall assume full responsibility as the Marquis and pass judgment on this incident.

    If anyone wants to object my decision, go through the appropriate channelster on. Got it?"

    The "appropriate channels" in this case were the respective Royal Families.

    In the case that the Navarre Kingdom Delegation hadints about the decision from Marquis Guzzle, they would bring up the matter to the Navarre Royal Family, who would then raise an official protest to the Carpa Royal Family, telling them to talk it out with Marquis Guzzle.

    At the same time, it would turn the matter into an official diplomatic issue between the two countries.

    But it was rather unrealistic that the Navarre Kingdom would raise an official protest to the Major Power Carpa Kingdom just because a mere knight might or might not have entered a restricted area.

    On the other hand, Xavier and Nilda belonged to the March of Guzzle, so they had no "appropriate channel" to go through to begin with. Even as his daughter and son, they were not allowed to object the absolute instruction from their Feudal Lord.

    Considering all that, it was obvious how much of a nuisance the interference from Princess Freya was.

    She was an official guest in the Carpa Kingdom, so she could actually raise a protest through the "appropriate channel", namely the Carpa Royal Family, if she were to disapprove of the decision from Marquis Guzzle.

    (How did it turn out like this?)

    Marquis Guzzle suppressed his urge to massage his throbbing temple and dered with a low, but clear voice to everyone.

    "No objections, I see. Then I shall ask you three some questions in order to validate your ims. Answer with nothing but the truth."

    "Yes!"

    "Yes, Sir."

    "Very well."

    The illegitimate child, the knight from the other country and the princess from the northern continent consented one after another to the words from the power of authority on thisnd.

    Amidst the illumination from the mes burning on the oil pans, Marquis Guzzle saw all of them nodding their head lightly and called out to his own daughter with a really strict tone first of all like he had intended to.

    "Good. Then I will start with Nilda Guzzle.

    Please exin it easy to understand what you saw on that night and where."

    Addressed by the father first, the illegitimate child opened her mouth, which was still dry from nervousness.

    "Yes, Marquis. On that night, I met a knight, when I turned around the corner of the hallway."

    They were just doing a question and answer session right now, so even though Nilda was not used to this kind of situation, she managed to answer smoothly without stuttering.

    "Who was it?"

    "It was too dark to confirm it myself, but when I called him to a halt, he named himself as ''Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom''."

    Upon that reply, Marquis Guzzle turned body and nce alike to Knight Raymundo.

    "Knight Raymundo from the Delegation of the Navarre Kingdom, you have heard what Nilda ims. Do you have any objections to what she said?"

    The fierce nce of the noble lord had not lost its touch even in his old age, so the young knight swallowed his saliva with a gulp and answered with an enthusiastic loud voice.

    "No, Sir Marquis. I was certainly called to a halt by Miss Nilda on that night and gave her my name. This much is certain."

    Up to this point, both parties had the same understanding of the situation, so the young knight had no reason to object and simply agreed to it. What followed after was an issue, though.

    Marquis Guzzle cleared his throat with an affected cough, then asked his own daughter again.

    "It happened at the small cross-shaped intersection, where the three hallways converge. Nilda, which hallway do you say Knight Raymundo came out of at that time?"

    "Sir Raymundo came out of the ''central hallway''."

    The young knight gave a small jerk to Nilda''s resolute im, but he had enough self-restrain to not speak up without permission here.

    "Knight Raymundo, do you have objections to what Nilda ims?"

    When he was addressed again, the young knight stood up from his chair and spoke up.

    "Yes, I have. I did note out of the ''central hallway'', but the ''outmost hallway''."

    Just like it had happened numerous times before, Knight Raymundo was stating somethingpletely different than Nilda right here and now as well.

    At this point, no one was surprised about their shing of opinion anymore. The matter had been dragged out for so long because of it, after all. So his objection was anything but unexpected.

    If anything, Marquis Guzzle felt like heaving a sigh, when he was thinking about how he still had to question "one more person".

    Nevertheless, the elder noble lord kept his strict look on his face and spoke to the third involved person.

    "Freya Upps, you apanied Nilda on that day. Do you have anything to add?"

    In light of his question, the princess from the northern continent let her blue-tinged silver hair shimmer in the light of the mes and asserted with a determined tone.

    "Yes, I only have one thing to say: I saw Sir Raymundoing out of the ''central hallway''. That is all."

    Then she red at Knight Captain Cris sitting across from her, not the actual Knight Raymundo in question.

    In the discussions before, Princess Freya seemed to have made Knight Captain Cris her main target.

    For Zenjirou, that was only natural.

    The attitude Knight Captain Cris took towards Princess Freya was basically the same as towards an "insolent woman".

    Of course he was properly minding his etiquette towards Royalty in his public utterances and behaviour, but his moral values such as "It''s just the delusion of a woman." and "Why can''t she be more of a woman and quietly listen to the man?" were seeping out here and there.

    To the eyes of Zenjirou, it only looked like Knight Captain Cris was assertively trying to pick a fight with her, but unfortunately, Knight Captain Cris himself was not aware of it in the slightest.

    If anything, he seemed to be acting like that out of the goodness of his heart in order to calm Princess Freya down and solve things peacefully.

    (It''s not easy to be a woman in this world.)

    Although he knew it was rude, Zenjirou looked at Princess Freya with a mixture of respect and pity.

    Because he had been close to Queen Aura, an exception to the exception, so far, Zenjirou had apparently missed out on realizing how difficult it was for women in this world to conduct themselves in public.

    While Zenjirou thought about these things, Marquis Guzzle looked at everyone and droned on.

    "I have heard your ims. Raise your hand, if you want to add something, justify yourself or ask a question. I will allow you to speak up in order.

    Anyone speaking up without permission will be expelled from the room. Keep that in mind."

    The three people in question, Nilda, Princess Freya and Knight Raymundo obviously nodded their approval to it, but all the others present did so as well.

    Strictly speaking, there was another involved person, namely the bodyguard from Princess Freya: the female warrior Skathi. But she had no right to speak up.

    This had nothing to do with her status or gender. It was a more fundamental issue: Her upation.

    As the retainer and bodyguard of Princess Freya, Skathi was practically her girl Friday.

    Maybe she did it in private, but it was unlikely she would ever say something to inconvenience her master at an official hearing like this.

    So allowing Skathi to express her opinion would effectively be the same as counting only the im from Princess Freya twice.

    Marquis Guzzle had said that he "could not allow one person to raise both arms in a majority vote" and as expected, Princess Freya had no choice but to ept it.

    But on the other hand, Skathi could have acted as a "representative" for Princess Freya, if she were more eloquent than her, and Princess Freya would have to stay silent.

    Anyway, you could voice your opinion now as long as you raised your hand first, but for a while, no one did raise their hand.

    That was not really surprising, either.

    At the moment, both parties were not only having opposing views, they also had no proof whatsoever to weaken the argument of the other.

    So whoever spoke up first, might slip up and dig its own grave, ending up with a disadvantage.

    There might be exceptions, but hardly any team would choose to bat first, when batting second was actually more advantageous. Having said this, they could not remain silent forever.

    Raising his hand amidst the heavy atmosphere of reluctance by the dim light of the oil pans was none other than Knight Captain Cristiano Pinto from the Navarre Kingdom.

    "Cristiano Pinto is allowed to speak."

    With these words from Marquis Guzzle, Knight Captain Cris stood up smoothly from his chair and opened his mouth.

    "Then with your permission, I would like to ask Miss Nilda a question. You seem to have run into Knight Raymundo at the corner on said night, but do you remember what kind of shoes he had been wearing back then?"

    "Eh? Shoes?"

    Nilda raised a dumbfounded voice in reaction to the unexpected question.

    "Do not speak without permission, Nilda Guzzle. Please answer the question of Cristiano Pinto now."

    Reprimanded by her father Marquis Guzzle, Nilda stood up bewildered, surprised and ashamed alike. She recalled the situation and answered.

    "Ehm¡­ I did not pay attention to his shoes."

    "Is that so. Well, you coincidentally met at night, so I guess that is to be expected. Truth be told, Raymundo was wearing the same leather shoes for knight as right now.

    Sir Marquis, do I have your permission to let Raymundo showcase his shoes?"

    "Granted."

    "Thank you very much. Raymundo, stand up."

    With the permission from Marquis Guzzle, Knight Captain Cris ordered his subordinate Knight Raymundo to stand up.

    "Yes, Sir!"

    Upon the order from the young captain, the even younger Knight Raymundo stood up with a jerk.

    When the solid leather boots hit the stony ground, a thud sound resonated through the room.

    Knight Captain Cris revealed a faint smile.

    "As you could hear, the shoes for knights have a firm sole and make a loud sound, when you walk on stony ground. It is not as loud in a wide room as this one, but in a small hallway with stone walls on both sides it is resounding quite a lot. Raymundo, take a step."

    "Yes, Sir!"

    Prompted by Knight Captain Cris, Knight Raymundo started to walk on the spot with thuds.

    The young knight continued to step on the ground in the dim light of the mes from the oil pans.

    And Nobility and Royalty watched over him without saying anything.

    It was a rather ridiculous scene, but no one wasughing.

    "Miss Nilda, you should have heard these footsteps in the hallway. At what point did you became aware of them?"

    "Well, that is¡­ I was talking to Princess Freya while walking, so I only noticed the footsteps once I saw a silhouette."

    When the honest Nilda answered truthfully, Knight Captain Cris showed a triumphant smile on his face for a moment, whereas Princess Freya looked like she had swallowed something bitter.

    "Is that so? In other words, you were so immersed in your conversation that you ''did not even notice these loud footsteps''."

    "Aw¡­"

    All toote, Nilda realized what Knight Captain Cris was getting at, too, and went pale in the face.

    The crux of the matter was whether Knight Raymundo came out of the central hallway or out of the outmost hallway.

    Nilda and Princess Freya were iming that he came out of the central hallway while Raymundo himself insisted that he came out of the outmost hallway.

    Needless to say, Raymundo would be a liar, if Nilda and Princess Freya were saying the truth, and if Raymundo was saying the truth, Nilda and Princess Freya would have "made a mistake".

    And right now, Knight Captain Cris had tickled a testimony out of Nilda that "she was too immersed in her conversation on the go that she did not hear the loud footsteps".

    In other words, it was a new piece of information that lent credibility to the im of the Navarre Kingdom that Nilda and Princess Freya had seen wrong.

    If they were so engrossed in conversation that they did not even notice such loud footsteps, then it stood to reason that they also did not notice himing out of the outmost hallway and mistook it for the central hallway.

    The line of argument was a bit highhanded, but convincing nevertheless.

    Xavier realized that the bnce had tipped in their favour, even if just a bit, and raised his hand in haste.

    "Marquis, please allow me to speak!"

    "Okay, you may speak, Xavier Guzzle."

    Receiving the permission from his father Marquis Guzzle, Xavier stood up with an expression so enthusiastic it was recognizable even in the dim light of the mes.

    "I have a question for Sir Raymundo. You did not only meet Nilda and Princess Freya on that night, but also Lady Skathi, who apanied them as the bodyguard for the princess.

    Nilda and Princess Freya were wearing shoes with soft soles, but Lady Skathi was wearing the same kind of shoes as you, Sir Raymundo. Were you able to hear her footsteps?"

    The argument desperately put forward by Xavier was extremely simple.

    If Raymundo had not noticed the footsteps of Skathi, just like Nilda had not noticed his, then it was only usual not to hear them, making it invalid as an argument.

    Xavier was trying to shift reasoning like that.

    But his argumentation had a w.

    The young knight from the Navarre Kingdom answered the question baffled.

    "No, I did not hear them. Because, like I just mentioned, Miss Nilda and Princess Freya were approaching me while making conversation. Their voices must have cancelled out the sound of the footsteps.

    I did hear their voices, of course."

    "Ah¡­"

    Xavier was at a loss for words due to the all too obvious rification.

    On second thought, it was only natural. No matter how loud the footsteps might be, they would still be quieter than speaking voices.

    Raymundo had noticed their approach not from the footsteps, but from their voices and because they had been talking so vividly, Raymundo had not heard the footsteps.

    Xavier had identally proved that Raymundo have had a better understanding of the surroundings than the women on that night.

    "¡­Grr."

    Flushing his lightly tanned face bright red, Xavier was rendered speechless. Watching him from behind, Zenjirou realized it was about time to leave the backseat.

    (Man, I was kind of hoping the situation would be closer to a decision before I act, but things look bad, if I remain silent at this rate. It''ll be quite a gamble, but I''ve got no other choice.)

    Making up his mind with a deep breath, Zenjirou slowly raised his right hand.

    "Marquis Guzzle, I wish to speak up."

    Although his voice was not all that loud, everyone present looked to be quite taken aback by it.

    That goes without saying.

    Up until now, Zenjirou had given "free rein" to Princess Freya and maintained the attitude that this got nothing to do with him.

    He himself might not be an authoritarian character, but his title as the Prince Consort was by no means to be taken lightly.

    "¡­You are allowed to speak, Zenjirou Carpa."

    While Marquis Guzzle gave him permission, his expression revealed a tint of wariness as well.

    Feeling an ufortable itch on his back from all the gazes on him, Zenjirou stood up on the spot.

    "I have a question for Knight Captain Cristiano from the Navarre Kingdom. You have been discussing the audibility or inaudibility of the footsteps for a while now, but is it even that important to begin with?"

    Maybe he did not expected to be asked first, but Knight Captain Cris showed a nk expression for a moment before showing his confident smile once again and answering the question.

    "Well, I would not call it all that important, but it certainly is decisive in this case.

    You may not know this as a nonbatant, but a warrior spends as much time refining his senses of hearing and seeing at night as he trains with weapons.

    Pointing out the different capabilities of someone with such training and someone with no such training, helps a great deal in understanding this situation."

    His careful and thorough exnation was steeped in disdain for the non-militant man called Zenjirou.

    As a matter of fact, Princess Freya had keenly spotted the contempt and was narrowing her eyes to slits angrily. Even General Mart¨ªn, sitting in the back, was heaving a small troubled sigh.

    But the person in question, Zenjirou paid no attention to the attitude of the young knight captain and continued his questioning.

    "I see now. Then the reason I did not see him, nor hear his footsteps in the ''outmost hallway'' on that night must be myck of these capabilities. Am I right in thinking that, Sir Cristiano?"

    This question certainly caused a big surprise.

    While Knight Captain Cris uttered a dumbfounded "Huh?", Zenjirou exined the circumstances with a serious look.

    "Truth be told, I arrived at the scene a bitter on that night as well. Through the ''outmost passage'', that is. When I got to the crossroad point, Princess Freya and the other two were still standing there, so I assume not much time had passed since Sir Raymundo left the ce.

    So while I was passing through the ''outmost hallway'', Sir Raymundo must have walked ahead of me. Yet I did not see him there, nor did I hear any footsteps. Oh, and I was not talking with anyone and kept quiet the whole time. Just saying."

    The incriminating im from Zenjirou prompted Knight Raymundo to break out in a cold sweat and look flustered.

    Seeing his subordinate panic like that, Knight Captain Cris positioned himself protective in front of him and replied with a smile.

    "Forgive me for saying this, but this seems to be indeed an issue of your capabilities, Your Majesty.

    I may be speaking out of turn, but it does not look like you have received any training as a soldiers whatsoever.

    In that case, it only appears to be inevitable that you did not notice Raymundo, when he was walking quite a bit ahead of you."

    Knight Captain Cris somewhat talked down Zenjirou for not being a soldier, but Zenjirou kept hisposure and nodded a few times.

    "Yes, that makes sense. But what about the other way round?

    As you have mentioned, I am no soldier. My eyesight at night, my sense of hearing and above all, my handling of weapons is literally on par with a woman or child. Hence I am always taking Knight Natalio with me wherever I go.

    He, too, is wearing the same shoes for knights. Needless to say, they should have made the same loud noise. Now then, Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom:

    Did you hear such footsteps behind you, when you were walking down the ''outmost passage'' on that night?"

    "Well¡­"

    It looked like the sweating Knight Raymundo was one-sidedly driven into a corner as he was struggling for words, but this was actually quite a challenge for Zenjirou as well.

    Unless Raymundo told a lie now just like Zenjirou wanted him to, Zenjirou would not be able to spring the "trap" he had thought of.

    So nervous that he was afraid that the others could hear his heart beating fast, Knight Raymundo seemed to make up his mind and opened his mouth.

    "Now that you mentioned it, I remember that on my way, I turned around once, because I thought I had heard footsteps. But I believed it to be the echo of my own footsteps, so I paid it no mind afterwards."

    With these words, the young knight nodded his head confidently.

    Zenjirou became so euphoric that he wanted to scream "Gotcha!".

    Noticing the ted Zenjirou, Knight Captain Cris jumped to his feet and advocated for Knight Raymundo as the superior officer.

    "Your Majesty Zenjirou, the footsteps indeed echo well in a hallway with stone walls, just like Raymundo said. It is by no means umon that even a trained soldier may mistake the footsteps from someone afar as the echo of his own."

    He might have heard footsteps, or he might have not.

    The testimony was rather vague, but that was to be expected. Knight Captain Cris had intended to support his subordinate, but as far as Zenjirou was concerned, that advocacy had been absolutely meaningless.

    For him, it was not important whether the footsteps were heard or not. The following "I turned around once" utterance had sealed the deal.

    The trap had already sprung and perfectly caught its prey. All that was left was to reel it in carefully.

    Zenjirou showed an extremelyposed smile and slowly began to borate.

    "Sir Raymundo, Knight Captain Cris. You were right, when you said I had no training whatsoever as a soldier, so I have no military abilities to speak of.

    I agree that it is no wonder that I did not see a silhouette in front of me, nor heard any footsteps. But my trusted bodyguard, Knight Natalio, has not perceived any of it, either."

    After having remained silent so far, Marquis Guzzle had to speak up now, as the presiding judge so to say.

    "Zenjirou Carpa, the testimony from a bodyguard or subordinate will not be acknowledged here."

    It was the same reason why Skathi was not allowed to speak up as the bodyguard for Princess Freya.

    The important thing for a bodyguard, who had sworn loyalty to a master, was agreeing with his master, not the truth of the matter. Hence the testimony from a bodyguard or subordinate was generally ignored, because he would only agree with the opinion of the master anyway.

    Zenjirou had brought up the name of his bodyguard despite that, because he had wanted to emphasise how much they were talking at cross purposes.

    "Your Majesty Zenjirou, the hallway in question is extremely long and it was rather dark already. So it is not strange at all that neither you, nor your knight took notice of Raymundo walking quite a bit ahead of you.

    Raymundo himself seems to have barely picked it up and even wrote it off as the echo of his own footsteps, so I assume that there must have been quite the distance between you."

    Hence there were not contradicting each other. Or so Knight Captain Cris imed. Zenjirou nodded a bit affected.

    "I see. That certainly sounds usible. But I am still doubtful. Sir Raymundo had been trained as a soldier, so how did he not notice that I was walking behind him?"

    "Like I said, he did notice, but he waved it off as his imagination¡­"

    With a slightly annoyed look, Knight Captain Cris repeated what he had mentioned earlier, but Zenjirou cut him short and continued himself.

    "I have not received training as a soldier. I see as much as a child or woman at night. And I am afraid that my courage is on the same level as a child or woman, too.

    So once it gets dark, I ''cannot go outside without light''."

    "¡­!?"

    In light of these words, Knight Captain Cris went pale in the face for the first time tonight.

    Certain that his intentions had gotten across, Zenjirou allowed himself to show a broad grin and took out his favourite "hand-cranked LED shlight" from his pocket.

    To maximize the effect, he had purposefully insisted to have this meeting at night.

    "This is something I brought along from my home country. I will spare you of the technical details. In short, it is a like a magic tool for illumination.

    On the night in question, I was walking while using this."

    After saying this, Zenjirou turned on the switch of the LED shlight. Needless to say, he had charged it plenty in advance by cranking the handle.

    "Guh!?"

    "Uh¡­!"

    "Wha!?"

    "This¡­?"

    The white light of the LED was so bright it did not evenpare to the mes on the oil pans, so everyone present squinted their eyes in surprise.

    "Well then, Sir Raymundo. You said earlier that you thought you had heard footsteps and ''turned around once'', right?

    I will ask you the same question again now: How did you not notice that I was walking behind you?"

    At the same time, Zenjirou deliberately bathed the young knight from the Navarre Kingdom in the light of the LED shlight.

    The artificial white light cleared away the night and revealed the pale face, trembling lips and sweating forehead of the young knight for everyone to see.

    "Ah¡­ I, I¡­"

    Seeing the young knight flustered like that, Zenjirou immediately felt the euphoria that had ran through his whole body earlier, subdue.

    (I ended up backing him into a corner with no way out at an official meeting.)

    That was not how Zenjirou had actually wanted to resolve the situation, because the loser was quick to hold a grudge, when you embarrassed him at such an official asion.

    But that had been the only way for him, if he wanted to wrap it up as a victory for their side this time.

    (Raffaelo M¨¢rguez would have surely been able to end this more smoothly. And I doubt General Puyol would have given a damn about grudges or anything. He would squeeze the most profit with all his might.)

    Although he knew it was pointless, he ended upparing himself to more capable people.

    ncing over to General Puyol, who was showing a faint smile in the back, for a moment, Zenjirou somehow shook that thought off and gave the final push to end this incident once and for all.

    "Can someone actually fail to notice such a light behind him in a straight hallway? Especially, if he ''turned around once'' at some point.

    I am repeating myself here, but I am no soldier. My eyesight at night is worse than a child or woman. But even then, I would definitely notice it, when such a bright light illuminates the straight path behind me, no matter how far away.

    Now then, Sir Raymundo, can you please exin it satisfactorily to us how you, a trained soldier, failed to notice a light even someone like me would have noticed?"

    Backed into a corner with nowhere to run. A question without a viable answer. And a bright light not allowing oneself to hide in the dark of the night.

    "¡­.."

    Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom seemed to have realized that it was impossible to talk his way out of this, seeing as he broke down on his chair defeated.

    The rest would be extremely simple.

    Now that Knight Raymundo had broken down, it would be smooth sailing once he admitted that the root of the problem had been his lie and that he had actually came out of the central hallway.

    "Then you admit to having made a false testimony, Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom?"

    "¡­¡­¡­.Yes."

    The young knight from the Navarre Kingdom replied affirmative with a weak voice to Marquis Guzzle while sinking into his chair.

    "Hmm, what to do¡­"

    With a resolution to the issue on the table now, Marquis Guzzle wrinkled his brow and pondered.

    Who was right? Who was wrong?

    The conclusion had practically arrived already, but the problem on how to punish the mistaken party remained.

    It was a difficult decision.

    To begin with, Knight Raymundo hadmitted an illegal trespassing into a restricted area.

    Although it sounded like a grave offense, even Marquis Guzzle was actually considering the ce to be easily mistaken, so it would not be strange, when someone stepped into there by mistake. Moreover, the area was not really important enough to cause harm, when someone actually got there.

    Hence a simple "verbal rebuke" would be more than adequate for an offense like this one.

    But some people would not ept that, now that things had escted this far.

    Marquis Guzzle nced at the forerunner of "these people" and checked their fierce expression.

    As expected, the young girl with her characteristic blue-tinged silver hair was showing an aggressive smile as if saying "Yeah, what are you going to do about this?" while ring at the Knight Captain and young knight from the Navarre Kingdom.

    It was unthinkable that the northern princess would be content with just a "verbal rebuke".

    But then again, the Navarre Kingdom would already be shamed a great deal just because of a mere misstep.

    If there was some kind of punishment on top of that, they would surely hold a grudge, even if they knew it was misced.

    The concerned Knight Raymundo was still in a state of lethargy, but his advocate Knight Captain Cris was biting down on his lip and suppressing the humiliation. He probably thought that "he had been taken for a fool".

    Hopefully this did not leave behind any unnecessary trouble. Marquis Guzzle feared as such, but when he looked at General Mart¨ªn sitting at the back, the giant general was closing his eyes for a moment and slightly shook his bearish head to the side.

    (It''s okay. I''ll take care of itter.)

    Perceiving the intentions of General Mart¨ªn through this small gesture, Marquis Guzzle heaved a sigh of relief.

    Known for his excellent control over his subordinate, General Mart¨ªn was going to take responsibility for the aftermath, so half of the problem was already solved.

    A heavy weight off his shoulders, the elder feudal lord looked then at the male Royalty, who had brought about this conclusion.

    "Then I shall announce the verdict. Do you have anything else to say before that, Master Zenjirou?"

    He was now addressing Zenjirou politely with the title of "Master". It was clearly different from how he had addressed him during the "trial".

    In other words, he was going to announce the verdict, but was trying to show some "consideration" for the royal Zenjirou before that.

    Discerning that, Zenjirou frantically searched for the right words in order to bring across his endeavour as smoothly as possible.

    "¡­Well, I believe that we had to sit down like this, because some things ended up confounding the situation unnecessarily.

    So as long as the Navarre Kingdom admits their wrongdoing in this case, I wish for nothing further. To begin with, I cannot understand why it escted like this. In my opinion, it was a trivial misunderstanding we could have get on without."

    To trante his words: "Sorry that Princess Freya messed up things recklessly. I''m okay with a verbal apology from the Navarre Kingdom. If anything, can we pretend all of this never happened to begin with?"

    Since it was not phrased all that ambiguous, even Marquis Guzzle with his bare minimum of eloquence for a noble, understood what he wanted to say.

    The elder noble let his frowned face blossom into a smile for a moment, but immediately cleared his throat with a cough to gloss over it.

    "O- Okay. I certainly have heard you out.

    Then I, the Lord of the March of Guzzle, shall announce the verdict for this case."

    In reaction to his words, everyone present cast down their eyes and solemnly held their peace. The same applied to Zenjirou.

    The Marquis was still the man with the highest authority on thisnd. A Feudal Lord did not have the authority to judge Royalty, but on the other hand, even Royalty could not go against the decision of the Feudal Lord made within his own territory.

    Marquis Guzzle had tapped the full potential, when he had "asked and considered a word of advice" from Zenjirou earlier.

    "There are two issues at hand. First, Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom ''stumbled'' into a restricted area of our house. Second, he tried to obfuscate it with a lie, when that fact was pointed out.

    Trespassing into the restricted area by itself is not such a serious matter. We are partly to me for it, since we did not put up any signs or guards there.

    But I cannot overlook the fact that he forcefully tried to disguise the truth as the ''mistake'' of another.

    I hereby sentence the involved party from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom to admit their mistake and apologize for it."

    "¡­Understood."

    Knight Captain Cristiano Pinto from the Navarre Kingdom answered with a stiff voice, his earlier undaunted expression now frozen inexpressively.

    It was an extremely irksome result for him, but he realized how foolish it would be to still go against the decision of the marquis.

    Marquis Guzzle nodded briefly to the answer from Knight Captain Cris.

    "Good. Then this case is now closed. No one would benefit from discussing this any further.

    The guilty party will admit their mistake and apologize, whereas the other party will ept said apology. This will be the end of it. I would like to suggest we no longer speak of this matter anywhere, but what do you all say?"

    He suggested with a probing tone.

    The reason it was a "suggestion" in the end was because that part alone exceeded his authority as a Feudal Lord.

    The Feudal Lord carried responsibility for everything that happened within his domain, but this time it involved people of another country and even Royalty of the own country.

    As foreigners, the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom could "appeal" by turning the matter into a diplomatic issue through their Royal Family, and as Royalty himself, Zenjirou could enter an "objection" right away as long as he had the permission from Queen Aura.

    Needless to say, Marquis Guzzle would still be responsible for the revision, whether it was an "appeal" or an "objection", so it would not turn out all that different, but it wouldplicate things for sure.

    Fortunately enough, Knight Captain Cris agreed to the suggestion from Marquis Guzzle right away.

    "Understood. I do not have any objections to keep this matter to ourselves."

    His excessive pride had caused him to be emotional, but even under the influence of emotions, Knight Captain Cris was apparently not the type to make irrational decisions.

    To begin with, this issue had brought discredit on the knight of the Navarre Kingdom. If they could sweep it all under the carpet, it was more than the Navarre Kingdom could ask for.

    On this asion, Zenjirou expressed his consent as well.

    "Certainly. I have no objections, either. In favour of the friendly contact between our countries, I believe it is in our best interest to forget that this ever happened. What do you say, Princess Freya?"

    "¡­If you say so, Your Majesty Zenjirou."

    The silver-haired princess kept her fierce re fixated on Knight Captain Cris while she uttered her approval with an affectedly monotone voice.

    It was obvious at a nce that her dissatisfied attitude was meant to convey: "I actually do not want to reconcile with you, but His Majesty Zenjirou told me to, so I am making peace."

    Everyone present must have thought that Zenjirou had put Princess Freya in her ce.

    Grinding her teeth udylike, the woman reluctantly obeyed the words of the man without concealing her dissatisfaction.

    Princess Freya was giving the impression that she wasplying with the man known as Zenjirou from the bottom of her heart, and not just as his partner for the marriage ceremony.

    Zenjirou was quite annoyed by that performance, but Marquis Guzzle actually gave him a respectful look for it.

    "Then I dere the meeting closed now."

    When the Feudal Lord dered the end of the meeting, you could practically see the tension from this troublesome issue melt away from him.

    "Princess Freya, Miss Nilda, I apologize for my shoring in this case."

    Meanwhile, Knight Raymundo from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom lowered his head deeply in front of the two girls.

    In light of the haggard bow from the young knight, the open-hearted Nilda forgot all about their earlier dispute, disying sympathy andpassion on her face.

    "All is well as long as you are careful not to repeat such a behaviour from now on."

    But even with her superficial and makeshift education as a noble, Nilda realized that she had to act her part here, so she left her response at that.

    On the other hand, the "open-hearted" Princess Freya still remembered the dispute and went into raptures over a feeling of aplishment and superiority.

    "I shall put my faith in you that you will not act like this anymore."

    But with an education befitting for ady, she understood it that it would be bad for diplomacy, if she were to make him prostrate before her, so she left her response at that.

    "I will excuse myself now."

    When his apology was epted a lot easier than he had thought, Knight Raymundo could not help but show a look of relief and tried to leave.

    However, he was called to a halt before that.

    "Wait. I believe we are not done here yet."

    The voice belonged to the person, who had watched the scene unfold next to Princess Freya: Zenjirou.

    Not only the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom was surprised, when the unexpected utterance stopped them from leaving, but also Princess Freya and Nilda widened her eyes in surprise.

    "I recall that Marquis Guzzle sentenced ''the involved party from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom to admit their mistake and apologize for it''.

    Sir Raymundo had been telling the lie, so his apology alone might be enough for all intents and purposes, but Sir Cristiano actually involved himself in the negotiations in ordance with a false impression.

    Sir Cristiano, you do not need to apology, but you need to admit right here and now that you assumed incorrectly.

    Namely: Princess Freya has an eyesight as good as a soldier at night, and she is not the squeamish type to make a mistake in fear of the darkness."

    "!?"

    Not having expected to be the targeted here, Knight Captain Cris showed an expression as if he had been punched from the side all of a sudden.

    Seeing that, Zenjirou thought to himself "Did I do something unnecessary?" with a bit of regret, but it absolutely had to be done from his point of view.

    It was not a matter for the benefit of the Carpa Kingdom, but more of a personal matter of sincerity towards Princess Freya.

    Princess Freya had been in the hot seat for this incident and thus suffered a "loss" in her evaluation as a woman by the standards of the South Continent.

    Needless to say, she had done that, because Zenjirou had asked her to. And without even being told why he wanted her to stand in the political breach, at that. (Zenjirou was not absolutely sure yet, if his assumption about Nilda being no nobility was right or wrong, so he could by no means let that information leak.)

    In other words, Zenjirou thought that "she had unterally drawn the short straw, obeying his will without knowing the circumstances behind it".

    As the typical Japanese, Zenjirou represented the moral values of being anxious to repay a favour as soon as possible, so he automatically tended to cower before people, whom he owned a favour.

    Having said all this, Knight Captain Cris had nothing to do with these thoughts of his.

    From his point of view, it only sounded like "he was singled out as well after he had to endure the shame of being unable to protect his subordinate".

    And by the "nonbatant" man he had looked down on, at that.

    Annoyance, displeasure, anger and defeat. These bottled-up negative feelings crossed into dangerous territory as Knight Captain Cris automatically reached out for his waist with his right hand. At the same time, he took half a step backwards¡­ stepping into a shallow "puddle" with sshing noise.

    "?"

    Shot up by the boots, the water drops wetted his ankle.

    Why was there a puddle in a ce like this? Before he could even wonder about that, Knight Captain Cris was brought back to reason by the coldness of the water.

    He perfectly understood that he was about to draw his sword on the spur of the moment, when Royalty of a Major Power had expected the enforcement of a decision from the Feudal Lord of a Major power.

    (What the heck am I doing!)

    With his head cooled down in an instant, Knight Captain Cris felt a flood of cold sweat running down his back in the next moment.

    Although he had attempted to draw his sword, he fortunately had not moved all that much and only for a second, at that. Hardly anyone seemed to have noticed it. Good thing the light from the oil pans kept the surroundings in semi-darkness.

    "You are right. I should correct myself.

    I made a mistake. Princess Freya, you certainly have an eyesight on par with a soldier at night along with the courage to not let it cloud your judgment. It was wrong of me to assume that you are an ordinary woman."

    He talked quickly in order to gloss over his earlier blunder and admitted his own mistake like Zenjirou had wanted.

    The best his pride allowed him to do was to admit his mistake, but not to directly apologize for it.

    It was surely on purpose that he threw out his chest and up his chin, when he bended over and lowered his head, as it reinforced its apologetic and self-critical impression.

    To Zenjirou, it just seemed ridiculous.

    (This looks like a parent apologizing to his child against his will after getting rebuked by a teacher.)

    While Zenjirou harboured an impression that would make Knight Captain Cris throw a fit, if he were to hear it, Princess Freya showed a triumphant smile as she answered.

    "I am d you understand, Sir Cristiano."

    If Knight Captain Cris just had left now without saying anything, it might have put an end to things peacefully.

    But he probably thought that leaving right after his concession would look like he was "running away", or else he just could not suppress the urge to say something in return. Either way, Knight Captain Cris stayed where he was and started talking to Zenjirou with an affectedugh.

    "Reminds me, Her Majesty Aura seems to be a brave person, who achieved various deeds during the previous war. Not that I had the honour to see her yet, though."

    "Indeed. I have not seen it myself, either, but I have heard of the same."

    Once the main objective was cleared, Zenjirou was not really holding anything against him, and he engaged in some small talk with the young knight, albeit not all that enthusiastic.

    "Her Majesty Aura and Princess Freya are both extremely charming women, but also have an unexpected valiant side to them for a female. I guess it is true then that people are attracted to those who ''possess what they themselvesck''?"

    Needless to say, it was biting sarcasm making digs at Zenjirou for not being a soldier.

    At his side, Princess Freya wiped the smile off her face and revealed her anger, whereas Zenjirou actually burst out inughter and responded to the younger knight captain from the foreign country.

    "Hahaha. Might be. But attraction cannot be exined so easily. Assuming it could, what kind of woman would you be attracted to then, Sir Cristiano?"

    "Eh¡­ I¡­"

    Knight Captain Cris was at a loss for words in light of the counter question.

    The captain was good-looking, well-versed in martial arts, quick on the uptake, healthy and had a prideful spirit. On top of that, he was even born into a distinguished family that inherited the blood of the Royal Family.

    Going hand in hand with these strong points was a big ego.

    Endowed like that, Knight Captain was obviously at a loss for an answer, when asked what kind of woman he preferred on the supposition that people were attracted to those who "possessed what they themselvescked".

    If he said "beautiful woman", it would mean he himself was ugly, whereas the "smart woman" answer would make him out to be stupid. And mentioning a "good-hearted woman" would equate to admitting that his own personality was twisted.

    At the same time, it was hard to say that he preferred women without such virtues, too.

    Zenjirou had only asked it for some casual chit-chat, but pressed for an answer, Knight Captain Cris felt like one had been pulled over him again, all on his own.

    His stubbornness to not ept defeat here was probably his biggest weakness.

    The young knight could not stand being on the losing side all the time, so he replied even more snarky while keeping up his fake smile.

    "You do have a point, Your Majesty Zenjirou. It was imprudent of me. Being attracted to those who possess what you yourselfck might only apply to a few people whock a very certain quality."

    Even Zenjirou grimaced a bit in reaction to these words.

    Of course it was not out of anger from having hit his bullseye.

    (Oh god, he''s taking it that far right here?)

    He was bewildered and surprised.

    It goes without saying that Zenjirou was Royalty of the major power known as Carpa Kingdom and not just any Royalty, but rather the exalted Prince Consort of Queen Aura.

    Although he was the eldest son of a distinguished family with blood rtions to the Royal Family, the knight captain from the middle power known as Navarre Kingdom was ranked quite a bit lower on the socialdder.

    Maybe it was time to reprimand him a bit?

    Zenjirou started to consider that, but unfortunately, it was a bit toote for that.

    "Knight Captain Cristiano Pinto from the Navarre Kingdom. What did you just say? Who do you think you are talking to?"

    Someone else questioned him with a stern voice before Zenjirou. It was the Hero of the Carpa Kingdom: General Puyol Guill¨¦n.

    "General Puyol?"

    When Zenjirou uttered surprised, the giant general bowed to him subservient and turned to Knight Captain Cris with an aura of anger all around him.

    "Up until now, I may have let some remarks slide, but that was only because Marquis Guzzle was holding the trial. That is no longer the case."

    Zenjirou immediately understood that the words from General Puyol, uttered in a low, but loud voice, were actually directed at him, even if his broad back was turned to him.

    (Oh fuck! He got me!)

    Doing his utmost to keep his expression in check, Zenjirou metaphorically clenched his teeth in the head.

    He had done secret negotiations with General Puyol in advance to prevent this from happening.

    As a result, Zenjirou had somehow managed to make General Puyol ept his request to "stay out of this case".

    Thanks to that, General Puyol had remained silent the whole time during the trial, but right now, the "case had been closed" and they were chit-chatting, so the "promise" from the negotiations was no longer valid.

    (Oh god! Stupid Cris! Stupid Puyol! And I''m the most stupid of all!)

    While Zenjirou wailed over his own carelessness, General Puyol besieged the young knight captain at once.

    "Cristiano Pinto, you seem to have forgotten it, but Master Zenjirou here is Royalty of our country. And he is the exalted husband of Her Majesty Queen Aura, at that. So what did you just say to him? Repeat it to me once more."

    Beleaguered like that, Knight Captain Cris immediately lost all the colour in his face. Even amidst the semi-darkness, you could see it all too well.

    So far, he had run his mouth with sarcasm and quips, but it had not be a problem at all, precisely because the other party had not made a big deal out of it. Knight Captain Cris was reminded of that fact all toote.

    "My apologies! I spoke out of turn!"

    He lowered his head with a snap.

    The room fell silent and all the attention was focussed on him.

    (Seriously, this is bad. I need to put an end to it somehow.)

    Zenjirou panicked as the situation had escted all at once, but right now, General Puyol was only scolding a foreigner in order to protect the dignity of the Prince Consort.

    If he were to stop the general at this point, it would be "self-defeating" instead.

    (I definitely can''t stop him, when he''s acting for my sake. Wait, that''s surely part of his n. Damn it!)

    It seemed paranoiac, but Zenjirou knew Puyol Guill¨¦n all too well to write it off as just that.

    He could not take action. In the meantime, General Puyol thrust himself onto Knight Captain Cris.

    "I said nothing about apologizing. I told you to repeat yourself. Come on, say it. You already said it directly to Royalty, so you should be able to say it to me, his subject, too."

    "¡­My deepest apologies."

    It only looked like irrelevant bullying, but there was actually a meaning behind it.

    "Again, do not apologize just like that. If you want to apologize, first you have to admit what you did wrong and to whom. After that, you can apologize."

    Knight Captain Cris tried to ride it out with his head lowered humbly, but General Puyol showed no mercy at all. He insisted that the captain admitted from his own mouth to what faux pas he hadmitted and to whom.

    Of course, Knight Captain Cris realized he would betray a decisive weakness, if he were to admit that, so he desperately kept apologizing, nothing else.

    "My apologizes. It was imprudent of me. Please forgive me."

    Unexpectedly put on the spot, Knight Captain Cris was obviously supported by his highest superior from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom: General Mart¨ªn Nadal.

    "Your Majesty Zenjirou, my subordinate has spoken out of line. I apologize on his behalf."

    With these words, General Mart¨ªn bended his bear-like giant body over, lowering his head deeply in front of Zenjirou.

    "G- General¡­!"

    Seeing the well-respected hero of his own country bow like that, Knight Captain Cris was at a loss for words.

    General Mart¨ªn was a peerless hero in the Navarre Kingdom. He had admittedly the same rank as General Puyol, but was enjoying more trust in his own country aspared to General Puyol.

    The major power Carpa Kingdom had Marquis Rh, a lord rivalling General Puyol, and numerous other suitable qualified lords like Marquis Guzzle.

    In terms of bothpetence and international renownedness, General Mart¨ªn was an outstanding figure in the Navarre Kingdom. In a way, he might even be more prominent than the current King of the Navarre Kingdom.

    And such an important pir of his home country was deeply lowering his head for the captain in order to smooth over the differences of his faux pas.

    "¡­.."

    Cristiano Pinto finally grasped the gravity of his mistake now.

    "My sincere apologizes, Your Majesty Zenjirou!"

    He once again lowered his head, this time even lower than his respected general.

    His now exasperated attitude no longer showed any sign of the earlier arrogance towards Zenjirou.

    Just through their title, Royalty from a major power were a formidable adversary one should not look down on, even if they had no martial talent or a timid personality. The young knight was made painfully aware of that fact.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou appreciated this asion, since he wanted to conclude this as peacefully as possible.

    The man in question and his superior had both lowered their heads. Of course Zenjirou would not let this opportunity slip and spoke up at once.

    "Excuse the question, but could it be that it is Sir Cristiano''s first appearance on the international scene?"

    "Yes, that is correct."

    Sensing that Zenjirou was offering him a lifeline, General Mart¨ªn affirmed his question respectfully.

    He was, of course, telling the truth. Not even twenty yet, Cristiano Pinto was on his first official duty out of the country.

    Hearing the response from General Mart¨ªn, Zenjirou shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly and heaved a sigh.

    "Well, that exins it. Sir Cristiano, the culture,mon sense and mindset of people drastically change once you cross a border. I am sure you realized it through this incident?"

    Zenjirou had never set a foot outside of Japan back then, nor the Carpa Kingdom now, so it was preposterous for him to be saying that, but that did not matter right now. What mattered was to find an "excuse to forgive" Knight Captain Cris for his mistake.

    "Yes, I learned it the hard way."

    Oblivious to Zenjirou''s circumstances of life, Knight Captain Cris answered afflicted with his head still lowered.

    Then Zenjirou shifted his gaze towards the bowing General Mart¨ªn besides him.

    "General Mart¨ªn, everyone makes mistakes in their youths. And it is the duty of seniors and veterans to teach and guide these youngsters. Am I right?"

    "Absolutely, Your Majesty. This is another negligence on my part."

    "Yes."

    Zenjirou nodded satisfied.

    As his superior, General Mart¨ªn was responsible for any mistakes Knight Captain Cris maymit. It would not be all that strange to ept the apology and bow from General Mart¨ªn, a renowned hero from another country, as atonement.

    General Puyol might feel discontent about this, since he prioritized practical benefits, but the achievement of making the Hero of the Navarre Kingdom, General Mart¨ªn, lower his head in front of Royalty from the Carpa Kingdom was not trivial, either.

    At the very least, it enhanced the "prestige" of Zenjirou, a fledgling Royalty, greatly.

    But before Zenjirou could "close the case", the insatiable wolf aka. General Puyol interjected with a bright voice, quite different from before.

    "Oh, that reminds me, Sir Cristiano is the eldest son of the Pinto Family. I guess ites to no surprise that no one in the Navarre Kingdom would dare to strictly scold the talented eldest son of a famous family.

    Considering that, I might have been a bit too mean in my scolding earlier."

    His mild-mannered speech might as well be called ttering already. Zenjirou and General Mart¨ªn immediately had a bad premonition, but Knight Captain Cris did not know General Puyol all that well, so he readily jumped at the honeyed avenue of escape.

    "Yes, Sir. As shameful as it is, I let my immaturity get the better of me."

    When the knight in question affirmed his words, General Puyol shed his jet-ck eyes.

    "Then how abouting to our country? You are still young and I am sure it wille in handy for your future, when you learn from contact with higher-ranking people of another country."

    General Puyol seemed to suggest this out of the goodness of his heart, but no matter how you look at it, he would be nothing but a "hostage" in reality.

    Confronted with a sudden "arrest" by the neighbouring major power, the young knight captain ceased all thinking for a while.

    Still lowering his head next to him, General Mart¨ªn now raised his head and red at the neighbour general with sweat on his forehead.

    "That will not be necessary, General Puyol. To begin with, he is still green as a soldier. Of course it is important to take part in negotiations and social intercourse, but prioritizing that at the cost of his military training would be putting the cart before the horse."

    "Oh, fret not, General Mart¨ªn. I personally will take full responsibility to train him while he stays here. Or are you dissatisfied with me as his teacher? What do you say, Sir Cristiano?"

    General Puyol smiled, baring his teeth like a threatening beasts, whereupon Knight Captain Cris was stumped for an answer.

    "W- Well¡­"

    Puyol Guill¨¦n was too well-known for his skills on the South Continent to be actually dissatisfied with him. But unless he said so, he would definitely head towards his life as a hostage.

    And on the surface, the general was supposedly suggesting this out of the goodness of his heart after "forgiving him for his mistake", which only made it even worse.

    "I know why you are so concerned, General Mart¨ªn. Sir Cristiano certainly has a brilliant talent. I shall pull no punches and do my utmost to nurture his promising skills."

    The hero from the neighbouring country showed a joyful expression like a carnivore licking its lips in anticipating before its captured prey.

    Was this the end? Knight Captain Cris was already starting to resign himself to his fate, when it happened.

    "Oh my? Does that mean you are going to turn your back on your new wife already? You sadden me, Sir Puyol."

    While General Puyol showed a bright smile, a woman suddenly interjected from the side.

    "!? Lucinda?"

    For the first time today, General Puyol looked dumbfounded in reaction to that voice.

    The clear voice belonged to Lucinda, who approached her newlywed husband of a few days with small steps that let her elegant blue dress flutter a bit.

    "Are we housing a guest already, Sir Puyol? I have entertained guests from the Navarre Kingdom a couple of times here in the Guzzle Mansion, but I am afraid it will be my first time doing so in your house. Of course I shall strive to do my best, but I cannot help but be worried about making a mistake.

    To my shame, I have to admit that I once caused the Guzzle Household a lot of trouble by weing people from a foreign country the wrong way."

    On the fact of it, she seemed to be an irresponsibly woman oblivious to the circumstances, when she mentioned that while cocking her head a bit.

    But having spent thest few days in the same room with her, General Puyol knew that she was not that kind of foolish woman.

    Considering that, he could read another meaning between the lines.

    ''I have entertained guests from the Navarre Kingdom a couple of times here in the Guzzle Mansion'' implied that the March of Guzzle and the Navarre Kingdom shared a direct border.

    And reading between the lines of ''I shall strive to do my best'' meant: ''I am already part of the Guill¨¦n Family now, so I will obey whatever you, the head of the family, decide.''

    Finally, the ''I once caused the Guzzle Household a lot of trouble'' sentence could be understood as ''It will affect my parental house, the Guzzle Family, if we offend the Navarre Kingdom, so could you please show some consideration?''.

    "Hmm¡­"

    General Puyol nced over to Marquis Guzzle at the back.

    "¡­.."

    When their eyes met by the light of the oil pans, the aged feudal lord sharpened his look to the point that you could feel the tension in the air.

    "Causing me all this trouble! And you still call yourself my son-inw!?"

    He was obviously telling him that through eye-contact.

    General Puyol quickly weighed the odds inside his head.

    The merit of having a supposedly important person for the next generation of the Navarre Kingdom under his thumb versus the demerit of incurring the wrath of Marquis Guzzle after obtaining a connection to him through marriage.

    It was a no-brainer. Once he knew what he had to do, he felt not the slightest hesitation or shame to take back his earlier words. From a human point of view, he might have to feel embarrassed by going back on a decision, but this attitude was actually beneficial for surviving in Higher Society.

    "It certainly sounds unreasonable to apply myself to raising a disciple at the cost of neglecting my newlywed wife.

    This being the case, I am sorry, Sir Cristiano, but I am withdrawing my earlier offer."

    "Not at all. I appreciate the thought at least."

    With his head still lowered, Knight Captain Cris heaved a long sigh of relief, releasing all the air from holding his breath until now.

    <b>Chapter 06: In the Aftermath</b>

    Although with some unexpected turns and twists, everything somehow wrapped up without problems and Zenjirou returned to the annex building with Princess Freya.

    Behind them followed their two bodyguards: Knight Natalio and the female warrior Skathi. Waiting Maid Ines, who had been with Zenjirou ever since he left the Royal Pce, was otherwise engaged for the moment.

    Apparently she had "identally spilled some water" and was going to clean it up before returning as well.

    Zenjirou could not imagine her ever making a mistake on the job, but no matter how capable, the maid was still a human, so she was bound to make a mistake at some point.

    Back in the annex building, Zenjirou separated from Princess Freya and changed clothes in his allocated room.

    A well-rounded waiting maid of middle age in the service of the Guzzle Family helped him with it.

    He felt a bit ufortable having someone else than the waiting maids of the Inner Pce help him change, but there was no other way, since he had only brought along Ines as his waiting maid.

    Fortunately enough, the plump waiting maid seemed quite capable, so Zenjirou managed to change the stiff third formal attire for his casual wear in no time.

    "Well done. You may leave. Oh, and send Nilda to me, when she arrives."

    "Understood. I shall take my leave now."

    The plumpish maid swept a curtsy and left the room.

    "¡­Puh."

    Unlike with the waiting maids of the Inner Pce, Ines included, Zenjirou was vignt about his conduct and speech in front of other maids, so he was tensed up at these times.

    Sitting down on a simple couch prioritising functionality, he turned his head with small cracking sounds to relieve the tension.

    "Ehm, where''s the towel again? ¡­Ah, there. The nights here sure are irksome."

    Zenjirou shined on the table in front of the couch with the LED shlight in his right hand and somehow managed to find the towel.

    Technically speaking, there was an oil pan on the table for a light source, but the small me was of no use for him, seeing as his night vision was poorly developed to begin with.

    Slouching on the couch, Zenjirou wiped the sweat off his face and neck with the towel in his left hand, then looked down on the LED shlight in his other hand.

    "This thing sure saved the day¡­"

    In order to avoid trouble, he kept the various tools he had brought along from Japan a secret as much as possible, but he was unable to do so this time.

    Without revealing it, he would not have been able to expose the lie from the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom.

    And a defeat absolutely had to be avoided in thetest trial.

    If it had ended with their defeat, the result would have been that "a woman hadined to a knight, but had actually been wrong and apologized for it".

    And then it was quite likely that word got around that the woman in question, Nilda Guzzle, was actually not nobility.

    That in turn would bring about the worst case scenario, namely that "amoner woman started a fight with a knight and had actually be wrong about it".

    "At least we avoided the worst case¡­ Yeah, I did well, if I may say so."

    Zenjirou praised himself on a rare asion.

    Not only had he avoided the worst case scenario, he also worked out the promise that "the case was closed for good now and would not be spoken about ever again".

    Due to that, it was impossible that this case gained any more ground. Zenjirou certainly had "done well".

    "The problem is Princess Freya, though. I made her y a really unrewarding role¡­ Argh, I get the feeling I''m digging my own grave deeper and deeper."

    The heavy sigh from Zenjirou slowly dispersed in the semi-darkness of the wide room.

    * * *

    As the winner, Zenjirou was fatigued from his aplishment, but as the losers, the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom was wearied from their defeat.

    "General Mart¨ªn, I apologize for the troubles I have caused this time."

    Just where had his usual confidence gone to? Cristiano Pinto had fallen into a deep depression and lowered his head to the respected hero of his country with these words.

    Thistest case had been quite arduously, especially at the end, when General Puyol had practically tried to abduct him.

    "Well, you went through a lot, too. At least, you know now that the world is full of scary people. Keep that lesson in mind."

    "Yes, Sir."

    General Mart¨ªn generouslyforted his favoured young subordinate, but he was actually even more shaken than Knight Captain Cris at heart.

    (Oh god, the yground the Marquis and I prepared in secret was perfectly blown to pieces.)

    The situation had escted beyond his control to the point that he wanted to smack himself for ever thinking that it was the perfect opportunity for letting Knight Captain Cris and Xavier Guzzle experience a real negotiation, a few days ago.

    Needless to say, it was all due to Princess Freya, who had butted in right from the beginning, Zenjirou, who had given the decisive blow in the middle of the trial, and General Puyol, who had tried to squeeze profit from it at the very end.

    Thanks to them, Xavier was pushed onto a backseat and Knight Captain Cris was one-sidedly beaten up.

    (Well, even geniuses need to taste defeat and realize that there are people they absolutely cannot beat right now.)

    In retrospect, General Mart¨ªn was not all that dissatisfied with the result.

    "It is not wrong per se to stand up for your subordinate, even when he is in the wrong, but if you deal arbitrarily with it, it will only earn you the resentment from friend and foe alike, so act with care."

    "Yes, I will take it to heart."

    Assessed by his respected superior like this, Knight Captain Cris finally looked a bit more calm.

    The words from General Mart¨ªn were not just meant as constion.

    Generally speaking, it was hardlymendable to cover for a subordinate, who hadmitted a mistake, but in the army, it was not a bad choice for when the superior wanted to gain the trust of his subordinates.

    Especially in a supposedly low profile case like this one, the superior could give his subordinate the favourable impression "I''m on your side!" by actively standing up for him.

    Having said all this, it was necessary to draw a clear line at it, because if not, some subordinates would think that their superior would protect them no matter what they did.

    Because of that, General Mart¨ªn did not consider the behaviour from Knight Captain Cris as fundamentally wrong this time.

    It also had been a good choice to not bring the main culprit, Knight Raymundo, here.

    Knight Captain Cris must have expected to get severely scolded by General Mart¨ªn.

    Not bringing Knight Raymundo along showed his resolve to shoulder the reprimand from the general all by himself.

    A man, who could protect you not only from enemies, but sometimes even from superiors, was well-liked in the army.

    Nevertheless, Knight Captain Cris certainly had not been without w in his approach.

    General Mart¨ªn changed the expression on his bear-like face into a strict one and rebuked the young knight captain with a low voice.

    "Your biggest mistake was to reflexively take up a fighting stance in front of His Majesty Zenjirou. I was sweating bullets back then. Learn to control yourself a bit better."

    "Y- You noticed that!?"

    When Knight Captain Cris eximed in surprise, General Mart¨ªn knitted his brow.

    "Of course. General Puyol surely did as well. If you had actually touched your sword, he would have jumped in.

    In that sense, it was a close call. The little self-restrain you had left truly saved your life."

    (That female warrior seemed to have noticed it, too, but I better not tell him that.)

    He calmly concluded that right now, Knight Captain Cris was in no state to ept the fact that a woman was stronger than him.

    "¡­"

    The young knight captain widened his eyes dumbfounded in reaction to the words from his respected general.

    He had only taken up the stance for a second and to be honest, he did not thought anyone had noticed amidst the semi-darkness.

    Knight Captain Cris admitted that his character and leadership qualities were still falling behind, but even the quality he had the most confidence in, namely fighting strength, was apparently nowhere near a match for the heroes of the previous war.

    "Actually¡­ I only managed to restrain myself by chance. When I took a step backwards, I stepped into a small puddle. Its coldness somehow made mee back to my senses."

    "Now that''s what I call a stroke of luck."

    General Mart¨ªn cocked his head a bit, when he heard about the puddle on the stony floor of the room, but brushed it off as a mishap from an earlier cleaning session.

    "Anyway, I will be frank with you: Our Navarre Kingdom is by no means a big country on the western part of the South Continent. We are more often the inferior party in diplomatic negotiations.

    Unless you learn some discretion, we cannot let you leave the country again. Not everyone will necessarily be as generous as His Majesty Zenjirou. If anything, consider people like General Puyol the norm."

    Zenjirou and General Puyol were obviously extreme on both ends of the spectrum and thus extremely rare exceptions, but he deliberately chose to scold his subordinate with an exaggerated opinion.

    "Yes, Sir. I understand. Such an idiocy will never happen again."

    Knight Captain Cris promised solemnly, full of vim and vigor, so General Mart¨ªn nodded a "Good" in response.

    * * *

    Around the same time, Marquis Guzzle and his children were sharing their feeling of happiness of having passed the storm en famille.

    "It sure was an ordeal, Nilda, Xavier."

    The son and daughter replied with a smile to their father Marquis Guzzle.

    "No, my ipetence brought this all about. Fortunately enough, Master Zenjirou lent us his power and protected Nilda''s reputation, but I could not protect my important little sister by myself.

    And just when Big Sister Lucinda had entrusted everything to me after getting married. How am I supposed to face her now?"

    "Please do not feel so down, Brother. You really did your best to protect me. I was really happy."

    "Yet there''s no point, if I achieve nothing."

    Looking troubled, the little sister from a different motherforted her depressed older brother sitting next to her with all her might.

    Watching over them, Marquis Guzzle inadvertently cracked a smile, because of the heart-warming rtionship between the siblings.

    But considering the future, this was no time to be all smiles.

    The eldest daughter Lucinda was the reason why the Guzzle Family had such a pleasant interaction.

    She had helped her father with his work, raised her little brother into the next head of the family and gave her country bumpkin of a little sister from a different mother a strict training in high society etiquette, all the while giving them enough love to make everyone feel like "family".

    Even now, Lucinda had kindly held General Puyol back at the very end, warding off any further trouble.

    But she was no longer with them.

    "Anyway, I am d it went off without a hitch. Xavier, I am sure you have to reflect on a lot of things, but do not let it drag you down. Learning from your past mistakes means you will do better in the future."

    "Yes, Father."

    His son nodded obediently with a most sincere look, whereupon the father shifted ufortable in his seat.

    He had said these words more to himself than anything.

    (Man, I really should stick to what I''m used to. Because I let General Mart¨ªn sweet-talk me into doing this, things almost got out of hand. I''m a simple-minded idiot, so I shouldn''t be greedy and solve problems one after another.)

    One of his strong points was to quickly get back on track once he had reflected on things.

    When the marquis had pulled himself together, he shifted his gaze from his son to his daughter.

    "You did not have it easy, either, Nilda. But remember that you are partly to me for this. You are already fifteen years old, so you need to act in an appropriate manner for a noble woman."

    Looking a bit younger than her actual age, the fifteen-year-old girl looked down dejected, so that her short ponytail swayed a bit.

    Seeing his daughter clearly being in low spirits, Marquis Guzzle did not soften his strict expression, but was shaken at heart.

    (Aw, is she going to cry? Damn. Lucinda usually helped mefort her at times like these. I ended up scolding her like always.)

    The old feudal lord cleared his throat with a cough.

    "So I say, but with Lucinda gone now, there is no one left to teach you properly here."

    Needless to say, Lucinda had not been the only noble woman in the March of Guzzle.

    As the lord of the March, the Guzzle Family had a lot of vassals serving them and there obviously were women amongst these families.

    However, they were just vassals in the end. Although technically nobility as well, their etiquette andmon sense somewhat changed ording to the status.

    A court nobility would take a family specialized on teaching etiquette as a vassal, but unfortunately, the Guzzle Family was a military family and had no such educated human resources.

    "Then what am I supposed to do, Father?"

    When the daughter cocked her head worriedly, her aged father revealed his n.

    "I had nned this for a long time already, but when I am returning to the capital, you will apany me. I know a person or two there, who can teach you."

    In light of these words, her face suddenly lit up with tion.

    "I''m going to the capital? Really!?"

    Like any other girl her age, she obviously longed for the morous capital.

    "Yeah, you official came of age this year. I have to introduce you to higher society in the capital at least once."

    "Okay! Oh, speaking of, Master Zenjirou offered to show me around, when I evere to the Capital. Will it actually be alright to take him at his word?"

    Her father raised an eyebrow for a second in reaction to her unexpected announcement.

    "Hmm? Master Zenjirou actually said that? How intriguing. It does sound to be more than just mere pleasantry. Once we are in the capital, you can try sending him a letter. If it was indeed no pleasantry, he will surely reply favourably."

    "Yes. But about that letter¡­"

    "Of course you will have to write it yourself."

    "¡­Okay."

    Nilda made heavy weather of writing of all things, so she frowned a bit troubled.

    Happily observing each and any adorable demeanour of his daughter, the father mumbled under his breath.

    "Still, a teacher for Nilda, eh. The most suited would be Amanda, but¡­ I doubt it will work out. Well, it cannot hurt to ask at least."

    And like this, Marquis Guzzle considered contacting his far younger cousin, who was working as the Supervisory Maid of the Inner Pce.

    * * *

    Inside a different room of the annex building than Zenjirou, Princess Freya stripped off her light blue formal dress and swapped it for a one-piece casual wear.

    Her bodyguard and attendant, Skathi, helped her with it.

    During their trip between the continent, they had been the only women aboard anyway. Although it was not her main job, Skathi had adequate skills as a waiting maid.

    "Thanks, Skathi. Are you not going to change?"

    When her master asked her after having changed clothes, the female warrior brandished her favourite spear.

    "I am your bodyguard after all."

    "I see. Thank you as always, Skathi. But at least sit down, please."

    "Okay, if you insist."

    ording to the plea from Princess Freya, the tall warrior sat down on the couch across from her master. Needless to say, her spear with the tusk of a sea monster was resting against the rest of the couch and in order to be ready to jump into action at any moment, she was not stretching out and rxing as much as Princess Freya.

    The oil pan burning on top of the table coloured the short silver hair from Princess Freya and the long blonde hair from Skathi in a mystic red.

    Amidst this semi-darkness, the northern princess hugged herself and showed a gleeful smile.

    "Aw, did you see that, Skathi? That expression on the knight, when His Majesty Zenjirou cornered him! He was literally scared to death! I wish you would praise me for not rejoicing over it right then and there!"

    The veteran female warrior gave a wry smile to her strangely excited master.

    "Mdy, please calm down a bit. Well, I cannot deny that it was a fantasticeback, either."

    "I know, right! Moreover, His Majesty Zenjirou did not only pry a confession out of the knight in question, but also out of that conceited Knight Captain Cris. I fell for His Majesty all over again!"

    When her master was very outspoken about it, the subservient female warrior put on a worried expression.

    "When you say all over again, you mean you had fallen for him before already?"

    The serious question from Skathi was affirmed by Princess Freya without any hesitation whatsoever.

    "Why, yes. But saying I had ''fallen for him'' before already, might a bit of an overstatement. I definitely harboured an ''affection'' toward him, though.

    I mean, I had such a nice time during our trip from the Capital to the March of Guzzle and I can basically count these asions in my life on one hand."

    "Well, you do have a point."

    Having spent most of her life alongside Princess Freya, Skathi knew she was speaking from the bottom of her heart.

    On the North Continent, Princess Freya also had participated in hunts and the like, but the group of soldiers still had treated her as a "princess" in the end.

    And she was only allowed to hunt foxes or rabbits by herself to begin with. Even when she was taking down a deer or reindeer, numerous soldiers secured the area while she send an arrow at best.

    Whereas here she was allowed to finish off a dragon with a spear in her own hands.

    It was undoubtedly the memory of a lifetime to her.

    She was keeping the forehead horn of the in Meat Dragon in safe custody and apparently intended to have a craftsman make an ornament out of it once she was back in the Capital.

    Then Princess Freya replied with a smile.

    "Of course the dragon hunt left the deepest impression with me, but there is more to it than just that. I greatly enjoyed the time inside the carriage with His Majesty Zenjirou as well.

    He was being considerate to me, not because I am a ''woman'', but because I am a fellow human¡­ I cannot express it well, but I did not get a headache with him, like I do, when I converse with other men. It was a really pleasant atmosphere."

    For better or worse, Zenjirou was still clinging to his moral values as a Japanese. Of course he was being educated in etiquette and manner of speaking, so he changed his mannerism depending on the status and gender of whom he dealt with, but the fundamental value that everyone was equal could not be taken from him.

    The longer you dealt with him, the more obvious it got that he was "not looking down on you".

    "And not to forget thetest incident. It really makes my heart jump for joy that he is so different from other men."

    Princess Freya had been put in the line of fire for this incident and Zenjirou was feeling guilty about having "brought her into disrepute", but she herself was not regarding it as something bad.

    From the very beginning, she could not stomach the attitude from Knight Raymundo, putting the me on them, anyway.

    Nevertheless, she kept herself in check, because she could not afford to cause trouble for Zenjirou as his partner. But then he had told her: "It''s okay. Break loose. I''ll take responsibility."

    Princess Freya could not have been happier about this.

    Although Zenjirou seemed to regret to have dragged her reputation on the South Continent through the mire, it was no big deal for her.

    The only one she wanted to marry on the South Continent was Zenjirou anyway, so as long as he himself harboured no ill feelings towards her, there was no need to worry about the opinion of others.

    And if her marriage with him were to not work out for some reason, she would just be called home to the North Continent for a political marriage.

    She would never set foot on the South Continent again then, so a somewhat bad reputation there would have no effect on her life.

    Well, the reason Princess Freya could honestly not bother with a bad reputation was surely because her spirit was more resilient than the average.

    "His Majesty Zenjirou had put his faith into me. Not the kind of blind faith people throw around, but actual faith in my ''capabilities'', such as seeing in the dark or memorizing circumstances calmly.

    And he even demanded that Knight Captain Cris, who had doubted mypetence from the very start, corrects himself."

    "He sure did."

    While agreeing with her, Skathi calmly observed her respected master.

    She truly seemed to have "fallen for him". Or more precisely, her previous "favourable impression" had developed into a "genuine love".

    Nevertheless, it was the kind of love she would get over in no time, if her father were to put a stop to it by telling her to give up. In this sense, Princess Freya had a profound understanding of natural-born Royalty. Even so, it did not change the fact that she was in love.

    Serving Princess Freya for as long as she could remember, Skathi was having mixed feelings.

    (My little tomboy princess fell in love with a man, who never held a sword in his hands. She only seemed to be scheming something, when she proposed to His Majesty Zenjirou, though. Love works in mysterious ways.)

    The female warrior was waxing sentimental. In the meantime, the northern princess flushed her snow-white cheeks a bit and continued.

    "So Skathi, I want to hear your opinion. His Majesty Zenjirou mentioned he never received any military training and I believe him, but what do you say?"

    "Yes, there is no doubt. Pardon me for saying this, but his military prowess truly is that of a woman or child."

    So the atypical woman said.

    She was practically badmouthing her future husband candidate, but Princess Freya actually smiled brighter in response.

    "I knew it. Then I would like to discuss something with you. I came up with a n to get closer to His Majesty on the trip back."

    "¡­I am all ears."

    Skathi got a bad feeling about where the conversation was going, but she could not stop her master based on a hunch alone.

    Without noticing that her retainer narrowed her auburn eyes to slits, Princess Freya exined her idea with a beaming smile.

    "On the way back, we are going to spend a few nights in the carriage, right? That is when I will make my move. I have the strength of a soldier, so I should be able to push down His Majesty. No worries! He might resist at first, but once we get to the steamy part¡­"

    "Mi-dy!"

    Skathi scolded her master with a low voice, when she proposed a gender reversal of the "night adventurer" she had learned from the crude sailors.

    <b>Epilogue: The Way Back Home</b>

    A few dayster.

    Zenjirou was once again shaken around inside the carriage drawn by eight dragons. The other passengers were the same as before, too.

    His partner for the marriage ceremony Princess Freya and her bodyguard the female warrior Skathi.

    His own bodyguard Knight Natalio and the Waiting Maid of the Inner Pce Ines. A total of five people, including Zenjirou himself.

    Therge carriage was not all that wide, matching the width of the street, but had the length of a single railway carriage, so five people had plenty of space for themselves.

    With an attached sleeping quarter, the carriage rather reminded Zenjirou of arge "camping van".

    Although it did look fancy on the outside, it had no suspension, nor rubber tires, so it could hardly be called afortable ride, but Zenjirou had gotten used to it on the journey there, so he did not perceive it as all that bad. And not to forget the soft cushions.

    At least it wasfortable enough to allow for some casual chit-chat.

    But precisely because of that, Zenjirou felt worse than on the outbound trip, which had still been a bit rough back then.

    As for the reason:

    "I am most interested in the sea, I guess. As long as Her Majesty Aura allows it, I wish to travel further to the south of the South Continent with the ''Yellow Leaves'' at some point."

    Princess Freya was actively striking up a conversation with him now that they had obviously gotten closer after thetest incident.

    "That sounds most fascinating. Our country lies in the centre of the western part of the South Continent. There are various countries further south and when you take the boat east from there, you can apparently get around to the southern end of the central part of the continent."

    "Oh my. I imagine it would be quite the adventure to go around the whole South Continent once someday."

    "Haha, adventurous as ever, I see. But I reckon it would be quite difficult. The northern area of the South Continent is one big lifeless desert. Even if you pass by there with the ''Yellow Leaves'', you need to stock up on everything plentiful beforehand. It seems there are almost no chances to restock on the way."

    "Oh, that reminds me, my vice-captain told me the same thing before."

    While conversing with Princess Freya, Zenjirou was shaking his head distressed at heart.

    Not because the conversation with Princess Freya caused him a headache, but quite the contrary: He noticed that he was unwittingly drawn into the conversation with her.

    Zenjirou was not so dense to miss such an obvious approach from a girl, neither was he so emotionless to be unaffected by the smile of such a beautiful princess.

    It would still be a bit of an exaggeration to call it a seduction, but her physical contact had gotten a good ten centimetre more intimate, and Zenjirou was certainly stirred up by it.

    (So friggin'' close!)

    As a matter of fact, hardly anyone would be bothered, when he actually epted Princess Freya, but the man in question could not abandon his monogamy values that easily.

    Already married to his beloved wife Aura, he instinctively felt guilty, when another woman captivated him.

    "Speaking of, Your Majesty Zenjirou, the ''Yellow Leaves'' should finish its repairs soon. We intend to return to Valentia once to conduct a shakedown cruise, but would you like to apany us?

    It is really great to feel the sea breeze on your skin on the open sea."

    But for all that, he could not afford to cut the conversation short.

    "Oh, that sounds fun. I sure would love to, when it is just a cruise near the coast. Just spare me of any surprises like suddenly heading to the North Continent, please. I would not be able to go home. Ahaha."

    "¡­.."

    "Ehm, Princess Freya? Did you hear me? Why are you suddenly falling silent?"

    "Ah, no, please do not mind me. I was just thinking about something."

    "Is that so. Well, I need to check my schedule, though, if we are going to Valentia. Her Majesty might be able to ''leap'' us there, but it will take a few days to get back after all."

    Whilst replying like that, Zenjirou reminded himself to learn to use "Teleport" by himself in the future.

    As a matter of fact, he had seeded in pronouncing the chant for "Teleport" correctly once during this trip.

    Of course he still had a long way to go, but it certainly was a big step forward towards mastering "Teleport".

    (Without ''teleport'', I can''t go to the Twin Kingdom after all. And I really need to be able to bring a healer over from there, when Aura gives birth again.)

    At this point, he recalled a certain fact.

    (Oh, right. Before giving birth, we need to make a baby first. The abstinence finally ended, but then I had to go on a business trip for over a month. I''m gonna get busy with my waifu once I''m home!)

    As expected, Zenjirou was pretty devoted to Aura.

    "¡­¡­..Hah."

    Deep in thought about sex fantasies with Aura, Zenjirou did not noticed how the silver-haired princess sitting next to him heaved a small sigh as though she suffered a defeat.

    * * *

    Around the same time in the Royal Pce, the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom and beloved wife of Zenjirou: Aura I. exposed an unbing appearance by baring her bosoms to the man in front of her.

    Having said this, the Queen was not having an affair or anything.

    Sitting on a chair, Aura was revealing her chest to a bearded elderly man with white hair: The Royal Physician Doctor Michelle.

    "¡­."

    Needless to say, the aged physician showed not the slightest reaction to the ample bust of the Queen, but rather palpated her belly with a serious look.

    "How is it, Your Majesty? Do you feel something, when I press down here?"

    "¡­No, nothing out of the ordinary, really."

    "Hmm, I see. Thank you, Your Majesty. You may put your clothes back on now."

    In light of his words, Aura fixed her dress, covering her exposed front again.

    After adjusting the crimson red dress skilfully, she asked the trustworthy doctor right away.

    "So, let me hear your opinion. Am I carrying a ''second child''?"

    Just like she had said, the doctor had been checking, whether Queen Aura was pregnant with a second child or not.

    Her menstruation had beente this month. Normally, it should havee roughly ten days ago. Since it did not, she had wondered: "Could it be?"

    So with these expectations, she had asked Doctor Michelle for a check-up, but the old physician shook his head with a pensive face.

    "Hard to say. To be honest, I could not find any symptoms of a pregnancy."

    The Queen disyed an obvious disappointment to the words from Doctor Michelle.

    "I see. Well, I am not having any aversions or cravings like before. Then it is just an irregrity in my monthly cycle, I guess."

    With these words, the Queen tried to stand up from her chair, but the aged doctor stopped her with a wave of his hand.

    "No, Your Majesty, it is too early to say that. It saddens me as a doctor to say this, but even seasoned doctors have trouble to diagnose a pregnancy in its early stage.

    It is entirely possible that you are pregnant, when you are having coitus and your menstruation fails to appear."

    "Is that so? But I am not going through the food aversions or cravings like I did with Carlos."

    Although nurturing a hope again, the Queen was still doubtful, whereas the elderly physician exined in a soft tone.

    "Most women certainly show such signs during a pregnancy, but they do not necessarily go through the same every single time.

    It is not unheard of that a woman craves for some sour food on her first pregnancy, but wishes for some sweet food on her second pregnancy."

    "Oh? Then we cannot rule out the possibility?"

    The Queen exhibited a glint in her two brown eyes, which could be mistaken as red on a nce.

    "Indeed. So for at least half a month, I want you to act on the assumption that you are pregnant. That means drinking alcohol as always is out of the question."

    Even the Monarch of a country was weak against the prescription of a doctor.

    "Ugh¡­ So be it. Ah, does that mean I should refrain from night-time activities until the results are out, too? My husband is supposed to return in a few days¡­"

    "That goes without saying."

    When the Queen asked him the question she suddenly thought of, Doctor Michelle immediately replied like that.

    On Modern Earth, sexual intercourse during pregnancy was not prohibited per se as long as you were mindful of contraception and position, but unfortunately, the medical science had not advanced that far in this world.

    So the prescription from Doctor Michelle was only natural.

    But it was a somewhat troubling matter for Aura.

    "Hmm, so my husband will have to endure it again for at least half a month, or possibly a year, even when he gets home."

    Aura knew from a matter of fact, not out of conceit, that Zenjirou only had eyes for her.

    The best way to console a grumpy Zenjirou for the concubine matter had been sleeping with him. And now he was returning while that option was no longer viable.

    "Sheesh, what am I going to do¡­"

    The Queen actually bothered her head about the supposedly happy news of a possible pregnancy.

 Chapter Volume 7 intermission 1

    Prologue: On the Way There

    Chapter 01: Arrival

    Chapter 02: The Marriage Ceremony

    Intermission I: The Queen in the Capital

    <b>Prologue: On the Way There</b>

    The "Meat Dragon" was a four-legged herbivore dragon that had been domesticated as a livestock on the South Continent for its meat. It breed often, grew up quickly and most of its body could be eaten, so these characteristics earned it the name "Meat Dragon" against its will.

    The majority of the meat that currentlynded on the dining tables of the South Continent came from domesticated "Meat Dragons", but needless to say, there were numerous wild "Meat Dragons" living in the wilderness as well.

    It was extremely easily to differentiate between a wild Meat Dragon and a domesticated Meat Dragon: The wild ones still had their two horns growing on their heads while the domesticated ones had them cut off.

    With their horns cut off, the Meat Dragons did not only lose their means for a physical attack, but also became less aggressive in their nature, which made it easier to rear them. Hence the horns of cultivated Meat Dragons were cut off after they reached a certain age. On the other hand, it meant that the wild Meat Dragons were surprisingly aggressive and dangerous.

    The furious onught from a wild Meat Dragon with its two horns could sometimes even catch a hunter or soldier off-guard.

    So a powerless viger would avoid any contact with wild Meat Dragons as much as possible.

    But it would bepletely different matter, when they banded together as an armed group. With a glint in their eyes, they would then kill the wild Meat Dragon.

    The Carpa Kingdom had a lot more preserved food than the North Continent for example, since it was the biggest producer of salt and spices, but it was not all that pleasant to keep living off just them for a long time.

    Forced to eat mainly jerked meat seasoned with salt and pepper along with dry tbread every day, the people started to see the initially dangerous wild Meat Dragons as nothing but a source for "juicy meat".

    And Zenjirou and his group on their way to the March of Guzzle were no exception.

    As a result, the wild Meat Dragon, who carelessly had revealed itself from the forest along the Salt Road, was hunted by the soldiers with bloodshot eyes.

    "GROWL!"

    "There it is!"

    "Don''t let it get away!"

    "It''sing your way, get ready!"

    Several soldiers were chasing after one Meat Dragon in the thick forest besides the Salt Road.

    An experienced hunter would immobilize it with a trap and finish it off with arrows from afar, but the ordinary soldiers took a more primitive approach: Cursorial Hunting.

    "Uwah!?"

    "It''s friggin'' huge!"

    "Don''t you dare to let it get away!"

    With their brandished spears, the soldiers chevied the Meat Dragon towards the road from all sides.

    A silver-haired girl and a blonde female soldier were awaiting it on the road.

    Princess Freya, the silver-haired girl, could neither conceal her tension, nor her excitement, as she held a long spear that was almost twice the height of herself with both hands.

    "Here ites, Mdy. Maybe I should take over after all?"

    Skathi, the blonde female soldier standing next to her, took one step forward as though protecting her master with the short spear and wooden shield in her hands, when she called out to her like that.

    But Princess Freya firmly shook her head in light of the consideration of her trusted retainer, so that her short silver hair fluttered about.

    "No, let me do this, Skathi. I will not get another chance to take down a dragon like this again."

    Even more than nervousness, her two eyes, fixated on the forest before her, revealed an eager glint of excitement while she said that.

    "Very well. From what I have heard, the Meat Dragon seems to behave like a boar. Please do not face it head-on, but rather attack it from the side with your spear."

    "Yes, I know."

    With the approval of her bodyguard, the princess from the Northern Continent showed a smile consisting of nervousness and tion alike, and red into the thick forest.

    "GROWL!"

    A few momentster, it appeared in the forest near the road.

    The wild Meat Dragon proudly bore the two horns on its head forward and jumped out onto the road while breaking through the thick branchwood with its massive body.

    "Watch out, Mdy!"

    "Y- Yes!"

    Princess Freya definitely was nervous, when she saw a wild dragon for the first time.

    Theparison to a boar had been suitable, seeing as it rushed at her in a straight line with its small round eyes bloodshot with agitation. Its appearance was quite redolent of the dinosaur called "triceratops" that had lived on Earth a long time ago. But unlike the triceratops, it had no horn on its nose.

    The biggest difference between a Meat Dragon and a boar was the size.

    Assuming the Meat Dragon in front of Princess Freya had the size of an average specimen of his race, it meant that the Meat Dragon was two or three times bigger than a boar.

    "GROOOWL!"

    When the Meat Dragon rushed straight at her with a battle cry, Princess Freya inadvertently raised the corners of her mouths into a crescent-shaped smile.

    At home, they only had her let hunt rabbits, foxes or a deer at best, but here, she was allowed to face a dragon, even if it was only a herbivore one.

    A shiver of excitement ran down her spine and she suppressed the urge tounch an attack herself. Instead she peered hard at the approaching huge dragon with the long spear in hand.

    "GROWL!"

    "Now!"

    She evaded the Meat Dragon by quickly stepping out of its path and then stabbed her long spear into the side of the dragon at full tilt.

    "Hah!"

    "GRRR!"

    Her all-out attack perfectly pierced the left shoulder of the dragon.

    But even though the attack from the light-weighted princess did harm the Meat Dragon, it did not finish it off.

    "Huh?"

    Moreover, she was suddenly in the path of its onught again, either because she had not stepped away far enough before or because she had pressed forward too far for her attack afterwards.

    The watching female soldier reacted to the predicament faster than the person in question herself.

    "Mdy! Down!"

    She was ordering her master like a pet dog, but given the circumstances, it could not be helped.

    "Yes!"

    Princess Freya obediently did like she was told and ducked down, practically throwing herself onto the ground.

    "Hah!"

    In the next moment, the leg of the female soldier swept over the ducked back of her master like a gust of wind.

    Skathi was pretty much a giant of a woman, but even then, her body mass was not even a quarter of the Meat Dragon. It definitely was impossible for her to stop the onught of the dragon head-on.

    But she could at least deflect it to the side for a bit by using a technique that applied all of her bodyweight to the impact of her leg.

    "GRR!"

    Skathi performed a perfect textbook example of a roundhouse kick, kicking the Meat Dragon right into its side.

    Just like she had nned, her attack deflected the onught of the Meat Dragon to the side and it staggered past the ducked princess.

    After thebined attack from Princess Freya''s spear and Skathi''s leg, the Meat Dragon tripped over its own legs and fell t onto the road. It seemed that it was not dead yet, seeing as it convulsed in pain on the ground with the white of its eyes showing, but it had obviously lost consciousness.

    "Well done, Mdy. Now, please finish it off before it wakes up again."

    The tall female warrior held out her hand to her prostrated master.

    "Thank you, Skathi. But now it counts as your kill and not mine, or am I wrong?"

    Princess Freya stood up with Skathi''s help, casually wiped the dirt off her cheeks with her sleeve and uttered displeased with puckered lips.

    It certainly looked like the kick from Skathi had been the decisive blow.

    Her grumbling was not met with a response from Skathi, but from a soldier of the Carpa Kingdom, who had chased the Meat Dragon here.

    "Not at all, Princess Freya. You inflicted a lethal wound on the Meat Dragon without doubt. It would have only been a matter of time until it died. Miss Victoria merely intervened to protect you."

    In view of that, Princess Freya squatted down near the Meat Dragon and examined the piercing wound she herself had inflicted on it.

    "¡­I see. That certainly seems to be the case."

    Looking at the copsed dragon confirmed that her spear had pierced into its flesh quite deeply. Apparently the soldier had not been ttering her, when he had said that her spear attack had inflicted a lethal wound.

    "Okay. Then¡­"

    Princess Freya honestly acknowledged their pleas and drew her favourite hatchet from its holster at her waist.

    "Where do I have to stab it to kill it? I have to admit that it is my first time going up against a dragon."

    "Right here in the back of the neck, Your Highness. Are you sure that you do not want to use a iron spear instead?"

    The soldier asked her worriedly. His concern was reasonable. It was by no means an easy task to finish off arge dragon with a strong vitality.

    But Princess Freya just smiled warmly.

    "I appreciate your concern, but I will be fine. This is my speciality."

    With these words, she confidently raised up her right hand holding her favourite hatchet in a fluent motion.

    As a matter of fact, Princess Freya was not lying. As a svenskar and a woman, she had a rather petite physique, so her overall fighting capacity was no better than an ordinary soldier, no matter how harsh she may train, but at least her skill with the hatchet was first-rate. Moreover, it absolutely suited her personality.

    Hence she had never failed to finish off her "prey" with it, whether it was a two-legged or four-legged animal. And her achievement was not tainted on the South Continent, either.

    "So, right here? Okay, here I go!"

    Princess Freya swiftly struck with her hatchet and severed the neck of the Meat Dragon with one strike just like the soldier had rmended.

    While Princess Freya worked up a sweat in the dragon hunt, Zenjirou patiently waited inside the carriage at the side of the road for its conclusion.

    The young girl was bravely participating in the hunt, whereas the grown-up man holed up inside the dragon carriage. This sounded rather pathetic by itself, but as a matter of fact, Zenjirou would be of no help and just a burden, even if he were to go out there, because he did not even know proper self-defence.

    He could only make himself useful by letting the princess protect him.

    Zenjirou wriggled about on his chair inside the wide carriage a bit ufortable, when he suddenly heard the cheers of the soldiers from outside before long.

    "Natalio?"

    "Yes, it seems the hunt has ended sessfully. It should be fine to head outside now. Will you go out, Master Zenjirou?"

    Zenjirou agreed with Natalio sitting across from him.

    "Indeed. You will take the lead, Natalio, Ines."

    "Yes, Sire."

    "Understood."

    Prompted like that, the knight and maid sitting across from him stood up together.

    The dragon carriage Zenjirou was currently boarding was a huge carriage drawn by eight dragons for royalty only.

    Its ceiling was so high that a grown-up man did not need to worry about bumping his head, when standing up.

    The whole carriage was actually so big that a person from Modern Earth would rather associate it with a passenger wagon of a train than a carriage.

    Just in case, Knight Natalio left the carriage first and checked, whether the situation was under control.

    "Everything is alright, Master Zenjirou."

    "Good."

    Hearing his words, Zenjirou also got off the carriage.

    "Phew, so bright."

    Stepping out of the carriage into the midday sun, he blinked a few times, because his eyes watered from the sudden change in light.

    While he squinted against the sun, the soldiers, who had guarded the carriage so far, gathered around him and formed a protective wall.

    As a formermoner, Zenjirou felt extremely ufortable to be nked by armed soldiers at all sides, but now that he was royalty, it was a given that he was apanied by so many guards, whenever he went outside.

    Knight Natalio was leading the guards. For now, he was the only knight that had sworn loyalty to Zenjirou himself.

    The guards, starting with Knight Natalio, stayed at his side by the same distance to him at all times, even without any directions.

    Whether he slowed down, because he looked around, stopped for a moment, because of a misstep, or quickened his pace, because he wanted to gloss over his misstep, the circle of soldiers around him never got into a state of disorder.

    Even if he were to suddenly start sprinting, it was unlikely he would be able to shake them off.

    So Zenjirou advanced on the "Salt Road", chaperoned by these diligent soldiers.

    "Feels like I hit upon a wide forest trail on my way to my mountain cabin."

    Walking on the road of soil overgrown with weeds, Zenjirou mumbled to himself. People of Modern Earth rarely got to see roads that were not asphalted.

    Zenjirou came from a country vige in the middle of nowhere, but even there, the main road had properly been asphalted. You would onlye across a holey path of soil as a cart track between fields or an abandoned mountain track.

    And because he was still not used to wearing the leather boots of this world, Zenjirou struggled along a bit clumsily, when the maid Ines suddenly passed by him.

    She outpaced him with a normal walking pace, so Zenjirou felt no need to reprimand her about it and just let it slide.

    Overtaking her master, the maid smoothly went over to Knight Natalio keeping watch in front of Zenjirou, and whispered a word or two into his ear.

    "!?"

    Knight Natalio gave a jerk to her words for a moment, but in the next moment, he pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back, quickly nocked it and send it towards the crown of a tree.

    "Hah!"

    The arrow was released with a small outcry from Knight Natalio and hit the "something" that was hiding high up in the treetop.

    "GYA!?"

    That "something" raised a shrill scream from high up and fell straight down to the side of the road.

    Zenjirou impulsively stopped in his track, when he heard that scream and its thud.

    Standing protective before Zenjirou, Knight Natalio still kept the dragon bow in his left hand ready and gave orders to the cautious soldiers near by.

    "It was a ''Thieving Dragon''. I think I finished it off, but you three, go take a look. Kill it if it is still alive. Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled!"

    "Yes, Sir!"

    With the instructions from Knight Natalio, three of the soldiers guarding Zenjirou rushed over to the side of the road.

    "Hmp!"

    "GII¡­"

    Apparently it was still alive as one of the soldiers impaled it with the short spear in his hands.

    "All clear. It''s dead now!"

    When the soldier waved his hand with these words, Knight Natalio acted as well.

    "Master Zenjirou, the danger has been averted. Please move on."

    "O- Okay."

    Overwhelmed by the all too fast development in front of his eyes, Zenjirou nodded absentmindedly and picked up the pace again.

    Before long, he arrived at the side of the road, where it had fallen down.

    "Well, this¡­ is not a pretty sight."

    Seeing the dead dragon, Zenjirou frowned unconsciously.

    "The ''Thieving Dragon'' is an outcast of the forest in more than one way after all."

    Knight Natalio consented to Zenjirou with a wry smile.

    In fact, it was quite the eerie sight.

    Almost half as big as a grown man, its whole body was covered by dark green scales, so it was a dragon aka. reptile, but its physique was closer to that of a monkey.

    Short legs and long arms coupled with a long and narrow tail. It had the typical build of an animal living on top of trees, but the face was that of a lizard.

    As it was already dead, its long forked tongue hung out limply from its pointed snout, which only added to its eeriness.

    "An outcast of the forest? So its appearance is not the only issue?"

    Knight Natalio nodded shortly to the question from Zenjirou.

    "Yes. As its name implies, it is a dragon that steals. It hides itself in the crown of the trees and attacks its prey from above, when it passes by. They are pretty daring in their efforts, so even pack animals like carnivore dragons fall an easy prey to them and get their eggs or nestlings stolen.

    Needless to say, we humans are no exception. Children or small women are targeted by the ''Thief Dragons'' first and if there is no such target, they go for the next best prey. In other words, they steal a ''part of their prey'' by tearing it off with their sharp fangs."

    In case of humans, a part would probably be an arm or the head.

    Zenjirou grimaced terrified in light of the exnation from Knight Natalio.

    "That¡­ sounds dreadful. I am d you killed it, Natalio."

    "It was not me, but Ines, who noticed the ''Thieving Dragon''. Please direct these words at her."

    Surprised by the knight''s words, Zenjirou shifted his gaze to the middle-age attendant, but came to a realisation at the same time.

    Earlier, Ines had suddenly passed him from behind to whisper something into the ear of Knight Natalio at the front. At that time, she must have told him about the Thieving Dragon.

    "I just happened to spot it. If anything, I say Sir Natalio deserves the praise for his swift and urate reaction."

    Ines shook her head with wry smile and praised the skills of Knight Natalio like that.

    "Yes, certainly."

    Looking up the tree, Zenjirou was convinced by her words.

    Even the smaller ones amongst the big trees standing on both sides of the road were at least bigger than an electricity pole, whereas the bigger ones were sometimes twice as big.

    Knight Natalio had sent an arrow up that high and had hit the vitals of the "Thieving Dragon" with his bow, so his masterful skills were beyond all question. Moreover, he had done so quite quickly without taking proper aim at the hidden "Thieving Dragon".

    Even if you took into consideration that he was using a superior dragon bow, it was still quite the feat.

    "It''s reassuring. Unfortunately I am no stronger than a woman or a child, so I will be counting on you well and truly."

    "Yes, Sire. Please rest assured. I will protect you, even if it costs my life."

    While talking with Knight Natalio like that, Zenjirou moved along the road and in time, Princess Freya and the others came into sight.

    Princess Freya noticed him first of all and waved with a bright smile.

    "Ahaha¡­"

    Zenjirou waved back, but his face was showing a dry smile.

    "Her Highness Freya seems to be quite the active person."

    Maid Ines interjected somewhat far-fetched, to which Zenjirou nodded assenting without breaking his dry smile.

    "Yeah, her vigour sure is to be envied."

    The hand the smiling princess waved with was firmly holding the blood-smeared hatchet.

    <b>Chapter 01: Arrival</b>

    Aside from some encounters with wild dragons, Zenjirou and his group arrived safely in the March of Guzzle without any further incidents.

    The capital of the March of Guzzle was a city fortified with high walls.

    Needless to say, it was nothing out of the ordinary. The South Continent was housing obviously hostile creatures in form of dragons, so every human settlement in the bordends was protected by walls to a greater or lesser extent.

    On top of that, the building of the feudal lord in the middle of the capital resembled a fortress, symbolizing the fortitude and straightforwardness of the Guzzle Family.

    In other words, it was a fortification within a fortification.

    That fortress was quiterge, giving the townspeople the opportunity to withdraw there in case of need, but it had practically no pompous beautification.

    Truth be told, it deserved the term "shabby", whenparing it to the Royal or Inner Pce, where Zenjirou usually spent his time, or even the Mansion in Valentia, where he had stayed for a month not long ago.

    But Zenjirou was d to be in a proper building again after he had spent thest few days in the bumpy carriage and foreign wilderness.

    Having reached his destination, he finally cast off his travelling attire and heaved a sigh of relief.

    "Hah, sweet freedom¡­"

    In the building allocated to him within the residence of the feudal lord, Zenjirou sloppily got rid of his shoes and socks, flopped himself onto the couch and rested his bare feet on the low table.

    He rarely ever disyed such an ill-mannered behaviour, not even in his Inner Pce, but right now, he was too tired to care. The ride in the carriage without proper suspension and the unfamiliar camping outside had exhausted his stamina and mind to the limit.

    "You have done well, Master Zenjirou. Would you like some water?"

    Waiting Maid Ines gave a warm smile and offered him a silver goblet with cold water.

    She and Zenjirou were currently the only ones in the room. In front of the acquainted maid of the Inner Pce, he could unwind.

    "Yeah, thanks, Ines. But I''ve to say, you sure are tough. You should actually be even more tired than me, since you took care of me the whole time."

    Saying this, Zenjirou looked up to the waiting maid standing next to the couch.

    Just like he had mentioned, the dignified appearance of Ines showed not the slightest hint of exhaustion.

    The middle-aged maid showed a faint smile in reaction to the appreciation of her master.

    "Well, I am used to it. I have been serving Her Majesty Aura on the battlefield during the previous war as well."

    "Oh, wow. Not bad."

    Zenjirou was honestly surprised at the confession from Ines. He was certainly surprised, but at the same time, he made sense of it. Ines surely had been sent with him this andst time, because she had that kind of backbone.

    The attendance in the wilderness would be difficult for a normal waiting maid that had never left the Royal or Inner Pce before.

    Ines took the empty goblet out of Zenjirou''s hand and said.

    "It seems that you will be staying in this building. I am sure there will be all kind of inconveniences, but please bear with it."

    "Yeah, I know. It''s no problem. I expected this from the beginning."

    Still slumping down in the couch sloppily, Zenjirou answered Ines like that.

    The oldest daughter of the Guzzle Family, Lucinda, was going to marry General Puyol. Zenjirou hade all the way to the March of Guzzle to attend their marriage ceremony.

    It goes without saying that General Puyol was the guest of honour this time around. Hence the main building of the residence of the feudal lord was used by General Puyol and his rtives as well as the Guzzle Family itself.

    So it was inevitable that Zenjirou was ced in the adjacent building, even as royalty. He usually did not need all that much personal space, so the annex building was not bothering him at all.

    He had been a bit perplexed, when he found out that the building had no own bath, but they were going to prepare a bathtub for him every day, so he could put up with it. Of course he would refuse to live his life in a house without a bath, but it was no reason to be willful, when he was just staying in it for the period of his visit.

    "Fuh¡­"

    For a while, he justzed around on the couch, when Ines suddenly called out to him.

    "Master Zenjirou. I am sorry to interrupt your rest, but I think it is about time the Guzzle Family will send a messenger to wee you.

    Pleasepose your clothing a bit. Even casual wear will be alright."

    "Oh, already thatte? Got it."

    With these words, Zenjirou reached out for some socks and indoor shoes.

    The only maid he had brought along from the Inner Pce on this asion was Ines. After all, the marriage between the eldest daughter of a feudal lord and a brass hat of the military was a big event, so an unbelievable number of nobles was rushing for the March of Guzzle.

    The capital of the March of Guzzle was built to withstand long-time sieges, so it was big enough to amodate that unbelievable amount of nobles, but it did not change the fact that the guests were putting arge strain on the capacity of their sleeping quarters as well as food provisions.

    Because of that, the number of servants they brought along was supposed to be kept to a bare minimum.

    Zenjirou fixed his attire and sat down on the couch again, mannerly this time. Before long, the door was knocked.

    Three women entered the room. Two of them were obviously past their youth, but the third one was a girl so small that she still looked like a child.

    Although they might as well be mother and daughter in age, it was obvious at a nce that the little girl was the important figure of them. For one thing she was standing in the middle, for another thing she alone was wearing different clothes.

    The two middle-aged women wore something in, almost like an uniform, whereas the girl was wearing a dress of clearly superior cloth, even if its design was simple.

    She was not a mere messenger, but obviously the daughter of a noble.

    (Is she the child of a branch family?)

    While this thought crossed Zenjirou''s mind, the girl opened her mouth with an expression stiff from nervousness.

    "It- It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Zenjirou. My name is Nilda, the second daughter of the Guzzle Family.

    My father has asked me to take care of you during your stay here. Please just say the word, if you need anything."

    She must have practiced it beforehand. Despite her nervousness, the little girl, Nilda smoothly delivered her speech without stuttering and then lowered her head politely so that her short ponytail swung around.

    "Okay. Then I shall take you up on your offer. By the way, could it be that you are the little sister of Lady Lucinda and Sir Xavier, seeing as you said that you are the second daughter?"

    Zenjirou was puzzled by her introduction at heart, but kept hisposure on the outside for now as he asked this.

    Unaware of these inner thoughts of the Prince Consort, the little girl widened her alreadyrge ck eyes even further

    "Yes, quite so! Although our mothers are different, Lucinda is my older sister and Xavier is my older brother!"

    and replied like that in an energetic voice. Judging by her expression seized with pride and joy, she seemed to harbour an honest affection for Lucinda and Xavier.

    It was not umon that siblings of different mothers were harbouringplicated feelings towards each other in High Society, but that did not seem to be the case for the Guzzle Family.

    "Sir Xavier looked after me in Valentia. If the chance arises, I would like to speak to him again."

    "Thank you for your kind words. I will ry it to my brother."

    Nilda smiled even happier as a result of his words.

    "Then I already have the first request. Can you arrange a bath for me? I worked up a sweat on the way here and would like to wash it off before dinner."

    "Yes, of course. I shall arrange for it immediately."

    When Zenjirou requested that, the petite girl straightened herself and bowed with a jerk. Then she left the room together with the two middle-aged servants.

    "¡­Ines."

    Zenjirou remained silent for a while after Nilda and the other two were gone, then called out the name of the waiting maid standing next to him with a stern expression.

    "Yes, what is the matter, Master Zenjirou?"

    "Her Majesty Aura has briefed me about the important people of the Guzzle Family prior to this. However, a Nilda Guzzle was not amongst them.

    Can I assume that Her Majesty purposefully did not tell me about her?"

    He was alone with Ines now, but he still kept the attitude and tone of Royalty, so she must have discerned the importance of his question from that.

    The faithful maid kept her stern expression, when she immediately shook her head to the question of her master.

    "No. I dare to say that is not the case. Her Majesty Aura has no reason to keep her existence from you, even if she is the daughter of a mistress."

    Zenjirou rxed his shoulders a bit relieved, when Ines answered him t out.

    Aura was his beloved wife, but before that, she was also the Queen of a country, so he did understand that she obviously kept some things from him or schemed some ploys unknown to him, but at the same time, it was obviously not a pleasant feeling to have your wife do that to you.

    Hence he immediately felt better, when that possibility was ruled out.

    "Then she did not cause this misinformation on purpose. The easiest exnation would be that it ''slipped her mind to tell me''¡­"

    "Her Majesty is only human, too, after all, so that possibility is not unthinkable, but I would say we can rule it out for now, because Secretary Fabio is with her."

    "Then the only other exnation is that Her Majesty did not know about her, either¡­ Is that even possible? That Her Majesty does not know about a child from an influential feudal lord?"

    Zenjirou cocked his head doubtful, whereupon Ines responded with a businesslike tone.

    "It is rtively well-known, when an illegitimate child does not get acknowledged. But it also not unheard of that a feudal lord tried to conceal his child from Royalty in the past, either.

    But in neither of these cases, they would have made Lady Nilda appear before you like this.

    So it would mean that she is abiding by some kind of conspiracy, but for that, Lady Nilda showed no guilt in her eyes and behaved straightforward, even if a bit nervous. And above all, the Guzzle Family is not known for acting underhanded like this, so I believe that possibility is extremely unlikely as well."

    "In the end, this got us nowhere."

    "So it would seem."

    The situation was obviously strange, but the other party was not behaving conspicuous, so their intentions were not perceptible.

    "¡­.."

    Slumping deep into the couch, Zenjirou pondered for a while with his hand against his chin, but in the end, there was only one conclusion he could arrive at.

    "I will inform Her Majesty Aura and await her instructions. Until then, we will not stir up this matter any further."

    "Very well. I will prepare everything at once."

    Like always, Zenjirou was going to rely on Aura''s judgment. Ines just lowered her head respectfully.

    * * *

    Evening of the same day.

    After washing off the sweat from the travel in the bathtub, Zenjirou had taken a short nap to relieve his fatigue. Now waiting maid Ines woke him up and informed him about the dinner ns.

    "Ehm, in other words, today''s dinner will be an ''open-air banquet hosted by Princess Freya'' in the garden of this building?"

    "Yes. Or more precisely, Princess Freya does want to hold it like that and is awaiting your approval for it.

    We still have a lot of the smoked meat of the ''Meat Dragon'' from the other day left over, so she suggested we share it with everyone. Well, if you are against it, the whole meat will just be gifted to the Guzzle Family."

    "Oh, that meat."

    A few days ago, Princess Freya had killed a wild Meat Dragon along the Salt Road and Zenjirou still had not forgotten about it.

    Most of the killed dragon had been consumed for dinner on that very day, but they had smoked the leftovers and put them into the supply cart.

    Apparently Princess Freya wanted to host a great banquet with that smoked meat now.

    "I do not really mind giving my permission for it, but what are the respective consequences for allowing or refusing it?"

    The middle-aged maid smoothly answered the question from her master without pause.

    "Well, considering that the banquet shall be held in the garden, you would have to invite Lady Nilda, because she is responsible for this building, as well as some other nobles, too.

    And when Princess Freya is the host of such an event with your permission, it will only reinforce their impression that she will be your concubine.

    On the other hand, if you were to refuse it, it will give the opposite impression. Namely that you have reservations towards Princess Freya."

    "I see¡­"

    Zenjirou could not help but grimace in reaction to the detailed exnation from the waiting maid.

    In short, he would practically be announcing to the guests that he himself was weing Princess Freya as his concubine, if he were to ept her request.

    He would literally do away with himself with that decision, seeing as he actually did not want to take a concubine.

    Then he should just refuse her request. But unfortunately, it was not that simple. Refusing her in turn would be like officially announcing that he did not ept Princess Freya.

    Queen Aura herself had officially recognized her concubine matter insofar as allowing her to attend this marriage ceremony as a partner for Zenjirou.

    If Zenjirou were to reject Princess Freya in the open now, it would give other people the misunderstanding that the Queen and her Prince Consort had a conflict of opinions.

    "Fine. Tell her she has my permission."

    In the end, Zenjirou could only do this, even if he knew that he was putting his own head in the noose.

    His own self-interest against the reputation of the Queen. It goes without saying which he ought to prioritize.

    His waiting maid lowered her head briefly in light of her master''s response.

    "Understood, Master Zenjirou. I will convey it to her."

    "Good."

    With this short reply, Zenjirou stood up from the couch and started to change his clothes.

    By now, he had gotten less reluctant to let the maids see him in pyjamas or underwear, so he tantly took off his blue-striped pyjama and let Ines help him put on the traditional clothes of the Carpa Kingdom.

    These clothes were the same as the third official attire he often wore in the Royal Pce, but with less decoration and easier to move in. Zenjirou had gotten used to the traditional clothestely, so he had faith in himself to put them on by himself, but ording to the waiting maids of the Inner Pce, it would turn into a "scandal", if he were to appear in public after putting them on without their help.

    While changing his clothes, he made some small-talk with Ines.

    "Are you getting along well with Princess Freya, Master Zenjirou?"

    "Hmm. I''m sure we''ve grown pretty close on the way here. After all, we spent several days together in the same carriage. And I don''t really dislike her personality, anyway."

    He was being honest, when he said that.

    Her behaviour and choice of words was certainly sophisticated, but Princess Freya did not really beat around the bush like nobility usually did, liked to move around and disyed a variety of expression, so Zenjirou was by no means put off by her.

    "Then there should be no problem to ept her as a concubine, right?"

    But he firmly shook his head in reaction to the question from Ines.

    "These are two different things altogether. The problem is not my feelings towards her, but my fear of disrupting our domestic peace by taking a second wife."

    It would work out, if they were "a happily married couple + a woman on friendly terms with both of them", but Zenjirou could not envision a bright future, when "two women loved the same man", no matter how well these two women might actually get along.

    He did acknowledged the difference in their culture and moral values in the head, but his heart had a hard time catching up to it.

    "It''s reallyfortable in the Inner Pce with Aura, Zenkichi and me right now.

    I know Princess Freya is a good girl, but to be honest, I''m scared to add her to our harmonic family."

    Ines narrowed her eyes to slits, like being blinded, when Zenjirou gave her his honest opinion.

    "You sure love Her Majesty Aura and Prince Carlo-Zen from the bottom of your heart."

    "Ah, well, yeah. Oh, speaking of Zenkichi, you always call him Carlo-Zen."

    Embarrassed by the straightpliment, Zenjirou stammered a bit and quickly changed the topic.

    Carlos Zenkichi. In short, Carlo-Zen. In fact, Zenjirou was the only one calling him Zenkichi and about everyone else called him Carlos. Ines was actually one of the very few that referred to him as Carlo-Zen.

    Zenjirou had brought up the matter without any ulterior motive. He just had wanted to change the topic, but it was somewhat meaningful for Ines.

    "You are right. The title of ''Princess Carlos'' always reminds me of Histe Majesty Carlos II. after all."

    With a distant look in her eyes, Ines uttered mncholic.

    "His Majesty Carlos II.? You mean Aura''s predecessor? Now that you mention it, they do have the same name. Ah, but shouldn''t it be ''His Majesty Carlos'' instead of ''Prince Carlos'' for him?"

    Recalling the knowledge he learned from Lady Octavia, Zenjirou asked this, whereupon Ines shook her head a bit, the distant look still in her eyes.

    "Yes, you are right. But His Majesty had only assumed the throne for less than a year. I was always calling him ''Prince Carlos'', back then when I served him."

    "Say what!? You have served thete king?"

    He widened his eyes in surprise, but it was actually only normal that she did.

    Ines was ten years older than Aura, so it was not all that surprising that she had served a different master before Aura.

    "Yes. That is why I cannot help but recall His Late Majesty, when I hear the title ''Prince Carlos'', so I would rather use the address of ''Prince Carlo-Zen''. If you have a problem with it, I can correct myself, though?"

    She asked him that, but Zenjirou shook his head with a smile.

    "No, keep it up. I was just curious about it."

    No matter what she called him, it was beyond all question that Ines treated his son with respect and affection, so there was no need to stick at such trifles.

    She must have noticed the faith he put in her.

    "Thank you very much, Master Zenjirou. Okay, we are done now."

    After helping him dress up, Ines showed a warm smile and lowered her head a bit.

    * * *

    For High Society, it was nothing special to host a banquet in the garden, so the yard of the annex building in the residence of the Guzzle Family had all the necessary equipment as well.

    Well, it was just a well for washing the ingredients, a counter for preparing the food and a stone hearth for cooking, but it was enough to do some simple cooking like a barbeque without problems.

    The roasting meat and vegetables gave off an aromatic smell while the fire illuminated the smiling face of Princess Freya, which Zenjirou was observing from a bit apart.

    "Okay, it looks done. I will slice it up, so please give me a moment."

    Princess Freya truly seemed to enjoy herself in the role of the head chef. With a smile on her face the whole time, she moved around busily while her short silver hair was dyed red by the fire.

    She was supposed to be true-blood royalty, but her bright smile as she sliced the meat was genuine without doubt.

    (Maybe she likes cooking?)

    Arge silhouette approached Zenjirou while he harboured that thought.

    "Your Majesty Zenjirou, if you would like, please take this."

    He was offered a silver te with a meat and vegetable skewer by a woman so tall he had too look up to her. It was Victoria Kronkvist alias Skathi.

    "Oh, Miss Victoria. Thanks."

    Zenjirou took the skewer from the te the trusted retainer of Princess Freya held out to him and thanked her while holding up the skewer.

    "No, I should be thanking you, Your Majesty.

    Thank you very much for allowing the Mdy to host this banquet tonight.

    I am expressing the greatest gratitude in ce of my master."

    The female warrior solemnly lowered her head with these words, whereas Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled with the skewer still in hand.

    By allowing her to host this banquet, Zenjirou had taken another step forward to epting Princess Freya as his concubine, but he got the feeling that Skathi was not thanking him for that reason.

    "¡­I am not familiar with the culture of the North Continent, but does an open-air banquet happen to have some kind of special meaning to it there?"

    Zenjirou wondered, if he had been deceived, so he automatically asked this with a somewhat stiff voice, but the tall woman shook her head unintimidated.

    "No, Your Majesty. You have nothing to fear from it.

    But it is indeed somewhat special. You see, the Mdy has always dreamed of hosting an official banquet with the prey she had finished off herself.

    In our country, only ''warriors'' are giving that privilege."

    He more or less discerned what Skathi was getting at. After taking a bite from the skewer and chewing it thoroughly, he opened his mouth.

    "¡­That means Princess Freya is not a warrior? Our soldiers were praising her spearmanship, when she finished off the Meat Dragon, though."

    In the Carpa Kingdom, women could never be warriors, but it should be different for their mothend, the Upps Kingdom. After all Skathi, the woman in front of him, had proimed to be a "warrior" herself.

    She must have realized why Zenjirou asked that.

    Skathi shook her head with a small smile.

    "Mdy certainly does have the minimum fitness to fight. But a woman cannot be a ''warrior'' with that.

    For a woman to be a warrior, she needs to be at least as strong as a ''Hundra'', which is three ranks above her current level."

    Even in the Upps Kingdom, the men generally took up the arms. So when a woman was only as strong as an average man, she was obliged to fulfil her role as a woman instead.

    Their reasoning was that any other man could take her ce, but only a woman could give birth, so she ought to fulfil that duty.

    But precious few women were born with a talent for martial arts so great that it would be "a waste to force them into the role of a woman".

    Only women, who outperformed an average man by far, were allowed to be "warriors", because their martial art skills were more profitable to the country or tribe than motherhood.

    The female warriors of the Upps Kingdom literally had to be mannish women and more mannish than your average guy, at that.

    "I see¡­"

    Zenjirou was convinced by that exnation.

    It was not hard to imagine how much Princess Freya yearned for the title for a "warrior", seeing as she was not content with getting stereotyped.

    So it was most understandable that she could not rein in her excitement for putting on a banquet with the prey she had finished herself, a privilege that was usually only given to warriors.

    Zenjirou sat down on a trimmed tree stump and looked around.

    The banquet resembled the outdoor camping event from his middle school days, but most of the participants here were the soldiers that had guarded him up till now.

    Because this event was held in appreciation for the hard work of the soldiers, only a handful of nobility from rear vassals of the Guzzle Family had been invited in addition to Nilda Guzzle, the nominal caretaker of this annex building.

    Everyone was busy preparing for theing marriage ceremony, so it would nothing but trouble, if Royalty were to throw a big party here.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou did not have to deal with troublesome conversations. Something he was very d about.

    "I cordially thank you for inviting me today, Master Zenjirou."

    While he was making himselffortable on the stump, a little girl approached him: Nilda Guzzle.

    With herrge ck eyes beaming out on him, Nilda took hold of her skirt and did a curtsy.

    "Well, it is not my party, but Princess Freya''s, though. The dishes from a Meat Dragon she killed herself, too. I hope it suits your taste."

    "Yes, she was kind enough to share some with me earlier. It is really delicious."

    Themon tinge of ttery was absent in her bright smile, when she answered like that.

    The skewer of smoked meat seasoned with spices and salt was actually a rather in dish, but she was eating it with relish.

    "Princess Freya sure is courageous for finishing off a wild Meat Dragon with a spear. I have seen a wild dragon once, when I was still living in the vige, but I cannot even imagine going up against one. My legs would give in just from standing in front of it."

    Nilda shivered with fright, whereupon Zenjirou smiled vaguely.

    "You lived in a vige?"

    "Yes. I was born and raised there by my mother. My father Marquis Guzzle found me, when I was nine, and acknowledged me as someone from the Guzzle Family."

    "I see¡­"

    In other words, the feudal lord hadid hands on a female subject, making an illegitimate child without intending to.

    That sounded like a difficult upbringing, if it was really true, but with that said, her expression was not tainted with sadness in the least.

    (Maybe she was born with a carefree nature? Or did she have really kind people around her in both households?)

    Completely unaware of his thoughts, Nilda kept on talking with an amiable bright smile.

    "So I do have taken care of domestic Meat Dragons or Hulking Dragons before, but docile dragons are still plenty scary.

    To think that she stood up against a wild dragon. I really respect that."

    Her big eyes gleamed with respect, just like she had said.

    At some point, the girl had all forgotten about her nervousness and reservation, talking to him most affable. Zenjirou gave her a wry smile and carefully picked his words to caution her.

    "Yes, Princess Freya certainly is formidable. But you know, Nilda, it would be better, if you refrained from speaking so openly, even if it is meant as praise.

    A lot of people in High Society tend to be offended by it and sometimes it can even cause a dispute."

    "Yes, Master Zenjirou. I will take it to heart from now on. Thank you very much for your advisement."

    Nilda looked bashfully at the ground as a result of his warning, exactly the kind of frankness Zenjirou literally had cautioned her about a moment ago.

    (At the very least, there''s no doubt that she isn''t a natural-born noble.)

    He came to that conclusion, when he looked at her ever-changing expressions.

    On a closer look, Nilda appeared a bit awkward in her behaviour and choice of words.

    That was surely the result of "deliberately putting her mind on" acting like nobility, just like Zenjirou did it.

    (It does worry me. She''s a bit too unmindful and friendly. I mean, she IS nobility after all.)

    At the beginning, Nilda had been nervous and reserved, but she had opened up at the open-air banquet in no time, just like a little puppy to its owner.

    (If that''s all part of their scheme, I tip my hat to the Guzzle Family, but Ines said they aren''t really like that.)

    The reason Zenjirou was thinking about the Guzzle Family along these lines was because the girl named Nilda quickly made a favourable impression on him.

    The girl did not harbour fear or wariness towards Royalty or Nobility, even though she had been adopted into a noble family at a young age. It suggested the assumption that the Guzzle Family had not treated her badly.

    Zenjirou was actually quite fond of people with such rich expressions. Props to them, if that was what they were after.

    "Master Zenjirou, is the Royal Capital really that big? I have heard that the Royal Pce is supposed to be quite a sight to be see, but I cannot quite envision it. Would you be so kind to tell me about it?"

    "Well, I rarely ever leave the Royal or Inner Pce, so my opinion is pretty biased, but I believe it is quite beautiful.

    The buildings are uniformly built with white stones and look sturdy, but also stylish. The gardens are affectionally maintained as well, growing beautiful flowers and trees, and the fountains or ponds have water as clear as crystal. A few ponds even have fishes in them to look at.

    Its surface sparkles goldfish yellow, because of the golden fishes and clear water. Definitely well worth seeing."

    "Oh, wow. Fantastic! I would like to go there and see it!"

    The Royal and Inner Pce were practically "his home" now, so he was happy, but also a bit bashful to see the outright admiration in her eyes.

    "You have never gone to the Capital before? The Guzzle Family does have a residence there, no?"

    "My family seems to have always attached more importance to its own territory, so only a bare minimum of personnel stays in the Capital. And I am still a minor, so I seldom if ever leave this ce.

    Ah, but I am pretty sure that I will be brought to the Capital once I turn fifteen!"

    "I see. Unfortunately, I cannot show you around town in my position, but what I can do is show you around the pce, when youe by."

    It was extremely rare that Zenjirou made such a promise of his own ord. He seemed to have let his guard down a bit around the open-hearted Nilda.

    "Yes, I am looking forward to it."

    Nilda answered him with a bright smile.

    As the host, Princess Freya had been busy sharing the food with everyone, but she more or less finished exchanging pleasantries and had some time for herself now.

    "You did well, Princess Freya. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."

    Zenjirou stood up and greeted Princess Freya, who approached him with a satisfied smile.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty Zenjirou. May I sit down next to you?"

    The silver-haired princess took a silver goblet with fruit wine from the tray waiting maid Ines offered her, had a taste of it and asked him that with a dazzling smile.

    Zenjirou could not help but show his bewilderment.

    He was currently sitting on nothing extravagant like a bench, but a mere "stump of a tree". Needless to say, her question was not referring to another seat next to him, but whether she was allowed to sit down on the same stump.

    It was quite the bold proposal, but it would not make a good impression, if he were to refuse her.

    With a smile, Zenjirou took off the vest he had been wearing and covered the stump with it.

    "Yes, of course, Princess Freya. Please have a seat."

    "Thank you very much, Your Majesty."

    Although the stump was rtively big, with two people on it, they were sitting close enough to feel each other''s body warmth.

    The hem of her dress was even touching his foot. Zenjirou might as well put his arm around her waist to make this proximity morefortable.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­.."

    A man and a woman were sitting together on a single stump of a tree in a garden at night.

    The me of the fire bathed the silver hair and pale-white skin of Princess Freya in a reddish light.

    Zenjirou was entranced by her without meaning to. The silver-haired princess cocked her head a bit as she smiled at him.

    "Allow me to express my gratitude once more, Your Majesty. A dream of mine hase true thanks to you."

    Her illuminated smile was not the kind of superficial smile nobility always used, but one that revealed her honest feelings.

    "I am d to be of help. The customs of your homnd do not apply here on the South Continent, so I believe you may act as you see fit."

    "So Skathi told you. It is a bit embarrassing to have your childhood dream exposed. But I was really happy.

    Hunting a dragon with my own hands and hosting a feast for the soldiers somehow makes me feel like an hero of old."

    On the South Continent, dragons were nothing but livestock, but on the North Continent, they were the stuff of legends. Creatures you only found, when you ventured deep into the uninhabited mountains.

    It definitely was somewhat heroic to y one of these with your own hands and prepare a feast with it.

    Zenjirou neither had the guts, nor the skills to do something like that, so he did not even think about trying it, but he did understand her admiration for that kind of thing.

    "I admire your courage and zest for action. That strong heart of yours surely has enabled you to make the long voyage between our countries."

    "Fufu. ording to my brother back home, I am merely reckless and restless. I was just trying my best in my own way, though.

    I practiced the bow as well as the spear and learned how to camp outside. For sea travel, I even memorized the sailor''s knot and the handling of a cordeddder. On top of that, I learned the necessary magic for long-distance sea-travels such as ''Water Maniption'' and ''Drinking Water Treatment''.

    None of these skills will help me get married in the future. On the contrary, they will be a burden."

    "But you are now here, precisely because of these efforts. In my opinion, every knowledge and skill you gain will be an asset for life."

    Zenjirou did utter these words as a praise, but at the same time, they came from the heart.

    The Carpa Kingdom was even more set on enforcing the gender roles than the Upps Kingdom, the home country of Princess Freya, but Zenjirou was married to Queen Aura, an exception to the exception, so he barely had adopted themon sense of this country.

    ording to his moral values, learning seafaring or even a little bit of martial arts was a legit virtue.

    To begin with, he would have never fallen for Aura, if he had deemed martial arts or vigour unnecessary for a woman.

    Princess Freya must have noticed that his words were more than just simple fair-seeming.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty. Shameful as it may be, I do like running around in the wildness with my spear or crossing the vast ocean in a boat.

    I am well aware that I am going against allmon sense, so I do not me anyone for frowning upon my behaviour or reprimanding me for it.

    But nothing could make me happier, when someone actually epts what I like to do with a passion."

    "Haha, it makes me feel embarrassed, when you are this happy about it. But I did mean what I said earlier."

    The man from a different world and the girl from the North Continent had all forgotten about the fact that they were sitting so close to each other that their feet were touching, and were happily engulfed in their chit-chat.

    * * *

    It was obvious that the open-air banquet wasing to an end. The meat and vegetables were all eaten up, the empty barrels of alcohol were multiplying and the fire was starting to burn out. Anyone could tell that the party was nearing its end.

    The earlier loudughter and tone-deaf songs died down and only some hushed conversations remained. At this point in time,

    DONG, DONG.

    The sound of arge bell suddenly resonated through the dark night.

    "Ines?"

    Zenjirou immediately stood up from the stump and consulted the waiting maid standing at attention behind him, but Ines shook her head with aposed look.

    "It seems to being from the main building, but I do not know why. However, I believe it is not an emergency, seeing as Lady Nilda is not reacting to it."

    His gaze automatically shifted to Nilda and she certainly did not seem surprised by it, nor did look the least bit worried or frightened.

    When Nilda noticed his gaze, she stood up with a jerk and came trotting over to him.

    "My apologies, Master Zenjirou. I did forget to inform you about this. The bell just know only signalizes that a guest has arrived at the main gate.

    You there, please go over to the main building for more information."

    "Yes, understood."

    Upon her order, one of the soldiers on watch went off.

    "A guest thiste at night?"

    Zenjirou could not help but cock his head puzzled.

    Right now, nobility from all across the country wereing together in the March of Guzzle for the marriage ceremony, so a guest itself was nothing out of the ordinary. But it was strange that one would arrive at such an hour. It goes without saying that travelling at night was quite dangerous in various ways.

    They were not pressed for time, since the marriage ceremony was not going to be held tomorrow or anything, so they would normally not push their luck and rather spent one more night in a suitable ce, arriving here first thing in the morning instead.

    While Zenjirou was mulling over this, the soldier came back from the main building.

    Even amidst this darkness, you could tell from afar that the soldier was rushing over as fast as he could. He then reported with a loud voice.

    "Reporting in! Just now, the delegation from the ''Navarre Kingdom'' has arrived!"

    "The Navarre Kingdom?"

    As the name sounded familiar to him, Zenjirou recalled the necessary information in his head.

    The Navarre Kingdom was a middle power situated in the middle west of the South Continent. It bordered on the Carpa Kingdom with a steep mountain range in-between them as a buffer. And that very border area happened to be the March of Guzzle.

    In other words, they were practically neighbours, if not for that mountain.

    It seemed somewhat odd that a neighbouring country would send a delegation to the marriage ceremony of local nobility, but it was not really unusual for a feudal state.

    The feudal lords in the bordends were given a certain level of freedom in regards to independent contact with bordering countries.

    As soon as he remembered that, Zenjirou could get his head around their arrival.

    "Oh, I see. If they areing from the Navarre Kingdom, it makes sense that they travelled through the night to arrive by today."

    The mountain range between the March of Guzzle and the Navarre Kingdom was quite dangerous in terms of terrain and dragons living there.

    It certainly was true that the risk of travelling at night was lower than staying an additional night in such a dangerous ce.

    Because he remembered these circumstances, Zenjirou epted the situation and the soldier, still out of breath, continued his report.

    "Moreover, the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom is headed by General Mart¨ªn Nadal!"

    The reaction to that name was dramatic.

    Before, the garden had be so silent you could have heard a water drop hit the ground, but in the next moment, amazed outcries echoed through the night.

    "Th- That General Mart¨ªn!?"

    "No way! Who''s protecting their country then!?"

    "It shows how serious they take the liaison between the Guzzle Family and General Puyol."

    Be it the soldiers Zenjirou had brought along from the Royal Capital, the soldiers from the March of Guzzle or even the rear vassals of the Guzzle Family, no one could keep their surprise and excitement in check, saying whatever they wanted.

    The only exceptions were Princess Freya and Skathi, since they had never heard of the name of General Mart¨ªn and just cocked their heads puzzled, and waiting maid Ines, who never broke her calm mask.

    Looking around, Zenjirou relied on Ines for information.

    "Ines, who is General Mart¨ªn?"

    "Yes. Mart¨ªn Nadal is the most prominent general in the Navarre Kingdom.

    He emerged from the previous war as the hero with a lot of achievements and it is said that most of the credit for surviving the war belongs to him, considering the Navarre Kingdom is by no means a major power."

    She must have expected his question. The middle-aged waiting maid calmly answered him in a business-like tone.

    Zenjirou widened his eyes surprised, when the evaluation turned out even better than he had expected.

    "In short, he has the same standing as General Puyol in our country?"

    His question was met with immediate approval from the middle-aged maid.

    "Indeed. General Mart¨ªn is on par with General Puyol."

    "Hm?"

    Something about her phrasing bothered Zenjirou. She had not used the phrasing "is said to be on par", nor the phrasing "is considered to be on par".

    He was bewildered that she had called him his literal equal with all certainty. Ines amplified her exnation as though clearing up his confusion.

    "More precisely, he is the very person that inflicted the wounds that General Puyol has on his cheek and forehead."

    "¡­I see."

    The guest had an unbelievably meaningful connection to the groom, so Zenjirou bid adieu to his wishful thinking that this marriage ceremony would end without trouble.

    <b>Chapter 02: The Marriage Ceremony</b>

    General Mart¨ªn Nadal was a man in the prime of his life, a little bit over forty.

    Also known as the Guardian Deity of the Navarre Kingdom, this man looked exactly like what you would expect from his title.

    One-hundred and ny centimetre tall and over hundred kilogram heavy.

    He was one head shorter than the almost two metre tall General Puyol, but surpassed him in body width. Needless to say, that did not mean that he was fat.

    His body was a stronghold of trained muscles to the point that it did not show his age of over forty years at all.

    Despite his massive boar-like build, he moved around smoothly like a feline predator.

    General Mart¨ªn was sitting on a chair in one room of the building the Guzzle Family had allocated to him, and cracked a wry smile.

    "Oh man, have got to give the Carpa Kingdom credit. Or should I say, the Guzzle Family, in this case? Either way, they are not to be underestimated."

    When the hero of their country uttered this almost fearfully, the young knight standing at attention behind him gave a nervous response.

    "Could you exin what you mean by that, General Mart¨ªn? The Carpa Kingdom always had more fighting power than our country."

    "Hm, you don''t understand? Look at this chair and desk. The chair doesn''t even bulge under my weight and is quitefortable. The desk has the right height, too.

    And they immediately brought me to this room, when I arrived, without having to wait."

    Being told that much, the young knight came to understand what the general was implying as well.

    "¡­In other words, word got out somewhere that you will be attending this marriage ceremony as our representative?"

    The general was one-hundred and ny centimetre tall and weighted over a hundred kilogram, so a normal chair and desk would obviously not meet his needs. The chair would squeak rmingly, if he sat down rashly, or it could turn into a catastrophe, when he sat down in a chair with armrests, because his firm bottom did not fit in.

    But nothing of the sort happened with the chair he currently sat in. It was a simple wooden chair without decorations, but easily supported the hundred kilogram of the general and was a perfect fit for him in terms of height and width.

    "Well, I''m not sure about an information leak. I think they just anticipated it. After all, my connection to General Puyol is rather well-known."

    Saying this, General Mart¨ªn unconsciously put his right hand on his breastbone and scratched his old wound over the clothes.

    General Puyol had given him that wound in the previous war.

    Not really the type to dwell on things, General Mart¨ªn still could not help but pay attention to General Puyol, though.

    "Did he arrange this? Maybe not. This is thend of his bride. Not even General Puyol has that much to say here, yet.

    The only other logical exnation is that the Guzzle Family arranged it. But I can''t see the Marquis being so considerate. Does he have a smart adviser¡­?"

    The giant general lost himself deeply in thought, but was brought back to reality by the gaze of the young knight in the corner of the eye.

    "Hmm, what''s up?"

    The young knight had been staring at one corner of the table for a while now.

    His gaze went to a small rectangle box. It contained cinnamon sugar hardened in stick form.

    It was an unnecessary provision for General Mart¨ªn, since he hated sweets, but the young knight had a weak spot for it despite his virile appearance, so he could not ignore it.

    "Ah, no, it is nothing."

    The young knight deliberately averted his gaze from it with a cough, whereupon General Mart¨ªn smiled wryly.

    "You sure love sweets."

    "¡­Something wrong with that?"

    Turning a bit red in the face from shame, the young knight puckered his lips.

    "Not per se. But I do hate them."

    "I do like them."

    "Yes and that''s the problem. Why do you think these are left here, when I hate them, but you like them?"

    "¡­Oh?"

    For a moment, the young knight was at a loss for words, when the general pointed it out.

    Seeing the knight turn pale in the face, General Mart¨ªn smiled sympathetic and called the things as they were.

    "That''s right. Not many men like sweet things like that. I can''t be dead certain, but I say it''s quite likely these are for you, Cristiano Pinto."

    The hero of the previous war called the young knight by his name.

    "It goes without saying for a person with a standing like you, General, but why would they be aware of an obscure guy like myself?"

    "Oh,e on, Cris. Don''t be so hard on yourself. Any person with a spark of intelligence would obviously keep the name Cristiano Pinto in mind."

    General Mart¨ªn was by no means lying, when he said that.

    Not even twenty years old yet, Cristiano was still young, but he had already risen to the envious position of a Knight Captain affiliated to the general. One reason for that was his ancestry: He was the oldest son of the famous Pinto Family, which had inherited the royal blood quite strongly. But the bigger reason was his own martial skills.

    The general was not so shallow as to pick him based on the right pedigree alone. To begin with, General Mart¨ªn had worked his way up from nothing, so he valued actions over words and thought little of lineage.

    With these views, General Mart¨ªn had pinned his hopes on Cristiano Pinto as the "next protector of the country".

    Nevertheless, it was a fact that it needed a really perceptive person to take notice of him from a different country at this point of time.

    "Arge territory does not make a major power, neither does arge poption. Maintaining thatrge territory andrge poption by employing the right personnel is what makes a nation a major power.

    Never forget that."

    "Sir, yes, Sir."

    The general and his prot¨¦g¨¦e from the Navarre Kingdom called the caution against major powers, the Carpa Kingdom in particr, to mind once again.

    * * *

    Around the same time, the people from the Guzzle Family were extremely busy with preparing for the marriage ceremony and greeting the arriving guests in the main building.

    That was nothing out of the ordinary by itself. The marriage between influential nobles was such a big event after all.

    "Lady Lucinda, the adjustments to your wedding dress have been finished. Please try it on now."

    "I understand. Wait for me in the room next door. I wille over as soon as I am done here."

    "Lady Lucinda, Master Zenjirou and his group have had dinner and Miss Nilda reported that there were no problems."

    "Good. Tell Nilda to drop by my room before going to bed. I want to hear the report from herself, just to be sure."

    "Lady Lucinda, we have ushered the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom to their rooms. They have not expressed any displeasure for now."

    "d to hear that. Of course we cannot privilege a certain group, but it would be an international affair, if something were to happen with them, so please be extra careful, when dealing with them."

    The only abnormality here was the fact that Lucinda Guzzle, the bride-to-be herself, was managing the versatile nning in its entirety.

    She had always been in charge of the territory, because the Marquis was generally working in the capital, but her duties did not even change on this special asion.

    Lucinda Guzzle was still unmarried at twenty-six, even though the etiquette in the Carpa Kingdom considered it to be already toote, when you had not married before twenty. Normally that would mean that she was unattractive or quick-tempered, but in actual fact, that was not the case with her.

    Her facial features were admittedly in, because of an inconspicuous small nose and mouth, but did not prevent her to be called a "spruce beauty" by some and there were no problems with her personality, either, seeing as the servants of the March trusted in her.

    If anything, her zeal for running the business of the March despite being a woman, was somewhat contradicting themon sense of the Carpa Kingdom, but Lucinda always emphasised that she was just "filling in for her father until her little brother was old enough to take over".

    She was not the kind of unorthodox woman, who cleverly wielded the highest authority in the country despite being a woman such as Queen Aura or unashamedly risked her life on sea travel like Princess Freya.

    To begin with, she only missed her timing to get married, because her nubile years happened to ovep with the previous war. In ce of her father, who was out on the battlefield, Lucinda had to take care of the territory and her little brother, leaving her no time to think about marriage. These reasons had beenpletely beyond her control, so she was different from the usual "marriage failures".

    Once she had listened to all the reports from the servants, Lucinda turned to the table and looked through the documents with a cool-headedness that made you question whether she really was a noble daughter on the brink of marriage.

    "As expected, the Navarre Kingdom sent General Mart¨ªn as their representative. I did not foresee that Knight Captain Cris would apany him, though.

    I hope the sugar snacks were prepared in time?"

    "Yes, we put them in the room before letting them in."

    "Well done. Thanks."

    Everything had been done on behalf of her. The right furniture was prepared for General Mart¨ªn, because Lucinda had anticipated him as the messenger from the Navarre Kingdom, and the sugar snacks were served at such short notice, because she had acquired the information that Knight Captain Cris liked sweets.

    As a proxy for her father working in the capital, but de facto leader of the March, Lucinda had paid special attention to the neighbouring Navarre Kingdom across the mountain and gathered all kind of information.

    For the Carpa Kingdom as a whole, the Navarre Kingdom was nothing but a small middle power not worth their attention, but the neighbouring country posed enough of a threat to the independent March of Guzzle.

    Hence Lucinda was as cautious about the Navarre Kingdom as General Mart¨ªn was about the Carpa Kingdom.

    "I have heard that General Mart¨ªn is a lot more perceptive than his militant appearance lets on. He must have noticed the meaning behind the special furniture and snacks.

    I just hope the feint will work."

    Lucinda mumbled and put the dragon bone quill in her right hand back into its stand.

    In fact, General Mart¨ªn had figured out that the matching furniture for him and the favourite snack for Knight Captain Cris had been a message from Lucinda.

    A message that read: "I know all this about your activities."

    Lucinda was going to get married, which meant that the March of Guzzle would lose her as its representative.

    Of course she had immediately started with the preparations for her session as soon as her marriage was set in stone.

    Her little brother Xavier, the next head of the family, and the mayordomo rear vassal were taught the necessary work and were introduced to as many spokesmen of their subjects as possible, passing on the informationwork she had build up till today.

    But these were nothing but rough-and-ready measures in the end. Nothing could be done about it, though, since her marriage came on an extremely short notice, even by higher nobility''s standards.

    Once Lucinda was gone, the March would more or less be thrown into turmoil, so she had wanted to send a warning to the neighbouring country not to take advantage of that turmoil.

    "At any rate, I reallye to appreciate the consideration from Master Zenjirou in this situation. I have to properly express my gratitudeter on."

    The consideration was referring to his following words: "I am looking forward to seeing the newlywed couple on the day of the marriage ceremony."

    In other words, he had dered that they did not need to entertain him until the day of the marriage ceremony. Thanks to that, the Guzzle Family could give Royalty, originally the most high-maintenance guest, a short shrift by just assigning a bare minimum of servants to the annex building.

    If not for his consideration, Zenjirou would havee to greet the Marquis in advance and congratted the bride as soon as possible as Royalty. In that case, the Guzzle Family would have been overwhelmed with obligations by now.

    Lucinda felt a shiver ran down her spine in light of that scary imagination. In the meantime, the door was opened and closed with a tter.

    "Excuse me, Sister. I have just returned from doing my rounds in the city."

    These words were uttered by the next head of the Guzzle Family: Xavier Guzzle.

    Just like he had imed, he had been patrolling the city and was still wearing his leather armour and longsword at thiste hour.

    "Well done, Xavier. Has the city been quiet?"

    Lucinda thanked her little brother for his efforts with a warm smile and signalized the servant next to her to pour him some cold tea.

    The siblings then sat down across each other on the couches.

    "Yes, it has. Nothing worth mentioning has taken ce. The people are all celebrating your wedding from the bottom of their hearts."

    Sitting on the couch, Xavier reported proudly while throwing out his chest.

    He had lost his mother had at an early age, so Lucinda was more like a mother, who raised him, than an older sister to him.

    No one was more happy about her marriage, dyed by unfortunate circumstances, than him.

    Lucinda giggled embarrassed to herself, when she saw the joy in the eyes of her little brother as though it was his own wedding.

    "Is that so. I am d to hear that. So no one is picking any fights, because they are drunk?"

    Maybe in order to hide her embarrassment, she quickly talked business.

    Xavier looked a bit troubled and averted his eyes, when she pointed that out.

    "Actually, a lot of that is happening. Should I have banned the alcohol instead?"

    "No. It would be tasteless to celebrate the marriage without alcohol. Just continue to take those into custody, who cause a ruckus.

    But please keep in mind to not let anyone without permission near the residence until the ceremony is over. We cannot risk a strife with another noble family."

    "Yes, I understand, Sister."

    The older sister gave instructions and the little brother epted them as a matter of course. Considering that he was going to be the next family head, that hierarchy was not quite favourable.

    "¡­I was anxious about leaving home after my sudden marriage, but it actually might be better that way. If I were to stay here any longer, I think I would cause more problems than I can solve."

    "Hmm? Did you say something?"

    "No, just talking to myself."

    Lucinda brushed it off like that while heaving a sigh at heart.

    If she were to remain in the March while Xavier seeded the position of the family head, it would undoubtedly disrupt the bnce of power.

    At the very least, the rear vassals and influential citizens would rather trust Lucinda than Xavier in domestic affairs, and above all else, Xavier himself was too fixated on his elder sister.

    In the worst case, the March might even split into two opposing camps, when she remained here unmarried and could not get along with any future sister-inw Xavier might take in.

    So Lucinda was of the opinion that her marriage was already worth it, even if avoiding that future was the only good thing that came out of it.

    While she was on these train of thoughts, she might as well give her little brother a final lecture.

    "Xavier, I will marry General Puyol in a few days and leave the March afterwards."

    "Of course. Congrattions on getting married, Sister!"

    Lucinda gave her teary-eyes little brother a wry look.

    "Thanks, dear. Anyway, this will be thest time I can give you an heartfelt piece of advice with only your wellbeing in mind, so please listen well."

    After that prelude, she wiped her usual warm smile off her face and showed a stern expression.

    "O- Okay."

    Xavier instinctively sat up straight and rested his clenched fists on hisp. A saying ims that the child is the father of man and in ordance with that, Xavier fundamentally could not go against his elder sister, who had raised him in ce of a mother.

    "Once I am the wife of General Puyol, you may not blindly trust me like before anymore."

    "S- Sister¡­?"

    While the little brother was at a loss for words, the older sister overwhelmed him with further exnations.

    "As soon as I marry him, I will have left the Guzzle Family and be a part of the Guill¨¦n Family. From then on, my first priority will be the Guill¨¦n Family. The Guzzle Family onlyes in second.

    I will belong to a different family and you do not blindly trust someone like that."

    "B- But¡­"

    Xavier was baffled, but Lucinda was only stating a fact.

    Nobility valued their house, so it was only natural that they took the view that you had to put the family you married into above all and adopted their customs.

    Needless to say, that opinion was more of an idealism, if anything, and hardly anyone put it into practice to such an extent.

    In fact, the majority of people still considered themselves a member of their parental home at heart, even if they married into a new family.

    The best example for that would be the little sister of General Puyol: Fatima Guill¨¦n. She really loved her older brother and valuated him above all things, so it was hard to imagine that she would suddenly prioritize her new family over him, when she got married at some point.

    However, that general rule did not apply to the woman called Lucinda Guzzle.

    She had naturally epted that she, as a noble daughter, would devote her everything to her new family henceforth, now that she had been asked for her hand in marriage. The aforementioned idealism was embodied by her to an inhumane level.

    "Are you saying you will be my political opponent from now on, Sister?"

    Her little brother turned pale in the face, whereupon Lucinda realized that her exnation had been a bitcking.

    She deliberately softened her expression and cleared up the doubt of her brother with her usual kind voice.

    "Not at all. I did not mean it in such a radical way. To begin with, our two families were never on such bad terms to call us enemies and my marriage will actually stabilize our rtionship even further.

    In reality, I doubt that I will ever be able to bring harm to the Guzzle Family or you, Xavier."

    "I- I know, right!"

    Crying in one moment, smiling in the next. Her little brother changed expressions at his own convenience, whereas the older sister smiled back at him troubled.

    "Marriage is a kind of contract for nobility. From now on, I have to bear the profit for the Guill¨¦n Family in mind, but as long as it does not harm the Guill¨¦n Family, I will obviously be allowed to bear a profit for the Guzzle Family in mind as well."

    Forget all about your parental home once you marry.

    That would be way too disadvantageous for the family providing the bride. Hence the bride was allowed to draw a profit for her parental home as long as it did not affect her new family adversely.

    Xavier listened to her exnation with a meek look.

    "Considering the current standings of the Guill¨¦n and Guzzle Family in the Carpa Kingdom, I dare to say that it will be quite unlikely that the Guill¨¦n Family will cause harm to the Guzzle Family.

    But the future is not set in stone. If one day, the interests of both families were topletely contrast each other, then I will bring harm to the Guzzle Family in order to make a profit for the Guill¨¦n Family.

    I just want you to bear that possibility in mind, okay?"

    "¡­Okay, I understand, Sister."

    Looking meek, the little brother answered with a nod to the warning of his older sister before she was going to marry into a different family.

    * * *

    A few dayster.

    The day of the ceremony arrived without any incidents.

    They were holding the marriage ceremony in the banquet hall in the main building of the Guzzle residence.

    It was not as pompous as the "Room of the Dragon King", where Zenjirou and Aura had held their wedding, but it was almost as big.

    Therge hall was filled with numerous round tables and the invited nobles sat on chairs in a circle around them.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou was one of them. With him at the same table sat his partner Princess Freya and her trusted retainer Skathi as well as his bodyguard, the Knight Natalio.

    Ines stood at attention behind him in her usual maid clothes.

    A marriage ceremony in the Carpa Kingdom was not all that starchy, so the guests casually enjoyed some chitchat with some drinks until the bridal couple made their entrance.

    "So this is a marriage ceremony on the South Continent. I see that it is not all that different from ours."

    Lowering the silver goblet with fruit juice from her mouth, Princess Freya started talking to Zenjirou next to her with a lovely smile ying on her lips.

    "Oh, is that so. I''m not all that familiar with the culture on the South Continent, either, but I''ve heard that they used to sit on a soft carpet during the ceremony in the past.

    It might be the influence of the North Continent that all the guests are sitting on chairs at tables now."

    "That is quite usible. I would like to thank my ancestors for it then."

    Zenjirou realized what she was implying, so he casually asked with a yful tone.

    "Oh my, you are ufortable with sitting on a carpet?"

    "Yes, I am afraid so."

    Princess Freya looked down a bit embarrassed, when she was exposed.

    Although the culture of sitting down on a carpet was a thing of the past on the South Continent, it had not entirely vanished yet. Some traditional events still required you to sit cross-legged on top of a carpet and some tradition-conscious noble houses were refraining from setting up chairs and tables in the dining room to this day, setting and eating the dishes from atop the carpet instead.

    Due to that, the nobility in the Carpa Kingdom was more or less used to sitting on a carpet, but Princess Freya was nobility hailing from the North Continent, so she could note to like that custom.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou was pretty much okay with the custom, too. Modern Japan was certainly seeing more and more appearances of chairs and tables, but there were still plenty asions to sit cross-legged on the ground like in a room with Tatami mats.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou did not suffer as much during traditional events without chairs and tables.

    (Won''t she have more troubles like that, when she actually bes my concubine?)

    Zenjirou was worried like that, but the only way to find out would be to directly ask her.

    But if he were to tell her that he was worried about her life as a concubine, he would practically admit to epting her as a concubine.

    At the present time, everything was pointing to Princess Freya bing his concubine. It was probably already impossible for him to avert that development by his own effort, but even then, there was no reason for him to speed up that process, either.

    While Zenjirou pondered about that, the stroke of arge gong rang out and echoed through the hall.

    "Oh."

    "Looks like it is time."

    The gong attracted the attention from all the chit-chatting guests and today''s centrepiece, the bridal couple made their appearance.

    "¡­"

    The first to show up was the groom, Puyol Guill¨¦n.

    Wearing his full dress uniform, the giant general imposingly strode over the red carpet while the decorative bronze sword hung from his waist.

    It was typically of him to wear the military uniform instead of the traditional attire of the Carpa Kingdom at his wedding ceremony. As a matter of fact, an uniform suited him the best anyway.

    Close to two metre tall and a hundred kilogram heavy, the steeled soldier wore the extravagant military uniform decorated with gold threads like a second skin. He personified themon image of a "General of the Army" par for par.

    "¡­"

    After him followed a woman in herte twenties wearing a white long dress.

    Zenjirou was seeing her for the first time, but there was no question about it that she was the bride, Lucinda Guzzle.

    ording to the proper etiquette, she followed a step behind by the side of her preceding groom.

    Aura and Zenjirou had walked alongside one another, when they had gotten married as the Queen and Prince Consort, but that had been an extremely rare exception to the exception.

    Normally, the bride followed diagonally behind the groom at a marriage ceremony in the Carpa Kingdom.

    The groom was attracting the most attention, but Zenjirou was looking at the bride, since he was seeing her for the first time.

    (So she is Lucinda. Not the prettiest out there, but still beautiful.)

    She looked smaller, because she was trailing behind the almost two metre tall General Puyol, but she actually had an average height and build.

    Her ck hair was full and morous, her ck eyes beamed with kindness and her skin had themon brown tinge of a person from the Carpa Kingdom. Even d in the snow-white wedding dress, she still looked somewhat in, but her features were well-defined enough to get an immediate positive answer, when asking someone whether she was a beauty or not.

    In the meantime, the bridal couple advanced on the red carpet and went up to the podium.

    There an elder priest was awaiting them. He was going to perform the marriage ceremony.

    Since the main religion on the South Continent, the faith in spirits, was not really institutionalized, the priest were only responsible for a hand of ceremonial asions such asing-of-age, marriage or burial.

    The elderly priest faced the bridal couple standing in front of him and opened his mouth covered by a white beard.

    "Under the protection of the Spirits, this man and woman will enter into the holy bond of marriage today. May the Spirits smile to their future.

    From time immemorial, the brave man has always protected the frail woman behind him, whereas thepassionate woman has always offered the foolish man constion in her arms. The Spirits are sure to respond to their mutual empathy."

    Because the Spirit Faith on the South Continent had neither been systemized, nor institutionalized, the ritual words at these asions were generally determined by the priest on duty.

    Zenjirou curiously listened to the self-penned speech of the priest, but he suddenly felt ufortable, so he looked around from the corner of his eye while keeping his gaze focussed on the bridal couple.

    (Hmm? I sense a gaze on me? From whom?)

    He could not see him all that clearly, because he was just looking out of the corner of his eye, but he did see a sturdy silhouette of a soldier.

    (The foreign guests should be seated over there¡­ So that''s General Mart¨ªn from the Navarre Kingdom?)

    In reality, Zenjirou was not looking at General Mart¨ªn, but at Knight Captain Cris sitting next to him, but he could not discern it that well, because he was still looking ahead.

    Having said this, Knight Captain Cris was slender and only one hundred and eighty centimetre tall, whereas General Mart¨ªn was practically a giant with his almost two metre height and hundred kilogram weight.

    Their auras were too different to begin with.

    Zenjirou was puzzled as to why he was the target of his attention instead of the bridal couple in the middle of the ceremony, but it was actually not all that strange.

    He was the Prince Consort of the major power known as the Carpa Kingdom. In short, a genuine Royalty with a bloodline magic.

    So a foreign authority was obviously going to pay him more attention than the bridal couple.

    In the meantime, the ceremony was moving along.

    On the South Continent, the marriage ceremonies followed all kind of procedures like the speech from the priest or the marriage vows from the couple, but this ceremony was a bit different at the end.

    "The couple will now exchange the weddings rings."

    The unfamiliar ritual of exchanging wedding rings prompted the guests to murmur agitated and Zenjirou to widen his eyes in surprise.

    In that very moment, General Puyol faced Zenjirou and gave him an appreciative look while smirking for a second.

    Zenjirou understood with that.

    (Oh, right. Aura did tell me that my marriage rings had started the custom of exchanging wedding rings in this country, too.

    So General Puyol also picked up on it, eh.)

    The earlier look must have expressed his gratitude to Zenjirou for introducing them the custom of exchanging wedding rings.

    Under the watchful eyes of the guests, the bridal couple took the pair rings from the priest and put them on the finger of their partner.

    Zenjirou did not go as far as telling them that the wedding ring belonged to the ring finger of the left hand. It just happened naturally, since that finger provided the least inconveniences for wearing a ring at all times.

    The same reason probably applied to its simple gold design without any gems.

    As a soldier, General Puyol would by no means profit from wearing a cumbersome jewellery on his finger. The in ring without any gem had probably been apromise on his part.

    It might be a bit too in for a woman, though. Even in this world, most of the women had a thing for beautifulrge gems.

    A thought suddenly crossed Zenjirou''s mind.

    (Maybe I should tell them about ''engagement rings'', too? Women are sure to love a brilliant ring, but the men will have to bear the costs. I guess the wedding rings are enough for now.)

    Apparently Lucinda was different from the majority of women as she narrowed her eyes happily, when General Puyol put the unadorned golden ring on her hand.

    "Thank you, My Husband."

    For some reason, the soft voice of the bride resonated through the whole hall.

    * * *

    In the Carpa Kingdom, the marriage ceremony of higher nobility or wealthy people was followed by a ritual called the "Rite of Unveiling".

    As its name implied, the rite dealt with the bridal couple showing themselves in front of those, who could not attend the ceremony itself, and announcing their marriage. The invited guests of the ceremony were asked to abstain from attending the "Rite of Unveiling".

    On the za in front of the residence of the feudal lord, the newlyweds put themselves on disy for the citizens of the March in their wedding attire. In the meantime, the guests of the ceremony were regaled with food and drinks in a different room.

    The host of that gathering was the family of the bride, namely the Guzzle Family, but the people from the Guill¨¦n Family were also functioning as co-organizers.

    "Master Zenjirou, I cannot thank you enough for going out of your way to attend the marriage of my daughter today."

    Marquis Guzzle himself approached Zenjirou first of all with these words.

    He was as tall as Zenjirou, but a multiple of him widthwise. His neck was fatter than his face wide, his shoulders were sloping from excess muscle mass and his arms were round like a log. He should be over forty by now, but even an amateur like Zenjirou could tell that his body was still that of an active soldier.

    A bit overwhelmed at heart, Zenjirou showed nothing of the sort on the outside and responded with a smile.

    "No need to thank me, Marquis. The Guzzle Family as well as the Guill¨¦n Family are important pirs of our country. It goes without saying that I would attend the union of your families as a representative for Queen Aura."

    Zenjirou emphasized the fact that he was only a representative for Queen Aura, whereat Marquis Guzzle answered with an honest smile, which was quite rareing from a high-ranking nobility.

    "You honour me with your words. Of course I am grateful to Sir Puyol for taking my daughter after she missed out on marriage for too long due to my shorings, but I am even more grateful to Her Majesty Aura for allowing the normally unthinkable marriage between the Guill¨¦n and Guzzle Family. I, Miguel Guzzle, shall never forget this favour!"

    "You have earned this trust by devoting your everything to the country so far.

    Her Majesty sincerely hopes that you will not cease your endeavours."

    "Of course. I would not dream of doing so."

    Zenjirou reminded him that he admittedly had gotten a connection to the hearnd now, but should not use this asion to start meddling with the power struggle there, so the elderly marquis lowered his head deeply.

    As a matter of fact, Queen Aura was really trusting Marquis Guzzle.

    Of course the Guzzle Family was no different from the other feudal lords, so they put their own territory first and the kingdom second, but they were also known for their fidelity and loyalty.

    Even in the previous war, the army of the marquis had obediently followed the orders of the country, which had been a great help.

    Setting Marquis Rh, pretty much a rtive to Aura, aside, it would be no exaggeration to say that she trusted Marquis Guzzle the most of all nobility.

    "Anyway, today is a day to be celebrated, so let this be enough of formalities. Let me introduce you:

    This is Princess Freya Upps, the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom. She is apanying me as my partner, because Her Majesty Aura could not leave the Capital.

    Princess Freya, this is Marquis Guzzle. He is usually working in the Capital, so maybe you have seen him before?"

    Upon these words, the princess from the North Continent took one step forward as she had politely waited behind Zenjirou so far.

    "My name is Freya Upps. Congrattions on your daughter Lucinda getting married!"

    She grasped the hem of her simple blue skirt and did a curtsey.

    The etiquette in the Upps Kingdom was slightly different from the one in the Carpa Kingdom, but her gesture was so gracious that it would be rude to point it out now.

    "Thank you very much, Princess Freya. As you can see, we live in the middle of nowhere, but please make yourself at home."

    Marquis Guzzle responded politely, but much to his regret, Zenjirou was unable to tell whether his respect was attributed to her current title as a "princess from the North Continent" or her future title as a "concubine of the Prince Consort of the Carpa Kingdom".

    "I appreciate the hospitality, Marquis Guzzle. We are being cared for quite courteously in the annex building. Am I right, Your Majesty Zenjirou?"

    "Yes, that is right."

    She probably had asked for his opinion with a smile on purpose, because she wanted to spell out for the others that she was staying under the same roof as him.

    "Heh, I am d to hear that. You have done well, Nilda."

    Whether he was aware of her intentions or not, Marquis Guzzle showed a bright smile and called out to his beloved daughter standing behind him.

    "Yes, Father. Thank you, Princess Freya."

    The little girl lowered her head with her big eyes shining. She did look a bit tense from nervousness, but more than that, she gave off an affectionate aura like a tamed little animal.

    When he was looking back at his daughter, Marquis Guzzle was showing a soft expression as well. Or at the very least, Zenjirou could not catch any sight of some intrigue or ulterior motive in it.

    (Even at the ceremony, he openly let Nilda sit with the rest of the family. That means he really isn''t trying to hide her? It''s getting more and more puzzling.)

    The girl, who was apparently unknown to Royalty, was being treated as a normal daughter at an official event in the March. And not only that, she was even assigned the role to look after Royalty.

    Zenjirou somehow started to get the feeling that the whole thing was just a in old misunderstanding.

    To begin with, the girl called Nilda and the man called Marquis Guzzle were way too sincere to actually consider this as some kind of scheme.

    "By the way, I have heard that Miss Nilda has a different mother than Sir Xavier and Lady Lucinda?"

    Just in case, Zenjirou probed them like this, whereat the elderly feudal lord scratched his greying head and honestly affirmed it, even if a bit reluctant.

    "Yes, that is correct. Xavier and Lucinda as well as my other two sons, who died in the previous war, are the children of my legal wife.

    On the other hand, Nilda is the product of my juvenility¡­ Well, I was not at an age to call it that anymore, though. Anyway, she is the child I made with a female subject of mine."

    Saying so, Marquis Guzzle patted the head of his daughter standing next to him.

    "Fufu¡­"

    Having her head patted, the little girl narrowed her eyes happily like a puppy.

    A person from Modern Japan would surely get offended, when its own birth was called a "product of juvenility", even ifing from a parent, but Nilda showed no sign of concern.

    Maybe it meant that the parentage was just too important in this world? Or maybe father and daughter were getting along so well that she would not get disheartened just from that kind of crude phrasing.

    Zenjirou would like to say it was thetter, seeing her disy of affection.

    "As Princess Freya said before, Miss Nilda is taking good care of us. She is always so bright and cheerful. I often catch myself copying her. So far, I had a great time here, because of that. So let me express my gratitude once more: Thank you, Miss Nilda."

    "Oh no, your words are wasted on me, Master Zenjirou."

    At any rate, Zenjirou concluded that he should not dig any deeper into the issue without instructions from Aura, so he dropped the subject at a suitable point.

    Even if Zenjirou and Princess Freya were the most important guests, Marquis Guzzle could not afford to spend all his time on a single group as the father of the bride.

    After the marquis left, Zenjirou was unsurprisingly flocked by the other guests to exchange pleasantries.

    The etiquette of the Carpa Kingdom dictated that it was bad manners for one of lower status to call out to someone of higher status, but marriage or burial ceremonies were an exception to that rule.

    Apparently, all the guests were considered to be of equal rank in the sense that they all had the same motive, either congratting the bridal couple at a marriage ceremony or mourning the deceased at a burial ceremony.

    Due to that, Zenjirou had no time to enjoy the actual banquet and was busy dealing with nobility one after another.

    "It is nice to make your acquaintance, Master Zenjirou. Her Majesty Aura was so generously to bestow me with the title of a viscount. My name is Primo Guill¨¦n. The groom Puyol happens to be my nephew."

    "Master Zenjirou, thank you very much for going out of your way to attend the marriage ceremony of my brother today."

    With these words, a man in his early fifties and a tall girl lowered their heads at the same time.

    Just like he had introduced himself, the man was the uncle of General Puyol: Primo Guill¨¦n; The little girl was the little sister of General Puyol: Fatima Guill¨¦n.

    "Oh, thank you for the polite introduction, Sir Primo. I am Zenjirou, the husband of Her Majesty Aura. And I am d to see you are doing well, Miss Fatima."

    Primo Guill¨¦n was a tall man with the blood of the Guill¨¦n Family running through his veins.

    He definitely was not as tall as the two metre tall Puyol, but there was still an obvious gap between him and Fatima, so he must be at least one hundred and eighty-five centimetre tall.

    Nevertheless, there was no overwhelming auraing from him like General Puyol did, when he was just standing there.

    Although this might sound a bit rude, his height was his only redeeming feature.

    In fact, Fatima was drawing far more attention in her moss-green dress as she stood self-confidently next to him.

    "Yes, Master Zenjiou. As his little sister, it gives me a piece of mind that my brother has tied the knot."

    But if you looked carefully, you could tell that her smile as she said that was somewhat forced.

    (Well, she practically got a brotherplex, so it''s no wonder she can''t sincerely be happy about his marriage.)

    And even more so, when his bride was the twenty-six years old Lucinda. Since the South Continentbelled women older than twenty as a lost case for marriage, she was practically the epitome of an old woman well past her prime.

    Without exaggerating it, Fatima firmly believed her brother to be the "best man on the South Continent", so it was no surprise that she was dissatisfied with such ate bloomer being his brother''s legal wife.

    Despite that, she was making an effort to not let it show in her attitude and words, because she realized how important the marriage with Lucinda and thereby the connection to the Guzzle Family was.

    Having said this, Fatima would never even think of opposing her older brother to begin with, no matter how much displeasure she harboured about his decision.

    "Well then, Master Zenjirou, if you will excuse me."

    "It was a pleasure to have met you, Master Zenjirou."

    When Primo Guill¨¦n and Fatima Guill¨¦n left, the next guest took their ce.

    "It has been a long time, Master Zenjirou. I am d we worked out that incident in Valentia together."

    A man wearing the traditional attire of the Carpa Kingdom like a second skin, greeted Zenjirou with an affable smile.

    "Oh, Sir Raffaelo. You definitely yed a big role in it."

    Zenjirou responded to the greeting of the sessor to the M¨¢rguez Family, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez, with a smile as well.

    At the same time, he looked at the "fianc¨¦e of Raffaelo", who was standing behind him at an angle.

    Keen as he was, Raffaelo notice the gaze and showed a broad grin.

    "Allow me to introduce her, Master Zenjirou. She is my betrothed: Keyshia from the Massana Family."

    With these words, he put his arm around her waist and ushered her in front of Zenjirou.

    Zenjirou was a bit captivated by the woman brought before his eyes.

    Her morous long ck hair was beautifully pinned up and her red dress revealed her bare shoulders and neck. Everyone knew what a faithful husband he was, himself included, but even then, Zenjirou could not help but be smitten by her beauty and charm.

    She was an eye-catching extraordinary beauty with well-proportioned long arms and legs, smiling with conviction and confidence.

    Keyshia had already been a sight for sore eyes in her maid clothes, but Zenjirou was in raptures about her enchanting dress.

    "It is my first time seeing you wear anything else than maid clothes, Keyshia, but I must say, you are truly beautiful. Your charm was already standing out in the Inner Pce, but seeing you all dressed up like this makes me speechless."

    Praised by the man, who had been her master not long ago, the bewitching woman widened her eyes affected and puckered her lips a bit petnt.

    "Oh my, thank you very much, Master Zenjirou. But what a surprise. I never thought I would see the day, where youpliment my appearance, because I thought for sure that you only have eyes for Her Majesty Aura."

    "I am human, too. When I see something beautiful, I will appreciate it."

    Zenjirou gave the well acquainted former maid of the Inner Pce a wry smile with a shrug of his shoulders.

    That reaction of his prompted the nearby nobility from the Carpa Kingdom, who had been listening in so far, to be taken aback.

    It happened very seldom that Zenjirou talked that casually with a woman. He was always "ying it safe" at official night banquets.

    Zenjirou himself was no aware of it, but his reaction increased the value of being a "waiting maid of the Inner Pce".

    The waiting maids of the Inner Pce proved to be a connection to the Prince Consort.

    While the nearby nobility renewed their understanding like that, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez already had a former waiting maid as his betrothed and said with a smooth smile.

    "Well then, Master Zenjirou, we will excuse ourselves for today."

    "Okay. Take good care of Keyshia, Sir Raffaelo."

    He could have kept the conversation going for as long as he wanted by using his fianc¨¦e, but Raffaelo parted from Zenjirou with these words.

    If anything, his time with Zenjirou was quite short,pared to other nobility.

    In the past, Raffaelo had suggested his father Manuel M¨¢rguez to keep their distance from the "monstrous" Zenjirou for now, and he was faithfully abiding by his own words.

    Be it the bride''s Guzzle Family, the groom''s Guill¨¦n Family or the M¨¢rguez Family, they were all important enough that Royalty could not afford to neglect making allowances for them, but since they were nobility of the same country, Zenjirou somewhat knew how to deal with them and even if he were to make a mistake, things could be smoothed overter on.

    But right now, he was facing the guests of another country on whom these advantages did not work.

    Namely: The representative of the Navarre Kingdom, General Mart¨ªn and his attendant Knight Cristiano Pinto.

    When the obviously trained foreigners approached Zenjirou and Princess Freya, their bodyguards Knight Natalio and Skathi put themselves on the alert behind them. Only waiting maid Ines kept cool and collected.

    "Nice to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty Zenjirou.

    My name is Mart¨ªn Nadal, a general in the army of the Navarre Kingdom. I am extremely grateful to be given the chance to meet you today.

    And this is Cristiano, a young knight in our army."

    "I am Knight Captain Cristiano, the eldest son of Marquis Pinto. It is an honour to meet you, Your Majesty Zenjirou."

    The general in his forties and the young knight probably still in his teens, bowed their heads to Zenjirou in unison.

    By the way, General Mart¨ªn and Knight Captain Cris were an exception in the sense that they were attending the ceremony without a female partner.

    If possible, a marriage ceremony was usually attended with a partner, but there was no ironw that forbid to attend it alone.

    They practically had passed over the mountain on a footslog, so no women had been capable of apanying them.

    Under such circumstances, a man was not really frowned upon for attending alone.

    "Much obliged, General Mart¨ªn. I am Zenjirou, the husband of Her Majesty Aura, the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom. Your reputation precedes you as even I have heard of it.

    And this is Princess Freya Upps, the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom on the North Continent."

    "My name is Freya. I am from the North Continent, so I am afraid that I have not heard of your achievements, but it is nevertheless an honour to make your acquaintance, General."

    Following the introduction from Zenjirou, Princess Freya also introduced herself and lowered her head a bit.

    Zenjirou withdrew his left hand he had put around Princess Freya''s waist, and faced the two man standing in front of him.

    (So he''s General Mart¨ªn, the Hero of the Navarre Kingdom. A giant of a man. And his presence is even bigger.)

    Wearing a smile, Zenjirou managed to not let his anxiety show on his face, but at heart, he instinctively was afraid of the man standing in front of him.

    The seasoned warrior in front of him was close to two metre tall and almost twice as heavy as him, so it already deserved praise that Zenjirou faced him without backing off.

    As Royalty, Zenjirou was technically wearing a decorative sword at his waist, whereas the foreign general was unarmed, but there was no way that such a thing wouldpensate for the difference in their strengths.

    "Greetings to you, Princess Freya. It is an honour to make your acquaintance."

    "Pleased to meet you, Princess Freya."

    General Mart¨ªn and Knight Captain Cris returned the greeting to Princess Freya.

    "But I must say, I am surprised to see you here today, General Mart¨ªn. I assume your rtion to General Puyol is the reason that a famous general attends a marriage ceremony of a neighbouring country?"

    In reality, Zenjirou had not even heard of his name before, but he did not mention that, of course.

    Nevertheless, he did have a point there.

    It was not all that strange that they would send a messenger to the marriage ceremony of a feudal lord family from a neighbouring country, but it was an exception for sure that an important general was chosen for that role.

    For anyone, who knew that General Puyol and General Mart¨ªn had a feud with each other from the previous war, it was only natural to assume that General Mart¨ªn came here especially for General Puyol.

    All the nearby nobility curiously pricked up their ears, when Zenjirou asked that.

    With all the attention on him, the famous general shrugged his shoulders a bit and affirmed it with a brazen smile.

    "Well, to be honest, that is definitely the biggest reason.

    Nheless, the Carpa Kingdom is an important neighbour to the Navarre Kingdom, so if not for me, they would surely have send someone of equal status."

    To be more precise: General Mart¨ªn had been concerned about the character of General Puyol.

    It was well-known after all that General Puyol was an ambitious man.

    That capable and ambitious general was going to bond with the feudal family on their border in form of marriage, so the Navarre Kingdom obviously could not sit back and do nothing.

    He was enough of a "threat" to send in their important general to check on him.

    Zenjirou pretended not to have noticed that implied nuance in the answer from General Mart¨ªn and responded with a smile.

    "Yes, neighbours should get along well. I do hope we both do not forget that fact and continue to work towards it."

    "My sentiments exactly, Your Majesty Zenjirou."

    Two authorities from bordering countries were having a typical two-faced conversation.

    Local affairs aside, Zenjirou was not yet used to dealing with foreign countries appropriately, so he could not help but y it safe.

    Their conversation naturally avoided diving into political waters and shifted towards personal preferences instead.

    "This reminds me, we are neighbours, but is our food culture actually different? I did hear that it is not unusual for a culture to change beyond the border."

    "Well, I am not all that familiar with your cuisine, but as far as I can tell, it is not all that different. If I had to name something, it would be the fruit wine. The fruit wine of the Carpa Kingdom generally tends to be sweeter than ours.

    Thanks to that, Knight Captain Cris is treating himself to some on a rare asion. Am I right, Cris?"

    "S- Sir, you¡­"

    Suddenly addressed, the young knight was at a loss for words for a moment and red at the respectable general of his own country.

    A lot of men with a sweet tooth were very self-conscious about it and apparently Knight Captain Cris was one of them.

    Having said this, he had somewhate to terms with it, seeing as he was not forcing himself to drink dry wine at an official event for appearance''s sake.

    "You cannot help to like what you like after all. I do know that it is childish of me, but I let them prepare my food without certain herbs, too."

    Zenjirou tried to help him out by revealing a peculiarity of his own, but Knight Captain Cris was not man enough to honestly ept his good intentions.

    "¡­Why, thank you."

    Although he lowered his head, he was giving Zenjirou a resentful re. To him, it must have seemed like General Mart¨ªn and Zenjirou were pairing up to make fun of his fondness for sweets.

    Zenjirou read in the expression of the young knight that it would be unwise to pursue this topic any further, so he changed the subject somewhat forcefully.

    "What about this then, General Mart¨ªn? Does a drink like this suit your taste? This alcohol is the recent product of the Capital. It is quite strong, albeit light in taste. General Puyol seems to have taken a liking to it."

    With these words, Zenjirou rmended General Mart¨ªn a silver goblet with the "distilled liquor" from the Capital.

    "Oho! If it has your approval, I will have to try it. ¡­Hmm, it certainly is strong enough to burn your throat, but it is a bit too tasteless to my liking."

    "I thought so. You are not the first to say this. I guess we have to think about improving the taste."

    "That sounds promising. I would like to try it once you have done so."

    "Please share it with your country then. I do hope it will be a local speciality of our country after all."

    Knight Captain Cris regained hisposure while Zenjirou and General Mart¨ªn were chatting like that, so he asked Zenjirou dubious.

    "Your Majesty seems to think like a merchant. Maybe youe from such a family?"

    General Mart¨ªn frowned in light of the phrasing from the young knight captain. It was well-known that Zenjirou was not true-born royalty, but calling him a merchant could be considered an insult.

    However, Zenjirou was not offended by it.

    "Well, not quite correct, but not entirely wrong, either, I guess."

    He affirmed it to some extent without getting angry.

    Originally, Zenjirou had been working in the sales department, so it was not all that wrong to call him a merchant.

    "This reminds me, I have heard that Your Majesty has achieved a major victory against dragons the other day."

    General Mart¨ªn had no way of divining what Zenjirou was thinking, so he touched on a ttering topic as though smoothing over the problematic statement of his subordinate about royalty from a different country. Unfortunately for him, he was barking up the wrong tree in the case of Zenjirou with that idea.

    "Oh, I was just overseeing things there. To begin with, I ampletely unsuited for battle. I was stretching myself to the limit not to get in the way. That alone made me break out in a cold sweat already, so I never want to have anything to do with it again."

    "Err¡­ Is that so."

    His answer obviously bewildered General Mart¨ªn, seeing as he stumbled on his words.

    "¡­.."

    And Knight Captain Cris next to him could not quite conceal his contempt and disdain for him in his expression.

    But he could not really be med for it, because Zenjirou was too much of an abnormality in this world for stating so brazenly that "he could not fight and was weary of it".

    A noble man in his prime that could not fight belonged to the minority and was usually ashamed of belonging to that minority.

    Judging by the moral values of this world, it only looked like Zenjirou was putting up a defiant front.

    "Then Your Majesty is not training on a daily basis?"

    Knight Captain Cris was obviously looking at his hand, when he asked that, so Zenjirou showed him his hands with a wry smile.

    "Yes, as you can see. And it would be an useless effort to start now. I resigned myself to it."

    As if emphasizing his words, the palms of his hands had no calluses and were as lean as a child''s or woman''s by the standards of this world.

    If he had done baseball or kendo in university, he might have fooled them to some extent, but unfortunately, he had belonged to the ser club. His road of life had not been the kind, where he got any calluses.

    "It is never in vain to practice martial arts, even if only a little. Your Majesty should set aside any biases and just try it out."

    The words from Knight Captain Cris sounded like he was saying it in the interest of Zenjirou, but the contempt for him was still present in his eyes and voice.

    Zenjirou was not so dim-witted that he would fail to notice that, but he also knew that it would be a pain in the ass, if he were toment on it now.

    "Haha, you are right. I will keep it in mind for next time."

    After a moment of deliberation, Zenjirou conquered his feelings and decided to ignore the vicious remark from Knight Captain Cris.

    "¡­I am d I could make you understand."

    "¡­.."

    As Knight Captain Cris did not abandon his contemptuous attitude, General Mart¨ªn thanked Zenjirou for his lenience by casting down his eyes.

    After the bridal couplepleted the "Rite of Unveiling", it wasmon practice that they returned to the banquet hall and participated in the party btedly.

    Unlike the marriage ceremony, the banquet was a sociable party, so the guests were allowed to speak directly with the bridal pair.

    In a way, it was the main event for those, who had attended the marriage ceremony for diplomatic reasons.

    Under the pretext of congratting the newlyweds, they could approach them regardless of social standing after all.

    But right now, not a single person was approaching the groom General Puyol, even though the bridal couple had finally made an appearance here.

    The hall had fallen dead silent and everyone was just awaiting the issue without moving an inch.

    Creasing his face into a smile, General Puyol was looking at General Mart¨ªn, who was showing him the same kind of smile.

    The awed guests in the hall were just supporting actors for the confrontation between the two great heroes of the previous war.

    "Long time no see, General Mart¨ªn. I''m d you haven''t kicked the bucket yet."

    Shortening the distance between them at a leisurely pace, General Puyol spoke first.

    It remained unclear whether he scratched the scar over his eyebrow with his left hand on purpose or unconsciously.

    "Of course I''m alive and kicking, General Puyol. After all, I haven''t seen you in a while. There''s no way I would get wounded unless I''m fighting you, right?"

    Replying like that, General Mart¨ªn ced his right hand on broad his breast bone quite purposefully.

    There was a scar under his clothes. The shallow, but long cut across his breast bone had been inflicted by General Puyol.

    Both of them were veterans that had survived the previous great war and the countless scars on their bodies told its tale.

    But most of these wounds were inflicted by projectiles like arrows or stones and the few wounds from melee weapons were all suffered through chaotic scuffles.

    The only wounds they had inflicted on each other directly were the scars on the face of General Puyol or the scar across the breast bone of General Mart¨ªn.

    On the battlefield, one was always having a brush with death, no matter how brave or heroic they were. In that sense, neither General Puyol, nor General Mart¨ªn were anything special.

    But considering that they still could thrust death into your face, even if you were to keep yourself in perfect shape, sharpen your mind without the slightest neglect and ward off any ill fortune, you could not avoid calling both of them "special" after all.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­.."

    General Puyol was almost two metre tall and over a hundred kilogram heavy, whereas General Mart¨ªn was one-hundred and ny centimetre tall and over a hundred kilogram heavy.

    ordingly, General Puyol surpassed him by ten centimetre in height, but General Mart¨ªn outweighed him breadthwise.

    While they red at each other like a sabre-tooth tiger and a grizzly, the air in the hall was at an heavy standstill.

    "Looks like you didn''t neglect training. It must be tough finding free time for training in your position as a general. I must say, I''m impressed, General Puyol."

    "Yeah, thanks. I dare to say I''ve grown stronger since then. I''m also d to see that you still have been training, General Mart¨ªn."

    "I had to work my way up after all. Strength has a bearing on your leadership skills, so I can''t afford to ck off. Yet the best I could do this year was maintaining my current form."

    "Oho, if that is true, you might prove to be an equal opponent now."

    "Pfft, cut the ttering. Back then, we were evenly matched, but right now, you are definitely stronger. That doesn''t mean you will win, though, if we have a bout."

    "Oho¡­"

    "Heh¡­"

    Neither of the two heroes was usually the chatty type, but the more words they exchange, the broader their smile got. At the same time, the tension and will tobat rose between them proportional to that smile, though.

    Were they going to go at it right here?

    Maybe they both had been joking in the beginning, but identally reached the point of no return?

    Everyone was holding their breath with these worries, but the woman standing next to the groom, namely the bride, released them from that sorrow.

    "My Husband, I do understand that you have a lot to catch up on with your old friend, but for how long are you going to neglect your new wife on this special day? I would like you to introduce me to him."

    Lucinda Guzzle, or rather Lucinda Guill¨¦n now, said this with a soft smile and tugged at the sleeve of her husband reminding.

    Her expression was the quintessence of affability and you could not find a single trace of tension or fear anywhere on her.

    It seemed like she was "cutting into the conversation of the two men thoughtlessly, because she was sulking about her husband not paying any attention to her", but reality was different.

    On the contrary, she had given thought to it more than anyone and concluded that it would be dangerous to let them continue like this, so she went in to stop them by pretending to be oblivious to the situation.

    Dangerous as it may be, it was not like General Puyol and General Mart¨ªn would actually start a fight here.

    But Lucinda feared that if they were to continue to speak at daggers drawn, the others would get the impression that "the two of them really wanted a fight", which would add unnecessary tension to the rtion between the two countries.

    "Although I do know that you two have just been joking around, a woman cannot help but be scared by it. Please apply yourself to me now, My Husband."

    Emphasizing the fact that they were joking around, Lucinda looked up into the eyes of her now husband from the side.

    "¡­Hmm, you are right. My bad. Soldiers are oblivious to the delicate mind of women by nature, but I do admit that we have gone a bit too far. Forgive me, Lucinda.

    General Mart¨ªn, let me introduce her. As of today, this is my wife Lucinda."

    "It is a pleasure to meet you, General Mart¨ªn. I am the eldest daughter of the Guzzle Family and as of now, the wife to Puyol Guill¨¦n, the current head of the Guill¨¦n Family. My name is Lucinda.

    I do have heard of your achievements, General. It is a great honour to get acquainted with you."

    A gentle voice and calm pronunciation coupled with a modest smile.

    Without resorting to force, the newlywed wife pacified the atmosphere through mere words. General Mart¨ªn changed his attitude as well in light of her smile.

    "What a lovely bride. My name is Mart¨ªn Nadal, a general from the Navarre Kingdom.

    It seems you are not just lucky on the battlefield, Sir Puyol. To think you actually managed to win such a fine wife."

    "Yes, I am really d that I stayed single until today."

    "You tter me."

    Peace set in between the bridal pair and the general from the neighbouring country, so the rest of the hall resumed their happy chit-chatting as well.

    <b>Intermission I: The Queen in the Capital</b>

    Unlike before, Zenjirou had started to take on some jobs as Royalty in recent times.

    Now that he was away from the Capital, it meant that the work he had been doing was left undone. Some of these jobs could temporarily be dyed, seeing as he was only going to be away for a month, but that was not the case for all of them, so these other jobs had to be done by someone else.

    For example: Entertaining Prince Francesco and Princess Bona from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell. With Zenjirou gone, Queen Aura had no choice but to take on that role upon herself.

    "Oh, it''s been a while, Your Majesty Aura. How is Prince Carlos doing?"

    Prince Francesco made himselffortable on the couch as though he was at home and spoke to the red-haired Queen sitting across from him.

    The casual tone from the blonde prince did not agitate Queen Aura as she just nodded with a smile.

    "Thanks to you, he is doing well. I owe you a great deal, Prince Francesco. And I am even putting Princess Bona through a lot of trouble, so that we can meet like this."

    She replied with a calm tone.

    "If that''s how you feel, please turn rhetoric into actionter on."

    "That I shall."

    Princess Bona was a chaperone for Prince Francesco. Because of that, Prince Francesco was generally not able to attend an official gathering without her.

    In order to get her out of the picture, Aura had requested a peculiar magic tool from Princess Bona as payment for their residence here.

    Her request had been an "outdoor candlestick". As the name implied, it was just an borate illuminant, but it actually required thebination of three different spells.

    Namely the "me" magic as the source of light, the "Wind Wall" magic as a protection against outside influences as well as the "Water Maniption" magic as an amplifier through reflections.

    Each spell was rtively low ss and would not take all that long to imbue into a magic tool. But the problem was that only one marble had been arranged for all three required spells.

    The main "me" magic could be imbued within one day, if the marble was used as its medium, but the other two spells had to be imbued the normal way.

    So no matter how hard Princess Bona might try, she would take at least one month for each bestowal. Adding the time required to craft the candlestick itself, she would need around three to four months toplete the tool.

    Consequently, Princess Bona was going to be busy for a long time.

    Needless to say, she was not going to spent the whole day working, even if she did allocate a lot of time to it, but she was going to be upied for at least half a day every day until the tool was done.

    During that time, Prince Francesco could act on own his behalf.

    "This reminds me, His Majesty Zenjirou is attending the wedding by now, isn''t he? I must say I sure was surprised that you acknowledged the northern princess as his partner. You are as bold as ever, Your Majesty Aura."

    The blonde prince grinned broadly, whereas the red-haired queen kept herposed smile.

    "Love is a matter of the heart. No matter how much influence you may wield, it is impossible to capture the heartpletely through it."

    "Wise words, Your Majesty."

    Aura insisted that Princess Freya had only be his partner due to personal feelings, whereupon Prince Francesco nodded his assent exaggeratedly a few times.

    Seeing as the reaction from the blonde prince was as unreadable as ever, Queen Aura obfuscated her smile and asked him.

    "What about you, though? I am sure you know what it symbolizes to bring another woman besides your wife to a wedding ceremony. Is there nothing you want to tell me, considering our countries have a secret agreement in regards to the concubines of my husband?"

    "Ahaha, oh please! No one actually expected that agreement to be kept."

    On the other hand, the reply from Prince Francesco was so blunt it made you question it instead.

    Nevertheless, he had been telling the whole truth.

    The secret agreement was not about "restricting concubines for Zenjirou", but rather recited "what had to be done, when Zenjirou had a child with a concubine".

    "Then I can assume that Princess Bona is another chess piece in the same game?"

    The reason Aura threw him such a provoking question was that Princess Freya had changed the situation drastically.

    For the nobility of the Carpa Kingdom it was already only a matter of time before Princess Freya would be a concubine.

    And since a second concubine would not make much of a difference anyway then, they had resumed their own offensive to push a concubine onto Zenjirou.

    With the "secret contract" at work, Aura needed to know the intention of the Sharrow Royal Family, when they were going to increase the number of concubines for Zenjirou.

    Having said this, it was almost impossible to have a reasonable discussion on the level of "sounding each other out" with Prince Francesco.

    "Hmm, at the very least, the Sharrow Family won''t intervene if Bona gets intimate with His Majesty Zenjirou. Well, in my opinion, something will only happen between them when His Majesty visits the Twin Kingdom."

    "¡­"

    The prince revealed the scheme of his own country with a nonchnt expression, whereat even Queen Aura had to fall silent for a moment.

    It sounded too usible to brush it off as a joke or bluff, but neither could she take it at face value.

    In the end, she had no choice but to proceed cautiously.

    "Oh, so you are saying the Sharrow Family would receive my husband with open arms to the Capital of the Twin Kingdom?"

    "Why, yes, of course! Except maybe His Majesty himself, everyone is always ''ready and waiting'' to wee him."

    "¡­That sounds more like they are ready to catch or capture him, rather than wee him."

    "Haha, you''re as perceptive as ever."

    Prince Francesco practically admitted it with his answer, whereupon Aura wrinkled her brow without breaking her poker face.

    (I feel like I am fighting against an amorphous monster.)

    The blonde prince showed not the slightest reaction to the deliberately shown displeasure of the Queen, and just grinned stupidly.

    "I shall tell my husband toe back right away, if he ever feels to be in danger."

    "Nothing wrong with that. Oh, can I ask His Majesty Zenjirou to deliver a letter, when he visits the Twin Kingdom? I would like to write my parents and siblings back home once in a while."

    Prince Francesco had the "Burning Pair Parchment" to get into contact with them, but it was a scarce magic tool. He could not use it for a personal message.

    The request from Prince Francesco prompted Aura to blink once in surprise.

    "Hmm? Does that mean you are staying here? I thought for sure you two would take the chance to return home together with my husband."

    Aura suspected that Prince Francesco hade to the Carpa Kingdom to check upon the bloodline magic disposition of Prince Carlos Zenkichi and let them know about his special ability to use two different bloodline magic.

    Princess Bona on the other hand was probably sent here to serve as a honey trap for Zenjirou.

    The former one had already achieved his goal and thetter one would have the best chances to achieve hers, when they returned home together with Zenjirou.

    But Prince Francesco dismissed these conjectures with a shake of the head.

    "As if. I actually like it better here, because there''s too much nagging back home."

    "Princess Bona does it here, too, though?"

    "She is the only one here. There are a lot more at home, who keep nagging at me.

    But I want to give my family a status report or rather show them a sign of life from me. Hence a letter. Is that too much to ask for?"

    "¡­.."

    Somehow or other, Aura discerned that Prince Francesco was telling the truth behind his nonchnt tone, so she narrowed his eyes and cleared up a misunderstanding he had made.

    "Yes. That is exactly why I suggested you return together with my husband. You see, my husband will only visit the Twin Kingdom once he has learned the ''Teleport'' magic.

    The spell allows you to go back and forth between our Royal Pces within one day in an extreme case.

    I would send you there with my ''Teleport'' magic and my husband would send you back from there with his ''Teleport'' magic. Needless to say, it will cost you."

    "Oh, I see."

    Prince Francesco pped his hands enlightened.

    Just like she had said, they could establish a kind of finite warp gate between the Capitals of the Carpa Kingdom and the Twin Kingdom, when Zenjirou learned ''Teleport'' and used it to go to the Twin Kingdom.

    Considering the travel was going to be instantaneous and safe, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona had no reason to not go back home temporarily.

    "If that is the case, I will dly take you up on the offer. Ah, and I want you to do the same for Bona on a different day, too. Do you take gold coins as a payment?"

    Prince Francesco asked with a beaming face, whereat Queen Aura replied with a sober voice.

    "A magic tool would be more to my liking. I shall provide you with the gem for the medium, so I would like you to create a magic tool with ''Teleport''."

    "¡­.."

    That request surprised even Prince Francesco.

    Rendered speechless for a moment, he then showed a bright smile.

    "That definitely sounds like a worthwhile task, but I think the price is a bit too expensive for applying ''Teleport'' four times. How about this: I pay you in gold coins for my request, but make two magic tools with ''Teleport'' in addition, from which I get one inpensation for my efforts."

    The "Teleport" magic was the pivotal element of the Carpa Royal Family. So the Twin Kingdom had approached them numerous times to turn that spell into a magic tool, but the previous rulers of the Carpa Kingdom had never allowed this.

    As Aura was proposing to break that taboo now, Prince Francesco leaned forward with a big grin, but Queen Aura just shook her head ungracious.

    "No, just one. And even that one has to be a ''disposable'' one with only a single use. If that is impossible, I will not force you.

    Gold coins will just be fine as payment in that case."

    Whether she was just bargaining or never actually expected it to be possible, Aura outright rejected him with a steadfast tone.

    "Hmm¡­ Well¡­ I would really like to get my hands on ''Teleport'', though. But then again¡­"

    Prince Francesco crossed his arms, wrinkled his brow and mumbled to himself for a while.

    Before long, he seemed to have reached a decision. The blonde prince pped himself on the knees and spoke.

    "Okay, I''ll give up on the ''Teleport'' for myself. But I do want that gem. You still have plenty of them, right? I want three of them, including the one I will need for your ''Teleport'' magic tool. How does that sound?"

    "You are being a bit too greedy now. I would be willing topromise on two. But you will need to tell me for what kind of magic tool you want to use the second gem in advance. Otherwise I cannotply."

    Strictly speaking, her answer was only to be expected.

    Right now, Prince Francesco was staying in the guesthouse of the Carpa Royal Pce. Aura obviously had to make sure he was not going to make a dangerous magic tool.

    But it apparently was not that obvious to Prince Francesco, seeing as he kept staring at the ceiling for a while.

    "What for, you ask? Hmm, do I really have to tell you?"

    "You do."

    "Really?"

    "Yes."

    "Hmm¡­"

    His inner conflict continued for some while, but at some point, he seemed to have made a decision and faced Aura with a resolute expression.

    "Fine. I will tell you in confidence. But keep it between you and me. Not even Royalty must know about it."

    "Okay. I shall not tell my husband about it."

    Aura nodded confirmatory, but Prince Francesco shook his head.

    "No, not just him, but all ''other Royalty''."

    "All other Royalty?"

    She cocked her head puzzled, but realized what he meant after a moment of pondering.

    Except Aura and Zenjirou, the only other Royalty in the Carpa Kingdom was the infant Carlos Zenkichi. He surely did not mean to keep it a secret from a child, who could not even speak yet.

    It was also unlikely he would remind her to not reveal it to Royalty of an unrted country such as Princess Freya at this point in time.

    So there was only one possibility remaining: Concealing it from the other involved Royalty from the Twin Kingdom.

    "¡­You mean to keep it a secret from Princess Bona?"

    Aura narrowed her eyes to slits and asked him with feigned ignorance, whereupon Prince Francesco answered with a profound grin.

    "Not just Bona. I also mean my father and grandfather back home. Especially them, actually. They snapped at me, when I tried to make that magic tool once before. Man, it was hell on earth."

    Prince Francesco scratched his head with a carefree smile, but even Queen Aura of all people became somewhat anxious now.

    But there was no backing down aftering this far.

    "Very well. I will keep it between you and me. Not a single soul shall learn of it from me. So tell me, Prince Francesco, what exactly are you trying to make?"

    "Well, a magic tool imbued with ''Bestowal Magic''."

    While he answered like that, his eyes beamed with rampant aspiration.

    * * *

    "¡­."

    After Prince Francesco had left the meeting room, Queen Aura slouched on the couch and heaved a sigh.

    "What a troublemaker. Announcing an important matter just like that¡­"

    A magic tool of the "Bestowal Magic". If it was actually possible to make such a thing, it could shake the civilized world to the very foundations.

    To be honest, his motivations were too uncertain, so she should not let him make one.

    "But I really want a magic tool with ''Teleport''. Without one, I would be too worried to let Zenjirou leave the country as it stands. The Twin Kingdom may not be as much of a worry, but I definitely cannot let him leave for the Upps Kingdom like this."

    This was what Aura have had in mind.

    Princess Freya was supposed to go home to get permission for her marriage, after the issue with the Twin Kingdom was more or less resolved, and Aura wanted Zenjirou to apany her on the "Yellow Leaves" on that asion.

    The biggest advantage of "Teleport" was that you could instantly go back and forth between ces you had visited before.

    Because of that, the Carpa Royalty had split up to visit allied and neutral countries before the great war, expanding their possible targets for the "Teleport" magic.

    If Princess Freya did officially became a concubine for Zenjirou and they realized an intercontinental trade with the Upps Kingdom in the future, it would do no harm to have a person, who could go back and forth between their countries with "Teleport".

    The problem, however, was that the intercontinental sea travel was far from begin safe, even with arge sailing ship like the "Yellow Leaves" from Princess Freya.

    Aura loved her husband, of course, but even more importantly, Zenjirou was the Prince Consort, the only grown-up male in the Royal Family for now.

    No matter how much of an advantage it was to be able to "Teleport" to the North Continent and back, it was not worth risking his life over it.

    She needed something that could ensure his safety, namely the "Teleport" magic tool.

    The "Teleport" spell was normally too difficult to cast in emergencies. This technically applied to all magic, because the magic would not activate without properly envisioning its effect. Hence it was impossible to invoke the magic in a life-threatening situation unless you had nerves of steel.

    "And I do not see Zenjirou having these nerves."

    Aura truly loved her husband from the bottom of her heart, but she did not let that feeling cloud her judgment about his abilities.

    Going by his nerves and personality, it was pretty much impossible to cast magic for him already, when someone next to him simply drew his sword.

    Even if he were able to actually use "Teleport", he would not be able to use it as a means of escape in an emergency.

    As a consequence, Aura wanted a magic tool with the "Teleport" magic.

    Depending on its setting, the magic tool could be used even when you were nervous or frightened as long as you still had a bit of reasoning left.

    Zenjirou would be able to escape with it, when, for example, the ship capsized and sunk. Or when the delegation was dragged into some kind of conflict onnd. Or even when the Upps Kingdom tried to detain him for some reason after he arrived there.

    "I really want that magic tool, but for how much should Ipromise? Prince Francesco even revealed that sensible information about a ''Bestowal'' magic tool to me.

    Knowing him, he surely is going to go ahead with it on his own anyway.

    I guess they do not call him a genius creator of magic tools for nothing."

    On the other hand, they did not call him a carefree idiot for everything else for nothing, either.

    "I need to put some thought into how much I can afford to yield to The Twin Kingdom or the Upps Kingdom and how I can draw the best profit from them for my country."

    Aura generally preferred to keep a bnce between domestic and external policies.

    Of course her own country always came first, but whenever possible, she chose not to get on the bad side of her negotiation partners just for a quick profit, nor did she treat them too favourable and let them get overbearing.

    Her careful consideration was interrupted by the dry sound of a knock on the door.

    "! Enter."

    "Excuse me, Your Majesty."

    Called in after the knock, a middle-aged man with a slender face entered the room. It was Secretary Fabio.

    "Master Zenjirou has sent a Small Flying Dragon from the March of Guzzle. Here you are."

    Expressionless as ever, the secretary ced three wooden cylinder the size of a finger in front of Aura with these words.

    Taking one of them, Aura pulled the small Dragonskin Parchment out of it and read what was written on it.

    "Hmm¡­ Mh? Nilda Guzzle? Fabio, do you know of anyone called ''Nilda Guzzle''?"

    The faithful secretary immediately answered the question of the Queen.

    "No, I do not. Who is that supposed to be?"

    "ording to my husband, she is the ''second daughter'' of Marquis Guzzle. Apparently she just came of age this year, so fifteen years old, and is the illegitimate child the Marquis had with a woman from his domain."

    Hearing the exnation from the Queen, the Secretary shifted his gaze to the ceiling and pondered for a moment, but shook his head resolutely in the end.

    "Still does not ring a bell with me. Marquis Guzzle had four children. Three sons and one daughter. The first and second son both died in battle, so there is only his youngest son Sir Xavier and his daughter Lady Lucinda right now."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Certainly. Or at the very least, they are the only ones listed on the ''roll of names."

    "I see¡­ I am not questioning your memory, but check the ''roll of names'' again, just in case."

    "dly."

    The so-called "roll of names" was a document from the Royal Family, where all the names of the local nobility were listed on.

    Anyone on that list was nobility and vice versa.

    In other words, the girl named Nilda Guzzle was "not officially acknowledged as nobility", even when Marquis Guzzle actually imed that she was his own daughter.

    "It seems that very Nilda was entrusted with the duty to take care of my husband. It is unthinkable that amoner would get to take care of Royalty, even if she may be his real daughter. In any other case, I would suspect a plot now, but¡­"

    As though finishing her sentence, Secretary Fabio dered assertively.

    "That is not possible. At the very least, its mastermind cannot be Marquis Guzzle. The best he could plot would be a pitfall."

    The Queen assented to his words with a wry smile.

    "I see you are still not mincing your words, Fabio, But yes, I agree with you. It is hard to believe the Marquis can hatch aplicated plot.

    In that case, we might as well just ask him about it. Fabio."

    "Yes?"

    "Dispatch an envoy to the residence of Marquis Guzzle here in the Capital. I assume most of them have returned to the March for the wedding, but someone must have remained to look after the ce.

    Make hime here. He might know something about it."

    "Very well. I shall arrange it immediately."

    The secretary bowed down to the order of the Queen so perfectly it seemed inhuman.

 Chapter Volume 7 intermission 2

    Prologue: On the Way There

    Chapter 01: Arrival

    Chapter 02: The Marriage Ceremony

    Intermission I: The Queen in the Capital

    Chapter 03: For a Trivial Reason

    Intermission 2: The Queen has Confidence

    <b>Prologue: On the Way There</b>

    The "Meat Dragon" was a four-legged herbivore dragon that had been domesticated as a livestock on the South Continent for its meat. It breed often, grew up quickly and most of its body could be eaten, so these characteristics earned it the name "Meat Dragon" against its will.

    The majority of the meat that currentlynded on the dining tables of the South Continent came from domesticated "Meat Dragons", but needless to say, there were numerous wild "Meat Dragons" living in the wilderness as well.

    It was extremely easily to differentiate between a wild Meat Dragon and a domesticated Meat Dragon: The wild ones still had their two horns growing on their heads while the domesticated ones had them cut off.

    With their horns cut off, the Meat Dragons did not only lose their means for a physical attack, but also became less aggressive in their nature, which made it easier to rear them. Hence the horns of cultivated Meat Dragons were cut off after they reached a certain age. On the other hand, it meant that the wild Meat Dragons were surprisingly aggressive and dangerous.

    The furious onught from a wild Meat Dragon with its two horns could sometimes even catch a hunter or soldier off-guard.

    So a powerless viger would avoid any contact with wild Meat Dragons as much as possible.

    But it would bepletely different matter, when they banded together as an armed group. With a glint in their eyes, they would then kill the wild Meat Dragon.

    The Carpa Kingdom had a lot more preserved food than the North Continent for example, since it was the biggest producer of salt and spices, but it was not all that pleasant to keep living off just them for a long time.

    Forced to eat mainly jerked meat seasoned with salt and pepper along with dry tbread every day, the people started to see the initially dangerous wild Meat Dragons as nothing but a source for "juicy meat".

    And Zenjirou and his group on their way to the March of Guzzle were no exception.

    As a result, the wild Meat Dragon, who carelessly had revealed itself from the forest along the Salt Road, was hunted by the soldiers with bloodshot eyes.

    "GROWL!"

    "There it is!"

    "Don''t let it get away!"

    "It''sing your way, get ready!"

    Several soldiers were chasing after one Meat Dragon in the thick forest besides the Salt Road.

    An experienced hunter would immobilize it with a trap and finish it off with arrows from afar, but the ordinary soldiers took a more primitive approach: Cursorial Hunting.

    "Uwah!?"

    "It''s friggin'' huge!"

    "Don''t you dare to let it get away!"

    With their brandished spears, the soldiers chevied the Meat Dragon towards the road from all sides.

    A silver-haired girl and a blonde female soldier were awaiting it on the road.

    Princess Freya, the silver-haired girl, could neither conceal her tension, nor her excitement, as she held a long spear that was almost twice the height of herself with both hands.

    "Here ites, Mdy. Maybe I should take over after all?"

    Skathi, the blonde female soldier standing next to her, took one step forward as though protecting her master with the short spear and wooden shield in her hands, when she called out to her like that.

    But Princess Freya firmly shook her head in light of the consideration of her trusted retainer, so that her short silver hair fluttered about.

    "No, let me do this, Skathi. I will not get another chance to take down a dragon like this again."

    Even more than nervousness, her two eyes, fixated on the forest before her, revealed an eager glint of excitement while she said that.

    "Very well. From what I have heard, the Meat Dragon seems to behave like a boar. Please do not face it head-on, but rather attack it from the side with your spear."

    "Yes, I know."

    With the approval of her bodyguard, the princess from the Northern Continent showed a smile consisting of nervousness and tion alike, and red into the thick forest.

    "GROWL!"

    A few momentster, it appeared in the forest near the road.

    The wild Meat Dragon proudly bore the two horns on its head forward and jumped out onto the road while breaking through the thick branchwood with its massive body.

    "Watch out, Mdy!"

    "Y- Yes!"

    Princess Freya definitely was nervous, when she saw a wild dragon for the first time.

    Theparison to a boar had been suitable, seeing as it rushed at her in a straight line with its small round eyes bloodshot with agitation. Its appearance was quite redolent of the dinosaur called "triceratops" that had lived on Earth a long time ago. But unlike the triceratops, it had no horn on its nose.

    The biggest difference between a Meat Dragon and a boar was the size.

    Assuming the Meat Dragon in front of Princess Freya had the size of an average specimen of his race, it meant that the Meat Dragon was two or three times bigger than a boar.

    "GROOOWL!"

    When the Meat Dragon rushed straight at her with a battle cry, Princess Freya inadvertently raised the corners of her mouths into a crescent-shaped smile.

    At home, they only had her let hunt rabbits, foxes or a deer at best, but here, she was allowed to face a dragon, even if it was only a herbivore one.

    A shiver of excitement ran down her spine and she suppressed the urge tounch an attack herself. Instead she peered hard at the approaching huge dragon with the long spear in hand.

    "GROWL!"

    "Now!"

    She evaded the Meat Dragon by quickly stepping out of its path and then stabbed her long spear into the side of the dragon at full tilt.

    "Hah!"

    "GRRR!"

    Her all-out attack perfectly pierced the left shoulder of the dragon.

    But even though the attack from the light-weighted princess did harm the Meat Dragon, it did not finish it off.

    "Huh?"

    Moreover, she was suddenly in the path of its onught again, either because she had not stepped away far enough before or because she had pressed forward too far for her attack afterwards.

    The watching female soldier reacted to the predicament faster than the person in question herself.

    "Mdy! Down!"

    She was ordering her master like a pet dog, but given the circumstances, it could not be helped.

    "Yes!"

    Princess Freya obediently did like she was told and ducked down, practically throwing herself onto the ground.

    "Hah!"

    In the next moment, the leg of the female soldier swept over the ducked back of her master like a gust of wind.

    Skathi was pretty much a giant of a woman, but even then, her body mass was not even a quarter of the Meat Dragon. It definitely was impossible for her to stop the onught of the dragon head-on.

    But she could at least deflect it to the side for a bit by using a technique that applied all of her bodyweight to the impact of her leg.

    "GRR!"

    Skathi performed a perfect textbook example of a roundhouse kick, kicking the Meat Dragon right into its side.

    Just like she had nned, her attack deflected the onught of the Meat Dragon to the side and it staggered past the ducked princess.

    After thebined attack from Princess Freya''s spear and Skathi''s leg, the Meat Dragon tripped over its own legs and fell t onto the road. It seemed that it was not dead yet, seeing as it convulsed in pain on the ground with the white of its eyes showing, but it had obviously lost consciousness.

    "Well done, Mdy. Now, please finish it off before it wakes up again."

    The tall female warrior held out her hand to her prostrated master.

    "Thank you, Skathi. But now it counts as your kill and not mine, or am I wrong?"

    Princess Freya stood up with Skathi''s help, casually wiped the dirt off her cheeks with her sleeve and uttered displeased with puckered lips.

    It certainly looked like the kick from Skathi had been the decisive blow.

    Her grumbling was not met with a response from Skathi, but from a soldier of the Carpa Kingdom, who had chased the Meat Dragon here.

    "Not at all, Princess Freya. You inflicted a lethal wound on the Meat Dragon without doubt. It would have only been a matter of time until it died. Miss Victoria merely intervened to protect you."

    In view of that, Princess Freya squatted down near the Meat Dragon and examined the piercing wound she herself had inflicted on it.

    "¡­I see. That certainly seems to be the case."

    Looking at the copsed dragon confirmed that her spear had pierced into its flesh quite deeply. Apparently the soldier had not been ttering her, when he had said that her spear attack had inflicted a lethal wound.

    "Okay. Then¡­"

    Princess Freya honestly acknowledged their pleas and drew her favourite hatchet from its holster at her waist.

    "Where do I have to stab it to kill it? I have to admit that it is my first time going up against a dragon."

    "Right here in the back of the neck, Your Highness. Are you sure that you do not want to use a iron spear instead?"

    The soldier asked her worriedly. His concern was reasonable. It was by no means an easy task to finish off arge dragon with a strong vitality.

    But Princess Freya just smiled warmly.

    "I appreciate your concern, but I will be fine. This is my speciality."

    With these words, she confidently raised up her right hand holding her favourite hatchet in a fluent motion.

    As a matter of fact, Princess Freya was not lying. As a svenskar and a woman, she had a rather petite physique, so her overall fighting capacity was no better than an ordinary soldier, no matter how harsh she may train, but at least her skill with the hatchet was first-rate. Moreover, it absolutely suited her personality.

    Hence she had never failed to finish off her "prey" with it, whether it was a two-legged or four-legged animal. And her achievement was not tainted on the South Continent, either.

    "So, right here? Okay, here I go!"

    Princess Freya swiftly struck with her hatchet and severed the neck of the Meat Dragon with one strike just like the soldier had rmended.

    While Princess Freya worked up a sweat in the dragon hunt, Zenjirou patiently waited inside the carriage at the side of the road for its conclusion.

    The young girl was bravely participating in the hunt, whereas the grown-up man holed up inside the dragon carriage. This sounded rather pathetic by itself, but as a matter of fact, Zenjirou would be of no help and just a burden, even if he were to go out there, because he did not even know proper self-defence.

    He could only make himself useful by letting the princess protect him.

    Zenjirou wriggled about on his chair inside the wide carriage a bit ufortable, when he suddenly heard the cheers of the soldiers from outside before long.

    "Natalio?"

    "Yes, it seems the hunt has ended sessfully. It should be fine to head outside now. Will you go out, Master Zenjirou?"

    Zenjirou agreed with Natalio sitting across from him.

    "Indeed. You will take the lead, Natalio, Ines."

    "Yes, Sire."

    "Understood."

    Prompted like that, the knight and maid sitting across from him stood up together.

    The dragon carriage Zenjirou was currently boarding was a huge carriage drawn by eight dragons for royalty only.

    Its ceiling was so high that a grown-up man did not need to worry about bumping his head, when standing up.

    The whole carriage was actually so big that a person from Modern Earth would rather associate it with a passenger wagon of a train than a carriage.

    Just in case, Knight Natalio left the carriage first and checked, whether the situation was under control.

    "Everything is alright, Master Zenjirou."

    "Good."

    Hearing his words, Zenjirou also got off the carriage.

    "Phew, so bright."

    Stepping out of the carriage into the midday sun, he blinked a few times, because his eyes watered from the sudden change in light.

    While he squinted against the sun, the soldiers, who had guarded the carriage so far, gathered around him and formed a protective wall.

    As a formermoner, Zenjirou felt extremely ufortable to be nked by armed soldiers at all sides, but now that he was royalty, it was a given that he was apanied by so many guards, whenever he went outside.

    Knight Natalio was leading the guards. For now, he was the only knight that had sworn loyalty to Zenjirou himself.

    The guards, starting with Knight Natalio, stayed at his side by the same distance to him at all times, even without any directions.

    Whether he slowed down, because he looked around, stopped for a moment, because of a misstep, or quickened his pace, because he wanted to gloss over his misstep, the circle of soldiers around him never got into a state of disorder.

    Even if he were to suddenly start sprinting, it was unlikely he would be able to shake them off.

    So Zenjirou advanced on the "Salt Road", chaperoned by these diligent soldiers.

    "Feels like I hit upon a wide forest trail on my way to my mountain cabin."

    Walking on the road of soil overgrown with weeds, Zenjirou mumbled to himself. People of Modern Earth rarely got to see roads that were not asphalted.

    Zenjirou came from a country vige in the middle of nowhere, but even there, the main road had properly been asphalted. You would onlye across a holey path of soil as a cart track between fields or an abandoned mountain track.

    And because he was still not used to wearing the leather boots of this world, Zenjirou struggled along a bit clumsily, when the maid Ines suddenly passed by him.

    She outpaced him with a normal walking pace, so Zenjirou felt no need to reprimand her about it and just let it slide.

    Overtaking her master, the maid smoothly went over to Knight Natalio keeping watch in front of Zenjirou, and whispered a word or two into his ear.

    "!?"

    Knight Natalio gave a jerk to her words for a moment, but in the next moment, he pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back, quickly nocked it and send it towards the crown of a tree.

    "Hah!"

    The arrow was released with a small outcry from Knight Natalio and hit the "something" that was hiding high up in the treetop.

    "GYA!?"

    That "something" raised a shrill scream from high up and fell straight down to the side of the road.

    Zenjirou impulsively stopped in his track, when he heard that scream and its thud.

    Standing protective before Zenjirou, Knight Natalio still kept the dragon bow in his left hand ready and gave orders to the cautious soldiers near by.

    "It was a ''Thieving Dragon''. I think I finished it off, but you three, go take a look. Kill it if it is still alive. Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled!"

    "Yes, Sir!"

    With the instructions from Knight Natalio, three of the soldiers guarding Zenjirou rushed over to the side of the road.

    "Hmp!"

    "GII¡­"

    Apparently it was still alive as one of the soldiers impaled it with the short spear in his hands.

    "All clear. It''s dead now!"

    When the soldier waved his hand with these words, Knight Natalio acted as well.

    "Master Zenjirou, the danger has been averted. Please move on."

    "O- Okay."

    Overwhelmed by the all too fast development in front of his eyes, Zenjirou nodded absentmindedly and picked up the pace again.

    Before long, he arrived at the side of the road, where it had fallen down.

    "Well, this¡­ is not a pretty sight."

    Seeing the dead dragon, Zenjirou frowned unconsciously.

    "The ''Thieving Dragon'' is an outcast of the forest in more than one way after all."

    Knight Natalio consented to Zenjirou with a wry smile.

    In fact, it was quite the eerie sight.

    Almost half as big as a grown man, its whole body was covered by dark green scales, so it was a dragon aka. reptile, but its physique was closer to that of a monkey.

    Short legs and long arms coupled with a long and narrow tail. It had the typical build of an animal living on top of trees, but the face was that of a lizard.

    As it was already dead, its long forked tongue hung out limply from its pointed snout, which only added to its eeriness.

    "An outcast of the forest? So its appearance is not the only issue?"

    Knight Natalio nodded shortly to the question from Zenjirou.

    "Yes. As its name implies, it is a dragon that steals. It hides itself in the crown of the trees and attacks its prey from above, when it passes by. They are pretty daring in their efforts, so even pack animals like carnivore dragons fall an easy prey to them and get their eggs or nestlings stolen.

    Needless to say, we humans are no exception. Children or small women are targeted by the ''Thief Dragons'' first and if there is no such target, they go for the next best prey. In other words, they steal a ''part of their prey'' by tearing it off with their sharp fangs."

    In case of humans, a part would probably be an arm or the head.

    Zenjirou grimaced terrified in light of the exnation from Knight Natalio.

    "That¡­ sounds dreadful. I am d you killed it, Natalio."

    "It was not me, but Ines, who noticed the ''Thieving Dragon''. Please direct these words at her."

    Surprised by the knight''s words, Zenjirou shifted his gaze to the middle-age attendant, but came to a realisation at the same time.

    Earlier, Ines had suddenly passed him from behind to whisper something into the ear of Knight Natalio at the front. At that time, she must have told him about the Thieving Dragon.

    "I just happened to spot it. If anything, I say Sir Natalio deserves the praise for his swift and urate reaction."

    Ines shook her head with wry smile and praised the skills of Knight Natalio like that.

    "Yes, certainly."

    Looking up the tree, Zenjirou was convinced by her words.

    Even the smaller ones amongst the big trees standing on both sides of the road were at least bigger than an electricity pole, whereas the bigger ones were sometimes twice as big.

    Knight Natalio had sent an arrow up that high and had hit the vitals of the "Thieving Dragon" with his bow, so his masterful skills were beyond all question. Moreover, he had done so quite quickly without taking proper aim at the hidden "Thieving Dragon".

    Even if you took into consideration that he was using a superior dragon bow, it was still quite the feat.

    "It''s reassuring. Unfortunately I am no stronger than a woman or a child, so I will be counting on you well and truly."

    "Yes, Sire. Please rest assured. I will protect you, even if it costs my life."

    While talking with Knight Natalio like that, Zenjirou moved along the road and in time, Princess Freya and the others came into sight.

    Princess Freya noticed him first of all and waved with a bright smile.

    "Ahaha¡­"

    Zenjirou waved back, but his face was showing a dry smile.

    "Her Highness Freya seems to be quite the active person."

    Maid Ines interjected somewhat far-fetched, to which Zenjirou nodded assenting without breaking his dry smile.

    "Yeah, her vigour sure is to be envied."

    The hand the smiling princess waved with was firmly holding the blood-smeared hatchet.

    <b>Chapter 01: Arrival</b>

    Aside from some encounters with wild dragons, Zenjirou and his group arrived safely in the March of Guzzle without any further incidents.

    The capital of the March of Guzzle was a city fortified with high walls.

    Needless to say, it was nothing out of the ordinary. The South Continent was housing obviously hostile creatures in form of dragons, so every human settlement in the bordends was protected by walls to a greater or lesser extent.

    On top of that, the building of the feudal lord in the middle of the capital resembled a fortress, symbolizing the fortitude and straightforwardness of the Guzzle Family.

    In other words, it was a fortification within a fortification.

    That fortress was quiterge, giving the townspeople the opportunity to withdraw there in case of need, but it had practically no pompous beautification.

    Truth be told, it deserved the term "shabby", whenparing it to the Royal or Inner Pce, where Zenjirou usually spent his time, or even the Mansion in Valentia, where he had stayed for a month not long ago.

    But Zenjirou was d to be in a proper building again after he had spent thest few days in the bumpy carriage and foreign wilderness.

    Having reached his destination, he finally cast off his travelling attire and heaved a sigh of relief.

    "Hah, sweet freedom¡­"

    In the building allocated to him within the residence of the feudal lord, Zenjirou sloppily got rid of his shoes and socks, flopped himself onto the couch and rested his bare feet on the low table.

    He rarely ever disyed such an ill-mannered behaviour, not even in his Inner Pce, but right now, he was too tired to care. The ride in the carriage without proper suspension and the unfamiliar camping outside had exhausted his stamina and mind to the limit.

    "You have done well, Master Zenjirou. Would you like some water?"

    Waiting Maid Ines gave a warm smile and offered him a silver goblet with cold water.

    She and Zenjirou were currently the only ones in the room. In front of the acquainted maid of the Inner Pce, he could unwind.

    "Yeah, thanks, Ines. But I''ve to say, you sure are tough. You should actually be even more tired than me, since you took care of me the whole time."

    Saying this, Zenjirou looked up to the waiting maid standing next to the couch.

    Just like he had mentioned, the dignified appearance of Ines showed not the slightest hint of exhaustion.

    The middle-aged maid showed a faint smile in reaction to the appreciation of her master.

    "Well, I am used to it. I have been serving Her Majesty Aura on the battlefield during the previous war as well."

    "Oh, wow. Not bad."

    Zenjirou was honestly surprised at the confession from Ines. He was certainly surprised, but at the same time, he made sense of it. Ines surely had been sent with him this andst time, because she had that kind of backbone.

    The attendance in the wilderness would be difficult for a normal waiting maid that had never left the Royal or Inner Pce before.

    Ines took the empty goblet out of Zenjirou''s hand and said.

    "It seems that you will be staying in this building. I am sure there will be all kind of inconveniences, but please bear with it."

    "Yeah, I know. It''s no problem. I expected this from the beginning."

    Still slumping down in the couch sloppily, Zenjirou answered Ines like that.

    The oldest daughter of the Guzzle Family, Lucinda, was going to marry General Puyol. Zenjirou hade all the way to the March of Guzzle to attend their marriage ceremony.

    It goes without saying that General Puyol was the guest of honour this time around. Hence the main building of the residence of the feudal lord was used by General Puyol and his rtives as well as the Guzzle Family itself.

    So it was inevitable that Zenjirou was ced in the adjacent building, even as royalty. He usually did not need all that much personal space, so the annex building was not bothering him at all.

    He had been a bit perplexed, when he found out that the building had no own bath, but they were going to prepare a bathtub for him every day, so he could put up with it. Of course he would refuse to live his life in a house without a bath, but it was no reason to be willful, when he was just staying in it for the period of his visit.

    "Fuh¡­"

    For a while, he justzed around on the couch, when Ines suddenly called out to him.

    "Master Zenjirou. I am sorry to interrupt your rest, but I think it is about time the Guzzle Family will send a messenger to wee you.

    Pleasepose your clothing a bit. Even casual wear will be alright."

    "Oh, already thatte? Got it."

    With these words, Zenjirou reached out for some socks and indoor shoes.

    The only maid he had brought along from the Inner Pce on this asion was Ines. After all, the marriage between the eldest daughter of a feudal lord and a brass hat of the military was a big event, so an unbelievable number of nobles was rushing for the March of Guzzle.

    The capital of the March of Guzzle was built to withstand long-time sieges, so it was big enough to amodate that unbelievable amount of nobles, but it did not change the fact that the guests were putting arge strain on the capacity of their sleeping quarters as well as food provisions.

    Because of that, the number of servants they brought along was supposed to be kept to a bare minimum.

    Zenjirou fixed his attire and sat down on the couch again, mannerly this time. Before long, the door was knocked.

    Three women entered the room. Two of them were obviously past their youth, but the third one was a girl so small that she still looked like a child.

    Although they might as well be mother and daughter in age, it was obvious at a nce that the little girl was the important figure of them. For one thing she was standing in the middle, for another thing she alone was wearing different clothes.

    The two middle-aged women wore something in, almost like an uniform, whereas the girl was wearing a dress of clearly superior cloth, even if its design was simple.

    She was not a mere messenger, but obviously the daughter of a noble.

    (Is she the child of a branch family?)

    While this thought crossed Zenjirou''s mind, the girl opened her mouth with an expression stiff from nervousness.

    "It- It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Zenjirou. My name is Nilda, the second daughter of the Guzzle Family.

    My father has asked me to take care of you during your stay here. Please just say the word, if you need anything."

    She must have practiced it beforehand. Despite her nervousness, the little girl, Nilda smoothly delivered her speech without stuttering and then lowered her head politely so that her short ponytail swung around.

    "Okay. Then I shall take you up on your offer. By the way, could it be that you are the little sister of Lady Lucinda and Sir Xavier, seeing as you said that you are the second daughter?"

    Zenjirou was puzzled by her introduction at heart, but kept hisposure on the outside for now as he asked this.

    Unaware of these inner thoughts of the Prince Consort, the little girl widened her alreadyrge ck eyes even further

    "Yes, quite so! Although our mothers are different, Lucinda is my older sister and Xavier is my older brother!"

    and replied like that in an energetic voice. Judging by her expression seized with pride and joy, she seemed to harbour an honest affection for Lucinda and Xavier.

    It was not umon that siblings of different mothers were harbouringplicated feelings towards each other in High Society, but that did not seem to be the case for the Guzzle Family.

    "Sir Xavier looked after me in Valentia. If the chance arises, I would like to speak to him again."

    "Thank you for your kind words. I will ry it to my brother."

    Nilda smiled even happier as a result of his words.

    "Then I already have the first request. Can you arrange a bath for me? I worked up a sweat on the way here and would like to wash it off before dinner."

    "Yes, of course. I shall arrange for it immediately."

    When Zenjirou requested that, the petite girl straightened herself and bowed with a jerk. Then she left the room together with the two middle-aged servants.

    "¡­Ines."

    Zenjirou remained silent for a while after Nilda and the other two were gone, then called out the name of the waiting maid standing next to him with a stern expression.

    "Yes, what is the matter, Master Zenjirou?"

    "Her Majesty Aura has briefed me about the important people of the Guzzle Family prior to this. However, a Nilda Guzzle was not amongst them.

    Can I assume that Her Majesty purposefully did not tell me about her?"

    He was alone with Ines now, but he still kept the attitude and tone of Royalty, so she must have discerned the importance of his question from that.

    The faithful maid kept her stern expression, when she immediately shook her head to the question of her master.

    "No. I dare to say that is not the case. Her Majesty Aura has no reason to keep her existence from you, even if she is the daughter of a mistress."

    Zenjirou rxed his shoulders a bit relieved, when Ines answered him t out.

    Aura was his beloved wife, but before that, she was also the Queen of a country, so he did understand that she obviously kept some things from him or schemed some ploys unknown to him, but at the same time, it was obviously not a pleasant feeling to have your wife do that to you.

    Hence he immediately felt better, when that possibility was ruled out.

    "Then she did not cause this misinformation on purpose. The easiest exnation would be that it ''slipped her mind to tell me''¡­"

    "Her Majesty is only human, too, after all, so that possibility is not unthinkable, but I would say we can rule it out for now, because Secretary Fabio is with her."

    "Then the only other exnation is that Her Majesty did not know about her, either¡­ Is that even possible? That Her Majesty does not know about a child from an influential feudal lord?"

    Zenjirou cocked his head doubtful, whereupon Ines responded with a businesslike tone.

    "It is rtively well-known, when an illegitimate child does not get acknowledged. But it also not unheard of that a feudal lord tried to conceal his child from Royalty in the past, either.

    But in neither of these cases, they would have made Lady Nilda appear before you like this.

    So it would mean that she is abiding by some kind of conspiracy, but for that, Lady Nilda showed no guilt in her eyes and behaved straightforward, even if a bit nervous. And above all, the Guzzle Family is not known for acting underhanded like this, so I believe that possibility is extremely unlikely as well."

    "In the end, this got us nowhere."

    "So it would seem."

    The situation was obviously strange, but the other party was not behaving conspicuous, so their intentions were not perceptible.

    "¡­.."

    Slumping deep into the couch, Zenjirou pondered for a while with his hand against his chin, but in the end, there was only one conclusion he could arrive at.

    "I will inform Her Majesty Aura and await her instructions. Until then, we will not stir up this matter any further."

    "Very well. I will prepare everything at once."

    Like always, Zenjirou was going to rely on Aura''s judgment. Ines just lowered her head respectfully.

    * * *

    Evening of the same day.

    After washing off the sweat from the travel in the bathtub, Zenjirou had taken a short nap to relieve his fatigue. Now waiting maid Ines woke him up and informed him about the dinner ns.

    "Ehm, in other words, today''s dinner will be an ''open-air banquet hosted by Princess Freya'' in the garden of this building?"

    "Yes. Or more precisely, Princess Freya does want to hold it like that and is awaiting your approval for it.

    We still have a lot of the smoked meat of the ''Meat Dragon'' from the other day left over, so she suggested we share it with everyone. Well, if you are against it, the whole meat will just be gifted to the Guzzle Family."

    "Oh, that meat."

    A few days ago, Princess Freya had killed a wild Meat Dragon along the Salt Road and Zenjirou still had not forgotten about it.

    Most of the killed dragon had been consumed for dinner on that very day, but they had smoked the leftovers and put them into the supply cart.

    Apparently Princess Freya wanted to host a great banquet with that smoked meat now.

    "I do not really mind giving my permission for it, but what are the respective consequences for allowing or refusing it?"

    The middle-aged maid smoothly answered the question from her master without pause.

    "Well, considering that the banquet shall be held in the garden, you would have to invite Lady Nilda, because she is responsible for this building, as well as some other nobles, too.

    And when Princess Freya is the host of such an event with your permission, it will only reinforce their impression that she will be your concubine.

    On the other hand, if you were to refuse it, it will give the opposite impression. Namely that you have reservations towards Princess Freya."

    "I see¡­"

    Zenjirou could not help but grimace in reaction to the detailed exnation from the waiting maid.

    In short, he would practically be announcing to the guests that he himself was weing Princess Freya as his concubine, if he were to ept her request.

    He would literally do away with himself with that decision, seeing as he actually did not want to take a concubine.

    Then he should just refuse her request. But unfortunately, it was not that simple. Refusing her in turn would be like officially announcing that he did not ept Princess Freya.

    Queen Aura herself had officially recognized her concubine matter insofar as allowing her to attend this marriage ceremony as a partner for Zenjirou.

    If Zenjirou were to reject Princess Freya in the open now, it would give other people the misunderstanding that the Queen and her Prince Consort had a conflict of opinions.

    "Fine. Tell her she has my permission."

    In the end, Zenjirou could only do this, even if he knew that he was putting his own head in the noose.

    His own self-interest against the reputation of the Queen. It goes without saying which he ought to prioritize.

    His waiting maid lowered her head briefly in light of her master''s response.

    "Understood, Master Zenjirou. I will convey it to her."

    "Good."

    With this short reply, Zenjirou stood up from the couch and started to change his clothes.

    By now, he had gotten less reluctant to let the maids see him in pyjamas or underwear, so he tantly took off his blue-striped pyjama and let Ines help him put on the traditional clothes of the Carpa Kingdom.

    These clothes were the same as the third official attire he often wore in the Royal Pce, but with less decoration and easier to move in. Zenjirou had gotten used to the traditional clothestely, so he had faith in himself to put them on by himself, but ording to the waiting maids of the Inner Pce, it would turn into a "scandal", if he were to appear in public after putting them on without their help.

    While changing his clothes, he made some small-talk with Ines.

    "Are you getting along well with Princess Freya, Master Zenjirou?"

    "Hmm. I''m sure we''ve grown pretty close on the way here. After all, we spent several days together in the same carriage. And I don''t really dislike her personality, anyway."

    He was being honest, when he said that.

    Her behaviour and choice of words was certainly sophisticated, but Princess Freya did not really beat around the bush like nobility usually did, liked to move around and disyed a variety of expression, so Zenjirou was by no means put off by her.

    "Then there should be no problem to ept her as a concubine, right?"

    But he firmly shook his head in reaction to the question from Ines.

    "These are two different things altogether. The problem is not my feelings towards her, but my fear of disrupting our domestic peace by taking a second wife."

    It would work out, if they were "a happily married couple + a woman on friendly terms with both of them", but Zenjirou could not envision a bright future, when "two women loved the same man", no matter how well these two women might actually get along.

    He did acknowledged the difference in their culture and moral values in the head, but his heart had a hard time catching up to it.

    "It''s reallyfortable in the Inner Pce with Aura, Zenkichi and me right now.

    I know Princess Freya is a good girl, but to be honest, I''m scared to add her to our harmonic family."

    Ines narrowed her eyes to slits, like being blinded, when Zenjirou gave her his honest opinion.

    "You sure love Her Majesty Aura and Prince Carlo-Zen from the bottom of your heart."

    "Ah, well, yeah. Oh, speaking of Zenkichi, you always call him Carlo-Zen."

    Embarrassed by the straightpliment, Zenjirou stammered a bit and quickly changed the topic.

    Carlos Zenkichi. In short, Carlo-Zen. In fact, Zenjirou was the only one calling him Zenkichi and about everyone else called him Carlos. Ines was actually one of the very few that referred to him as Carlo-Zen.

    Zenjirou had brought up the matter without any ulterior motive. He just had wanted to change the topic, but it was somewhat meaningful for Ines.

    "You are right. The title of ''Princess Carlos'' always reminds me of Histe Majesty Carlos II. after all."

    With a distant look in her eyes, Ines uttered mncholic.

    "His Majesty Carlos II.? You mean Aura''s predecessor? Now that you mention it, they do have the same name. Ah, but shouldn''t it be ''His Majesty Carlos'' instead of ''Prince Carlos'' for him?"

    Recalling the knowledge he learned from Lady Octavia, Zenjirou asked this, whereupon Ines shook her head a bit, the distant look still in her eyes.

    "Yes, you are right. But His Majesty had only assumed the throne for less than a year. I was always calling him ''Prince Carlos'', back then when I served him."

    "Say what!? You have served thete king?"

    He widened his eyes in surprise, but it was actually only normal that she did.

    Ines was ten years older than Aura, so it was not all that surprising that she had served a different master before Aura.

    "Yes. That is why I cannot help but recall His Late Majesty, when I hear the title ''Prince Carlos'', so I would rather use the address of ''Prince Carlo-Zen''. If you have a problem with it, I can correct myself, though?"

    She asked him that, but Zenjirou shook his head with a smile.

    "No, keep it up. I was just curious about it."

    No matter what she called him, it was beyond all question that Ines treated his son with respect and affection, so there was no need to stick at such trifles.

    She must have noticed the faith he put in her.

    "Thank you very much, Master Zenjirou. Okay, we are done now."

    After helping him dress up, Ines showed a warm smile and lowered her head a bit.

    * * *

    For High Society, it was nothing special to host a banquet in the garden, so the yard of the annex building in the residence of the Guzzle Family had all the necessary equipment as well.

    Well, it was just a well for washing the ingredients, a counter for preparing the food and a stone hearth for cooking, but it was enough to do some simple cooking like a barbeque without problems.

    The roasting meat and vegetables gave off an aromatic smell while the fire illuminated the smiling face of Princess Freya, which Zenjirou was observing from a bit apart.

    "Okay, it looks done. I will slice it up, so please give me a moment."

    Princess Freya truly seemed to enjoy herself in the role of the head chef. With a smile on her face the whole time, she moved around busily while her short silver hair was dyed red by the fire.

    She was supposed to be true-blood royalty, but her bright smile as she sliced the meat was genuine without doubt.

    (Maybe she likes cooking?)

    Arge silhouette approached Zenjirou while he harboured that thought.

    "Your Majesty Zenjirou, if you would like, please take this."

    He was offered a silver te with a meat and vegetable skewer by a woman so tall he had too look up to her. It was Victoria Kronkvist alias Skathi.

    "Oh, Miss Victoria. Thanks."

    Zenjirou took the skewer from the te the trusted retainer of Princess Freya held out to him and thanked her while holding up the skewer.

    "No, I should be thanking you, Your Majesty.

    Thank you very much for allowing the Mdy to host this banquet tonight.

    I am expressing the greatest gratitude in ce of my master."

    The female warrior solemnly lowered her head with these words, whereas Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled with the skewer still in hand.

    By allowing her to host this banquet, Zenjirou had taken another step forward to epting Princess Freya as his concubine, but he got the feeling that Skathi was not thanking him for that reason.

    "¡­I am not familiar with the culture of the North Continent, but does an open-air banquet happen to have some kind of special meaning to it there?"

    Zenjirou wondered, if he had been deceived, so he automatically asked this with a somewhat stiff voice, but the tall woman shook her head unintimidated.

    "No, Your Majesty. You have nothing to fear from it.

    But it is indeed somewhat special. You see, the Mdy has always dreamed of hosting an official banquet with the prey she had finished off herself.

    In our country, only ''warriors'' are giving that privilege."

    He more or less discerned what Skathi was getting at. After taking a bite from the skewer and chewing it thoroughly, he opened his mouth.

    "¡­That means Princess Freya is not a warrior? Our soldiers were praising her spearmanship, when she finished off the Meat Dragon, though."

    In the Carpa Kingdom, women could never be warriors, but it should be different for their mothend, the Upps Kingdom. After all Skathi, the woman in front of him, had proimed to be a "warrior" herself.

    She must have realized why Zenjirou asked that.

    Skathi shook her head with a small smile.

    "Mdy certainly does have the minimum fitness to fight. But a woman cannot be a ''warrior'' with that.

    For a woman to be a warrior, she needs to be at least as strong as a ''Hundra'', which is three ranks above her current level."

    Even in the Upps Kingdom, the men generally took up the arms. So when a woman was only as strong as an average man, she was obliged to fulfil her role as a woman instead.

    Their reasoning was that any other man could take her ce, but only a woman could give birth, so she ought to fulfil that duty.

    But precious few women were born with a talent for martial arts so great that it would be "a waste to force them into the role of a woman".

    Only women, who outperformed an average man by far, were allowed to be "warriors", because their martial art skills were more profitable to the country or tribe than motherhood.

    The female warriors of the Upps Kingdom literally had to be mannish women and more mannish than your average guy, at that.

    "I see¡­"

    Zenjirou was convinced by that exnation.

    It was not hard to imagine how much Princess Freya yearned for the title for a "warrior", seeing as she was not content with getting stereotyped.

    So it was most understandable that she could not rein in her excitement for putting on a banquet with the prey she had finished herself, a privilege that was usually only given to warriors.

    Zenjirou sat down on a trimmed tree stump and looked around.

    The banquet resembled the outdoor camping event from his middle school days, but most of the participants here were the soldiers that had guarded him up till now.

    Because this event was held in appreciation for the hard work of the soldiers, only a handful of nobility from rear vassals of the Guzzle Family had been invited in addition to Nilda Guzzle, the nominal caretaker of this annex building.

    Everyone was busy preparing for theing marriage ceremony, so it would nothing but trouble, if Royalty were to throw a big party here.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou did not have to deal with troublesome conversations. Something he was very d about.

    "I cordially thank you for inviting me today, Master Zenjirou."

    While he was making himselffortable on the stump, a little girl approached him: Nilda Guzzle.

    With herrge ck eyes beaming out on him, Nilda took hold of her skirt and did a curtsy.

    "Well, it is not my party, but Princess Freya''s, though. The dishes from a Meat Dragon she killed herself, too. I hope it suits your taste."

    "Yes, she was kind enough to share some with me earlier. It is really delicious."

    Themon tinge of ttery was absent in her bright smile, when she answered like that.

    The skewer of smoked meat seasoned with spices and salt was actually a rather in dish, but she was eating it with relish.

    "Princess Freya sure is courageous for finishing off a wild Meat Dragon with a spear. I have seen a wild dragon once, when I was still living in the vige, but I cannot even imagine going up against one. My legs would give in just from standing in front of it."

    Nilda shivered with fright, whereupon Zenjirou smiled vaguely.

    "You lived in a vige?"

    "Yes. I was born and raised there by my mother. My father Marquis Guzzle found me, when I was nine, and acknowledged me as someone from the Guzzle Family."

    "I see¡­"

    In other words, the feudal lord hadid hands on a female subject, making an illegitimate child without intending to.

    That sounded like a difficult upbringing, if it was really true, but with that said, her expression was not tainted with sadness in the least.

    (Maybe she was born with a carefree nature? Or did she have really kind people around her in both households?)

    Completely unaware of his thoughts, Nilda kept on talking with an amiable bright smile.

    "So I do have taken care of domestic Meat Dragons or Hulking Dragons before, but docile dragons are still plenty scary.

    To think that she stood up against a wild dragon. I really respect that."

    Her big eyes gleamed with respect, just like she had said.

    At some point, the girl had all forgotten about her nervousness and reservation, talking to him most affable. Zenjirou gave her a wry smile and carefully picked his words to caution her.

    "Yes, Princess Freya certainly is formidable. But you know, Nilda, it would be better, if you refrained from speaking so openly, even if it is meant as praise.

    A lot of people in High Society tend to be offended by it and sometimes it can even cause a dispute."

    "Yes, Master Zenjirou. I will take it to heart from now on. Thank you very much for your advisement."

    Nilda looked bashfully at the ground as a result of his warning, exactly the kind of frankness Zenjirou literally had cautioned her about a moment ago.

    (At the very least, there''s no doubt that she isn''t a natural-born noble.)

    He came to that conclusion, when he looked at her ever-changing expressions.

    On a closer look, Nilda appeared a bit awkward in her behaviour and choice of words.

    That was surely the result of "deliberately putting her mind on" acting like nobility, just like Zenjirou did it.

    (It does worry me. She''s a bit too unmindful and friendly. I mean, she IS nobility after all.)

    At the beginning, Nilda had been nervous and reserved, but she had opened up at the open-air banquet in no time, just like a little puppy to its owner.

    (If that''s all part of their scheme, I tip my hat to the Guzzle Family, but Ines said they aren''t really like that.)

    The reason Zenjirou was thinking about the Guzzle Family along these lines was because the girl named Nilda quickly made a favourable impression on him.

    The girl did not harbour fear or wariness towards Royalty or Nobility, even though she had been adopted into a noble family at a young age. It suggested the assumption that the Guzzle Family had not treated her badly.

    Zenjirou was actually quite fond of people with such rich expressions. Props to them, if that was what they were after.

    "Master Zenjirou, is the Royal Capital really that big? I have heard that the Royal Pce is supposed to be quite a sight to be see, but I cannot quite envision it. Would you be so kind to tell me about it?"

    "Well, I rarely ever leave the Royal or Inner Pce, so my opinion is pretty biased, but I believe it is quite beautiful.

    The buildings are uniformly built with white stones and look sturdy, but also stylish. The gardens are affectionally maintained as well, growing beautiful flowers and trees, and the fountains or ponds have water as clear as crystal. A few ponds even have fishes in them to look at.

    Its surface sparkles goldfish yellow, because of the golden fishes and clear water. Definitely well worth seeing."

    "Oh, wow. Fantastic! I would like to go there and see it!"

    The Royal and Inner Pce were practically "his home" now, so he was happy, but also a bit bashful to see the outright admiration in her eyes.

    "You have never gone to the Capital before? The Guzzle Family does have a residence there, no?"

    "My family seems to have always attached more importance to its own territory, so only a bare minimum of personnel stays in the Capital. And I am still a minor, so I seldom if ever leave this ce.

    Ah, but I am pretty sure that I will be brought to the Capital once I turn fifteen!"

    "I see. Unfortunately, I cannot show you around town in my position, but what I can do is show you around the pce, when youe by."

    It was extremely rare that Zenjirou made such a promise of his own ord. He seemed to have let his guard down a bit around the open-hearted Nilda.

    "Yes, I am looking forward to it."

    Nilda answered him with a bright smile.

    As the host, Princess Freya had been busy sharing the food with everyone, but she more or less finished exchanging pleasantries and had some time for herself now.

    "You did well, Princess Freya. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."

    Zenjirou stood up and greeted Princess Freya, who approached him with a satisfied smile.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty Zenjirou. May I sit down next to you?"

    The silver-haired princess took a silver goblet with fruit wine from the tray waiting maid Ines offered her, had a taste of it and asked him that with a dazzling smile.

    Zenjirou could not help but show his bewilderment.

    He was currently sitting on nothing extravagant like a bench, but a mere "stump of a tree". Needless to say, her question was not referring to another seat next to him, but whether she was allowed to sit down on the same stump.

    It was quite the bold proposal, but it would not make a good impression, if he were to refuse her.

    With a smile, Zenjirou took off the vest he had been wearing and covered the stump with it.

    "Yes, of course, Princess Freya. Please have a seat."

    "Thank you very much, Your Majesty."

    Although the stump was rtively big, with two people on it, they were sitting close enough to feel each other''s body warmth.

    The hem of her dress was even touching his foot. Zenjirou might as well put his arm around her waist to make this proximity morefortable.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­.."

    A man and a woman were sitting together on a single stump of a tree in a garden at night.

    The me of the fire bathed the silver hair and pale-white skin of Princess Freya in a reddish light.

    Zenjirou was entranced by her without meaning to. The silver-haired princess cocked her head a bit as she smiled at him.

    "Allow me to express my gratitude once more, Your Majesty. A dream of mine hase true thanks to you."

    Her illuminated smile was not the kind of superficial smile nobility always used, but one that revealed her honest feelings.

    "I am d to be of help. The customs of your homnd do not apply here on the South Continent, so I believe you may act as you see fit."

    "So Skathi told you. It is a bit embarrassing to have your childhood dream exposed. But I was really happy.

    Hunting a dragon with my own hands and hosting a feast for the soldiers somehow makes me feel like an hero of old."

    On the South Continent, dragons were nothing but livestock, but on the North Continent, they were the stuff of legends. Creatures you only found, when you ventured deep into the uninhabited mountains.

    It definitely was somewhat heroic to y one of these with your own hands and prepare a feast with it.

    Zenjirou neither had the guts, nor the skills to do something like that, so he did not even think about trying it, but he did understand her admiration for that kind of thing.

    "I admire your courage and zest for action. That strong heart of yours surely has enabled you to make the long voyage between our countries."

    "Fufu. ording to my brother back home, I am merely reckless and restless. I was just trying my best in my own way, though.

    I practiced the bow as well as the spear and learned how to camp outside. For sea travel, I even memorized the sailor''s knot and the handling of a cordeddder. On top of that, I learned the necessary magic for long-distance sea-travels such as ''Water Maniption'' and ''Drinking Water Treatment''.

    None of these skills will help me get married in the future. On the contrary, they will be a burden."

    "But you are now here, precisely because of these efforts. In my opinion, every knowledge and skill you gain will be an asset for life."

    Zenjirou did utter these words as a praise, but at the same time, they came from the heart.

    The Carpa Kingdom was even more set on enforcing the gender roles than the Upps Kingdom, the home country of Princess Freya, but Zenjirou was married to Queen Aura, an exception to the exception, so he barely had adopted themon sense of this country.

    ording to his moral values, learning seafaring or even a little bit of martial arts was a legit virtue.

    To begin with, he would have never fallen for Aura, if he had deemed martial arts or vigour unnecessary for a woman.

    Princess Freya must have noticed that his words were more than just simple fair-seeming.

    "Thank you, Your Majesty. Shameful as it may be, I do like running around in the wildness with my spear or crossing the vast ocean in a boat.

    I am well aware that I am going against allmon sense, so I do not me anyone for frowning upon my behaviour or reprimanding me for it.

    But nothing could make me happier, when someone actually epts what I like to do with a passion."

    "Haha, it makes me feel embarrassed, when you are this happy about it. But I did mean what I said earlier."

    The man from a different world and the girl from the North Continent had all forgotten about the fact that they were sitting so close to each other that their feet were touching, and were happily engulfed in their chit-chat.

    * * *

    It was obvious that the open-air banquet wasing to an end. The meat and vegetables were all eaten up, the empty barrels of alcohol were multiplying and the fire was starting to burn out. Anyone could tell that the party was nearing its end.

    The earlier loudughter and tone-deaf songs died down and only some hushed conversations remained. At this point in time,

    DONG, DONG.

    The sound of arge bell suddenly resonated through the dark night.

    "Ines?"

    Zenjirou immediately stood up from the stump and consulted the waiting maid standing at attention behind him, but Ines shook her head with aposed look.

    "It seems to being from the main building, but I do not know why. However, I believe it is not an emergency, seeing as Lady Nilda is not reacting to it."

    His gaze automatically shifted to Nilda and she certainly did not seem surprised by it, nor did look the least bit worried or frightened.

    When Nilda noticed his gaze, she stood up with a jerk and came trotting over to him.

    "My apologies, Master Zenjirou. I did forget to inform you about this. The bell just know only signalizes that a guest has arrived at the main gate.

    You there, please go over to the main building for more information."

    "Yes, understood."

    Upon her order, one of the soldiers on watch went off.

    "A guest thiste at night?"

    Zenjirou could not help but cock his head puzzled.

    Right now, nobility from all across the country wereing together in the March of Guzzle for the marriage ceremony, so a guest itself was nothing out of the ordinary. But it was strange that one would arrive at such an hour. It goes without saying that travelling at night was quite dangerous in various ways.

    They were not pressed for time, since the marriage ceremony was not going to be held tomorrow or anything, so they would normally not push their luck and rather spent one more night in a suitable ce, arriving here first thing in the morning instead.

    While Zenjirou was mulling over this, the soldier came back from the main building.

    Even amidst this darkness, you could tell from afar that the soldier was rushing over as fast as he could. He then reported with a loud voice.

    "Reporting in! Just now, the delegation from the ''Navarre Kingdom'' has arrived!"

    "The Navarre Kingdom?"

    As the name sounded familiar to him, Zenjirou recalled the necessary information in his head.

    The Navarre Kingdom was a middle power situated in the middle west of the South Continent. It bordered on the Carpa Kingdom with a steep mountain range in-between them as a buffer. And that very border area happened to be the March of Guzzle.

    In other words, they were practically neighbours, if not for that mountain.

    It seemed somewhat odd that a neighbouring country would send a delegation to the marriage ceremony of local nobility, but it was not really unusual for a feudal state.

    The feudal lords in the bordends were given a certain level of freedom in regards to independent contact with bordering countries.

    As soon as he remembered that, Zenjirou could get his head around their arrival.

    "Oh, I see. If they areing from the Navarre Kingdom, it makes sense that they travelled through the night to arrive by today."

    The mountain range between the March of Guzzle and the Navarre Kingdom was quite dangerous in terms of terrain and dragons living there.

    It certainly was true that the risk of travelling at night was lower than staying an additional night in such a dangerous ce.

    Because he remembered these circumstances, Zenjirou epted the situation and the soldier, still out of breath, continued his report.

    "Moreover, the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom is headed by General Mart¨ªn Nadal!"

    The reaction to that name was dramatic.

    Before, the garden had be so silent you could have heard a water drop hit the ground, but in the next moment, amazed outcries echoed through the night.

    "Th- That General Mart¨ªn!?"

    "No way! Who''s protecting their country then!?"

    "It shows how serious they take the liaison between the Guzzle Family and General Puyol."

    Be it the soldiers Zenjirou had brought along from the Royal Capital, the soldiers from the March of Guzzle or even the rear vassals of the Guzzle Family, no one could keep their surprise and excitement in check, saying whatever they wanted.

    The only exceptions were Princess Freya and Skathi, since they had never heard of the name of General Mart¨ªn and just cocked their heads puzzled, and waiting maid Ines, who never broke her calm mask.

    Looking around, Zenjirou relied on Ines for information.

    "Ines, who is General Mart¨ªn?"

    "Yes. Mart¨ªn Nadal is the most prominent general in the Navarre Kingdom.

    He emerged from the previous war as the hero with a lot of achievements and it is said that most of the credit for surviving the war belongs to him, considering the Navarre Kingdom is by no means a major power."

    She must have expected his question. The middle-aged waiting maid calmly answered him in a business-like tone.

    Zenjirou widened his eyes surprised, when the evaluation turned out even better than he had expected.

    "In short, he has the same standing as General Puyol in our country?"

    His question was met with immediate approval from the middle-aged maid.

    "Indeed. General Mart¨ªn is on par with General Puyol."

    "Hm?"

    Something about her phrasing bothered Zenjirou. She had not used the phrasing "is said to be on par", nor the phrasing "is considered to be on par".

    He was bewildered that she had called him his literal equal with all certainty. Ines amplified her exnation as though clearing up his confusion.

    "More precisely, he is the very person that inflicted the wounds that General Puyol has on his cheek and forehead."

    "¡­I see."

    The guest had an unbelievably meaningful connection to the groom, so Zenjirou bid adieu to his wishful thinking that this marriage ceremony would end without trouble.

    <b>Chapter 02: The Marriage Ceremony</b>

    General Mart¨ªn Nadal was a man in the prime of his life, a little bit over forty.

    Also known as the Guardian Deity of the Navarre Kingdom, this man looked exactly like what you would expect from his title.

    One-hundred and ny centimetre tall and over hundred kilogram heavy.

    He was one head shorter than the almost two metre tall General Puyol, but surpassed him in body width. Needless to say, that did not mean that he was fat.

    His body was a stronghold of trained muscles to the point that it did not show his age of over forty years at all.

    Despite his massive boar-like build, he moved around smoothly like a feline predator.

    General Mart¨ªn was sitting on a chair in one room of the building the Guzzle Family had allocated to him, and cracked a wry smile.

    "Oh man, have got to give the Carpa Kingdom credit. Or should I say, the Guzzle Family, in this case? Either way, they are not to be underestimated."

    When the hero of their country uttered this almost fearfully, the young knight standing at attention behind him gave a nervous response.

    "Could you exin what you mean by that, General Mart¨ªn? The Carpa Kingdom always had more fighting power than our country."

    "Hm, you don''t understand? Look at this chair and desk. The chair doesn''t even bulge under my weight and is quitefortable. The desk has the right height, too.

    And they immediately brought me to this room, when I arrived, without having to wait."

    Being told that much, the young knight came to understand what the general was implying as well.

    "¡­In other words, word got out somewhere that you will be attending this marriage ceremony as our representative?"

    The general was one-hundred and ny centimetre tall and weighted over a hundred kilogram, so a normal chair and desk would obviously not meet his needs. The chair would squeak rmingly, if he sat down rashly, or it could turn into a catastrophe, when he sat down in a chair with armrests, because his firm bottom did not fit in.

    But nothing of the sort happened with the chair he currently sat in. It was a simple wooden chair without decorations, but easily supported the hundred kilogram of the general and was a perfect fit for him in terms of height and width.

    "Well, I''m not sure about an information leak. I think they just anticipated it. After all, my connection to General Puyol is rather well-known."

    Saying this, General Mart¨ªn unconsciously put his right hand on his breastbone and scratched his old wound over the clothes.

    General Puyol had given him that wound in the previous war.

    Not really the type to dwell on things, General Mart¨ªn still could not help but pay attention to General Puyol, though.

    "Did he arrange this? Maybe not. This is thend of his bride. Not even General Puyol has that much to say here, yet.

    The only other logical exnation is that the Guzzle Family arranged it. But I can''t see the Marquis being so considerate. Does he have a smart adviser¡­?"

    The giant general lost himself deeply in thought, but was brought back to reality by the gaze of the young knight in the corner of the eye.

    "Hmm, what''s up?"

    The young knight had been staring at one corner of the table for a while now.

    His gaze went to a small rectangle box. It contained cinnamon sugar hardened in stick form.

    It was an unnecessary provision for General Mart¨ªn, since he hated sweets, but the young knight had a weak spot for it despite his virile appearance, so he could not ignore it.

    "Ah, no, it is nothing."

    The young knight deliberately averted his gaze from it with a cough, whereupon General Mart¨ªn smiled wryly.

    "You sure love sweets."

    "¡­Something wrong with that?"

    Turning a bit red in the face from shame, the young knight puckered his lips.

    "Not per se. But I do hate them."

    "I do like them."

    "Yes and that''s the problem. Why do you think these are left here, when I hate them, but you like them?"

    "¡­Oh?"

    For a moment, the young knight was at a loss for words, when the general pointed it out.

    Seeing the knight turn pale in the face, General Mart¨ªn smiled sympathetic and called the things as they were.

    "That''s right. Not many men like sweet things like that. I can''t be dead certain, but I say it''s quite likely these are for you, Cristiano Pinto."

    The hero of the previous war called the young knight by his name.

    "It goes without saying for a person with a standing like you, General, but why would they be aware of an obscure guy like myself?"

    "Oh,e on, Cris. Don''t be so hard on yourself. Any person with a spark of intelligence would obviously keep the name Cristiano Pinto in mind."

    General Mart¨ªn was by no means lying, when he said that.

    Not even twenty years old yet, Cristiano was still young, but he had already risen to the envious position of a Knight Captain affiliated to the general. One reason for that was his ancestry: He was the oldest son of the famous Pinto Family, which had inherited the royal blood quite strongly. But the bigger reason was his own martial skills.

    The general was not so shallow as to pick him based on the right pedigree alone. To begin with, General Mart¨ªn had worked his way up from nothing, so he valued actions over words and thought little of lineage.

    With these views, General Mart¨ªn had pinned his hopes on Cristiano Pinto as the "next protector of the country".

    Nevertheless, it was a fact that it needed a really perceptive person to take notice of him from a different country at this point of time.

    "Arge territory does not make a major power, neither does arge poption. Maintaining thatrge territory andrge poption by employing the right personnel is what makes a nation a major power.

    Never forget that."

    "Sir, yes, Sir."

    The general and his prot¨¦g¨¦e from the Navarre Kingdom called the caution against major powers, the Carpa Kingdom in particr, to mind once again.

    * * *

    Around the same time, the people from the Guzzle Family were extremely busy with preparing for the marriage ceremony and greeting the arriving guests in the main building.

    That was nothing out of the ordinary by itself. The marriage between influential nobles was such a big event after all.

    "Lady Lucinda, the adjustments to your wedding dress have been finished. Please try it on now."

    "I understand. Wait for me in the room next door. I wille over as soon as I am done here."

    "Lady Lucinda, Master Zenjirou and his group have had dinner and Miss Nilda reported that there were no problems."

    "Good. Tell Nilda to drop by my room before going to bed. I want to hear the report from herself, just to be sure."

    "Lady Lucinda, we have ushered the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom to their rooms. They have not expressed any displeasure for now."

    "d to hear that. Of course we cannot privilege a certain group, but it would be an international affair, if something were to happen with them, so please be extra careful, when dealing with them."

    The only abnormality here was the fact that Lucinda Guzzle, the bride-to-be herself, was managing the versatile nning in its entirety.

    She had always been in charge of the territory, because the Marquis was generally working in the capital, but her duties did not even change on this special asion.

    Lucinda Guzzle was still unmarried at twenty-six, even though the etiquette in the Carpa Kingdom considered it to be already toote, when you had not married before twenty. Normally that would mean that she was unattractive or quick-tempered, but in actual fact, that was not the case with her.

    Her facial features were admittedly in, because of an inconspicuous small nose and mouth, but did not prevent her to be called a "spruce beauty" by some and there were no problems with her personality, either, seeing as the servants of the March trusted in her.

    If anything, her zeal for running the business of the March despite being a woman, was somewhat contradicting themon sense of the Carpa Kingdom, but Lucinda always emphasised that she was just "filling in for her father until her little brother was old enough to take over".

    She was not the kind of unorthodox woman, who cleverly wielded the highest authority in the country despite being a woman such as Queen Aura or unashamedly risked her life on sea travel like Princess Freya.

    To begin with, she only missed her timing to get married, because her nubile years happened to ovep with the previous war. In ce of her father, who was out on the battlefield, Lucinda had to take care of the territory and her little brother, leaving her no time to think about marriage. These reasons had beenpletely beyond her control, so she was different from the usual "marriage failures".

    Once she had listened to all the reports from the servants, Lucinda turned to the table and looked through the documents with a cool-headedness that made you question whether she really was a noble daughter on the brink of marriage.

    "As expected, the Navarre Kingdom sent General Mart¨ªn as their representative. I did not foresee that Knight Captain Cris would apany him, though.

    I hope the sugar snacks were prepared in time?"

    "Yes, we put them in the room before letting them in."

    "Well done. Thanks."

    Everything had been done on behalf of her. The right furniture was prepared for General Mart¨ªn, because Lucinda had anticipated him as the messenger from the Navarre Kingdom, and the sugar snacks were served at such short notice, because she had acquired the information that Knight Captain Cris liked sweets.

    As a proxy for her father working in the capital, but de facto leader of the March, Lucinda had paid special attention to the neighbouring Navarre Kingdom across the mountain and gathered all kind of information.

    For the Carpa Kingdom as a whole, the Navarre Kingdom was nothing but a small middle power not worth their attention, but the neighbouring country posed enough of a threat to the independent March of Guzzle.

    Hence Lucinda was as cautious about the Navarre Kingdom as General Mart¨ªn was about the Carpa Kingdom.

    "I have heard that General Mart¨ªn is a lot more perceptive than his militant appearance lets on. He must have noticed the meaning behind the special furniture and snacks.

    I just hope the feint will work."

    Lucinda mumbled and put the dragon bone quill in her right hand back into its stand.

    In fact, General Mart¨ªn had figured out that the matching furniture for him and the favourite snack for Knight Captain Cris had been a message from Lucinda.

    A message that read: "I know all this about your activities."

    Lucinda was going to get married, which meant that the March of Guzzle would lose her as its representative.

    Of course she had immediately started with the preparations for her session as soon as her marriage was set in stone.

    Her little brother Xavier, the next head of the family, and the mayordomo rear vassal were taught the necessary work and were introduced to as many spokesmen of their subjects as possible, passing on the informationwork she had build up till today.

    But these were nothing but rough-and-ready measures in the end. Nothing could be done about it, though, since her marriage came on an extremely short notice, even by higher nobility''s standards.

    Once Lucinda was gone, the March would more or less be thrown into turmoil, so she had wanted to send a warning to the neighbouring country not to take advantage of that turmoil.

    "At any rate, I reallye to appreciate the consideration from Master Zenjirou in this situation. I have to properly express my gratitudeter on."

    The consideration was referring to his following words: "I am looking forward to seeing the newlywed couple on the day of the marriage ceremony."

    In other words, he had dered that they did not need to entertain him until the day of the marriage ceremony. Thanks to that, the Guzzle Family could give Royalty, originally the most high-maintenance guest, a short shrift by just assigning a bare minimum of servants to the annex building.

    If not for his consideration, Zenjirou would havee to greet the Marquis in advance and congratted the bride as soon as possible as Royalty. In that case, the Guzzle Family would have been overwhelmed with obligations by now.

    Lucinda felt a shiver ran down her spine in light of that scary imagination. In the meantime, the door was opened and closed with a tter.

    "Excuse me, Sister. I have just returned from doing my rounds in the city."

    These words were uttered by the next head of the Guzzle Family: Xavier Guzzle.

    Just like he had imed, he had been patrolling the city and was still wearing his leather armour and longsword at thiste hour.

    "Well done, Xavier. Has the city been quiet?"

    Lucinda thanked her little brother for his efforts with a warm smile and signalized the servant next to her to pour him some cold tea.

    The siblings then sat down across each other on the couches.

    "Yes, it has. Nothing worth mentioning has taken ce. The people are all celebrating your wedding from the bottom of their hearts."

    Sitting on the couch, Xavier reported proudly while throwing out his chest.

    He had lost his mother had at an early age, so Lucinda was more like a mother, who raised him, than an older sister to him.

    No one was more happy about her marriage, dyed by unfortunate circumstances, than him.

    Lucinda giggled embarrassed to herself, when she saw the joy in the eyes of her little brother as though it was his own wedding.

    "Is that so. I am d to hear that. So no one is picking any fights, because they are drunk?"

    Maybe in order to hide her embarrassment, she quickly talked business.

    Xavier looked a bit troubled and averted his eyes, when she pointed that out.

    "Actually, a lot of that is happening. Should I have banned the alcohol instead?"

    "No. It would be tasteless to celebrate the marriage without alcohol. Just continue to take those into custody, who cause a ruckus.

    But please keep in mind to not let anyone without permission near the residence until the ceremony is over. We cannot risk a strife with another noble family."

    "Yes, I understand, Sister."

    The older sister gave instructions and the little brother epted them as a matter of course. Considering that he was going to be the next family head, that hierarchy was not quite favourable.

    "¡­I was anxious about leaving home after my sudden marriage, but it actually might be better that way. If I were to stay here any longer, I think I would cause more problems than I can solve."

    "Hmm? Did you say something?"

    "No, just talking to myself."

    Lucinda brushed it off like that while heaving a sigh at heart.

    If she were to remain in the March while Xavier seeded the position of the family head, it would undoubtedly disrupt the bnce of power.

    At the very least, the rear vassals and influential citizens would rather trust Lucinda than Xavier in domestic affairs, and above all else, Xavier himself was too fixated on his elder sister.

    In the worst case, the March might even split into two opposing camps, when she remained here unmarried and could not get along with any future sister-inw Xavier might take in.

    So Lucinda was of the opinion that her marriage was already worth it, even if avoiding that future was the only good thing that came out of it.

    While she was on these train of thoughts, she might as well give her little brother a final lecture.

    "Xavier, I will marry General Puyol in a few days and leave the March afterwards."

    "Of course. Congrattions on getting married, Sister!"

    Lucinda gave her teary-eyes little brother a wry look.

    "Thanks, dear. Anyway, this will be thest time I can give you an heartfelt piece of advice with only your wellbeing in mind, so please listen well."

    After that prelude, she wiped her usual warm smile off her face and showed a stern expression.

    "O- Okay."

    Xavier instinctively sat up straight and rested his clenched fists on hisp. A saying ims that the child is the father of man and in ordance with that, Xavier fundamentally could not go against his elder sister, who had raised him in ce of a mother.

    "Once I am the wife of General Puyol, you may not blindly trust me like before anymore."

    "S- Sister¡­?"

    While the little brother was at a loss for words, the older sister overwhelmed him with further exnations.

    "As soon as I marry him, I will have left the Guzzle Family and be a part of the Guill¨¦n Family. From then on, my first priority will be the Guill¨¦n Family. The Guzzle Family onlyes in second.

    I will belong to a different family and you do not blindly trust someone like that."

    "B- But¡­"

    Xavier was baffled, but Lucinda was only stating a fact.

    Nobility valued their house, so it was only natural that they took the view that you had to put the family you married into above all and adopted their customs.

    Needless to say, that opinion was more of an idealism, if anything, and hardly anyone put it into practice to such an extent.

    In fact, the majority of people still considered themselves a member of their parental home at heart, even if they married into a new family.

    The best example for that would be the little sister of General Puyol: Fatima Guill¨¦n. She really loved her older brother and valuated him above all things, so it was hard to imagine that she would suddenly prioritize her new family over him, when she got married at some point.

    However, that general rule did not apply to the woman called Lucinda Guzzle.

    She had naturally epted that she, as a noble daughter, would devote her everything to her new family henceforth, now that she had been asked for her hand in marriage. The aforementioned idealism was embodied by her to an inhumane level.

    "Are you saying you will be my political opponent from now on, Sister?"

    Her little brother turned pale in the face, whereupon Lucinda realized that her exnation had been a bitcking.

    She deliberately softened her expression and cleared up the doubt of her brother with her usual kind voice.

    "Not at all. I did not mean it in such a radical way. To begin with, our two families were never on such bad terms to call us enemies and my marriage will actually stabilize our rtionship even further.

    In reality, I doubt that I will ever be able to bring harm to the Guzzle Family or you, Xavier."

    "I- I know, right!"

    Crying in one moment, smiling in the next. Her little brother changed expressions at his own convenience, whereas the older sister smiled back at him troubled.

    "Marriage is a kind of contract for nobility. From now on, I have to bear the profit for the Guill¨¦n Family in mind, but as long as it does not harm the Guill¨¦n Family, I will obviously be allowed to bear a profit for the Guzzle Family in mind as well."

    Forget all about your parental home once you marry.

    That would be way too disadvantageous for the family providing the bride. Hence the bride was allowed to draw a profit for her parental home as long as it did not affect her new family adversely.

    Xavier listened to her exnation with a meek look.

    "Considering the current standings of the Guill¨¦n and Guzzle Family in the Carpa Kingdom, I dare to say that it will be quite unlikely that the Guill¨¦n Family will cause harm to the Guzzle Family.

    But the future is not set in stone. If one day, the interests of both families were topletely contrast each other, then I will bring harm to the Guzzle Family in order to make a profit for the Guill¨¦n Family.

    I just want you to bear that possibility in mind, okay?"

    "¡­Okay, I understand, Sister."

    Looking meek, the little brother answered with a nod to the warning of his older sister before she was going to marry into a different family.

    * * *

    A few dayster.

    The day of the ceremony arrived without any incidents.

    They were holding the marriage ceremony in the banquet hall in the main building of the Guzzle residence.

    It was not as pompous as the "Room of the Dragon King", where Zenjirou and Aura had held their wedding, but it was almost as big.

    Therge hall was filled with numerous round tables and the invited nobles sat on chairs in a circle around them.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou was one of them. With him at the same table sat his partner Princess Freya and her trusted retainer Skathi as well as his bodyguard, the Knight Natalio.

    Ines stood at attention behind him in her usual maid clothes.

    A marriage ceremony in the Carpa Kingdom was not all that starchy, so the guests casually enjoyed some chitchat with some drinks until the bridal couple made their entrance.

    "So this is a marriage ceremony on the South Continent. I see that it is not all that different from ours."

    Lowering the silver goblet with fruit juice from her mouth, Princess Freya started talking to Zenjirou next to her with a lovely smile ying on her lips.

    "Oh, is that so. I''m not all that familiar with the culture on the South Continent, either, but I''ve heard that they used to sit on a soft carpet during the ceremony in the past.

    It might be the influence of the North Continent that all the guests are sitting on chairs at tables now."

    "That is quite usible. I would like to thank my ancestors for it then."

    Zenjirou realized what she was implying, so he casually asked with a yful tone.

    "Oh my, you are ufortable with sitting on a carpet?"

    "Yes, I am afraid so."

    Princess Freya looked down a bit embarrassed, when she was exposed.

    Although the culture of sitting down on a carpet was a thing of the past on the South Continent, it had not entirely vanished yet. Some traditional events still required you to sit cross-legged on top of a carpet and some tradition-conscious noble houses were refraining from setting up chairs and tables in the dining room to this day, setting and eating the dishes from atop the carpet instead.

    Due to that, the nobility in the Carpa Kingdom was more or less used to sitting on a carpet, but Princess Freya was nobility hailing from the North Continent, so she could note to like that custom.

    On the other hand, Zenjirou was pretty much okay with the custom, too. Modern Japan was certainly seeing more and more appearances of chairs and tables, but there were still plenty asions to sit cross-legged on the ground like in a room with Tatami mats.

    Thanks to that, Zenjirou did not suffer as much during traditional events without chairs and tables.

    (Won''t she have more troubles like that, when she actually bes my concubine?)

    Zenjirou was worried like that, but the only way to find out would be to directly ask her.

    But if he were to tell her that he was worried about her life as a concubine, he would practically admit to epting her as a concubine.

    At the present time, everything was pointing to Princess Freya bing his concubine. It was probably already impossible for him to avert that development by his own effort, but even then, there was no reason for him to speed up that process, either.

    While Zenjirou pondered about that, the stroke of arge gong rang out and echoed through the hall.

    "Oh."

    "Looks like it is time."

    The gong attracted the attention from all the chit-chatting guests and today''s centrepiece, the bridal couple made their appearance.

    "¡­"

    The first to show up was the groom, Puyol Guill¨¦n.

    Wearing his full dress uniform, the giant general imposingly strode over the red carpet while the decorative bronze sword hung from his waist.

    It was typically of him to wear the military uniform instead of the traditional attire of the Carpa Kingdom at his wedding ceremony. As a matter of fact, an uniform suited him the best anyway.

    Close to two metre tall and a hundred kilogram heavy, the steeled soldier wore the extravagant military uniform decorated with gold threads like a second skin. He personified themon image of a "General of the Army" par for par.

    "¡­"

    After him followed a woman in herte twenties wearing a white long dress.

    Zenjirou was seeing her for the first time, but there was no question about it that she was the bride, Lucinda Guzzle.

    ording to the proper etiquette, she followed a step behind by the side of her preceding groom.

    Aura and Zenjirou had walked alongside one another, when they had gotten married as the Queen and Prince Consort, but that had been an extremely rare exception to the exception.

    Normally, the bride followed diagonally behind the groom at a marriage ceremony in the Carpa Kingdom.

    The groom was attracting the most attention, but Zenjirou was looking at the bride, since he was seeing her for the first time.

    (So she is Lucinda. Not the prettiest out there, but still beautiful.)

    She looked smaller, because she was trailing behind the almost two metre tall General Puyol, but she actually had an average height and build.

    Her ck hair was full and morous, her ck eyes beamed with kindness and her skin had themon brown tinge of a person from the Carpa Kingdom. Even d in the snow-white wedding dress, she still looked somewhat in, but her features were well-defined enough to get an immediate positive answer, when asking someone whether she was a beauty or not.

    In the meantime, the bridal couple advanced on the red carpet and went up to the podium.

    There an elder priest was awaiting them. He was going to perform the marriage ceremony.

    Since the main religion on the South Continent, the faith in spirits, was not really institutionalized, the priest were only responsible for a hand of ceremonial asions such asing-of-age, marriage or burial.

    The elderly priest faced the bridal couple standing in front of him and opened his mouth covered by a white beard.

    "Under the protection of the Spirits, this man and woman will enter into the holy bond of marriage today. May the Spirits smile to their future.

    From time immemorial, the brave man has always protected the frail woman behind him, whereas thepassionate woman has always offered the foolish man constion in her arms. The Spirits are sure to respond to their mutual empathy."

    Because the Spirit Faith on the South Continent had neither been systemized, nor institutionalized, the ritual words at these asions were generally determined by the priest on duty.

    Zenjirou curiously listened to the self-penned speech of the priest, but he suddenly felt ufortable, so he looked around from the corner of his eye while keeping his gaze focussed on the bridal couple.

    (Hmm? I sense a gaze on me? From whom?)

    He could not see him all that clearly, because he was just looking out of the corner of his eye, but he did see a sturdy silhouette of a soldier.

    (The foreign guests should be seated over there¡­ So that''s General Mart¨ªn from the Navarre Kingdom?)

    In reality, Zenjirou was not looking at General Mart¨ªn, but at Knight Captain Cris sitting next to him, but he could not discern it that well, because he was still looking ahead.

    Having said this, Knight Captain Cris was slender and only one hundred and eighty centimetre tall, whereas General Mart¨ªn was practically a giant with his almost two metre height and hundred kilogram weight.

    Their auras were too different to begin with.

    Zenjirou was puzzled as to why he was the target of his attention instead of the bridal couple in the middle of the ceremony, but it was actually not all that strange.

    He was the Prince Consort of the major power known as the Carpa Kingdom. In short, a genuine Royalty with a bloodline magic.

    So a foreign authority was obviously going to pay him more attention than the bridal couple.

    In the meantime, the ceremony was moving along.

    On the South Continent, the marriage ceremonies followed all kind of procedures like the speech from the priest or the marriage vows from the couple, but this ceremony was a bit different at the end.

    "The couple will now exchange the weddings rings."

    The unfamiliar ritual of exchanging wedding rings prompted the guests to murmur agitated and Zenjirou to widen his eyes in surprise.

    In that very moment, General Puyol faced Zenjirou and gave him an appreciative look while smirking for a second.

    Zenjirou understood with that.

    (Oh, right. Aura did tell me that my marriage rings had started the custom of exchanging wedding rings in this country, too.

    So General Puyol also picked up on it, eh.)

    The earlier look must have expressed his gratitude to Zenjirou for introducing them the custom of exchanging wedding rings.

    Under the watchful eyes of the guests, the bridal couple took the pair rings from the priest and put them on the finger of their partner.

    Zenjirou did not go as far as telling them that the wedding ring belonged to the ring finger of the left hand. It just happened naturally, since that finger provided the least inconveniences for wearing a ring at all times.

    The same reason probably applied to its simple gold design without any gems.

    As a soldier, General Puyol would by no means profit from wearing a cumbersome jewellery on his finger. The in ring without any gem had probably been apromise on his part.

    It might be a bit too in for a woman, though. Even in this world, most of the women had a thing for beautifulrge gems.

    A thought suddenly crossed Zenjirou''s mind.

    (Maybe I should tell them about ''engagement rings'', too? Women are sure to love a brilliant ring, but the men will have to bear the costs. I guess the wedding rings are enough for now.)

    Apparently Lucinda was different from the majority of women as she narrowed her eyes happily, when General Puyol put the unadorned golden ring on her hand.

    "Thank you, My Husband."

    For some reason, the soft voice of the bride resonated through the whole hall.

    * * *

    In the Carpa Kingdom, the marriage ceremony of higher nobility or wealthy people was followed by a ritual called the "Rite of Unveiling".

    As its name implied, the rite dealt with the bridal couple showing themselves in front of those, who could not attend the ceremony itself, and announcing their marriage. The invited guests of the ceremony were asked to abstain from attending the "Rite of Unveiling".

    On the za in front of the residence of the feudal lord, the newlyweds put themselves on disy for the citizens of the March in their wedding attire. In the meantime, the guests of the ceremony were regaled with food and drinks in a different room.

    The host of that gathering was the family of the bride, namely the Guzzle Family, but the people from the Guill¨¦n Family were also functioning as co-organizers.

    "Master Zenjirou, I cannot thank you enough for going out of your way to attend the marriage of my daughter today."

    Marquis Guzzle himself approached Zenjirou first of all with these words.

    He was as tall as Zenjirou, but a multiple of him widthwise. His neck was fatter than his face wide, his shoulders were sloping from excess muscle mass and his arms were round like a log. He should be over forty by now, but even an amateur like Zenjirou could tell that his body was still that of an active soldier.

    A bit overwhelmed at heart, Zenjirou showed nothing of the sort on the outside and responded with a smile.

    "No need to thank me, Marquis. The Guzzle Family as well as the Guill¨¦n Family are important pirs of our country. It goes without saying that I would attend the union of your families as a representative for Queen Aura."

    Zenjirou emphasized the fact that he was only a representative for Queen Aura, whereat Marquis Guzzle answered with an honest smile, which was quite rareing from a high-ranking nobility.

    "You honour me with your words. Of course I am grateful to Sir Puyol for taking my daughter after she missed out on marriage for too long due to my shorings, but I am even more grateful to Her Majesty Aura for allowing the normally unthinkable marriage between the Guill¨¦n and Guzzle Family. I, Miguel Guzzle, shall never forget this favour!"

    "You have earned this trust by devoting your everything to the country so far.

    Her Majesty sincerely hopes that you will not cease your endeavours."

    "Of course. I would not dream of doing so."

    Zenjirou reminded him that he admittedly had gotten a connection to the hearnd now, but should not use this asion to start meddling with the power struggle there, so the elderly marquis lowered his head deeply.

    As a matter of fact, Queen Aura was really trusting Marquis Guzzle.

    Of course the Guzzle Family was no different from the other feudal lords, so they put their own territory first and the kingdom second, but they were also known for their fidelity and loyalty.

    Even in the previous war, the army of the marquis had obediently followed the orders of the country, which had been a great help.

    Setting Marquis Rh, pretty much a rtive to Aura, aside, it would be no exaggeration to say that she trusted Marquis Guzzle the most of all nobility.

    "Anyway, today is a day to be celebrated, so let this be enough of formalities. Let me introduce you:

    This is Princess Freya Upps, the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom. She is apanying me as my partner, because Her Majesty Aura could not leave the Capital.

    Princess Freya, this is Marquis Guzzle. He is usually working in the Capital, so maybe you have seen him before?"

    Upon these words, the princess from the North Continent took one step forward as she had politely waited behind Zenjirou so far.

    "My name is Freya Upps. Congrattions on your daughter Lucinda getting married!"

    She grasped the hem of her simple blue skirt and did a curtsey.

    The etiquette in the Upps Kingdom was slightly different from the one in the Carpa Kingdom, but her gesture was so gracious that it would be rude to point it out now.

    "Thank you very much, Princess Freya. As you can see, we live in the middle of nowhere, but please make yourself at home."

    Marquis Guzzle responded politely, but much to his regret, Zenjirou was unable to tell whether his respect was attributed to her current title as a "princess from the North Continent" or her future title as a "concubine of the Prince Consort of the Carpa Kingdom".

    "I appreciate the hospitality, Marquis Guzzle. We are being cared for quite courteously in the annex building. Am I right, Your Majesty Zenjirou?"

    "Yes, that is right."

    She probably had asked for his opinion with a smile on purpose, because she wanted to spell out for the others that she was staying under the same roof as him.

    "Heh, I am d to hear that. You have done well, Nilda."

    Whether he was aware of her intentions or not, Marquis Guzzle showed a bright smile and called out to his beloved daughter standing behind him.

    "Yes, Father. Thank you, Princess Freya."

    The little girl lowered her head with her big eyes shining. She did look a bit tense from nervousness, but more than that, she gave off an affectionate aura like a tamed little animal.

    When he was looking back at his daughter, Marquis Guzzle was showing a soft expression as well. Or at the very least, Zenjirou could not catch any sight of some intrigue or ulterior motive in it.

    (Even at the ceremony, he openly let Nilda sit with the rest of the family. That means he really isn''t trying to hide her? It''s getting more and more puzzling.)

    The girl, who was apparently unknown to Royalty, was being treated as a normal daughter at an official event in the March. And not only that, she was even assigned the role to look after Royalty.

    Zenjirou somehow started to get the feeling that the whole thing was just a in old misunderstanding.

    To begin with, the girl called Nilda and the man called Marquis Guzzle were way too sincere to actually consider this as some kind of scheme.

    "By the way, I have heard that Miss Nilda has a different mother than Sir Xavier and Lady Lucinda?"

    Just in case, Zenjirou probed them like this, whereat the elderly feudal lord scratched his greying head and honestly affirmed it, even if a bit reluctant.

    "Yes, that is correct. Xavier and Lucinda as well as my other two sons, who died in the previous war, are the children of my legal wife.

    On the other hand, Nilda is the product of my juvenility¡­ Well, I was not at an age to call it that anymore, though. Anyway, she is the child I made with a female subject of mine."

    Saying so, Marquis Guzzle patted the head of his daughter standing next to him.

    "Fufu¡­"

    Having her head patted, the little girl narrowed her eyes happily like a puppy.

    A person from Modern Japan would surely get offended, when its own birth was called a "product of juvenility", even ifing from a parent, but Nilda showed no sign of concern.

    Maybe it meant that the parentage was just too important in this world? Or maybe father and daughter were getting along so well that she would not get disheartened just from that kind of crude phrasing.

    Zenjirou would like to say it was thetter, seeing her disy of affection.

    "As Princess Freya said before, Miss Nilda is taking good care of us. She is always so bright and cheerful. I often catch myself copying her. So far, I had a great time here, because of that. So let me express my gratitude once more: Thank you, Miss Nilda."

    "Oh no, your words are wasted on me, Master Zenjirou."

    At any rate, Zenjirou concluded that he should not dig any deeper into the issue without instructions from Aura, so he dropped the subject at a suitable point.

    Even if Zenjirou and Princess Freya were the most important guests, Marquis Guzzle could not afford to spend all his time on a single group as the father of the bride.

    After the marquis left, Zenjirou was unsurprisingly flocked by the other guests to exchange pleasantries.

    The etiquette of the Carpa Kingdom dictated that it was bad manners for one of lower status to call out to someone of higher status, but marriage or burial ceremonies were an exception to that rule.

    Apparently, all the guests were considered to be of equal rank in the sense that they all had the same motive, either congratting the bridal couple at a marriage ceremony or mourning the deceased at a burial ceremony.

    Due to that, Zenjirou had no time to enjoy the actual banquet and was busy dealing with nobility one after another.

    "It is nice to make your acquaintance, Master Zenjirou. Her Majesty Aura was so generously to bestow me with the title of a viscount. My name is Primo Guill¨¦n. The groom Puyol happens to be my nephew."

    "Master Zenjirou, thank you very much for going out of your way to attend the marriage ceremony of my brother today."

    With these words, a man in his early fifties and a tall girl lowered their heads at the same time.

    Just like he had introduced himself, the man was the uncle of General Puyol: Primo Guill¨¦n; The little girl was the little sister of General Puyol: Fatima Guill¨¦n.

    "Oh, thank you for the polite introduction, Sir Primo. I am Zenjirou, the husband of Her Majesty Aura. And I am d to see you are doing well, Miss Fatima."

    Primo Guill¨¦n was a tall man with the blood of the Guill¨¦n Family running through his veins.

    He definitely was not as tall as the two metre tall Puyol, but there was still an obvious gap between him and Fatima, so he must be at least one hundred and eighty-five centimetre tall.

    Nevertheless, there was no overwhelming auraing from him like General Puyol did, when he was just standing there.

    Although this might sound a bit rude, his height was his only redeeming feature.

    In fact, Fatima was drawing far more attention in her moss-green dress as she stood self-confidently next to him.

    "Yes, Master Zenjiou. As his little sister, it gives me a piece of mind that my brother has tied the knot."

    But if you looked carefully, you could tell that her smile as she said that was somewhat forced.

    (Well, she practically got a brotherplex, so it''s no wonder she can''t sincerely be happy about his marriage.)

    And even more so, when his bride was the twenty-six years old Lucinda. Since the South Continentbelled women older than twenty as a lost case for marriage, she was practically the epitome of an old woman well past her prime.

    Without exaggerating it, Fatima firmly believed her brother to be the "best man on the South Continent", so it was no surprise that she was dissatisfied with such ate bloomer being his brother''s legal wife.

    Despite that, she was making an effort to not let it show in her attitude and words, because she realized how important the marriage with Lucinda and thereby the connection to the Guzzle Family was.

    Having said this, Fatima would never even think of opposing her older brother to begin with, no matter how much displeasure she harboured about his decision.

    "Well then, Master Zenjirou, if you will excuse me."

    "It was a pleasure to have met you, Master Zenjirou."

    When Primo Guill¨¦n and Fatima Guill¨¦n left, the next guest took their ce.

    "It has been a long time, Master Zenjirou. I am d we worked out that incident in Valentia together."

    A man wearing the traditional attire of the Carpa Kingdom like a second skin, greeted Zenjirou with an affable smile.

    "Oh, Sir Raffaelo. You definitely yed a big role in it."

    Zenjirou responded to the greeting of the sessor to the M¨¢rguez Family, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez, with a smile as well.

    At the same time, he looked at the "fianc¨¦e of Raffaelo", who was standing behind him at an angle.

    Keen as he was, Raffaelo notice the gaze and showed a broad grin.

    "Allow me to introduce her, Master Zenjirou. She is my betrothed: Keyshia from the Massana Family."

    With these words, he put his arm around her waist and ushered her in front of Zenjirou.

    Zenjirou was a bit captivated by the woman brought before his eyes.

    Her morous long ck hair was beautifully pinned up and her red dress revealed her bare shoulders and neck. Everyone knew what a faithful husband he was, himself included, but even then, Zenjirou could not help but be smitten by her beauty and charm.

    She was an eye-catching extraordinary beauty with well-proportioned long arms and legs, smiling with conviction and confidence.

    Keyshia had already been a sight for sore eyes in her maid clothes, but Zenjirou was in raptures about her enchanting dress.

    "It is my first time seeing you wear anything else than maid clothes, Keyshia, but I must say, you are truly beautiful. Your charm was already standing out in the Inner Pce, but seeing you all dressed up like this makes me speechless."

    Praised by the man, who had been her master not long ago, the bewitching woman widened her eyes affected and puckered her lips a bit petnt.

    "Oh my, thank you very much, Master Zenjirou. But what a surprise. I never thought I would see the day, where youpliment my appearance, because I thought for sure that you only have eyes for Her Majesty Aura."

    "I am human, too. When I see something beautiful, I will appreciate it."

    Zenjirou gave the well acquainted former maid of the Inner Pce a wry smile with a shrug of his shoulders.

    That reaction of his prompted the nearby nobility from the Carpa Kingdom, who had been listening in so far, to be taken aback.

    It happened very seldom that Zenjirou talked that casually with a woman. He was always "ying it safe" at official night banquets.

    Zenjirou himself was no aware of it, but his reaction increased the value of being a "waiting maid of the Inner Pce".

    The waiting maids of the Inner Pce proved to be a connection to the Prince Consort.

    While the nearby nobility renewed their understanding like that, Raffaelo M¨¢rguez already had a former waiting maid as his betrothed and said with a smooth smile.

    "Well then, Master Zenjirou, we will excuse ourselves for today."

    "Okay. Take good care of Keyshia, Sir Raffaelo."

    He could have kept the conversation going for as long as he wanted by using his fianc¨¦e, but Raffaelo parted from Zenjirou with these words.

    If anything, his time with Zenjirou was quite short,pared to other nobility.

    In the past, Raffaelo had suggested his father Manuel M¨¢rguez to keep their distance from the "monstrous" Zenjirou for now, and he was faithfully abiding by his own words.

    Be it the bride''s Guzzle Family, the groom''s Guill¨¦n Family or the M¨¢rguez Family, they were all important enough that Royalty could not afford to neglect making allowances for them, but since they were nobility of the same country, Zenjirou somewhat knew how to deal with them and even if he were to make a mistake, things could be smoothed overter on.

    But right now, he was facing the guests of another country on whom these advantages did not work.

    Namely: The representative of the Navarre Kingdom, General Mart¨ªn and his attendant Knight Cristiano Pinto.

    When the obviously trained foreigners approached Zenjirou and Princess Freya, their bodyguards Knight Natalio and Skathi put themselves on the alert behind them. Only waiting maid Ines kept cool and collected.

    "Nice to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty Zenjirou.

    My name is Mart¨ªn Nadal, a general in the army of the Navarre Kingdom. I am extremely grateful to be given the chance to meet you today.

    And this is Cristiano, a young knight in our army."

    "I am Knight Captain Cristiano, the eldest son of Marquis Pinto. It is an honour to meet you, Your Majesty Zenjirou."

    The general in his forties and the young knight probably still in his teens, bowed their heads to Zenjirou in unison.

    By the way, General Mart¨ªn and Knight Captain Cris were an exception in the sense that they were attending the ceremony without a female partner.

    If possible, a marriage ceremony was usually attended with a partner, but there was no ironw that forbid to attend it alone.

    They practically had passed over the mountain on a footslog, so no women had been capable of apanying them.

    Under such circumstances, a man was not really frowned upon for attending alone.

    "Much obliged, General Mart¨ªn. I am Zenjirou, the husband of Her Majesty Aura, the Queen of the Carpa Kingdom. Your reputation precedes you as even I have heard of it.

    And this is Princess Freya Upps, the crown princess of the Upps Kingdom on the North Continent."

    "My name is Freya. I am from the North Continent, so I am afraid that I have not heard of your achievements, but it is nevertheless an honour to make your acquaintance, General."

    Following the introduction from Zenjirou, Princess Freya also introduced herself and lowered her head a bit.

    Zenjirou withdrew his left hand he had put around Princess Freya''s waist, and faced the two man standing in front of him.

    (So he''s General Mart¨ªn, the Hero of the Navarre Kingdom. A giant of a man. And his presence is even bigger.)

    Wearing a smile, Zenjirou managed to not let his anxiety show on his face, but at heart, he instinctively was afraid of the man standing in front of him.

    The seasoned warrior in front of him was close to two metre tall and almost twice as heavy as him, so it already deserved praise that Zenjirou faced him without backing off.

    As Royalty, Zenjirou was technically wearing a decorative sword at his waist, whereas the foreign general was unarmed, but there was no way that such a thing wouldpensate for the difference in their strengths.

    "Greetings to you, Princess Freya. It is an honour to make your acquaintance."

    "Pleased to meet you, Princess Freya."

    General Mart¨ªn and Knight Captain Cris returned the greeting to Princess Freya.

    "But I must say, I am surprised to see you here today, General Mart¨ªn. I assume your rtion to General Puyol is the reason that a famous general attends a marriage ceremony of a neighbouring country?"

    In reality, Zenjirou had not even heard of his name before, but he did not mention that, of course.

    Nevertheless, he did have a point there.

    It was not all that strange that they would send a messenger to the marriage ceremony of a feudal lord family from a neighbouring country, but it was an exception for sure that an important general was chosen for that role.

    For anyone, who knew that General Puyol and General Mart¨ªn had a feud with each other from the previous war, it was only natural to assume that General Mart¨ªn came here especially for General Puyol.

    All the nearby nobility curiously pricked up their ears, when Zenjirou asked that.

    With all the attention on him, the famous general shrugged his shoulders a bit and affirmed it with a brazen smile.

    "Well, to be honest, that is definitely the biggest reason.

    Nheless, the Carpa Kingdom is an important neighbour to the Navarre Kingdom, so if not for me, they would surely have send someone of equal status."

    To be more precise: General Mart¨ªn had been concerned about the character of General Puyol.

    It was well-known after all that General Puyol was an ambitious man.

    That capable and ambitious general was going to bond with the feudal family on their border in form of marriage, so the Navarre Kingdom obviously could not sit back and do nothing.

    He was enough of a "threat" to send in their important general to check on him.

    Zenjirou pretended not to have noticed that implied nuance in the answer from General Mart¨ªn and responded with a smile.

    "Yes, neighbours should get along well. I do hope we both do not forget that fact and continue to work towards it."

    "My sentiments exactly, Your Majesty Zenjirou."

    Two authorities from bordering countries were having a typical two-faced conversation.

    Local affairs aside, Zenjirou was not yet used to dealing with foreign countries appropriately, so he could not help but y it safe.

    Their conversation naturally avoided diving into political waters and shifted towards personal preferences instead.

    "This reminds me, we are neighbours, but is our food culture actually different? I did hear that it is not unusual for a culture to change beyond the border."

    "Well, I am not all that familiar with your cuisine, but as far as I can tell, it is not all that different. If I had to name something, it would be the fruit wine. The fruit wine of the Carpa Kingdom generally tends to be sweeter than ours.

    Thanks to that, Knight Captain Cris is treating himself to some on a rare asion. Am I right, Cris?"

    "S- Sir, you¡­"

    Suddenly addressed, the young knight was at a loss for words for a moment and red at the respectable general of his own country.

    A lot of men with a sweet tooth were very self-conscious about it and apparently Knight Captain Cris was one of them.

    Having said this, he had somewhate to terms with it, seeing as he was not forcing himself to drink dry wine at an official event for appearance''s sake.

    "You cannot help to like what you like after all. I do know that it is childish of me, but I let them prepare my food without certain herbs, too."

    Zenjirou tried to help him out by revealing a peculiarity of his own, but Knight Captain Cris was not man enough to honestly ept his good intentions.

    "¡­Why, thank you."

    Although he lowered his head, he was giving Zenjirou a resentful re. To him, it must have seemed like General Mart¨ªn and Zenjirou were pairing up to make fun of his fondness for sweets.

    Zenjirou read in the expression of the young knight that it would be unwise to pursue this topic any further, so he changed the subject somewhat forcefully.

    "What about this then, General Mart¨ªn? Does a drink like this suit your taste? This alcohol is the recent product of the Capital. It is quite strong, albeit light in taste. General Puyol seems to have taken a liking to it."

    With these words, Zenjirou rmended General Mart¨ªn a silver goblet with the "distilled liquor" from the Capital.

    "Oho! If it has your approval, I will have to try it. ¡­Hmm, it certainly is strong enough to burn your throat, but it is a bit too tasteless to my liking."

    "I thought so. You are not the first to say this. I guess we have to think about improving the taste."

    "That sounds promising. I would like to try it once you have done so."

    "Please share it with your country then. I do hope it will be a local speciality of our country after all."

    Knight Captain Cris regained hisposure while Zenjirou and General Mart¨ªn were chatting like that, so he asked Zenjirou dubious.

    "Your Majesty seems to think like a merchant. Maybe youe from such a family?"

    General Mart¨ªn frowned in light of the phrasing from the young knight captain. It was well-known that Zenjirou was not true-born royalty, but calling him a merchant could be considered an insult.

    However, Zenjirou was not offended by it.

    "Well, not quite correct, but not entirely wrong, either, I guess."

    He affirmed it to some extent without getting angry.

    Originally, Zenjirou had been working in the sales department, so it was not all that wrong to call him a merchant.

    "This reminds me, I have heard that Your Majesty has achieved a major victory against dragons the other day."

    General Mart¨ªn had no way of divining what Zenjirou was thinking, so he touched on a ttering topic as though smoothing over the problematic statement of his subordinate about royalty from a different country. Unfortunately for him, he was barking up the wrong tree in the case of Zenjirou with that idea.

    "Oh, I was just overseeing things there. To begin with, I ampletely unsuited for battle. I was stretching myself to the limit not to get in the way. That alone made me break out in a cold sweat already, so I never want to have anything to do with it again."

    "Err¡­ Is that so."

    His answer obviously bewildered General Mart¨ªn, seeing as he stumbled on his words.

    "¡­.."

    And Knight Captain Cris next to him could not quite conceal his contempt and disdain for him in his expression.

    But he could not really be med for it, because Zenjirou was too much of an abnormality in this world for stating so brazenly that "he could not fight and was weary of it".

    A noble man in his prime that could not fight belonged to the minority and was usually ashamed of belonging to that minority.

    Judging by the moral values of this world, it only looked like Zenjirou was putting up a defiant front.

    "Then Your Majesty is not training on a daily basis?"

    Knight Captain Cris was obviously looking at his hand, when he asked that, so Zenjirou showed him his hands with a wry smile.

    "Yes, as you can see. And it would be an useless effort to start now. I resigned myself to it."

    As if emphasizing his words, the palms of his hands had no calluses and were as lean as a child''s or woman''s by the standards of this world.

    If he had done baseball or kendo in university, he might have fooled them to some extent, but unfortunately, he had belonged to the ser club. His road of life had not been the kind, where he got any calluses.

    "It is never in vain to practice martial arts, even if only a little. Your Majesty should set aside any biases and just try it out."

    The words from Knight Captain Cris sounded like he was saying it in the interest of Zenjirou, but the contempt for him was still present in his eyes and voice.

    Zenjirou was not so dim-witted that he would fail to notice that, but he also knew that it would be a pain in the ass, if he were toment on it now.

    "Haha, you are right. I will keep it in mind for next time."

    After a moment of deliberation, Zenjirou conquered his feelings and decided to ignore the vicious remark from Knight Captain Cris.

    "¡­I am d I could make you understand."

    "¡­.."

    As Knight Captain Cris did not abandon his contemptuous attitude, General Mart¨ªn thanked Zenjirou for his lenience by casting down his eyes.

    After the bridal couplepleted the "Rite of Unveiling", it wasmon practice that they returned to the banquet hall and participated in the party btedly.

    Unlike the marriage ceremony, the banquet was a sociable party, so the guests were allowed to speak directly with the bridal pair.

    In a way, it was the main event for those, who had attended the marriage ceremony for diplomatic reasons.

    Under the pretext of congratting the newlyweds, they could approach them regardless of social standing after all.

    But right now, not a single person was approaching the groom General Puyol, even though the bridal couple had finally made an appearance here.

    The hall had fallen dead silent and everyone was just awaiting the issue without moving an inch.

    Creasing his face into a smile, General Puyol was looking at General Mart¨ªn, who was showing him the same kind of smile.

    The awed guests in the hall were just supporting actors for the confrontation between the two great heroes of the previous war.

    "Long time no see, General Mart¨ªn. I''m d you haven''t kicked the bucket yet."

    Shortening the distance between them at a leisurely pace, General Puyol spoke first.

    It remained unclear whether he scratched the scar over his eyebrow with his left hand on purpose or unconsciously.

    "Of course I''m alive and kicking, General Puyol. After all, I haven''t seen you in a while. There''s no way I would get wounded unless I''m fighting you, right?"

    Replying like that, General Mart¨ªn ced his right hand on broad his breast bone quite purposefully.

    There was a scar under his clothes. The shallow, but long cut across his breast bone had been inflicted by General Puyol.

    Both of them were veterans that had survived the previous great war and the countless scars on their bodies told its tale.

    But most of these wounds were inflicted by projectiles like arrows or stones and the few wounds from melee weapons were all suffered through chaotic scuffles.

    The only wounds they had inflicted on each other directly were the scars on the face of General Puyol or the scar across the breast bone of General Mart¨ªn.

    On the battlefield, one was always having a brush with death, no matter how brave or heroic they were. In that sense, neither General Puyol, nor General Mart¨ªn were anything special.

    But considering that they still could thrust death into your face, even if you were to keep yourself in perfect shape, sharpen your mind without the slightest neglect and ward off any ill fortune, you could not avoid calling both of them "special" after all.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­.."

    General Puyol was almost two metre tall and over a hundred kilogram heavy, whereas General Mart¨ªn was one-hundred and ny centimetre tall and over a hundred kilogram heavy.

    ordingly, General Puyol surpassed him by ten centimetre in height, but General Mart¨ªn outweighed him breadthwise.

    While they red at each other like a sabre-tooth tiger and a grizzly, the air in the hall was at an heavy standstill.

    "Looks like you didn''t neglect training. It must be tough finding free time for training in your position as a general. I must say, I''m impressed, General Puyol."

    "Yeah, thanks. I dare to say I''ve grown stronger since then. I''m also d to see that you still have been training, General Mart¨ªn."

    "I had to work my way up after all. Strength has a bearing on your leadership skills, so I can''t afford to ck off. Yet the best I could do this year was maintaining my current form."

    "Oho, if that is true, you might prove to be an equal opponent now."

    "Pfft, cut the ttering. Back then, we were evenly matched, but right now, you are definitely stronger. That doesn''t mean you will win, though, if we have a bout."

    "Oho¡­"

    "Heh¡­"

    Neither of the two heroes was usually the chatty type, but the more words they exchange, the broader their smile got. At the same time, the tension and will tobat rose between them proportional to that smile, though.

    Were they going to go at it right here?

    Maybe they both had been joking in the beginning, but identally reached the point of no return?

    Everyone was holding their breath with these worries, but the woman standing next to the groom, namely the bride, released them from that sorrow.

    "My Husband, I do understand that you have a lot to catch up on with your old friend, but for how long are you going to neglect your new wife on this special day? I would like you to introduce me to him."

    Lucinda Guzzle, or rather Lucinda Guill¨¦n now, said this with a soft smile and tugged at the sleeve of her husband reminding.

    Her expression was the quintessence of affability and you could not find a single trace of tension or fear anywhere on her.

    It seemed like she was "cutting into the conversation of the two men thoughtlessly, because she was sulking about her husband not paying any attention to her", but reality was different.

    On the contrary, she had given thought to it more than anyone and concluded that it would be dangerous to let them continue like this, so she went in to stop them by pretending to be oblivious to the situation.

    Dangerous as it may be, it was not like General Puyol and General Mart¨ªn would actually start a fight here.

    But Lucinda feared that if they were to continue to speak at daggers drawn, the others would get the impression that "the two of them really wanted a fight", which would add unnecessary tension to the rtion between the two countries.

    "Although I do know that you two have just been joking around, a woman cannot help but be scared by it. Please apply yourself to me now, My Husband."

    Emphasizing the fact that they were joking around, Lucinda looked up into the eyes of her now husband from the side.

    "¡­Hmm, you are right. My bad. Soldiers are oblivious to the delicate mind of women by nature, but I do admit that we have gone a bit too far. Forgive me, Lucinda.

    General Mart¨ªn, let me introduce her. As of today, this is my wife Lucinda."

    "It is a pleasure to meet you, General Mart¨ªn. I am the eldest daughter of the Guzzle Family and as of now, the wife to Puyol Guill¨¦n, the current head of the Guill¨¦n Family. My name is Lucinda.

    I do have heard of your achievements, General. It is a great honour to get acquainted with you."

    A gentle voice and calm pronunciation coupled with a modest smile.

    Without resorting to force, the newlywed wife pacified the atmosphere through mere words. General Mart¨ªn changed his attitude as well in light of her smile.

    "What a lovely bride. My name is Mart¨ªn Nadal, a general from the Navarre Kingdom.

    It seems you are not just lucky on the battlefield, Sir Puyol. To think you actually managed to win such a fine wife."

    "Yes, I am really d that I stayed single until today."

    "You tter me."

    Peace set in between the bridal pair and the general from the neighbouring country, so the rest of the hall resumed their happy chit-chatting as well.

    <b>Intermission I: The Queen in the Capital</b>

    Unlike before, Zenjirou had started to take on some jobs as Royalty in recent times.

    Now that he was away from the Capital, it meant that the work he had been doing was left undone. Some of these jobs could temporarily be dyed, seeing as he was only going to be away for a month, but that was not the case for all of them, so these other jobs had to be done by someone else.

    For example: Entertaining Prince Francesco and Princess Bona from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell. With Zenjirou gone, Queen Aura had no choice but to take on that role upon herself.

    "Oh, it''s been a while, Your Majesty Aura. How is Prince Carlos doing?"

    Prince Francesco made himselffortable on the couch as though he was at home and spoke to the red-haired Queen sitting across from him.

    The casual tone from the blonde prince did not agitate Queen Aura as she just nodded with a smile.

    "Thanks to you, he is doing well. I owe you a great deal, Prince Francesco. And I am even putting Princess Bona through a lot of trouble, so that we can meet like this."

    She replied with a calm tone.

    "If that''s how you feel, please turn rhetoric into actionter on."

    "That I shall."

    Princess Bona was a chaperone for Prince Francesco. Because of that, Prince Francesco was generally not able to attend an official gathering without her.

    In order to get her out of the picture, Aura had requested a peculiar magic tool from Princess Bona as payment for their residence here.

    Her request had been an "outdoor candlestick". As the name implied, it was just an borate illuminant, but it actually required thebination of three different spells.

    Namely the "me" magic as the source of light, the "Wind Wall" magic as a protection against outside influences as well as the "Water Maniption" magic as an amplifier through reflections.

    Each spell was rtively low ss and would not take all that long to imbue into a magic tool. But the problem was that only one marble had been arranged for all three required spells.

    The main "me" magic could be imbued within one day, if the marble was used as its medium, but the other two spells had to be imbued the normal way.

    So no matter how hard Princess Bona might try, she would take at least one month for each bestowal. Adding the time required to craft the candlestick itself, she would need around three to four months toplete the tool.

    Consequently, Princess Bona was going to be busy for a long time.

    Needless to say, she was not going to spent the whole day working, even if she did allocate a lot of time to it, but she was going to be upied for at least half a day every day until the tool was done.

    During that time, Prince Francesco could act on own his behalf.

    "This reminds me, His Majesty Zenjirou is attending the wedding by now, isn''t he? I must say I sure was surprised that you acknowledged the northern princess as his partner. You are as bold as ever, Your Majesty Aura."

    The blonde prince grinned broadly, whereas the red-haired queen kept herposed smile.

    "Love is a matter of the heart. No matter how much influence you may wield, it is impossible to capture the heartpletely through it."

    "Wise words, Your Majesty."

    Aura insisted that Princess Freya had only be his partner due to personal feelings, whereupon Prince Francesco nodded his assent exaggeratedly a few times.

    Seeing as the reaction from the blonde prince was as unreadable as ever, Queen Aura obfuscated her smile and asked him.

    "What about you, though? I am sure you know what it symbolizes to bring another woman besides your wife to a wedding ceremony. Is there nothing you want to tell me, considering our countries have a secret agreement in regards to the concubines of my husband?"

    "Ahaha, oh please! No one actually expected that agreement to be kept."

    On the other hand, the reply from Prince Francesco was so blunt it made you question it instead.

    Nevertheless, he had been telling the whole truth.

    The secret agreement was not about "restricting concubines for Zenjirou", but rather recited "what had to be done, when Zenjirou had a child with a concubine".

    "Then I can assume that Princess Bona is another chess piece in the same game?"

    The reason Aura threw him such a provoking question was that Princess Freya had changed the situation drastically.

    For the nobility of the Carpa Kingdom it was already only a matter of time before Princess Freya would be a concubine.

    And since a second concubine would not make much of a difference anyway then, they had resumed their own offensive to push a concubine onto Zenjirou.

    With the "secret contract" at work, Aura needed to know the intention of the Sharrow Royal Family, when they were going to increase the number of concubines for Zenjirou.

    Having said this, it was almost impossible to have a reasonable discussion on the level of "sounding each other out" with Prince Francesco.

    "Hmm, at the very least, the Sharrow Family won''t intervene if Bona gets intimate with His Majesty Zenjirou. Well, in my opinion, something will only happen between them when His Majesty visits the Twin Kingdom."

    "¡­"

    The prince revealed the scheme of his own country with a nonchnt expression, whereat even Queen Aura had to fall silent for a moment.

    It sounded too usible to brush it off as a joke or bluff, but neither could she take it at face value.

    In the end, she had no choice but to proceed cautiously.

    "Oh, so you are saying the Sharrow Family would receive my husband with open arms to the Capital of the Twin Kingdom?"

    "Why, yes, of course! Except maybe His Majesty himself, everyone is always ''ready and waiting'' to wee him."

    "¡­That sounds more like they are ready to catch or capture him, rather than wee him."

    "Haha, you''re as perceptive as ever."

    Prince Francesco practically admitted it with his answer, whereupon Aura wrinkled her brow without breaking her poker face.

    (I feel like I am fighting against an amorphous monster.)

    The blonde prince showed not the slightest reaction to the deliberately shown displeasure of the Queen, and just grinned stupidly.

    "I shall tell my husband toe back right away, if he ever feels to be in danger."

    "Nothing wrong with that. Oh, can I ask His Majesty Zenjirou to deliver a letter, when he visits the Twin Kingdom? I would like to write my parents and siblings back home once in a while."

    Prince Francesco had the "Burning Pair Parchment" to get into contact with them, but it was a scarce magic tool. He could not use it for a personal message.

    The request from Prince Francesco prompted Aura to blink once in surprise.

    "Hmm? Does that mean you are staying here? I thought for sure you two would take the chance to return home together with my husband."

    Aura suspected that Prince Francesco hade to the Carpa Kingdom to check upon the bloodline magic disposition of Prince Carlos Zenkichi and let them know about his special ability to use two different bloodline magic.

    Princess Bona on the other hand was probably sent here to serve as a honey trap for Zenjirou.

    The former one had already achieved his goal and thetter one would have the best chances to achieve hers, when they returned home together with Zenjirou.

    But Prince Francesco dismissed these conjectures with a shake of the head.

    "As if. I actually like it better here, because there''s too much nagging back home."

    "Princess Bona does it here, too, though?"

    "She is the only one here. There are a lot more at home, who keep nagging at me.

    But I want to give my family a status report or rather show them a sign of life from me. Hence a letter. Is that too much to ask for?"

    "¡­.."

    Somehow or other, Aura discerned that Prince Francesco was telling the truth behind his nonchnt tone, so she narrowed his eyes and cleared up a misunderstanding he had made.

    "Yes. That is exactly why I suggested you return together with my husband. You see, my husband will only visit the Twin Kingdom once he has learned the ''Teleport'' magic.

    The spell allows you to go back and forth between our Royal Pces within one day in an extreme case.

    I would send you there with my ''Teleport'' magic and my husband would send you back from there with his ''Teleport'' magic. Needless to say, it will cost you."

    "Oh, I see."

    Prince Francesco pped his hands enlightened.

    Just like she had said, they could establish a kind of finite warp gate between the Capitals of the Carpa Kingdom and the Twin Kingdom, when Zenjirou learned ''Teleport'' and used it to go to the Twin Kingdom.

    Considering the travel was going to be instantaneous and safe, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona had no reason to not go back home temporarily.

    "If that is the case, I will dly take you up on the offer. Ah, and I want you to do the same for Bona on a different day, too. Do you take gold coins as a payment?"

    Prince Francesco asked with a beaming face, whereat Queen Aura replied with a sober voice.

    "A magic tool would be more to my liking. I shall provide you with the gem for the medium, so I would like you to create a magic tool with ''Teleport''."

    "¡­.."

    That request surprised even Prince Francesco.

    Rendered speechless for a moment, he then showed a bright smile.

    "That definitely sounds like a worthwhile task, but I think the price is a bit too expensive for applying ''Teleport'' four times. How about this: I pay you in gold coins for my request, but make two magic tools with ''Teleport'' in addition, from which I get one inpensation for my efforts."

    The "Teleport" magic was the pivotal element of the Carpa Royal Family. So the Twin Kingdom had approached them numerous times to turn that spell into a magic tool, but the previous rulers of the Carpa Kingdom had never allowed this.

    As Aura was proposing to break that taboo now, Prince Francesco leaned forward with a big grin, but Queen Aura just shook her head ungracious.

    "No, just one. And even that one has to be a ''disposable'' one with only a single use. If that is impossible, I will not force you.

    Gold coins will just be fine as payment in that case."

    Whether she was just bargaining or never actually expected it to be possible, Aura outright rejected him with a steadfast tone.

    "Hmm¡­ Well¡­ I would really like to get my hands on ''Teleport'', though. But then again¡­"

    Prince Francesco crossed his arms, wrinkled his brow and mumbled to himself for a while.

    Before long, he seemed to have reached a decision. The blonde prince pped himself on the knees and spoke.

    "Okay, I''ll give up on the ''Teleport'' for myself. But I do want that gem. You still have plenty of them, right? I want three of them, including the one I will need for your ''Teleport'' magic tool. How does that sound?"

    "You are being a bit too greedy now. I would be willing topromise on two. But you will need to tell me for what kind of magic tool you want to use the second gem in advance. Otherwise I cannotply."

    Strictly speaking, her answer was only to be expected.

    Right now, Prince Francesco was staying in the guesthouse of the Carpa Royal Pce. Aura obviously had to make sure he was not going to make a dangerous magic tool.

    But it apparently was not that obvious to Prince Francesco, seeing as he kept staring at the ceiling for a while.

    "What for, you ask? Hmm, do I really have to tell you?"

    "You do."

    "Really?"

    "Yes."

    "Hmm¡­"

    His inner conflict continued for some while, but at some point, he seemed to have made a decision and faced Aura with a resolute expression.

    "Fine. I will tell you in confidence. But keep it between you and me. Not even Royalty must know about it."

    "Okay. I shall not tell my husband about it."

    Aura nodded confirmatory, but Prince Francesco shook his head.

    "No, not just him, but all ''other Royalty''."

    "All other Royalty?"

    She cocked her head puzzled, but realized what he meant after a moment of pondering.

    Except Aura and Zenjirou, the only other Royalty in the Carpa Kingdom was the infant Carlos Zenkichi. He surely did not mean to keep it a secret from a child, who could not even speak yet.

    It was also unlikely he would remind her to not reveal it to Royalty of an unrted country such as Princess Freya at this point in time.

    So there was only one possibility remaining: Concealing it from the other involved Royalty from the Twin Kingdom.

    "¡­You mean to keep it a secret from Princess Bona?"

    Aura narrowed her eyes to slits and asked him with feigned ignorance, whereupon Prince Francesco answered with a profound grin.

    "Not just Bona. I also mean my father and grandfather back home. Especially them, actually. They snapped at me, when I tried to make that magic tool once before. Man, it was hell on earth."

    Prince Francesco scratched his head with a carefree smile, but even Queen Aura of all people became somewhat anxious now.

    But there was no backing down aftering this far.

    "Very well. I will keep it between you and me. Not a single soul shall learn of it from me. So tell me, Prince Francesco, what exactly are you trying to make?"

    "Well, a magic tool imbued with ''Bestowal Magic''."

    While he answered like that, his eyes beamed with rampant aspiration.

    * * *

    "¡­."

    After Prince Francesco had left the meeting room, Queen Aura slouched on the couch and heaved a sigh.

    "What a troublemaker. Announcing an important matter just like that¡­"

    A magic tool of the "Bestowal Magic". If it was actually possible to make such a thing, it could shake the civilized world to the very foundations.

    To be honest, his motivations were too uncertain, so she should not let him make one.

    "But I really want a magic tool with ''Teleport''. Without one, I would be too worried to let Zenjirou leave the country as it stands. The Twin Kingdom may not be as much of a worry, but I definitely cannot let him leave for the Upps Kingdom like this."

    This was what Aura have had in mind.

    Princess Freya was supposed to go home to get permission for her marriage, after the issue with the Twin Kingdom was more or less resolved, and Aura wanted Zenjirou to apany her on the "Yellow Leaves" on that asion.

    The biggest advantage of "Teleport" was that you could instantly go back and forth between ces you had visited before.

    Because of that, the Carpa Royalty had split up to visit allied and neutral countries before the great war, expanding their possible targets for the "Teleport" magic.

    If Princess Freya did officially became a concubine for Zenjirou and they realized an intercontinental trade with the Upps Kingdom in the future, it would do no harm to have a person, who could go back and forth between their countries with "Teleport".

    The problem, however, was that the intercontinental sea travel was far from begin safe, even with arge sailing ship like the "Yellow Leaves" from Princess Freya.

    Aura loved her husband, of course, but even more importantly, Zenjirou was the Prince Consort, the only grown-up male in the Royal Family for now.

    No matter how much of an advantage it was to be able to "Teleport" to the North Continent and back, it was not worth risking his life over it.

    She needed something that could ensure his safety, namely the "Teleport" magic tool.

    The "Teleport" spell was normally too difficult to cast in emergencies. This technically applied to all magic, because the magic would not activate without properly envisioning its effect. Hence it was impossible to invoke the magic in a life-threatening situation unless you had nerves of steel.

    "And I do not see Zenjirou having these nerves."

    Aura truly loved her husband from the bottom of her heart, but she did not let that feeling cloud her judgment about his abilities.

    Going by his nerves and personality, it was pretty much impossible to cast magic for him already, when someone next to him simply drew his sword.

    Even if he were able to actually use "Teleport", he would not be able to use it as a means of escape in an emergency.

    As a consequence, Aura wanted a magic tool with the "Teleport" magic.

    Depending on its setting, the magic tool could be used even when you were nervous or frightened as long as you still had a bit of reasoning left.

    Zenjirou would be able to escape with it, when, for example, the ship capsized and sunk. Or when the delegation was dragged into some kind of conflict onnd. Or even when the Upps Kingdom tried to detain him for some reason after he arrived there.

    "I really want that magic tool, but for how much should Ipromise? Prince Francesco even revealed that sensible information about a ''Bestowal'' magic tool to me.

    Knowing him, he surely is going to go ahead with it on his own anyway.

    I guess they do not call him a genius creator of magic tools for nothing."

    On the other hand, they did not call him a carefree idiot for everything else for nothing, either.

    "I need to put some thought into how much I can afford to yield to The Twin Kingdom or the Upps Kingdom and how I can draw the best profit from them for my country."

    Aura generally preferred to keep a bnce between domestic and external policies.

    Of course her own country always came first, but whenever possible, she chose not to get on the bad side of her negotiation partners just for a quick profit, nor did she treat them too favourable and let them get overbearing.

    Her careful consideration was interrupted by the dry sound of a knock on the door.

    "! Enter."

    "Excuse me, Your Majesty."

    Called in after the knock, a middle-aged man with a slender face entered the room. It was Secretary Fabio.

    "Master Zenjirou has sent a Small Flying Dragon from the March of Guzzle. Here you are."

    Expressionless as ever, the secretary ced three wooden cylinder the size of a finger in front of Aura with these words.

    Taking one of them, Aura pulled the small Dragonskin Parchment out of it and read what was written on it.

    "Hmm¡­ Mh? Nilda Guzzle? Fabio, do you know of anyone called ''Nilda Guzzle''?"

    The faithful secretary immediately answered the question of the Queen.

    "No, I do not. Who is that supposed to be?"

    "ording to my husband, she is the ''second daughter'' of Marquis Guzzle. Apparently she just came of age this year, so fifteen years old, and is the illegitimate child the Marquis had with a woman from his domain."

    Hearing the exnation from the Queen, the Secretary shifted his gaze to the ceiling and pondered for a moment, but shook his head resolutely in the end.

    "Still does not ring a bell with me. Marquis Guzzle had four children. Three sons and one daughter. The first and second son both died in battle, so there is only his youngest son Sir Xavier and his daughter Lady Lucinda right now."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Certainly. Or at the very least, they are the only ones listed on the ''roll of names."

    "I see¡­ I am not questioning your memory, but check the ''roll of names'' again, just in case."

    "dly."

    The so-called "roll of names" was a document from the Royal Family, where all the names of the local nobility were listed on.

    Anyone on that list was nobility and vice versa.

    In other words, the girl named Nilda Guzzle was "not officially acknowledged as nobility", even when Marquis Guzzle actually imed that she was his own daughter.

    "It seems that very Nilda was entrusted with the duty to take care of my husband. It is unthinkable that amoner would get to take care of Royalty, even if she may be his real daughter. In any other case, I would suspect a plot now, but¡­"

    As though finishing her sentence, Secretary Fabio dered assertively.

    "That is not possible. At the very least, its mastermind cannot be Marquis Guzzle. The best he could plot would be a pitfall."

    The Queen assented to his words with a wry smile.

    "I see you are still not mincing your words, Fabio, But yes, I agree with you. It is hard to believe the Marquis can hatch aplicated plot.

    In that case, we might as well just ask him about it. Fabio."

    "Yes?"

    "Dispatch an envoy to the residence of Marquis Guzzle here in the Capital. I assume most of them have returned to the March for the wedding, but someone must have remained to look after the ce.

    Make hime here. He might know something about it."

    "Very well. I shall arrange it immediately."

    The secretary bowed down to the order of the Queen so perfectly it seemed inhuman.

    <b>Chapter 03: For a Trivial Reason</b>

    A marriage ceremony between important nobles in the bordend simply did not end after the ceremony itself.

    After all, influential nobles from far and wide, not to forget Royalty, had gathered here to celebrate it.

    The road and inn essibility in this world was nowhere good enough to cope with the situation, where the guests were told "thanks foring" right after the ceremony and dispersed in small groups all at once.

    Most people actually wanted to stay longer in order to use this opportunity for socializing.

    And above all, it would be a grand event, when the groom General Puyol set out for the Capital with his wife Lucindater on.

    There was no way the other guests would leave ahead of them. The same naturally applied to Prince Consort Zenjirou as well.

    Consequently, the capital of the March of Guzzle was bustling with all the wedding guests even now.

    In his usual well-behaved way, Zenjirou spent the days in his allocated building without moving around much.

    It certainly was inconvenient to be separated from his electrical appliances, but he had already went through that experience in Valentia.

    Learning from his past mistakes, Zenjirou had brought along his portable music yer as well as two portable game consoles this time, all of them charged in full.

    Thanks to them, he had not been bored at night so far. Unfortunately he could only charge the devices in the Inner Pce, so he limited himself to use only one of them for one hour per day, but it was more than enough to pass the time in the otherwise uneventful nights.

    The music yer in particr yed a decisive role.

    Because Aura had recorded the chant for "Teleport" on it.

    Listening to it on repeat, Zenjirou had set himself to learn the correct pronunciation of the "Teleport" chant for now.

    "Ru Mavaiaia Hastaobraguopena¡­ It''s no good."

    Zenjirou heaved a heavy sigh in the dimly lit room, which was only illuminated by the hand crank shlight and the disy light of the music yer.

    "Grr¡­ I expected it, but it''s still difficult! The intonation alone raises the difficulty quite a bit."

    Putting the music yer onto the desk, Zenjirou stretched himself on the simple chair he was sitting on, muttering with a loud voice.

    Just like he had mentioned, the intonation for the "Teleport" chant in the magguage was already pretty difficult by itself. He had practiced it whenever he had time on the way here, but so far, he had not seeded even once.

    As things stood at the moment, Zenjirou was still miles away from fathoming "Teleport".

    "Will I really be able to use an awesome magic like ''Teleport'' one day?"

    Not quiteining, nor exactly losing heart, Zenjirou muttered to himself while he turned off the music yer and took a silver bell from the desk, ringing it.

    It was met with an almost instant reaction.

    "Yes, you called for me?"

    With these words, a middle-aged woman neatly wearing maid clothes entered the room: Waiting Maid Ines.

    The light from the shlight was quite selective, so the room was pretty much wrapped in darkness except for the desk, but Ines showed no sign of missing her footing.

    Because this world had no illumination tools whatsoever, its people had be a lot more ustomed to seeing in the night than Zenjirou. As one of them, Ines did not even feel inconvenienced by this level of darkness at which Zenjirou would not hesitate a second to turn on the lights.

    And since it was dangerous to walk around with a light source such as an oil pan, people generally refrained from carrying one as long as they still could see more or less in the dark, so Zenjirou was practically an exception to the exception.

    As his waiting maid came closer with her usual smooth steps, Zenjirou called out to her with a casual question.

    "How''s Princess Freya doing?"

    He could take this attitude, because he was all alone in the room with the well-acquainted waiting maid.

    Ines, too, was used to that behaviour.

    "Princess Freya is being shown around the main building by Miss Nilda."

    She answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

    "Oh, I had heard they were getting along, but this well? I''m a bit surprised."

    "They are somewhat close in age and Miss Nilda has quite the sociable personality, after all. And Princess Freya does not seem to be put off by her attachment, either."

    Up to a certain age, Nilda had been raised in an uneventful farming vige, so she listened with genuine respect to the unusual exploits of Princess Freya from the bottom of her heart.

    Likewise, Princess Freya must be enjoying to be the target of admiration from a younger girl for a change.

    "d to hear. Just having someone to talk to already fends off boredom."

    "You seem to have opened up to Princess Freya as well, Master Zenjirou."

    "A bit, yes."

    When Ines gave him a light smile, Zenjirou showed a wry smile to hide his embarrassment.

    Although Zenjirou admitted that he found it difficult to deal with the openly affectionate Princess Freya, he could not help but be somewhat attracted to her, when she was smiling so innocently together with Nilda.

    Standing up from the chair, Zenjirou took the shlight from the desk and pointed it at his feet while talking to Ines.

    "Well then, let''s go pick her up. It''s almost time for dinner. Ines, can you take me to the main building?"

    "Certainly. Are you sure, though? I can go by myself, if it is just to call her back."

    "I can''t really do that. It would spread rumours that we don''t get along."

    She had been brought along as his partner for the marriage ceremony, so other people already had concluded that it was only a matter of time for her to be his concubine.

    If it were to seem like they were not getting along well now, it could harm the country in the future.

    "Besides, I want to stretch my legs."

    Perceptive as he was, Zenjirou realized the circumstances were moving towards an unfavourable oue for him and yet, that knowledge did not prevent him from taking action in that very direction.

    * * *

    Around the same time, Princess Freya was walking down the dim hallway of the main building with Nilda.

    Her bodyguard Skathi was following three steps behind them.

    "Please watch your step, Princess Freya. Will you be fine?"

    "Yes, I can see rtively well in the night and even participated in a couple of night manoeuvres. Thank you for your concern."

    Just like she had asserted, Princess Freya kept a firm walking pace.

    By the standards of Modern Earth, the stony hallway was wrapped in a considerable darkness, but Princess Freya and Skathi were ustomed to seeing in the dark more than enough, whereas Nilda knew her family home inside out. Even if she could not see as well, she could move around from memory.

    "Wow. I take it that you took training for it?"

    "Instead of specially training for it, it would be more urate to say that I naturally adopted to it. You see, huntings and sea or river travels do not necessarily end by nightfall, so you have no choice but to continue throughout the night. As a result, I came to be able to see at night."

    She mentioned it most carefree, but that method was anything but it. At the very least, it was not something a princess was supposed to do.

    In fact, Skathi showed a wry smile behind them. As her bodyguard, she had been dragged into all of her hoydenish adventures.

    "Mdy, we are near a corner."

    "Yes, I can see it. Thank you, Skathi."

    Keeping her back to her trusted bodyguard, the silver-haired princess answered her like that and safely turned at the right-angled corner.

    Nilda next to her followed suit as well.

    The first to notice it then was, as expected, the female warrior Skathi, as she was paying close attention to their surroundings with her eyes most ustomed to the darkness.

    "Hm? There is someone ahead of us. I can see a silhouette."

    Upon her remark, both Princess Freya and Nilda stopped and narrowed their eyes to a slit.

    "Oh, right. Considering he ising from that direction, it must be one of our guards."

    With the worst night vision from all of them, Nilda imed this, but Princess Freya cocked her head dubiously.

    "Are you sure? I cannot see it all that well at this distance, but I would say it is someone from the ''Navarre Kingdom''."

    The delegation from the Navarre Kingdom was the only foreign group invited to this marriage ceremony, so Princess Freya had paid a bit more attention to them than to the others.

    Because of that, she could now recognize their military uniform from just a silhouette.

    "Eh!?"

    Nilda eximed surprised, when she heard that.

    "Excuse me for a moment."

    Then she approached the silhouette with brisk steps.

    "Pardon! Do you have a moment?"

    When Nilda called out to it with a loud voice, the silhouette flinched for a second, then stopped.

    The dimness hid all the fine features, but judging by the height, it was a man without doubt.

    "¡­Yes?"

    And a young man, at that, going by his voice.

    His silhouette and voice assured Nilda that he was at least not associated with the House of Guzzle, so she named herself in the semidarkness.

    "My name is Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle. May I ask you to name yourself?"

    "¡­Yes! I am Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom Delegation."

    The silhouette performed the typical greeting gesture of a knight amidst the darkness and its voice was kind of t from nervousness.

    "Then I shall address you as Sir Raymundo. Pardon my asking, Sir Raymundo, but did youe out of that middle hallway just now?"

    Her straightforward question turned out to be counterproductive, though.

    "¡­No. You must have confused it. I came out of that other passage."

    Saying this, the knight from the Navarre Kingdom pointed to the building''s outmost hallway, the one opposite from which Nilda hade out.

    The hallways around here were set up a bitplicated.

    In this area, three passages were running parallel to each other: The hallway Nilda and the other two had walked through, the hallway the knight from the Navarre Kingdom had walked through and the hallway pointed out by the same knight just now.

    At some point, the two outer passages had a corner at a right angle and were merging with the middle passage. They were standing at that very intersection now.

    But even in this darkness, the excuse from the knight was somewhat overdoing things. Nilda definitely had seen himing out of the middle passage and as a matter of fact, she had stopped the knight right in front of the central hallway.

    Nilda showed a troubled smile.

    "Well, so you say, but I definitely saw youing out from there."

    She pressed him slightly.

    But even then, the knight did not change his attitude.

    "It is quite dark here, so it is not strange for you to make a mistake. Well then, Miss Nilda, I will excuse myself now."

    As if to shake her off, the knight left the ce with rapid steps.

    "Ah!"

    Nilda tried to reach out to him, but her hand only grasped at air.

    "¡­What do I do now? I guess I will have to report this to my father."

    Nilda cocked her head troubled, whereupon Princess Freya and Skathi came over after they had watched the situation unfold from afar.

    "Should you have let him leave, Nilda? As far as I could tell, he seems to have set foot into a restricted area without permission."

    The Southern Continent was foreignnd to Princess Freya and she was currently nothing more than the partner for Prince Consort Zenjirou.

    Not only did she not know much about themon sense here, she also had no real authority here, so she had just silently observed without interfering, but then she noticed that the situation had taken a rather serious turn.

    Nilda showed a troubled smile in reaction to the question from Princess Freya and nodded once.

    "Yes. The area beyond that middle passage belongs to our military. That being said, it only contains a little watchtower we rarely ever use, so it is not really an issue, if someone goes there, but we have told the guests that the ce is off limits beforehand, so I had no choice but to broach the subject."

    Even the mansion of a feudal lord had areas that were off limits to others, guests of state being to exception.

    It applied to the private chambers of the lord and his family, the treasury as it was the wallet of the domain and the military facilities as it was the shield of the domain.

    Just like Nilda had mentioned, the military facility beyond that hallway, where the knight of the Navarre Kingdom had set foot into, was not really all that important.

    As a matter of fact, an interested guest would have easily gotten permission to go there, if he simply asked for it.

    But it was a different matter altogether to "ignore someone who had trespassed there".

    If they were to let him get away with it here, they would soon have to do the same for the other restricted area as well.

    "Seems like I will have to ask my father or brother to reprimand him tomorrow."

    Nilda heaved a small sigh after these words. She held no official rank and was just the daughter of a mistress, regardless of her blood rtionship, so people always tended to make light of her.

    "If you would like, I cane with you to make a testimony."

    "Yes, that would be much appreciated. I am sorry for the trouble, Princess Freya."

    While they were having such an exchange, a bright light red up behind Nilda.

    "Mdy, Miss Nilda, please stand back, just in case."

    "Oh my, where has the time gone?"

    "That must be Master Zenjirou."

    Princess Freya and Nilda spoke up without due care upon the warning from Skathi, but still obediently got behind her.

    The white light was a hundred, more probably a thousand times brighter than the moonlight. Zenjirou was the only person to possess such a thing.

    Hence the warning from Skathi had been nothing but a reflex and there was actually no need for wariness.

    "Oh, here you are, Princess Freya, Miss Nilda. Then we should get back to the annex building now. The preparations for dinner seem to be done."

    And as expected, Zenjirou appeared from the roofed crossing leading to the annex building with his crank-powered LED shlight in hand. His bodyguard Knight Natalio and waiting maid Ines followed behind him like always.

    "Thank you for going out of your way to pick us up, Your Majesty Zenjirou."

    "Thanks for letting us know, Master Zenjirou."

    Amidst the brilliance of the shlight, both Princess Freya and Nilda offered Zenjirou words of gratitude with a smile.

    During the past few days, the three of them had gotten close to the point that such an exchange was normal to them. The shortage of personnel was actually working in their favour here.

    Because of theck of staff, less people were involved in situations like this one. Moreover, there was not much hustle and bustle in the countryside to begin with, so without knowing, Zenjirou had started to assume quite the "casual" attitude towards Princess Freya and Nilda.

    "No, don''t mention it. It allowed me to stretch my legs, too, after all. But it would be rude to let the cooks wait any longer."

    "You are right. Let us head back."

    "Okay, Master Zenjirou."

    Thebined group then went back to the annex building with a bit of chit-chat.

    * * *

    Nilda had caught a knight of the Navarre Kingdom at entering a restricted area without permission.

    In itself, that was not such a big deal.

    At the very least, the Guzzle Family would have been willing tough it off with a "Be more careful next time" as long as the knight apologized with a "I got lost" statement and that would be the end of it.

    The reason such a trivial matter escted into something bigger was that the knight in question thought he could wipe that trivial matter under the carpet as well as his superior supporting his im well and truly.

    "So you refuse to admit it, no matter what, Sir Cristiano?"

    The one to speak with a strict voice like that was the third son and sessor-to-be of Marquis Guzzle: Xavier Guzzle.

    Cristiano Pinto, the Knight Captain of the Navarre Kingdom, assented to the words of the young heir with a deliberate smile as though showing off hisposure.

    On the morning after that night, Xavier Guzzle had been informed about the incident by his little sister Nilda and had immediately went to the delegation of the Navarre Kingdom, wanting them to exin the circumstances.

    "Yes. It definitely is true that one of my subordinates, Knight Raymundo, was called to a halt by Miss Nilda in the evening of yesterday. But like he had exined back then, Raymundo did note out of the middle hallway, but had emerged from the outmost passage."

    "You mean to say it is nothing but a mistake from Nilda?"

    Xavier obviously sharpened his nce, but Knight Captain Cris did not let that attitude affect his smile and simply answered.

    "Well, we are talking about evening here. The sun had already set. I dare to say it is not strange for a woman to make such a mistake. I mean, women are prone to fear the darkness, are they not?"

    "¡­Nilda was not alone. Princess Freya as well as her bodyguard Victoria im the same circumstances."

    "Both women, too. Fear and surprise is known to be contagious. Once someone ims something, it is not all that unusual for others toe to the same misunderstanding."

    His expression was overflowing with confidence while Knight Captain Cris answered like that. To an onlooker at least it seemed like he believed what he was saying from the bottom of his heart.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­.."

    Sitting across from each other, they stared at each other wordlessly for a while.

    Knight Captain Cris was admittedly slender, but was by no means small with his height of more or less one-hundred and eighty centimetre.

    The petite Xavier was not even one-hundred and seventy tall, so there was an obvious height difference, which was still all too apparent, when they sat across each other.

    Considering that Knight Captain Cris was also a bit older than Xavier, it only looked like a David versus Goliath situation.

    From his behaviour, Xavier could tell that Knight Captain Cris was also the better fighter of them by far, so he had trouble to seize the reins of the negotiations.

    Taking a deep breath to provide his body with new oxygen, Xavier then said with a resolute look.

    "Okay. It seems we are not on the same page here."

    "Instead of the same page, I say the end is just obvious?"

    When Knight Captain Cris gave him a faint smile, Xavier clenched his back teeth.

    "I, for one, cannot bring myself to believe that all three witnesses made the same mistake."

    "Sir Xavier, do you mean to imply that a knight of our country is lying then?"

    "Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

    "!?"

    For the first time today, Knight Captain Cris broke his calm mask in light of Xavier''s clear statement.

    "Sir Xavier, are you aware of the significance of your words?"

    Knight Captain Cris lowered the tone of his voice, whereas Xavier was extremely careful not to let his voice waver as he answered.

    "Yes. I am aware that I wouldmit a grave defamation, if I were to be wrong. Should it turn out that I suspected the knight of your country wrongfully, I am prepared to make an official apology."

    "¡­.."

    He must not have expected Xavier to stage such a determined opposition. Knight Captain Cris was at a loss for words for a moment.

    In all objectivity, though, Xavier actually had no reason to humble himself here.

    As the next sessor to a March in the Major Power known as Carpa Kingdom, Xavier Guzzle was more or less on equal footing with Cristiano Pinto, who was the oldest son of a famous family with proximity of blood to the Royal Family in the Middle Power known as Navarre Kingdom.

    The Carpa Kingdom and Navarre Kingdom were officially acknowledging each other''s sovereignty, so of course things would have gone a lot smoother if Xavier just had madepromises to Knight Captain Cris pro forma, but neither did he need to feel obliged to draw in his horns in his position, when their opinions were as contradictory as right now.

    "Now, you mentioned earlier that the end was already obvious, but can I take it that you have acknowledged our im then?"

    "¡­No, it seems we really are not on the same page."

    Even while dding himself with a mask of inexpressiveness, Knight Captain Cris shook his head with a displeasure he could not conceal entirely.

    * * *

    Knight Raymundo, a member of the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom, had trespassed into a restricted area.

    Three people had witnessed that: Nilda Guzzle, Freya Upps and Victoria Kronkvist.

    Princess Freya was the partner for Zenjirou, Victoria aka. Skathi was her bodyguard and Nilda was tasked with taking care of Zenjirou here.

    So all three of them had a rather close rtion to him.

    Hence it was practically an inevitability that Zenjirou would get dragged into this incident as well.

    "My deepest apologies, Master Zenjirou. I cannot express nowhere near enough regret for involving Princess Freya in a matter of our family."

    As the morning sun beamed through the windows, Nilda Guzzle lowered her head with bitter regret. Zenjirou responded to her with the softest smile he could manage.

    "No, as far as I see it, it was not your fault, Miss Nilda. Princess Freya says so, too. It was just an unfortunate course of events.

    And seeing as the delegation from the Navarre Kingdom is involved in this, it is no longer a domestic issue, but an international one. So, as a representative for Queen Aura, I am involved, too. I will help you to the best of my abilities."

    "Thank you very much, Master Zenjirou."

    Nilda was pepped up by his words and showed a bright smile.

    Her abundant disy of emotions made you worry if she could actually survive in the world of nobility.

    "For that reason, can you lend her a hand, Princess Freya? If you run into some kind of trouble, you may use my name."

    Princess Freya answered him with a charming smile.

    "Of course. Just leave it to me, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Miss Nilda is a dear friend to me as well, so I personally want to help her out in this anyway.

    I may not look like it, but I am quite confident in my eyesight at night."

    With these words, she jutted her chin forward in such a way that it seemed yfully at first, but her eyes were by no means smiling.

    Gender discrimination against women.

    Princess Freya had suffered the same treatment numerous times in her home country, but it was nothing one could get used to.

    Contrary to her outward appearance, Princess Freya was quite strong-willed, so she must have felt offended, too, when her own capability was looked down upon.

    "Yes, I''m counting on you, Princess Freya."

    "dly."

    Keeping up her strong-willed smile, Princess Freya swept him adified curtsy.

    After the two girls left, Zenjirou eased his tension and grumbled in a peeved tone.

    "Oh man¡­ What a pain."

    Currently, Zenjirou was all alone in the room with his waiting maid Ines.

    A waiting maid was not really a suitable adviser for his current problem, but she was the only person, he could trust and confide in here.

    "Hey, Ines, let''s have a little talk. I just want to confirm some things and will make the ultimate decision by myself, but please let me hear your honest opinion."

    "Very well, Master Zenjirou."

    The middle-aged maid just bowed politely as she seemingly had anticipated the request from her master.

    Zenjirou nodded once.

    "Thanks. Well then, my first question might bemon sense, but I want to start with the basics.

    Will this incident be more weighty, if ''Nilda is not nobility''?"

    He gave voice to his biggest worry first.

    In his opinion, it was quite likely that Nilda Guzzle was not a noble.

    Needless to say, his reasoning originated from the fact that Queen Aura had not told him about her existence.

    All nobility was listed on the "Roll of Names" managed by the Royal Family.

    Looking at it the other way round, those not listed on the "Roll of Names" were not officially recognized as noble, even if they legitimately were of noble birth.

    Considering Aura had not been aware of Nilda, it was extremely likely that her name was not listed on the Roll of Names.

    The middle-aged maid assented his question with aposed look.

    "It definitely would be more weighty. In this case, a diplomatic issue."

    Zenjirou heaved a sigh in light of his bad premonitioning true.

    "I knew it. Just in case: Does the same still apply under the premise that Nilda ispletely right and the knight lying?"

    "Yes. The hierarchy is more important in this case. The truth is irrelevant. To make things worse, the other party is a knight and the trespassing happened at night.

    Something could have been done, though, if it had been a male soldier,moner even, that stopped him."

    "Ah, so they being female is part of the problem, after all. But what could have been done, if it was a soldier? Is themon military that well esteemed?"

    His question was met with a diligent exnation from the middle-aged waiting maid.

    "No. The reason is that this incident happened during the night patrol. People will even listen to amoner as long as he is specialized toment on the matter in question."

    For example: A Knight purchases a weapon and then uses the cksmith to have swindled him with a defect product. The counterstatement from the cksmith would be taken into consideration as well then.

    Because the cksmith was even more specialized in weapons than the knight.

    But in this case, the incident concerned a trespassing at night.

    In a broader sense, it was a military issue. Needless to say, the knight was specializing in that and Nilda was nothing but a little girl with no connection to it.

    So, when she turned out to be no noble, like Zenjirou assumed, this incident would be rather troublesome.

    "Oh god. Not good. Even if I''m right in assuming that she''s not nobility, Nilda currently doesn''t seem to be aware of it.

    Depending on the circumstances, I might have to talk to Marquis Guzzle and work together with him."

    "I dare to say that his would be a bit too risky. Although the possibility is low, the Marquis still might be behind the concealment of her person. And even if no one is behind it, it could actually be a mistake made by the Royal Family.

    Considering that, I cannot rmend revealing everything to Marquis Guzzle so easily."

    "Oh, right. You''ve a point¡­ But this is a diplomatic issue, right? It''s no longer just between the Royal Family and a Feudal Lord. It would be bad to ignore a diplomatic issue, just to protect the Royal Family. We can''t confuse our priorities here.

    But in the unlikely event that Marquis Guzzle really is behind this, it would be the worst case scenario. Although it isn''t all that likely, we still can''t rule it out, so we must keep it in mind¡­"

    With no end to his worries in sight, Zenjirou looked up at the ceiling from his chair.

    There were two possibilities: Nilda had her name listed on the "Roll of Names" or not. If it was not listed, there were another two possibilities: Someone plotted it or it was some kind of mistake.

    If it was indeed listed, there were no problems at all.

    Problems only arose, when her name was not listed on it.

    Assuming it was part of a plot, the mastermind behind it could be Marquis Guzzle and it would worsen the situation sharply to consult with him.

    On the other hand, if her name was not listed, because of a mere mistake in the paperwork, the best course of action would be to report it to Marquis Guzzle as quickly as possible.

    (I think a mistake is more likely, but if I act on that possibility and it turns out to be a plot after all, it''s game over.)

    The slightest miscalction could let the best choice result in the worst ending.

    Zenjirou could not bring himself to choose a route that might lead to ruin, no matter how low the probability.

    "Damn. Nilda sure has bad luck, or should I say bad timing?"

    He heaved a sigh, whereupon Ines interjected with a shake of the head.

    "Not quite, Master Zenjirou. It was neither bad luck, nor bad timing. It was a bad line of action on her part."

    "Huh?"

    Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled, so Ines exined.

    "Even if she was of higher birth, a woman would generally be discreet on the surface towards a man in such a situation, where the man ims something to be ''different''. She ought to have dealt with him by putting a good gloss on her warning."

    In other words, Nilda should have apologized with "I see, please forgive my mistake" at the point, where the knight had imed "No, you are wrong".

    Then she would keep him in check by saying: "But it is no surprise that a little girl like me would make a mistake, when you abide in such a suspect ce. I would appreciate it, if you could refrain from letting me ''misunderstand'' in the future."

    The knight would be able to bring everything to a smooth end then by answering with "You are right. I am partly to me for lingering in such a suspicious ce, too. I will be more careful from now on. Thank you for your consideration.".

    In short, the right line of action involved epting the im from the knight on the surface, but cautioning him between the lines.

    But Nilda had skipped past that etiquette and opposed him straight on by practically saying "No, I am not mistaken. I saw it. Why are lying to me?", so the knight ended up persisting on his stance, either due to obstinacy or surprise.

    In this sense, you could say that Nilda had made a mistake. Needless to say, it did not change the fact that the knight started all of this by trespassing into the restricted area without permission.

    "Oh, right. You did say Nilda was raised in a rural vige for quite a while. I guess she hasn''t learnt enough about noble etiquette yet."

    "I am afraid so. The fact that she was born and raised in a rural vige means that she initially internalized a different kind ofmon sense. It cannot be an easy endeavour to overwrite it with the noble mindsetter on."

    "Isn''t this even worse?"

    Although the knight from the Navarre Kingdom may fundamentally be at fault here, they were at a huge disadvantage, assuming that an actually non-noble girl had reacted in an unbefitting manner for nobility.

    "¡­Maybe I should ask Princess Freya to take the me?"

    The conclusion Zenjirou reached after painstaking contemtion was a somewhat conflicting one for him.

    "Princess Freya, you say?"

    Cocking her head, the maid asked him that, whereupon Zenjirou nodded and exined his train of thought in detail.

    "Well, she was present at the scene, too, so I thought we could make her be in the spotlight instead. Things have already escted quite a bit, so the Guzzle Family can''t back-pedal anymore and say Nilda was wrong after all at this point, either.

    On the other hand, it will be troublesome, when we carry on with Nilda in the spotlight and it bes apparentter that she is no noble.

    So I want Nilda to take a backseat and let Princess Freya assume the role of staging the protest. It should go a lot smoother then."

    "The current circumstances would greatly improve through that for sure, but are you fine with that? Princess Freya is basing her authority here primarily on you, Master Zenjirou.

    You would basically be propagating an even stronger bond between the two of you by doing so."

    "I bet¡­"

    Zenjirou heaved a sigh in light of Ines'' advice.

    In addition, he would be owing Princess Freya a great debt for having her take the fall in this.

    Considering she was aiming to be his concubine, Zenjirou was sure she would never let this chance slip by.

    Having said this, he could note up with a better solution.

    And possessing a sense of responsibility stronger than the average as well as a timidness stronger than the average, Zenjirou inevitable had no choice but to pick the safest way out he could think of.

    "I shall ask Princess Freya for help. I will consult with her in person as quick as possible today. We cannot let Miss Nilda know about it, so see to it that Princess Freyaes over alone."

    "As you wish."

    Ines made a brief bow to his orders.

    * * *

    Everything started as a trivial argument between Knight Raymundo from the Navarre Kingdom and Nilda, the second daughter of Marquis Guzzle, but Knight Captain Cristiano and Xavier Guzzle were respectively negotiating on behalf of the former two and not yielding to the other, fanning the dying embers into a zing fire.

    If the fire were to spread like this, it could even cause some serious damage.

    Any person with a bit of prudence could see that the situation had "gone south".

    Fortunately enough, the respective people in charge of both parties, Marquis Miguel Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn Nadal, carried such prudence.

    "First of all, let me express my deepest gratitude for setting up this meeting, Marquis Guzzle. It will allow us to prevent the situation to get even more out of hand."

    "No, I have to apologize for letting the inappropriate conduct of my daughter to escte that much, too, General Mart¨ªn. Besides, I am not the one, who set up this meeting.

    Your gratitude is due to my daughter¡­ I mean, Lady Guill¨¦n."

    While the subordinate and son had red daggers at each other, the officer and father were exchanging greetings with a smile.

    "Indeed. I shall properly thank Lady Lucindater on."

    General Mart¨ªn nodded his assent a couple of times.

    Their conversation made it redundant to mention, but this meeting had indeed been set up by Lucinda, who had just married into the family of General Puyol.

    The two of them sat across each other in the anteroom Lucinda and General Puyol usually used.

    After the marriage ceremony, General Mart¨ªn had requested another meeting with the bridal pair, but Lucinda had "identally" scheduled a meeting with her father Marquis Guzzle at the same time.

    So the bridal pair was now rearranging their schedule and had General Mart¨ªn and Marquis Guzzle wait in the "same" anteroom in the meantime.

    As such, General Mart¨ªn and Marquis Guzzle were making use of the "coincidental" asion of waiting in the same room to have an unofficial meeting, exchanging opinions as the ringleaders.

    The whole situation was easy to see through, but these kind of pretexts were very important in Higher Society.

    Neither side would be able speak their mind in an official meeting, where one side was the host and the other side the guest, because they had to keep up appearance.

    In an informal ce like this, the old Marquis and the middle-aged General could converse without restrain.

    After a simple greeting, Marquis Guzzle broached the topic at hand.

    "To be honest, I am well aware that this is just a stupid argument about a trivial misunderstanding, so if possible, I want to end this without much fuss."

    "I agree. Normally this would be solved with a verbal warning and a verbal apology, so I would appreciate it, if we could do just that."

    Although there was quite the age difference between them, they talked to each other on an equal footing.

    On top of being quite close in social standing, Marquis Guzzle respected General Mart¨ªn for being the better soldier of them, whereas General Mart¨ªn respected Marquis Guzzle for his long history of military services, making it a sound rtionship of mutual respect between them.

    Nevertheless, they were still a Feudal Lord and a General from bordering countries.

    Of course they were harbouring some negative feelings towards the other somewhere deep down in their hearts, but both of them held the other in high enough esteem to not let it show on their faces.

    Thanks to that, the meeting proceeded smoothly.

    "Geez, Xavier takes too much after my younger self. In a bad way, that is. He is inflexible and always clings to appearance, when trying to resolve things. The actual truth aside, there would have been nothing wrong with formally admitting that Nilda had been in the wrong here."

    "I reckon you have your problems with him."

    Even while agreeing with him like that, General Mart¨ªn could not keep himself from giving a wry smile.

    The words from Marquis Guzzle sounded like he wanted to say that he himself had be flexible by now, but that was by no means the case.

    The man called Miguel Guzzle was actually so bad at equivocation and charisma that it was rather impressive how he could live as nobility in a major power like that.

    "Haha, you have got me there. Well, there is no point in beating around the bush now, so let me be frank:

    The knight in your group, I think his name was Raymundo, did trespass into the restricted area, right?"

    Although this was an unofficial meeting, the question from the elderly noble was sharply straight-forward, so General Mart¨ªn obfuscated the wry smile on his bear-like face and nodded once.

    "Yeah. Cris does not seem to have pressed him enough, so we do not have a confession from the man himself, but given the circumstances, there can be no doubt he did it."

    This honest concession could be made, precisely because it was an unofficial meeting. One that practically had never taken ce, so to speak.

    Marquis Guzzle was neither surprised, nor angered by his answer; He simply epted it with a nonchnt tone.

    "I thought so. Well, Nilda is not one to lie about such things. And it is almostughable to call it a mistake, when there are three witnesses."

    "I wish Miss Nilda would have been a bit more tactful, though. My knight certainly started things, but she seemed to have pressed him direct and straight-forward.

    Even I would have been left with no other choices but to either apologize wholeheartedly or feign ignorance in face of such a cornering question."

    General Mart¨ªn pulled a slightly wry face after these words.

    "I have to bear the me for that instead of my daughter. My teachings were poorly. Forgive me. I am sure you already noticed it, but she is not the child of my legal wife and was raised in a rural vige until she was nine."

    "Oh, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders for all that, though. I take back my earlier words. You do have a good hand at raising your children."

    "No need to take it back. It is all thanks to Lucinda that Nilda has grown into what she is now. But it is my responsibility that she is stillcking education."

    Marquis Guzzle shook his head with these words.

    The fact that he easily admitted that spoke for his integrity, but also for his ws as nobility.

    He unintentionally had given General Mart¨ªn a valuable piece of information: Marquis Guzzle was holding his daughter Lucinda in extremely high esteem.

    "I see. You must be very proud of your eldest daughter."

    Nodding with aposed look, General Mart¨ªn innerly renewed his wariness towards General Puyol.

    "Well, enough of that. We were talking about Miss Nilda and Knight Raymundo.

    Under normal circumstances, this issue could have ended with a verbal warning and apology, but Knight Captain Cris and Sir Xavier have shed head-on, so it can no longer be resolved that easily."

    "We are meeting here to keep the consequences as little as possible."

    When Marquis Guzzle said deratory, General Mart¨ªn showed a somewhat sly smile and replied provocative.

    "Well, yes, but we two are already on the same page here. A further esction is basically off the table. Considering that, I kind of want to squeeze a profit from it now.

    So here is my proposal: How about we decide on some key conditions amongst us and let the youngsters give it a try until they contradict these? I dare to say it would be a valuable experience for Sir Xavier, too."

    "Hmm¡­ You do have a point¡­ But I am not fond of lying to my son like that. Then again, it is an effective way¡­ Hmm."

    The suggestion from General Mart¨ªn prompted Marquis Guzzle to frown ufortably, but he gave it some thought anyway.

    His proposal was not all that difficult to understand.

    He was basically saying: "Why don''t we use this opportunity to let our youngsters gain some experience while we clear up matters?"

    In fact, the current situation was predestinated for it.

    The two youngsters hadpletely different opinions and were shing with each other in negotiations, but behind their backs, their superiors aka. Marquis Guzzle and General Mart¨ªn had reached an agreement on not letting the matter escte any further.

    To be honest, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

    Because Knight Captain Cris and Xavier could experience a genuine negotiation coitant with all its pressure while their superiors could always step in when it looked like either side was about to screw up.

    In short: It was the perfect opportunity to let the two youngsters, who were not used to dealing with foreigners, gain experience in a riskless environment.

    Both of them would surely be offended, when they learned that their superiors had actually watched out for them all the time while they presumably negotiated in all seriousness, but that was also part of their "training".

    "What do you say, Marquis Guzzle? Care to give it a try?"

    "Hmm¡­"

    Although he did understand its merits, Marquis Guzzle was still hesitating, simply because that method went against his preferences.

    As a truthful soldier, he never hesitated in the slightest to deceive his enemy, but he could not bring himself to cheat his allies or family that easily.

    Nevertheless, Marquis Guzzle had also told his soldiers before that reinforcements wereing, even though that was not the case, to keep up the morale. And sometimes he had exaggerated the strength of the enemy force for a battle they were expected to win with ease, to keep them on guard.

    Lies could be an expedient, too. Marquis Guzzle was not so obstinate that he would not understand that, so after a moment of careful deliberation, the elderly feudal lord nodded with a grim look.

    "Oh well. Let us do it. Its merit is certainly beyond doubt. But are you fine with that? Knight Captain Cris does not know that the false testimony from your knight is the cause of all this, does he? If worstes to worst, he might lose his position."

    "Such is life."

    When Marquis Guzzle remarked considerately, General Mart¨ªn brushed it aside tly.

    "He cannot expect any mercy, if he rashly throws a fit."

    "I know. I will deal with him in that case. What about the opposite then?

    It is quite possible that my Cris will pull through and have your side admit that it was a mistake, too."

    "The official announcement aside, I want you to scold your knight and knight captain in private then. I will keep my son in check myself. It might not be pleasant, but I know that an ''unreasonable defeat'' in a negotiation can be a valuable experienceter on.

    But emotions are a different matter altogether. I cannot stop my son and daughter from harbouring reservation towards you. Is that alright?"

    Marquis Guzzle asked just in case, whereupon General Mart¨ªn pondered for a while and then assented.

    "Hmm, in that case, I personally shall apologize to Sir Xavier and Miss Nilda in private."

    He certainly wanted to avoid having the sessor of a neighbouring domain harbour any ill feelings towards him.

    On this view, it would be more convenient for him, when Knight Captain Cris actually lost the case this time round.

    In case of his loss, General Mart¨ªn could let him experience the "aftermath of a defeat" and have no bad blood with the Carpa Kingdom.

    On the other hand, a victory would only earn him the achievement of having enforced the lie of the knight, but at the cost of giving the sessor of the neighbouring March a bad impression of himself.

    Well, it would an extremely valuable experience for a different meaning, when the knight turned a lie into the truth through negotiations, so a victory would not be a bad deal per se, but a loss would still be a lot more advantageous inparison.

    Anyway, everything seemed to settle without a problem at a nce, but Zenjirou would surely turn pale in the face and raise a scream, if he could have listened to this conversation.

    Either the lie from Knight Raymundo was exposed and Knight Captain Cris had to apologize.

    Or the lie was approved and General Mart¨ªn unofficially apologized to Xavier and Nilda.

    The peaceful conclusion of both cases was build on the assumption that "Nilda was nobility".

    If it then became known at ater date that Nilda Guzzle was no official noble, it would turn into a real mess.

    But without the knowledge of that fundamental requirement, the conclusion from the two men was extremely reasonable and realistic.

    "Good. It was a fruitful discussion. I definitely have to thank Lady Guill¨¦n for it."

    "Yes. No matter how it ends, we have avoided the worst scenario with this."

    Oblivious to the fragile first piece in their line of reasoning, General Mart¨ªn and Marquis Guzzle exchanged these nonchnt words andughed together.

    <b>Intermission 2: The Queen has Confidence</b>

    "Then Nilda is a member of the Guzzle House without a doubt?"

    The Queen checked with the plump middle-aged noble sitting across her, who then nodded his sweaty head.

    "Y- Yes. Of that there is no doubt. I have always been serving here in the Capital, so I have not confirmed it with my own eyes, but we actually do have an attested copy of the ''Roll of Names''. Please address the Marquis directly, if you wish to confirm it."

    He replied with a resolute tone.

    "Yes, I shall allow myself to do soter on. It is not like I am doubting the Guzzle House, but the name Nilda Guzzle is not listed on our ''Roll of Names''."

    "I- Impossible¡­"

    Taken by surprise, the middle-aged noble agitatedly shook his round head with a double chin.

    "Calm down, Sir Severo. I will repeat myself: I am not doubting the Guzzle House. Marquis Guzzle found out about Nilda during the previous war, correct? So a natural exnation could be that there was a discrepancy in themunication during all themotion of the war."

    Aura maintained herposure as she reassured the round-faced noble of middle age called Severo.

    Severo was a vassal serving Marquis Guzzle, tasked with the position as his representative in the Capital. It goes without saying that it was one of the best appointments amongst the vassals of the Guzzle House.

    It might be easier to understand, whenparing it with the Karou of Edo Japan, representatives of the Feudal Lords dispatched to the Shogun in Edo.

    Anyway, Severo calmed down a bit in light of the words from the Queen and answered while wiping the sweat of his forehead with a handkerchief.

    "C- Certainly. I apologize for losing myposure just now."

    "I do not me you. It is quite the surprise for me as well."

    "Hearing that gives me a little peace of mind."

    "Good. I have no intention to stir up the matter, but a mistake in the ''Roll of Names'' can by no means be overlooked. I wish to resolve this situation as quickly as possible. Depending on the circumstances, I may have to ''leap'' a messenger from here to the March of Guzzle, so prepare ordingly."

    "V- Very well!"

    Severo lowered his head so deeply it looked like he was folding his corpulent body.

    When the door closed with a click, Aura immediately wiped the serene expression off her face and said with a voice deep like a growling beast.

    "¡­What a pain this has be."

    "It sure has."

    Standing next to her, the secretary gave a cold reply, whereupon Queen Aura shot a fierce nce of anger at him for a moment, but regained herposure right after.

    "Judging by his reaction, the Guzzle House really seems to have heard nothing about this."

    "That much seems clear. The people of the Guzzle Family are often not adept at deception to begin with and I am sure they are very well aware how much of risk it would be to make a false testimony about a copy of the ''Roll of Names''."

    The "Roll of Names" assured the status of nobility, so any forgery or falsehood of its copies was immediately punished with the death sentence. It would be far to risky to get involved in that, considering the Guzzle House was actually in the Royal Family''s confidence the most of all the Feudal Lords.

    "Then this issue is not caused by a scheme from someone, but rather a simple misunderstanding. A mere act of negligence, so to say. Moreover, the name is not in our ''Roll of Names'', but is listed on their copy, so it is quite likely our mistake."

    For some kind of reason, the "Roll of Names" from the Royal Family wascking a name. That was the only possible exnation right now. And as much as it pained her to admit it, Aura had an idea about what caused that discrepancy.

    "Marquis Guzzle took Nilda in, when she was nine years-old. Right now, she is fifteen years-old. With a little bit of math, you can easily figure out who the ''culprit'' is."

    "His Late Majesty Sancho."

    "Yeah, Sancho alright."

    Aura assented with a bitter expression.

    Sancho I. He was the King of the Carpa Kingdom two generations ago and also the little brother of Aura.

    Also known as the "King of Revenge", he had sworn to avenge his beloved brother Enrique IV., who had been king before him, and spent the majority of his short reign on the battlefield. To the bitter end in fact. With a spear deeply pierced into his stomach, his chest prated by arrows and beheaded from behind with a straight cut, his corpse had been mutted to the point that it was unclear which of his wounds had been the fatal one.

    During the time Nilda was supposedly added to the "Roll of Names", that very Sancho I. had been on the throne.

    It was not unthinkable that they forget to update the "Roll of Names" during the turmoil of the war.

    "But in that case, it is entirely our¡ª the Royal Family''s fault. We have to handle this carefully or we will sow unnecessary resentment."

    "On top of that, we must be apprehensive of more far reaching repercussions than just the Guzzle Family. If your assumption proves to be right, Your Majesty, it would not be all that strange for a couple of other nobles to be in the same situation as Miss Nilda."

    The war did not only im the life of Sancho I, but also a part of the "Roll of Names" along with him. It would be excessively optimistic to assume that the name of Nilda Guzzle was the only one missed out like that.

    "¡­I bet. But for now, our problem is Nilda. Ultimately, I will check on her and their copy of the ''Roll of Names'' before adding her name to the list once more, but the problem is how and when I should broach that subject to them."

    "It only takes a moment to leap someone with official documents over there with your magic, I reckon?"

    The Queen pondered on the suggestion from her secretary for a while, but shook her head in the end.

    "¡­No. Now is not a good time. The March of Guzzle currently has a lot of nobility attending the marriage ceremony, so it would bring shame on the Guzzle House, if that information were to be delivered now.

    Marquis Guzzle has appointed Nilda as the caretaker of my husband. It would totally get out of hand, if it bes known that Nilda is no noble under these circumstances."

    If it turned out that he had appointed his illegitimate and non-noble daughter to wait on Royalty, it would be a huge scandal. Of course it would work out, when it became known that the Royal Family had been at fault for it, but depending on the timing for revealing the information, others might initially get the impression that "Marquis Guzzle had been overstepping the mark".

    "Yes, and given his personality, it certainly would be audacious to expect Marquis Guzzle to smooth things over properly once he learns of the truth, so I understand your reasoning, but I dare to say that we neither cannot ignore the possibility that some kind of problem will arise, when we leave him in the dark like this. What is your view on this subject, Your Majesty?"

    The Queen''s answer to her secretary''s question was extremely simple.

    "I will leave it up to my husband."

    "Oho?"

    Secretary Fabio had a curious glint in the eyes, whereupon Aura shrugged her shoulders a bit and waved around the letter Zenjirou had sent with the Small Flying Dragon.

    "Seeing as he sent me such a report, my husband also noticed that Nilda might actually not be nobility. You know how prudent he is. He will without a doubt assume the worst case scenario and act upon the premise that ''Nilda is no nobility''. So even if something were to happen, it will be nothing critical."

    "You seem to have a lot of confidence in him."

    The Queen threw out her voluminous chest and replied to thement of her secretary.

    "Obviously. Apart from his capabilities, I trust no one more than my husband, when ites to personality or rting to my will. Even though he admittedly does not have the ability to achieve the best possible oue, I can ensure that he does have the ability to avoid the worst case scenario."

    From her point of view, Zenjirou was akin to a Raptorial Dragon that ran into the direction she wished for, even without any instructions. Although he might not be all that fast and was more of a pack dragon variant of the pack horse, Aura was feeling absolutely confident that he would rather stay put then and there instead of proceeding into a direction opposing her will.

    Considering her profound faith in Zenjirou, it was easily understandable why Aura decided against leaping someone to the March of Guzzle.

    Leaping a person with "Teleport" was exactly the same as announcing publicly that the matter was of great urgency. It would clearly draw unnecessary attention to it.

    On top of that, one could not really call Marquis Guzzle, the would-be receiver of the message, to be good at sophistry, even as ttery. So it was more than likely that they would open a can of worms instead.

    "Then we will be entrusting the matter to Master Zenjirou until he returns?"

    "Yes, indeed. As long as it does not put his life at risk like in Valentia, I can fully trust in his judgment. We are better off not taking any hasty actions in this case."

    "Very well. Then I shall prepare everything for resuming the discussion as soon as Master Zenjirou returns to the Capital."

    "Yes, do that."

    And just like that, the Queen and her trusted retainer arrived at a conclusion that would make Zenjirou scream "too much responsibility!", if he were to hear of it.

 Chapter Volume 8 prologue

    Prologue: Zenjirou Returns

    <b>Prologue: Zenjirou Returns</b>

    Arge carriage drawn by eight dragons advanced over the main street of the Royal Capital.

    Of course a magnificent carriage like that was not travelling alone. The front and back were tightly protected by knights and soldiers. A rtive smaller carriage trailed behind it, but it was stillrge enough to make it obvious that it belonged to nobility.

    That were Zenjirou and hispanying back from the March of Guzzle.

    Normally, the sides of the road would be brimming with cheering citizens, when a Royal Carriage passed through, but this time, it was rtively quiet.

    Nevertheless, the main road was currently closed off and there were some curious bystanders or nosey kids running along on the sidewalk, but the atmosphere of a "royal procession" did not reallye to be.

    It was hardly surprising. The leading characters of the preceding marriage ceremony were the groom General Puyol and the bride Lucinda after all.

    Even if Zenjirou was Royalty, he could hardly afford to stand out more than the important newly-wed couple.

    As a matter of fact, when General Puyol and Lucinda had returned to the capital a few days prior, they had ridden an open carriage in their wedding dresses (the groom was wearing his full dress uniform, though) and waved their hands with a smile on their faces while they proceeded along the main road.

    And although some days had already passed, it was expected that Zenjirou made a less shy return, since he had been nothing but a guest to the wedding ceremony.

    In a way, Zenjirou was quite happy about that.

    He might have gotten a bit used to it, but riding a carriage without suspension over the hardly paved "Salt Road" had actually been quite tiring for him.

    So he was grateful that he could lean back inside the carriage without having to wave to the citizens with a smile.

    "Fuh¡­"

    "Are you alright, Your Majesty Zenjirou?"

    When Zenjirou unconsciously heaved a sigh, the first princess of the Upps Kingdom on the North Continent, Freya Upps, called out worriedly from beside him.

    The young woman shook her short silver hair as she checked hisplexion, so Zenjirou answered her with a smile.

    "Thank you for your concern, Princess Freya. But I am alright. I was just relieved to be back in the Capital."

    He was not putting up a brave front. Sure, Zenjirou was a bit harassed from the long ride in the shaking dragon carriage, but not so much as to call it exhaustion.

    Simply put, he was just "really tired".

    More importantly, he was bewildered by the fact that he did not mind having Princess Freya sit next to him so close that their legs were almost touching.

    "I see. Once we let Her Majesty Aura in the Pce know about our return, we can finally rx, so please hang in there a bit longer."

    "Hahaha. You sure seem full of energy for all that, Princess Freya. I guess you are not the captain of an intercontinental voyage for show."

    "Fufu, thank you."

    His smile revealed not the slightest hint of wariness while he chit-chatted with her.

    To begin with, Zenjirou had been nothing but amoner in Japan not long ago and ascended into Royalty out of nowhere, so his mentality was not toughened to the point, where he could sustain scepticism while a woman in the same carriage approached him with affability or rather affection day in and day out.

    On the other hand, Princess Freya was full-fledged Royalty, albeit a young one, so it was understandable she would get the better of him.

    But even then, the current situation was not entirely going ording to her expectations.

    "It was quite strenuous at times, but it certainly was fun, was it not, Your Majesty Zenjirou?"

    "Yes, for sure."

    When Princess Freya spoke about their mutual experience at the March of Guzzle, Zenjirou did confirm it with a smile, but immediately cast his eyes to something else.

    He was looking at the Royal Pce.

    His mind was already filled with the Royal Pce, or more precisely with his home, the Inner Pce.

    Although Princess Freya sat so close to him that he could feel her body temperature, Zenjirou was captivated by the thought of reuniting with the still faraway Queen Aura.

    "Hah¡­"

    Realizing she was not even in his field of vision, Princess Freya heaved a sigh as if to say "This is going to be a stiff piece of work".

    * * *

    The first destination after arriving in the Capital was obviously the Royal Pce.

    Only after "Prince Consort" Zenjirou reported his safe return to "Queen" Aura in the audience room and wasplimented for his work by the "Queen", his expedition officially came to an end.

    A marriage ceremony between high-ranking nobility was pretty much a state ceremony already. And when Royalty attended it on top of it, it became an official eventpletely without doubt.

    Hence it was necessary to report the return from such an official event, even if it was quite troublesome.

    Needless to say, neither Zenjirou, nor Aura could call it a "warm wee", when they were exchanging stiff words at such a formal asion.

    So Zenjirou only experienced a "homeing" in the true sense of the word, when he returned to the Inner Pce after finishing the formal greeting in the Royal Pce.

    "I''m home, Aura."

    Back in the living room of the Inner Pce, Zenjirou gave his weing wife a genuine greeting with a tired expression.

    "Wee back, Zenjirou."

    Gone to the Inner Pce a bit ahead of him, Queen Aura smiled a gentle wee to her returning husband.

    It was still before afternoon. Normally, Queen Aura would still be busy with her duties, but since her husband was returning home today, she had taken time off by rearranging her schedule a few days ago.

    Zenjirou could never hope to imitate her in that. He took the definition of diligence a bit too serious, so he avoided pushing his work onto others at all times.

    Closing the door behind him, Zenjirou pulled his wife standing in front of him into an embrace with both arms.

    "I''m back."

    "Wee back."

    The married couple was almost equally tall, so they ced their chins on the other''s shoulder, rubbing cheek on cheek, while repeating the greeting one more time.

    "Fuuuh¡­"

    Wrapping his right arm around her back and his left arm around her waist, Zenjirou tightly caressed his beloved wife while breathing a rxed sigh.

    Holding the tender body of his lovely wife in his arms in the only room with electricity in this world, Zenjirou finally felt "at home".

    At the same time, his whole body was assaulted by fatigue and sleepiness as though the threads of tension that kept him going had suddenly been cut.

    Although Aura had no way to see his face in their embrace, she seemed to sense his state by touch.

    "Are you okay? Why do you not sit down on the couch for now?"

    With these words, she lent him a shoulder and led him to the couch.

    Even though Zenjirou was propping half of his bodyweight against her, Aura showed not the slightest shakiness in her steps or in the arm holding him.

    If their position were to be reversed, it might not be impossible for Zenjirou, but it would still take all his strength to pull it off.

    Like always, he did consider himself a bit pathetic for it, but obediently indulged in the goodwill of his wife and leaned back into the couch.

    "Fuh¡­"

    When he slouched on the familiar couch, the sleepiness was about to overwhelm him.

    "You might as well go to bed. I do not mind, you know?"

    Standing next to the couch, Aura called out to him gently, but Zenjirou shut his eyes tightly, shook his head a few times and refused.

    "No, it''s too early for that. And it''s been a while for us, so I''ll endure it."

    He was actually the type of person to struggle with correcting his inner clock once it went wrong.

    It was still afternoon right now. If he were to go to sleep now and wake up in the middle of the night, he would end up being sluggish for a few days until his daily rhythm was fixed again.

    Before it came to that, he might as well bear with it for today.

    Hearing his resolve, the Queen nodded an "Okay" and took the silver jug out of the refrigerator, bringing it over along with the red and blue Kiriko sses.

    "Alcohol will only make you more sleepy, so I suppose fruit juice will be better. It should clear your sleepiness a bit."

    "Th- Thanks."

    When the Queen eagerly poured him some fruit juice, Zenjirou took the ss with a happy smile. They chinked sses, Zenjirou with his blue one, Aura with her red one, and downed it in one gulp.

    "Mm¡­"

    The cold water mixed with ck sugar and the juice of a citrus fruit certainly swept away the sleepiness for a moment.

    "Fuh, it''s been a while since I drunk something cold. You can''t get your hands on it outside, no matter what."

    "All thanks to you. Anyway, we still have some time until dinner, so how about we review our current situations for a bit?"

    Zenjirou wrinkled his brow, when his wife suggested this with a smile.

    "Hmm, that would certainly be an effective way to spend the time, but to be honest, I don''t think I''m in any shape to hold a meaningful conversation right now."

    The fruit juice refreshed him a bit, but his brain was still only working at half its capacity. Even if they were to exchange information now, he doubted he would report it urately or remember what she might say.

    But the Queen removed his doubts by shaking her head.

    "No problem. We will hold a proper meeting tomorrow, when you cleared your head after a good night''s sleep. I have already made time for it. For now, you can just give me a rough outline of things. To begin with, I do not want to use time effectively, but keep you awake through it."

    "I see."

    Zenjirou was convinced by the words of his wife.

    It definitely was a good idea to battle his sleepiness with talking. Of course it was no cure for the sleepiness itself, but it should distract him to some extent.

    Although he was in no state to "exchange information" meaningfully, he could at least make some bantering chat.

    "Okay. Who''s going to start? You said our situations, so I take it you have something to report?"

    "Yeah, I kind of do. The fine details in the proper order can wait until tomorrow, so let us just present the important bits for now.

    Zenjirou, I am sure you have noticed it already, but Nilda Guzzle currently does not have her name recorded on the ''Roll of Names''."

    "Ah, I knew it. Good. Then I most likely took the right course of action. Well done, if I may say so myself."

    "So you did noticed it. Did something happen?"

    Instead of an exchange of information, Zenjirou and Aura continued more of a rxed conversation about their recent circumstances from then on.

    Even without reporting all the details in the right order, they could more or less get a grasp of their respective circumstances, when they shared the important pieces with each other.

    By the time they finished the casual meeting, Zenjirou had already forgotten about his fatigue or sleepiness and his back was soaking wet with cold sweat.

    "I did have a hunch, but she really wasn''t nobility, eh. Phew, close call. If I hadn''t make her take a backseat, things could have gone really sour with the Navarre Kingdom."

    "Hmm, I was sure you would notice and deal with it, so I choose not to get in contact with you, but the situation seems to have been worse than I had imagined.

    Who would have dreamt that Miss Nilda would actually have a brush with a knight from the Navarre Kingdom."

    Informed about the incident in the March of Guzzle by him, Aura also heaved a sigh of relief.

    In retrospect, it had been the right choice of her to believe in Zenjirou and not contact him, but at the same time, she was aware that it could have escted into something outrageous.

    Considering the power difference between the Major Power known as Carpa Kingdom and the Middle Power known as Navarre Kingdom, it would not have been impossible per se to deal with an incident, where the non-noble Nilda picked a quarrel with the knight from the Navarre Kingdom, but it would have been extremely troublesome for sure.

    In that sense, Zenjirou truly achieved the best possible result as he negotiated that ultimately "nothing happened and no one would pry into it any further".

    "Well done, Zenjirou. You really outdid yourself this time."

    Aura smiled and clung to the arm of her husband sitting next to her.

    For serious conversations, they were always sitting across from each other, but for casual talks, they sat next to each other.

    Aura was kind of breaking that custom by sitting next to him, when the content of their conversation was obviously serious, but she probably wanted to emphasise the fact that it was "not a proper meeting for information exchange".

    A pleased Zenjirou narrowed his eyes to slits in reaction to the praise from his wife and her body temperature he could feel on his shoulder and arm.

    "Then it was worth all the trouble. Yeah, I really did give it my all this time."

    Normally, Zenjirou was always being modest, but for a change, he dered this proudly.

    As a matter of fact, he had all the reason to be proud of himself this time.

    Seeing her husband all puffed up with pride, the Queen narrowed her eyes a bit and smiled back at him.

    "Marquis Guzzle and Miss Nilda should still be in the March of Guzzle. Okay, I will have a talk with Severo, so something like this will never happen again, and since it is kind of our fault, I will use ''Teleport'' for him free of charge."

    "Severo?"

    When Zenjirou cocked his head puzzled in light of the unfamiliar name, Aura quickly exined it.

    "Yes. He is a rear vassal of Marquis Guzzle and in charge of his residence here in the Capital. Everyone of the Guzzle Family is currently attending the wedding ceremony, so Severo is the only one left in the Capital. He is acting as a representative for the house now."

    In the Carpa Kingdom, a noble household was obliged to have either the "previous head of the house", the "current head of the house" or the "next head of the house" be present in the Royal Capital at all times, but for special asions like a "Wedding Ceremony", they could temporarily withdraw the whole n from the capital.

    "I see now. But it''s quite a delicate subject. Can we trust that Severo?"

    Rear vassals were not necessarily faithful to their lord. When they werepetent, they were often part of the branch family of their lord and it was not unheard of that they would try to usurp him.

    But Aura cleared Zenjirou''s doubt with a shook of her head.

    "Nothing is certain in life, but it should be fine in this case. Quite untypical for nobility, that rear vassal family is actually very loyal to the Guzzle Family, so a lot of its member can be trusted.

    By the way, Severo is the husband of Amanda."

    Zenjirou widened his eyes and forgot all about his sleepiness for a moment in light of the unexpected piece of information.

    "Our Supervisory Maid Amanda? Wow, I suddenly feel like I can entrust my life to him. I might be exaggerating, though."

    It was dangerous to unconditionally trust someone, just because he was rted to someone else you trusted. The family of an upright person was not necessarily upright as well.

    Zenjirou understood that notion in his head, but on an emotional level, he could not deny the fact that he thought it would be alright to trust him, now that he had heard that he was family to a person he already trusted.

    "For this reason, I am going to ''leap'' a messenger to the March of Guzzle either today or tomorrow. Marquis Guzzle should be returning to the Capital with his ''Copy of the Roll of Names'' and Miss Nilda then.

    The Marquis is quite dutiful. I am sure he will want to express his gratitude to you, once he hears about it, so be prepared for it."

    "Okay."

    Zenjirou curtly acknowledged what Aura said.

    Considering the personality of Marquis Guzzle, it certainly was easily to conceive that he would take such an action.

    Well, Zenjirou concluded that it should suffice to think about how to deal with Marquis Guzzle and Miss Nilda once they arrived in the Royal Capital.

    "That''s all from me, I guess. Do you have anything to report, Aura?"

    Approached like that, Aura pondered for a moment, then began to speak.

    "Well, a few things, yes. First off, the ss research is progressing well. Thanks to the sand and shells you brought back from Valentia, the colour became a lot more transparent. Its viscosity increased as well, so it is a lot easier to handle now.

    We are at the point to start experimenting with making these jewels now."

    "Oh, I remember you telling me about that before. So we''re finally at that stage?"

    Zenjirou sat up on the couch with a glint in the eyes, but Aura threw cold water on his hopes by adding her objections.

    "Yes, the ss itself is at that stage, but there has been almost no progress for the furnace of the ss, so there is no hope for a mass production at this point. At the present time, our furnaces cannot withstand the heat to make ss, so they break during the production.

    Due to that, work is being dyed. Well, it is a tedious task to begin with, since not many people are assigned to it and they do have to take breaks."

    It definitely was a shame that there was no prospect of mass production yet, but before they reached that stage, they currently still had a lot of things to do.

    They were striving to make colourless transparent ss on purpose, not by chance, and learn how to shape it into a sphere. If possible, they wanted to remove the bubbles from it, too.

    "If it''s more viscous now, it should be spherical by itself, when we just let small amounts flow down a metallic slope¡­

    You won''t get it, when I say it''s shaped like a water slide at a pool, right?

    How do I put it? I mean something like a spiral-shaped stair. In theory, molten ss with a high viscosity will naturally end up as a sphere by the time it has rolled down all the way down to the ash pit¡­"

    Zenjirou remembered an old method to make marbles he had seen during his school trip to a ss manufactory in middle school, and tried to exin it, but he was not eloquent enough to depict it with words alone.

    "¡­I''ll exin it with some illustration at another time."

    "That would be most helpful."

    As expected, Queen Aura could not fully grasp it, so she said that with a shrug.

    When the making of marbles became possible in the future, albeit in small quantity, they needed to tackle a new problem: the creation of "Magic Tools", which used these marbles as a medium.

    "On the topic of Magic Tools, Prince Francesco mentioned something troublesome again."

    Suddenly remembering it, Aura wrinkled her brow and heaved a heavy sigh.

    "Mh? What did he say?"

    Prince Francesco said something troublesome. That subject and adjective came in pairs nine times out of ten, so Zenjirou showed almost no bewilderment and asked back.

    The troublesome part was obviously referring to his dered desire to create a "Magic Tool" imbued with "Bestowal Magic".

    Even the smallest of brains couldprehend that his idea to imbue a Magic Tool with Bestowal Magic would shake the continent to the very foundations. Aura had the urged to tell her husband all about it and ask him for his opinion.

    But she shook her head after a moment of contemtion.

    "Hmm¡­ No, I cannot tell you yet. Prince Francesco asked me not to speak of it to others. It would not be wise to break that promise at this point of time."

    For Royalty or Nobility, verbal promises were not something that had to be kept at all costs, but at the same time, it definitely hurt your reputation, when you broke them too often.

    "As such, I cannot tell you the details now, but the matter quite likely involves these jewels of yours."

    "Ah, I can more or less see where this is going."

    Zenjirou nodded a few times, seemingly convinced by her words.

    Considering Prince Francesco (literally) had only brains for his craftsmanship and mentioned something "in secret" that was going to involve the marbles from Zenjirou, he was probably trying to make an outrageous Magic Tool.

    Seeing as Aura had not outright declined him, it was highly possible that the matter had some kind of advantage for the Carpa Kingdom as well.

    Although not extraordinary bright, even Zenjirou could easily make a supposition about it.

    "Okay. I''ll be ready to hear you out, when the timees. But I want to confirm something: The marbles I brought along are mine for sure, but the ones the craftsmen make from now on won''t be mine, right?"

    He was making sure rather than questioning it, but the Queen pondered for a while.

    "Hmm, you devised the whole manufacturing process, so it technically would be legitimate to redit their rights to you, though¡­"

    Well aware of these circumstances, Aura still did not outright say "They are yours", because she knew it would be disadvantageous to give these rights to Zenjirou.

    At the present time, it was nothing but counting the chickens before they hatch, but when the Carpa Kingdom made the mass production of marbles possible in the future, it would be a huge issue of who owned the rights.

    If the Carpa Kingdom were to get their hands on both the mass production of marbles and a practitioner of the Bestowal Magic one day, it would mean that they could mass produce Magic Tools.

    The mass production of Magic Tools was a double-edged sword. In the hands of the monarch, it would strengthen the Royal Authority by far, whereas it could divide the country into two, when a different member of the Royal Family controlled it.

    And it would be a lot more likely that someone else than the monarch secured the rights in the future, if the rights of the marble production were to be given to Zenjirou now.

    It was rtively unlikely that a practitioner of "Bestowal Magic" would be born between Zenjirou and Aura in the first ce. Crown Prince Carlos Zenkichi was said to be able to awaken to both "Space-Time Magic" and "Bestowal Magic" due to his vast amount of magical power, but he was more of an exception to the exception.

    Normally, the stronger "Space-Time Magic" predisposition from Aura would be prominent in their child while the "Bestowal Magic" predisposition had almost no chance to surface.

    ordingly, a possible practitioner of the "Bestowal Magic" in the Carpa Kingdom would have to be a child from Zenjirou with a different woman than Aura. In other words: Indirect Royalty.

    Needless to say, that Indirect Royalty would be the central figure of the Magic Tool production. Things would get ratherplicated then, when Zenjirou possessed the rights to the marbles, a necessary ingredient for the creation of these Magic Tools.

    The Indirect Royalty would be the child of Prince Consort Zenjirou, but not of Queen Aura. Considering the child would be mainly using the marbles, it would obviously expect to inherit these rights from its father.

    Whether the mother was Princess Freya or some other woman, the rtives behind her would, without doubt, stronglyy im to these rights, too, for their own interests.

    On the other hand, that kind of trouble in the next generation could be avoided, if the rights to the marbles were given to Queen Aura in the first ce.

    Even if she shared that right with her husband, she had no obligation whatsoever to let a non-blood rted Indirect Royalty inherit that right. It was much more natural to let her own child, the next monarch, inherit it.

    Zenjirou obviouslyprehended these circumstances as well.

    "As a matter of fact, the ss craftsmen are acting upon your orders, so it should be yours. I''ve no right to meddle in it."

    He dered indifferently without showing any attachment to it.

    "¡­Are you sure?"

    Well-ustomed to his considerate personality already, Aura still showed some bewilderment this time round.

    It goes without saying. This matter was different from the previous incidents, where he rejected all the rights or rewards Aura was supposed to give him, after all.

    Zenjirou was basically relinquishing the rights to his knowledge without condition. And quite profitable knowledge that would be the backbone of the country in the future, at that.

    Based on their time together, Aura was certain that he was being dead serious, but she could not rte to these moral values.

    Although she understood it in the head that something like this was nothing special to him, her heart could not keep up with it.

    Whether he knew about the emotional state of his wife or not, Zenjirou affirmed it with an indifferent expression.

    "Yep. No matter how you think about it, the monarch should have direct control over the technology to make a medium for magic tools or it would be dangerous. Well, I will help as much as possible until a mass production is in ce, of course."

    At wit''s end from his apathetic statement, Aura heaved a sigh.

    "¡­Sometimes I question myself if you are really human. Maybe you are just a convenient illusion or the manifestation of a benevolent spirit?"

    Prince Consort Zenjirou was such a "convenient guy" for her that it made her consider that for real.

    His actual capabilities aside, he principally did everything she asked for on the one hand and showed not the slightest interest in what she did not ask for on the other hand.

    In the previous war amongst others, Aura had been made aware of how unfair reality was and how difficult it was to bnce the pro and contra of things, so she could not help but be scared of his consideration at times.

    Needless to say, Zenjirou was not all that dense, either.

    He did know that his moral values were quite abnormal in this world and also that consideration or modesty did not necessarily bring about good results once a rtionship reached a certain familiarity.

    But at the same time, it was an incontrovertible truth that authority or fortune were nothing but "troublesome" baggage for him. And as a bornmoner, he had an extremely low tolerance for power and wealth.

    It was not humility or anything, when he said he wanted to avoid opportunities to order around others with his authority as much as possible, but his true feelings.

    With a bitter smile, Zenjirou tried to voice these true feelings as urately as possible.

    "Hmm, these kind of things are just work to me. A burden, so to speak. I''m not really trying to please you, but rather just speaking my mind."

    "I do know you are speaking the truth. But it unsettles me on an emotional level. It feels like I am ve-driving you one-sidedly.

    No, it is not just a feeling. I am definitely ve-driving you in all objectivity."

    "Don''t worry about it, is what I would like to say, but we do have to consider the public view after all. Our positions areplicated enough as it is.

    If you can''t leave me out of the picture, I guess we need to give the impression on the surface at least that you rewarded me in some way, so if you know of something appropriate, I''ll ept it."

    Aura showed a wry smile and heaved a sigh, when her husband was only worried about outer appearance.

    "I do want to reward you for real, not just for show, though. But yes, outer appearance certainly is quite important for Royalty like us.

    Giving you a title would be the safest choice in this case. Of course I cannot give you a title with a territory like the Duke of Valentia or Count of Potoshi, but there are still a couple of titles withoutnd, so if you could ept one of them, it would help."

    A title without an associated territory, meaning a title of honour. Unlike the officials in the pce, such a title did not get a remuneration, so receiving the title alone could drive you into a financial corner instead, because you had to prepare the clothes appropriate to its rank, but that was not causing any concern for Royalty.

    All necessary clothes and essories for Royalty were being provided anyway and if they ever needed money for something else, Royalty could easily earn it through their "Bloodline Magic".

    "A title, eh. Yeah, sounds good as long as it doesn''te with a troublesome territory management.

    And personally speaking, there''s only one thing that counts as a genuine reward for me."

    Saying that, Zenjirou let his refreshing smile turn into a more suggestive one. In short: a "wolfish grin".

    He put his right hand around the back of his wife and pulled her closer with a jerk.

    Aura obviously knew what that implied and for this very reason, she was quite troubled by his behaviour.

    "Ah, well, you know, Zenjirou. Please keep calm and listen to me¡­"

    Leaning against her husband, but still keeping a bit of a distance to him by cing her right hand on his chest, the Queen began to speak.

    Zenjirou got a bad feeling about her unusual hesitant way of speaking and indecisive line of vision, but asked anyway.

    " Yeah, what is it?"

    "Well, you see, it is not quite certain yet, but¡­ we might be getting a ''second one''."

    "¡­¡­¡­."

    A second one.

    Comprehending what this was referring to, Zenjirou tensed up on the spot while still embracing his beloved wife.

    There might a second child in the belly of his wife. That was wonderful news. Really wonderful news.

    It could be called a great sess, considering the reason Zenjirou was summoned into this world for.

    And of course, he personally weed the fact that Aura was going to bear his child in a "fundamental way", too.

    His first child Carlos Zenkichi was essentially the greatest treasure to him and getting one more such treasure was truly a joyous asion.

    It was joyous indeed, but¡­ Zenjirou was rather conflicted about it right now.

    Because they would have to put their night activities on hold for a while, when Aura was believed to be pregnant.

    Zenjirou loved children without doubt, but he loved the process of making them just as much.

    Especially after returning from the month-long expedition in an "unsatisfied" condition.

    "¡­.."

    "¡­.."

    The Queen and her husband maintained a stiff silence while embracing each other on the couch.

    After more than a minute, the silence was broken by Zenjirou.

    "¡­I¡­ I''m¡­ really happy to hear that."

    The prince consort struggles for words of pleasant anticipation and congrattions while his expression was a mixture of happiness and sadness alike. He was literally "smiling through his tears".

 Chapter Volume 8 1

    Chapter 01: Nilda Guzzle 1

    Roughly ten days passed, since Zenjirou returned to the Royal Capital.

    The sky over the Capital was covered by dark rain clouds and the raindrops drummed on the roof of the Royal Pce, creating puddles all over the courtyard.

    At least there was no heavy wind like during a typhoon, but it was by no means the sweet rain shower you could witness in Japan during its rainy season. It poured down so heavily that you could hear the rain even with the window shutters closed.

    The ¡°Rainy Season¡± had just started.

    This season had the slightest long-distance travel percentage of all seasons in the Carpa Kingdom.

    Although the ¡°Vibrant Season¡± was all about business, like its name applied, and everyone stayed indoors during the ¡°Hottest Season¡±, because of its severe temperature, the ¡°Rainy Season¡± was actually even more unsuited for travels than these two.

    Even though it was called the ¡°Rainy Season¡±, it actually rained only once every two to three days on the average, but with the street development in this world being what it was, most streets turned into small rivers unless it happened to be state-funded roads like the ¡°Salt Road¡± or the main street in the Capital.

    The rain would flood rivers and muddy the water, preventing you to replenish your water resources on the way. Likewise, it was no easy feat to camp outside in the rain. Moreover, some amphibious carnivores would show up on the street, when the rivers flooded, even though they normally did note ashore. On top of that, vision was poor during a rainfall, so one could easily fall prey to an attack from these dragons.

    Because of these circumstances, it had be a global eptance to avoid long-distance travels as much as possible during the ¡°Rainy Season¡±.

    In light of this, Marquis Guzzle and Nilda Guzzle literally managed to reach the Royal Capital in the very nick of time, seeing as they arrived here a few days ago.

    While the rain was watering the greenery outside, Zenjirou was sitting in front of hisputer in the living room of the Inner Pce and chanted a spell with a strained expression.

    ¡°Send my chosen target to the ce I envision. Aspensation, I make¡­¡±

    The fact that the ¡°Magic Language¡± he had uttered sounded Japanese to him was proof that the automatic trantion from the ¡°Soul of Words¡± had been at work. In other words, a proof for his correct pronunciation.

    ¡°¡­..¡±

    Zenjirou wordlessly typed on the keyboard, entering the tenth check mark for today into his spreadsheet software.

    The check marks indicated a correct intonation for ¡°Teleport¡±, the spell he was learning right now.

    ¡°YEEES!¡±

    He shouted emotionally, thrusting his clenched fists into the air while remaining seated.

    It had been a spontaneous impulse born out of the subconsciousness of his mind.

    Zenjirou usually contained his emotions, so it was a rare sight, but it was understandable in this case. After all, his efforts from the past three months, since Aura told him to ¡°learn Teleport next¡±, were finally bearing fruits.

    Of course he had only cleared the first hurdle by the name of ¡°correct intonation¡± so far and the second and third hurdle, ¡°correct amount of magical power¡± and ¡°correct perception¡± respectively, were still waiting for him, but he had more or less cleared one third of the progress, so the feeling of aplishment was ordingly great.

    Especially aftering home from the March of Guzzle, he had invested a rtive great deal of time in his magic training.

    It practically doubled his delight.

    ¡°Kuuh!¡±

    Stretching his raised arms, Zenjirou turned his head to the sides and rxed his shoulders.

    Probably because she heard his cheer, his beloved wife Queen Aura appeared in the door connecting the living room and their bedroom.

    ¡°Looks like you make a breakthrough.¡±

    When Zenjirou turned around, the Queen in a casual dress drew closer with a soft smile.

    Two waiting maids nked her on both sides, keeping watch over her.

    ¡°Ah, sorry. Was I too loud?¡±

    Standing up from his chair, Zenjirou forgot all about hisputer and trotted over to his wife.

    ¡°No, it is alright. You are working hard for my sake, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Well, for you and our ¡®second child¡¯, to be precise.¡±

    Then Zenjirou took her hand and lead her to the couch in the middle of the living room.

    Aura obediently let him take the lead and slowly sat down on the ck leather couch.

    Normally the waiting maids would wait in a different room until they are called upon out of respect for Zenjirou, but they were not separating from Aura right now.

    There was only reason why Zenjirou was learning ¡°Teleport¡± with utmost zeal aftering back from the March of Guzzle.

    His beloved wife Aura was quite likely pregnant with their second child.

    Her menstruation still had note as of yet and after the examination, the royal physician Doctor Michelle also had said she was pregnant in all likelihood, but even on the off chance that she was not, she still should act in moderation until it was verified.

    Needless to say, the news of a second pregnancy of Queen Aura spread throughout the Royal Pce like wildfire.

    Zenjirou had been dumbfounded by it at first, but once he had calmed down, he felt nothing but joice about it.

    It was a shame that the nightly activities with his wife woulde to an end again after such a short time, but the eager anticipation of their second child outweighed it by far.

    That in turn reminded him of the vow he had taken in the past.

    During the pregnancy and delivery of their first child Carlos Zenkichi, Zenjirou had been made aware that both pregnancy and delivery were not without risk in this world, even for royalty.

    So he had sworn back then that he would master ¡°Teleport¡± by the time their second child was going to be born, in order to bring over a healer from the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell in case anything went wrong.

    And now, with Aura¡¯s second pregnancy at hand, Zenjirou was incited by the goal had had set for himself.

    If Aura was indeed pregnant, there was no time to waste. He needed to learn ¡°Teleport¡± and visit the Twin Kingdom as soon as possible.

    Although Zenjirou was royalty from an allied nation, they would hardly listen to him, if he suddenly were toe over with ¡°Teleport¡± and agitatedly demand: ¡°My wife is in danger! Give me a healer!¡±

    It was necessary that he visited them officially once and negotiated beforehand that ¡°he needed to bring a healer into his country at ater date¡°, when they had be acquainted.

    Zenjirou sat down next to Aura, preupied in thought.

    ¡°I can¡¯t travel during the ¡®Rainy Season¡¯ anyway, so it¡¯s a race against time. I have to learn ¡®Teleport¡¯ before the ¡®Rainy Season¡¯ ends at all costs.¡±

    Seeing her husband clench his fist with determination, the Queen cracked a smile and narrowed her eyes to slits most pleased.

    ¡°No need to drive yourself into a corner. The ¡®Rainy Season¡¯ is followed by the ¡®Hottest Season¡¯. It is not as bad as during the ¡®Rainy Season¡¯, but long-distance travel will still be quite difficult. So how about you set the time limit to half a year from now on?¡±

    It goes without saying that Zenjirou himself was not going to ride a dragon carriage from the Carpa Kingdom to the Twin Kingdom. It might work for domestic travels like Valentia or the March of Guzzle, but when it involved a foreign country, it was definitely too careless.

    Other Royalty might have no other choice but to do so, but the Royalty of the Carpa Kingdom was in possession of their trump card ¡°Space-Time Magic¡±. There was no need to deliberately expose their members to a danger.

    Zenjirou himself could easily be sent over with ¡°Teleport¡± from Aura.

    But he was still Royalty, so there was no way he could visit a foreign country all by himself.

    Knights, Soldiers and Waiting Maids needed to apany him for protection and support. Sending all these people over with ¡°Teleport¡± was definitely impossible.

    Everyone besides Zenjirou would have to travel the normal way by foot or carriage.

    So even when he himself could move around with Aura¡¯s ¡°Teleport¡±, he still was somewhat bound to the restraint of the seasons.

    Zenjirou, too, understood that Aura was right, but decided not to be spoiled by his wife.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks, but I better get this over with as soon as possible. If you really are pregnant, I¡¯ll likely be busy with work again and have no time for practice anymore.¡±

    During her previous pregnancy, Aura had to cut down her workload quite a bit before entering the stable period. At the same time, it meant that Zenjirou got more work to do as her representative.

    From now on, he would continue to make an effort to learn ¡°Teleport¡± while working as a proxy for Aura. Once he had mastered ¡°Teleport¡±, he would then negotiate the dispatch of an healer in the Twin Kingdom.

    Needless to say, the negotiation were expected to take a while, so Zenjirou would have to go back to the Carpa Kingdom at regr intervals (made possible through his use of ¡®Teleport¡¯) and handle the work as Aura¡¯s representative.

    Either way, he would be quite busy for some time now.

    ¡°Sorry to impose on you, Zenjirou, and thank you.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s alright.¡±

    Zenjirou softly squeezed the hand his beloved wife had put on top of his.

    * * *

    It was indeed true that the ¡°Rainy Season¡± slowed down productivity as a whole, but it did not bring it to aplete halt.

    Especially the nobles staying in the Royal Capital were the least affected by the rain. The streets in the capital were paved with stone and nobility generally travelled by a carriage with a roof.

    On top of that, they mainly gathered at the Royal Pce or their own mansions. Both wererge structures of stone and braved the weather well and truly.

    As a result, the nobles involved with the Royal Pce socialized rtively unaffected, even during the ¡°Rainy Season¡±.

    On a certain day, the nobles gathered in the audience room of the Royal Pce and curiously fixated their gazes on Queen Aura sitting on her throne, an elderly Feudal Lord and an unfamiliar little girl standing before her.

    Today¡¯s audience had not been on the agenda. Queen Aura had suddenly summoned a special meeting.

    The fact alone that she had convened an extraordinary meeting was enough to convince them that something out of themon had taken ce.

    At the beginning, most of the nobles had been anxious, thinking ¡°Just what could have happened?¡±, but everyone had regained theirposure by now. Seeing how Marquis Guzzle, who had explicitly been obliged to attend, had remained calm, they had concluded that the matter could not be all that severe.

    Under the watchful eyes of numerous nobles, Queen Aura sat on her throne imposingly and lowly began to speak.

    ¡°I am d you all headed my summoning today. I called you here for no other reason than to share an important information I have obtained.

    Marquis Miguel Guzzle and the girl besides him, step forward.¡±

    ¡°At yourmand.¡±

    Upon the Queen¡¯s order, the elderly Feudal Lord, Marquis Guzzle stepped forward with an ease unusual for his age.

    Nilda Guzzle, the little girl who had stood besides him, followed behind him.

    You could tell at a nce how nervous she was by looking at her stiff motion.

    Be it her length of stride, her way of walking or how she dragged the hem of her dress. All of it was still barely in line with etiquette, but obviously deformed by her tension. Everyone broke out in a cold sweat, seeing that.

    The majority of nobility here should have never seen or heard about this girl, but at some point, everyone was warmly watching over her with worry.

    Even though they did not know her, the fact that she was next to Marquis Guzzle made it easy to guess that she belonged to the Guzzle Family.

    Some nobles here could be considered political opponents of the Guzzle Family, but even those did not give her any mean nces, thinking ¡°Serves her right. Go and embarrass yourself in front of the Queen¡±. Nilda might actually be a factor to be reckoned with.

    Anyway, when Nilda managed to prostrate before the throne, even if slower than usual, everyone in the audience room heaved a sigh of relief.

    In order to get thisx atmosphere under control again, the Queen spoke with dignity.

    ¡°It has been bought to my attention that this little girl here is your own flesh and blood, Marquis Miguel Guzzle. Is that correct, Marquis?¡±

    The elderly marquis agreed with the words of the Queen.

    ¡°Yes, that is correct. She is my daughter, Nilda Guzzle.¡±

    ¡°Okay. The Guzzle Family has been a loyal vassal for generation, so I do not mean to doubt you. But let me say this: The royal ¡¯Roll of Names¡¯ I keep does not register the name Nilda Guzzle.¡±

    Her straightforward deration caused amotion within the audience room.

    Well, of course it did. For nobility, it was a serious issue, when their name was not registered on the ¡°Roll of Names¡±.

    In the Carpa Kingdom, nobility referred to those, who were registered on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± in the possession of the Monarch.

    Strictly speaking, even a legitimate child of a noble family was only the ¡°child of a noble¡±, but not a ¡°noble itself¡±, until they went to the Monarch and had its name be registered on the ¡°Roll of Names¡±.

    As a matter of fact, a noble without an heir could appoint a promising subject of his as a foster child and make him nobility by registering him on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± under the eyes of the Monarch. On the other hand, low-ranking nobility with lots of children often refrained from registering the younger ones on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± for economic reasons.

    Hence it was a very important matter for nobility, whether the name was written on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± or not. In a way, it could even be considered more important than parentage.

    All the gazes were naturally fixated on Marquis Guzzle and his daughter Nilda.

    But unlike the surprised crowd, the two people in question were not behaving any different from before.

    Nilda had been trembling like a small animal from the very beginning, so it could not get any worse, and Marquis Guzzle kept his calmposure and slowly shook his head, objecting to the Queen¡¯s statement.

    ¡°Be that as it may, it is a fact that Nilda is my daughter and I came to here in the past to register her on the ¡®Roll of Names¡¯. I have our ¡®copy¡¯ here.¡±

    Saying so, Marquis Guzzle took out a single dragon leather parchment from his pocket.

    Like its named suggest, the ¡°copy¡± was a duplicate document you received as proof for the registration, when signing in a name on the ¡°Roll of Names¡±.

    Needless to say, it was a very important document and was usually stored away at a safe ce of the owner. One does not simply pull such a thing out of the pocket for a spontaneous counterargument.

    Before long, the nobles in the audience room realized that they were watching a prearranged conversation.

    And in fact, it was indeed a performance for publicity.

    Aura and Marquis Guzzle have had an unofficial meeting a few days ago, where Aura informed him about the missing entry of Nilda¡¯s name and confirmed that his ¡°copy¡± was not counterfeited.

    But without revealing any of that, Aura remained seated on her throne and ordered the civil servant standing next to her.

    ¡°Hmm, I see. Bring the ¡®copy¡¯ to me.¡±

    ¡°Well then, Marquis, I will be taking this.¡±

    The young civil servant took the ¡°Copy¡± from Marquis Guzzle and handed it to Queen Aura, whereupon she spoke up overexaggerated.

    ¡°This is definitely genuine. It has the signature from His Majesty Sancho and it is his handwriting for sure.¡±

    Needless to say, she could say that, because they had an expert verify the signature a few days ago.

    Thete King Sancho was Aura¡¯s little brother from the same mother. She did know his handwriting, but her memory of it was not so vivid that she could identify it on a single nce.

    After checking the ¡°Copy¡±, the Queen looked over the audience hall and dered.

    ¡°Seeing as this ¡®Copy¡¯ is real, I am afraid that I will have to admit that there is a mistake with the ¡®Roll of Names¡¯.

    Marquis Guzzle, this ¡®Copy¡¯ has the signature of His Majesty Sancho. Is that correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes. His Majesty Sancho filled in the ¡®Roll of Names¡¯ and made this ¡®Copy¡¯ in the City of Potoshi six years ago.¡±

    Marquis Guzzle affirmed the words of the Queen like that.

    Sancho I. also known as the ¡°King of Revenge¡±.

    As that name implied, he swore to avenge the death of his older brother and spent the majority of his not even one year regency on the battlefield.

    Hence the registration of nobility on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± was conducted either on the frontlines or in Potoshi, who was the closet city to the frontlines.

    Later on, the ¡°Roll of Names¡± he carried must have been lost in the chaos that followed his death on the battlefield.

    Exining this hypothesis, Aura continued on.

    ¡°This is an unprecedented incident, so I will make an exception this time and re-register the name on the ¡¯Roll of Names¡¯ without further ado. The registration date on the ¡¯Copy¡¯ will be valid as it is, of course.¡±

    The fact she especially mentioned without further ado was due to the normalmission fee, when registering a name on the ¡°Roll of Names¡±. That fee was just pocket change for a great house like the Marquis Family, but low-ranking nobility had trouble coughing up that amount of money.

    The Queen then addressed the civil servants standing at attention behind her.

    ¡°Someone, bring me something to write.¡±

    ¡°Here, Your Majesty.¡±

    Upon her order, the civil servant standing next to her handed her a wooden nk akin to a drafting board and a dragon-bone quill.

    While two civil servants supported the wooden board from both her sides, Aura opened arge book and took the patterned dragon-bone quill in her right hand.

    The dragon-bone quills used in the Carpa Kingdom were like ss pens, namely hard dip pens.

    Another civil servant presented Aura an ink jar, wherein she dipped the dragon-bone quill. With all eyes focused on her, she ran the quill over the ¡°Roll of Names¡± in aposed manner like always.

    Once the Queen had written the name Nilda Guzzle, her degree of kinship, the name of her guarantor and the dates of six years ago and today, she gave the ¡°Roll of Names¡± to one of the civil servants and then put the ¡°Copy¡± on top of the wooden board.

    This document required less effort.

    She simply wrote her own name, Aura I., under the sign of Sancho I. and added today¡¯s date in small letters under the date of six years ago.

    Giving thepleted ¡°Roll of Names¡± and ¡°Copy¡± to the civil servant, the Queen dered to the nobles gathered in front of her.

    ¡°The mistake has been corrected. I, Aura I., hereby acknowledge that thete king Sancho I. registered Nilda Guzzle as nobility of the Carpa Kingdom six years ago.¡±

    Only the ¡°Roll of Names¡± in possession of the Royal Family had been out of order. The Guzzle Family had not been at fault, so their treatment of Nilda as nobility had been correct. Aura was explicating that she would not ept any objection over that.

    Due to her standing as the Monarch of the country, she did explicitly mentioned an ¡°apology¡±, but her phrasing made it more than obvious that the Royal Family assumed full responsibility for this case.

    ¡°His Majesty Sancho I. only ruled for less a year, but I really doubt that Nilda Guzzle was the only one to register on the ¡®Roll of Names¡¯ during that time.

    Come and talk to meter on, when it happens to concern you. I promise that I will give you the same treatment as Nilda Guzzle as long as you have the ¡®Copy¡¯ with the signature of Sancho I..¡±

    The nobles were thrown into turmoil in light of the words from the Queen. Some of them were showing a pensive face, apparently having someone in mind.

    Waiting until themotion settled down on its own, the Queen continued on.

    ¡°I shall establish a special one-year period to re-register on the ¡®Roll of Names¡¯ from today on. Anyone affected shalle and see me within that time period, bringing along your guarantor and the ¡®Copy¡¯ with the signature of Sancho I.

    In case that there is no guarantor, you also maye alone as long as you exin the circumstances.¡±

    Like its name implied, the guarantor was someone, who guaranteed the background of the person aspiring to be new nobility. Normally, it was the own parent, but in case of vassals, the head of the lord¡¯s family could act as a guarantor as well.

    The reason Aura mentioned that ¡°they maye alone if there was no guarantor¡± was that some houses had lost the head family in the previous great war.

    ¡°That is all for today.¡±

    When the Queen ended the meeting, the gathered nobles deeply lowered their heads while they were already considering how to act from now on in their minds.

    * * *

    The next day.

    It was raining hard. Even though it was called the ¡°Rainy Season¡±, the rain was only falling once every two to three days, but today happened to be that very day.

    The heavy raindrops resounded beyond the closed wooden shutters and the room was so dark it required a couple of oil pans for illumination, despite it being midday.

    In that dim-lit room of the Royal Pce, Zenjirou was meeting with Marquis Miguel Guzzle and its second daughter Nilda Guzzle.

    ¡°You have my deepest gratitude on this matter, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much!¡±

    The elderly father and the justing-of-age daughter did not sit down on the couch, but took a knee on the carpet.

    Aura had informed him that this might happen in advance, so Zenjirou replied without being surprised.

    ¡°All right. Raise your heads. We cannot talk like this.¡±

    Saying this, he urged them to sit down on the couch.

    ¡°Yes, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Seeing as Marquis Guzzle and Nilda obediently sat down on the couch across from him, Zenjirou heaved a sigh of relief so small no else heard it.

    He could deal with it, when it was just a formality at an official event, but when someone prostrate himself before him in all earnestness like Marquis Guzzle just now, he was overwhelmed on an emotional level.

    Born as a normal Japanese guy, Zenjirou still could not getfortable with other people prostrating before him.

    However, that was nothing but his personal sensitivity. Marquis Guzzle on the other hand had a concrete reason to express his gratitude by prostrating himself.

    Miguel Guzzle was a straightforward warrior with an unusualck of talent for intrigues as a noble, but that did not mean that he was stupid.

    Once he was told that Nilda¡¯s name was missing on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± and recalled the incident at the wedding ceremony, he easily could figure out the intention behinds Zenjirou¡¯s actions back then.

    For some reason, Princess Freya had intervened in the quarrel between Nilda and the knight from the Navarre Kingdom and even taken the spotlight at some point.

    As her partner, Zenjirou had not restrained her ¡°tomboyish act¡±. On the contrary, he had supported her in full.

    And in the final stage, he had proposed to ¡°pretend this incident never happened to begin with, without further probing from either side¡±.

    All of these actions hade across as strange at that time, but with the knowledge that ¡°Nilda was no nobility¡±, it became apparent what Zenjirou had wanted to do.

    He had protected Nilda. As a non-noble, her actions would have caused problemster. In order to prevent that, he had made Princess Freya back her up. Considering the circumstances, that was the only possible conclusion.

    ¡°Have you already been aware of Nilda¡¯s circumstances back then, Master Zenjirou?¡±

    From his previous mistake, Marquis Guzzle had learned that he was more suited to voice his doubts directly instead of scheming poorly, even if that was untypical for a noble, so he asked frankly like that.

    Zenjirou pondered a moment over the question from the elderly feudal lord, but decided there was no reason to hide things at this point and answered honestly.

    ¡°I had no proof, but I have had no information about you having a daughter named Nilda.

    So I just acted with the worst case scenario in mind. I am d nothing serious happened.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you really saved us there, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    This time, Marquis Guzzle deeply lowered his head from the couch.

    His attitude was by no means exaggerated.

    Without Zenjirou¡¯s meddling back then, Nilda and the Guzzle Family might not have fallen from grace, but they surely would have suffered a great deal on the diplomatic stage.

    Of course the whole incident arose from the erroneous entry on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± from the Royal Family, so you could say that Zenjirou, as a member of the Royal Family, had only cleaned up his own mess, but politics were tooplicated to write it off as that.

    Even if a previous king hadmitted the mistake in the first ce, the fact remained that the Guzzle Family had ¡°its non-noble daughter cause a quarrel with a noble from the Navarre Kingdom¡±.

    It was more likely that the Navarre Kingdom would have brought up aint to the Guzzle Family instead of the Carpa Royal Family. But that possibility waspletely erased now, because the situation had been resolved around Zenjirou¡¯s proposal to ¡°pretend the incident had never happened to begin with and neither side was to probe into it any further¡±.

    Marquis Guzzle could technically say a thing or two to the Royal Family for its mistake on the ¡°Roll of Names¡±, but he felt nothing but gratitude towards Zenjirou himself, who he had read the atmosphere andpletely smoothed out the situation.

    ¡°I shall not forget your kindness. Please just say the word, if I can ever be of use to you.¡±

    ¡°It is quite reassuring, when a seasoned general like you says that. I could not be happier, when you continue to pledge your loyalty to the ¡®Carpa Royal Family¡¯.¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes, as you wish.¡±

    After a short pause, the elderly lord obediently nodded his assent to Zenjirou.

    Nilda next to him was showing a beaming smile and did not seem to notice, but there was a hidden meaning in the conversation just now.

    Zenjirou was afraid of the fact that the marquis was expressing his gratitude towards his person alone, so he explicitly reminded him to pledge his loyalty towards the ¡°Carpa Royal Family¡± and the marquis epted that after a moment of consideration.

    Zenjirou himself knew he was being a bit too neurotic, but he wanted to remove any dangerous seeds as soon as possible.

    He dly epted the loyalty from a noble knight with an effective manpower of a single person, like Knight Natalio Maldonado, but epting the loyalty from a Marquis with his own army to his person as the Prince Consort would spell trouble for the future.

    Although involved as well, Nilda on the other hand seemed to not understand any of these circumstances and still showed an innocent smile.

    She was no fool, either, and had received an education as a noble from her older sister Lucinda once she had been taken into the Guzzle Family, so she did understand that it was a severe problem in the higher society, when your name was not registered on the ¡°Roll of Names¡±.

    But that was all she understood.

    She did harbour a genuine gratitude towards Zenjirou for going out of his way for her, but that was about it. She was not considering any interests like ¡°Why did he do so?¡± or ¡°What does he seek in return?¡±.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Hence, she was also pouring nothing but a genuine and almost dazzling affection into her thanks.

    ¡°No, do not mention it. I am just d nothing worse happened.¡±

    Encouraged by the little girl¡¯s smiling face, Zenjirou also showed an honest smile.

    * * *

    Around the same time, in another room of the Royal Pce, Queen Aura was having a confidential meeting with her faithful retainers Secretary Fabio, the Royal Archmage Espiridi¨®n and the waiting maid Margret.

    ¡°Are you feeling fine, Your Majesty?¡±

    ¡°Yes, no problems so far. Well, even Doctor Michelle still could not be sure about my pregnancy after all.¡±

    With a helping hand from waiting maid Margret, the Queen sat down on the ck leather couch and said this, thanking the maid with a wave of her hand.

    Only Aura was sitting down. Her three retainers remained standing, forming a small circle before the couch.

    A middle-aged secretary, an old magician and a young waiting maid. Their jobs, gender and age were all different, but the three of them shared one thing inmon: Aura was cing her full trust in their abilities and loyalty. One of them had a somewhat untrustworthy personality, though.

    The person with that untrustworthy personality, Secretary Fabio had started this conversation.

    ¡°So, Your Majesty, I take it you have summoned us here because of the incident with the ¡®Roll of Names¡¯?¡±

    The Queen agreed to the words of her secretary.

    ¡°Indeed. I need to consult you about my ¡®pregnancy¡¯ afterwards, too, but the ¡®Roll of Names¡¯ takes priority.

    Margret, report what you know as of now.¡±

    Prompted by the Queen, the waiting maid with unusual blonde hair, green eyes and white skin for the Carpa Kingdom, bowed briefly and began to speak.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. At least four people from all the nobles leaving the audience room, have expressed a concernmentter on.¡±

    Hearing the espionagesque summary from the blonde waiting maid, the Queen wrinkled her brow a bit.

    ¡°Like I thought. Miss Nilda was not the only one. I had expected it, but it will be somewhat troublesome. That said, those from the capital will be our least problem.¡±

    ¡°Certainly. The true problem lies in the ¡®possible erroneous entries¡¯ whose families were not present today and do not know about these circumstances.¡±

    The slender-faced secretary acknowledged the misgivings of the Queen.

    The Carpa Kingdom was currently releasing nobility from their duty of serving in the capital by way of exception, when they were short on hands due to the losses in the previous war.

    A dy in the procedure could be expected, when the ¡°possible erroneous entries¡± happened to be in these families, who were shutting themselves away in their domains.

    The aged magician Espiridi¨®n stroke his short beard while answering to the words of the Queen and the secretary.

    ¡°Do you know which nobles have been relieved from their duty, Your Majesty? If so, we can just inform them and resolve the problem.¡±

    The Queen shook her head vexedly to his question.

    ¡°Of course I do, but some of them are vassal nobles. It will onlyplicate things, when I go over the head of their lord and contact them directly.¡±

    ¡°I see. That certainly is a problem.¡±

    In light of these words, the elderly magician also showed a vexed expression.

    The Royal Family possessed quite the power in the Carpa Kingdom, but the country was essentially a feudal state.

    The Feudal Lords were more or less self-governing and the influential ones had other nobles working under them, the so called vassal nobles.

    As the Monarch, Aura technically had no authority over them. The vassal nobles generally only obeyed the orders of their lord.

    If Aura were to get in direct contact with these vassal nobles without the knowledge of their lord, the lord would obvious be offended.

    Even if it was done out of consideration, it did not necessarily achieve a good result.

    The Royal Family could only bring up the topic to the lord and when that lord was harbouring some kind of reservations towards his vassal, the Royal Family could do nothing about it.

    ¡°Then how about we extend the period for the nobles, who have received the information bted?¡±

    The proposal from Secretary Fabio was instantly met with a head-shaking from the Queen.

    ¡°No. The period will be one year, no exceptions. If I give them any more time, people might start to have evil intentions.¡±

    The ¡°Copy¡± of the ¡°Roll of Names¡± one brought along for identification was signed with the Royal Crest and the signature of the Monarch at that time, but given enough time, it was not outright impossible to forge the document.

    To make things worse, the error in the ¡°Roll of Names¡± urred during the previous great war.

    It was not umon thatmoners were promoted to nobles for their military achievements in a great war.

    Influential nobles could make use of this opportunity to increase their vassal nobles by forging a ¡°Copy¡±.

    And unfortunately it was likewise possible that the second son or daughter of a poor noble, who were not ennobled themselves, were tempted into some evil intentions.

    Low-ranking knighthood families often only registered their oldest son as their sessor or their beautiful daughters as a way to bond with other families on the ¡°Roll of Names¡±. All their other children remainedmoners.

    The reasons for that were many and various, but the registration fee was without doubt the greatest hurdle. The fee was so expensive that nobles a the bottom of the hierarchy had no choice but to forfeit the future of their own child in tears.

    The current condition to ¡°re-register without a fee, but with a ¡®Copy¡¯ signed by Sancho I.¡± was extremely attractive to these people.

    ¡°But a few might slip our attention then. Have you thought about that, Your Majesty?¡±

    The Queen nodded briefly to the aged magician.

    ¡°Indeed. Hence I intend to more lenient with other things other than the deadline. The ¡®Road Maintenance¡® this year will be done in consideration of these circumstances.¡±

    In the Carpa Kingdom, it was pretty much a given that a road somewhere in the country needed repairs after the ¡°Rainy Season¡±.

    When part of the road turned into a mud or a clogged gutter prevented shallow puddles to flow off, it was still the lesser evilpared to an expectedndslide in the mountains, where the road became impassable by all means.

    A mountain road blocked by andslide was obviously a more serious matter, but puddles or mud on main roads like the ¡°Salt Road¡± were effectively impeding more people.

    Since the avable military engineers were limited, the Queen had to decide on a priority list in terms of efficacy for the whole country.

    As a result, the problem of andslide on a mountain road with rtive few travellers was put on the back burner or dumped entirely on the residents there, even if it was a severe obstruction for them.

    However, Aura was iming that she was going to prioritize roads, where ¡°people with a missing entry on the Roll of Names¡° would pass through, this time.

    ¡°The Royal Family is at fault for this case and when people end up losing their nobility, just because they could not reach the Capital, I will definitely fall out of favour with them.

    In the worse case, I will ¡®leap¡¯ you there, Greybeard. I know it will not be easy on you, but brace yourself for it.¡±

    When the Queen said that, the elderly mage shrugged his shoulders and heaved a heavy sigh.

    ¡°Well, all right. These old bones of mine are yours tomand, Your Majesty.¡±

    Normally, people with a lot of magical power tended to have trouble with small-scale magic that required few magical power, but some rare exceptions did exist.

    Espiridi¨®n was one of them.

    With all kind of spells and an enormous magic reservoir at hand, he could exhibit a power far greater than a whole group of military engineers all by himself.

    It would not even take him a day to make a road blocked by andslide be passable by foot again.

    ¡°I am counting on you.¡±

    The elderly magician nodded with a small smile to the request of the Queen.

    With the ¡°Roll of Names¡± issue dealt with for now, the Queen began to talk to her trusted retainers about the other matter at hand.

    ¡°Well then, I believe the news of my pregnancy already went around the Royal Pce, so what are the reactions in that regard?¡±

    To be precise, Doctor Michelle only had suggested ¡°a high possibility for a pregnancy¡±, but nobility was not known to be patient enough to wait until it had been confirmed for real.

    Margret gave a report with aposed tone.

    ¡°Yes, the majority of them are reacting the same way as before. Most of them are trying to push for a concubine for Master Zenjirou while others are aiming for the position of the second wet nurse.

    Needless to say, the great houses are carrying out both at the same time.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I just hope there will be someone suitable like Cassandra was for Carlos, but I have no bearing on that, unfortunately.¡±

    Saying that, the Queen rested her chin in her hand with a difficult expression.

    Cassandra was the wet nurse for their first child: Carlos Zenkichi.

    She was not upper nobility, but her personality was trustworthy and she had three own children, so in terms of nursing a child, she was the perfect fit for a ¡°wet nurse¡±.

    Unfortunately, she had not received much education, so she could not continue as a ¡°nursery nurse¡± after the nursing period.

    Aura could leave her child to Cassandra with an easy conscience. But would she actually find such a wet nurse for her second child as well?

    As a token of her anxiety, Aura unwittingly ced her right hand on top of her not yet swollen stomach.

    The slender-faced secretary raised an eyebrow to her behaviour, but did not address it and instead carried on the dialogue.

    ¡°Certainly. We can only choose the most suitable applicant at that point. More importantly, the great houses will not aim for the wet nurse, but for a concubine for Master Zenjirou.

    We will have to think of a countermeasure for that first.¡±

    Aura gave a small nod to her secretary.

    ¡°You are right. That is the more pressing problem. I was thinking that the presence of Princess Freya would put them off, but how does the current situation look like?¡±

    Princess Freya from the Upps Kingdom on the North Continent had actually proposed to Zenjirou at an official event.

    Afterwards, Queen Aura had not separated her from Zenjirou, but rather even allowed her to apany Zenjirou to a wedding ceremony as his partner. At the Royal Pce, it was seen as nothing but a matter of time until Princess Freya was officially recognized as a concubine.

    Aura was asking whether such a de-facto concubine was discouraging other concubine aspirants or not. The Waiting Maid Margret shook her head relentless.

    ¡°Unfortunately, her presence has actually worsened the situation instead. Truth be told, the nobles have increased their efforts onmending a concubine,pared to your first pregnancy.¡±

    Previously, they had believed Zenjirou preferred a ¡°woman like Aura¡±.

    To put her charm nkly, she was a mature woman with a tall and voluptuously figure.

    But the prime age for marriage in this world ranged from fifteen to twenty-two years-old and only a few women had such a charm at such an age.

    On the other hand, Princess Freya was a typical beautiful girl in herter teens. She did have some quirks, such as her udylike short hair or her zest for outdoor action while cross-dressing, but it made things simpler, when Princess Freya was eptable to Zenjirou.

    Nobles were thinking that they just had to prepare an ordinary ¡°attractive girl of marriageable age¡±, so the line-up was broader than before.

    Hearing the status report, the Queen heaved a heavy sigh.

    ¡°I see. Then my husband being busy actually has a favourable effect.¡±

    ¡°I do have heard that Master Zenjirou is working really hard, but is it really to such an extent?¡±

    The question from her secretary prompted the Queen to pull a wry face, but at the same time, she could not conceal a tinge of delight in her expression.

    ¡°Yes. Ever since he was told that I might be pregnant, he has been using almost all of his free time to learn ¡®Teleport¡¯. He can already chant the spell without any trouble and the output of magical power does not prove to be a problem, either.

    Now he only needs to draw a concrete image of the spell in his mind, so he is almost there.

    You see, he promised me that he would definitely make it in time for my childbirth.¡±

    ¡°Phew, you sure are loved, Your Majesty.¡±

    The Queen went red in the face in light of the teasing words from the aged magician, but threw out herrge chest with pride.

    ¡°Indeed. I do worry about the burden it gives him, though. But the bustle does seem to work in a favourable way, too.

    My husband is preparing to bring over a healer from the Twin Kingdom by learning ¡®Teleport¡¯ before I give birth. With that excuse, we can limited his public appearances to a minimum.¡±

    Normally, Zenjirou was such an obedient husband that it worried her instead, but there was one topic, where he explicitly expressed his refusal: Concubines.

    So it was a good thing to have a ¡°legit reason¡± to shield him from the concubine obtrusions as much as possible.

    But the secretary with the slender face addressed the next problem with his usual inexpressiveness.

    ¡°But, Your Majesty, if you really are pregnant, then we have to concern ourselves with ack of manpower from now on.

    Assuming your pregnancy will proceed the same as before, we cannot expect you to continue to you work as you have during your pregnancy. Previously, Master Zenjirou had stepped up topensate for it, but now that he is prioritizing his magic training, I am afraid the state affairs will stagnate.¡±

    ¡°You have a point. We can only hope that my husband will have mastered ¡®Teleport¡¯ before my pregnancy starts to obstruct my workload.¡±

    ¡°Will Master Zenjirou not be going to the Twin Kingdom as soon as he has learned ¡®Teleport¡¯?

    We will be even more short of hands then.¡±

    The Queen denied the worry of her secretary with a shook of her head.

    ¡°Not at all. The ¡®Rainy Season¡¯ has only just begun. And after that, we have the ¡®Hottest Season¡¯. Neither of them is suited for long-range travels.

    It will take at least half a year before my husband actually sets out.¡±

    Aura and Zenjirou had already discussed this matter before.

    Even if Aura were to ¡®leap¡¯ Zenjirou himself there, all the other personnel had to travel bynd.

    People, who were not used to travelling, would have extreme troubles to move from the Carpa Kingdom on the western part of the South Continent to the Twin Kingdom on the central part during the ¡°Rainy Season¡± or ¡°Hottest Season¡± by foot.

    The slender-faced Secretary nodded approvingly to the statement of the Queen.

    ¡°I see. Even Master Zenjirou would not be that reckless, after all.¡±

    ¡°After all? My husband is verypliant to begin with, you know. He hardly ever tries to push a measure through.¡±

    When the Queen gave him a questioning look that was saying ¡°You should know that¡±, the secretary raised an eyebrow in surprise and objected.

    ¡°Master Zenjirou certainly is quitepliant and reasonable in most cases, but when ites to your well-being, Your Majesty, I sometimes see him act otherwise.¡±

    This was not apliment in its entirety, but in one sense, it was a most pleasant evaluation for Aura.

    Her usual reasonable husband became emotional to the point, where he abandoned his reasoning, when it involved her. It let her feel the sheer size of his affection.

    The Queen smiled softly with a mixed expression of embarrassment and pride.

    ¡°Be it the incident with the ¡®Roll of Names¡¯ this time, the dragon subjugation in Valentia previously or the prototype distilled liquor and ss production in the backyard I have not told you about in detail yet; my husband has umted far too many achievements to keep them hidden. What is your opinion on that?¡±

    Looked at by the Queen, the blonde waiting maid took half a step forward.

    ¡°Yes, it is as you say, Your Majesty. Every time Master Zenjirou achieves something, more people are spreading rumours about you being a ¡®bad wife oppressing her husband¡¯ little by little.

    Fortunately enough, Master Zenjirou reacts delicately and continues to deny these rumours every time theye up, so it has not be a serious problem, but it does not change the fact that such a tendency is on the rise.¡±

    In this patriarchic world, it was unnatural that Aura was holding the title of the Monarch as a woman, so it was understandable people would voice such an opinion, when Zenjirou was exhibiting a certain capability.

    Aside from the kinship, Zenjirou was of unknown origin to them, so while marrying into Royalty may be eptable, the actual majority of people were expressing the opinion that Zenjirou should not ascend the throne.

    But as a matter of fact, a female monarch would be restricted in her duties every time she got pregnant and gave birth, so it was kind of inevitable that the nobles, who experienced the effect of a pregnancy on the state affairs first hand, woulde to think that ¡°a female monarch is troublesome after all¡±.

    Acknowledging this reality and such a future, the Queen made a resolve.

    ¡°Carrying on like this will surelye back to bite me in the future. I am more than reluctant to do so, but I guess I will have to resign myself to appointing a ¡®Marshal¡¯ and a ¡®Prime Minister¡¯.¡±

    The Carpa Kingdom currently had no ¡®Marshal¡¯, the highest ranking military officer, nor a ¡°Prime Minister, the highest ranking civil servant, appointed.

    Because Aura hated a division of powers as the Monarch. And she did have the wits to keep the country running without trouble while holding all the decisive power over both the military and the government. Until now, that is.

    But during the pregnancy, even Aura had trouble to deal with military and government matters alike by herself.

    ¡°I see. That is why you are giving Master Zenjirou a title of nobility, too.¡±

    Quick on the uptake, her secretary immediately read her intentions, so the Queen agreed with a determined look.

    ¡°Indeed. Right now, my husband is nothing but a member of the royal family and he cannot attend any real meetings, unless he acts as my representative. But with a title of nobility, he will be able to sit next to me.¡±

    With a ¡°Marshal¡± and a ¡°Prime Minister¡±, Aura¡¯s workload would decrease. But at the same time, it would mean a decrease in authority as well. So it was easily conceivable that her influence on meetings would decline in the future.

    A title of nobility for Zenjirou would be meaningful at such a time.

    With it, Zenjirou could attend the meeting as some kind of Lord without being a representative for Aura.

    Of course they could not expect him to eloquently talk down the other higher nobility, but for Aura, it was sufficient to have one more person present, who would unconditionally take her side.

    Having discerned these intentions of the Queen, the Secretary nodded appreciatively a few times, then answered in a sharp-tongued manner.

    ¡°Why yes, quite a sensible administration. The nobles will surely rejoice, when you appoint a ¡®Marshal¡¯ and ¡®Prime Minister¡¯, and your workload will decrease, too. On top of that, you keep up your powerbase for when it is important, so everyone, but one, will profit from it. Such a fabulous idea.¡±

    It was self-evident, who that one person was.

    Namely Zenjirou. He got an honorary title withoutnd and, as a consequence thereof, only more work.

    ¡°Just so you know, my husband did give his approval.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I bet he did. Master Zenjirou is quitepliant after all. Even if it disadvantages him a bit, he will ept it withoutint as long as it will be of help to you.

    But Your Majesty, you have to understand that every person has a ¡®limit¡¯. Please do keep that in mind.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    The Queen took heed of the warning from her secretary with a wry face.

    As a matter of fact, Secretary Fabio had been right.

    So far, Zenjirou had been acting under the patronage of his wife, so ¡°he did not need to endure anything, nor did he suffer from it¡±, but the inconveniences entailed by a title of nobility were something ¡°he could endure, because he understood their necessity.¡±

    The difference between these two was obvious.

    The former would obviously be tough for an ordinary man here, but Zenjirou had different morale values and he did not suffer from it in the slightest, so was there no need for consideration.

    On the other hand, thetter was definitely tough on Zenjirou. But it was still on an eptable level and he dly assumed the role, when he could ease the burden on his beloved wife by enduring it.

    So if Aura were to forget the premise that Zenjirou was suffering from it and took his devotion ¡°for granted¡±, it would disrupt their intimate married life.

    ¡°I know that, of course.¡±

    So the Queen mumbled again as if to convince herself.

 Chapter Volume 8 2

    This might go without saying, but just because it was called the ¡°Rainy Season¡±, it did not mean that it was going to rain non-stop for three months.

    With a bit of luck, you got a few consecutive days without rain, albeit with a cloudy sky, and with even more luck, the sun came out for a bit.

    This afternoon was one of these rare sunny days during the ¡°Rainy Season¡±.

    Zenjirou was walking through the garden of the Royal Pce together with two girls.

    Even there, the persistent rain had washed away the soil or damaged the nts, but the royal gardeners dealt with it skillfully.

    Thanks to them, the garden was still worth being called ¡°beautiful¡± despite being in the very middle of the ¡°Rainy Season¡±.

    Seeing this fine garden for the first time, the ck haired girl, Nilda Guzzle eximed excitedly.

    ¡°Uwah, so pretty! It is so pretty, Master Zenjirou!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d you like it.¡±

    Zenjirou narrowed his eyes pleased, when Nilda was thrilled at the sight of the bubbling fountain in front of her.

    Captivated by that fountain, she was not paying attention to her footing as she teetering around, but fortunately enough, it had not rained in days, so the ground was not slippery.

    Still, it would be bad, if anything were to happen, so Zenjirou was about to give her a light warning, when the other girl called out to Nilda with a smile.

    ¡°Nilda, you are getting a bit carried away.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I am sorry, Princess Freya. That was unsightly of me.¡±

    The voice from the silver-haired girl, namely Princess Freya, brought Nilda back to her senses and she corrected her posture.

    Zenjirou unwittingly cracked a smile, when he saw her switch from hyperactive to modest in no time, as it reminded him of a well-trained, but energetic pet dog.

    (Whoops. I gotta be careful. Being with Nilda messes with my sense of intimacy.)

    Admonishing himself, he pulled himself together before bing too rxed.

    Apparently dealing with the girl named Nilda had the same effect on him as with Princess Bona: His usual tensioned attitude wasing loose.

    To begin with, he had been too careless, when he promised a full-aged girl to ¡°show her around the Royal Pce¡±.

    In a desperate manner, he had reasoning that ¡°he never said anything about showing her around with just the two of them¡± and had Princess Freya apany them, but Nilda seemed to never have had any ulterior motives to begin with and was happy about herpany.

    Both of them had gotten rather close during the incident at the March of Guzzle, so his n seemed to work out well.

    Under the watchful eyes of his bodyguard Knight Natalio, various other soldiers, some royal waiting maids, Princess Freya¡¯s bodyguard Skathi and some rear vassal knights that acted as a bodyguard for Nilda, Zenjiroumitted himself to escort the two girls.

    ¡°The pond with the ¡¯golden fishes¡¯ I told about before is this way. Want to take a look?¡±

    ¡°Yes, please!¡±

    ¡°Golden fishes? That sounds fascinating.¡±

    Hence Zenjirou guided Nilda and Princess Freya to the pond in the back.

    ¡°Over there. It is not really dangerous, because it is quite shallow, but please be still careful as there is no fence.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you for the warning.¡±

    Listening to him, Nilda stood at the edge of the pond and observed the shoal of fishes swimming in the pond.

    ¡°Wooooaaah¡­ So pretty!¡±

    It was indeed a beautiful sight to behold.

    A single fish was no bigger than the middle finger of a grown-up, but there were so many of them that the whole water surface sparkled brightly.

    With a stricter upbringing as ady, the glint in the eyes of Princess Freya was not as distinct as in Nilda¡¯s, but she did seem interested and leaned over a bit to get a better look.

    ¡°You have some really colourful fishes here. I am quite surprised.¡±

    Zenjirou got the idea that fishes and birds became iner further to the north and more colourful further to the south, so he asked Princess Freya a question in light of her words.

    ¡°Does the North Continent not have ornamental fishes like this, Princess Freya?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, at least I have never seen such ¡®beautiful¡¯ fishes before. Above all, a shallow pond like that wouldpletely freeze up in winter.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. It would certainly be difficult to keep them then. And making the pond deeper would defeat the purpose of sightseeing.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. As such, fishes were nothing but a source of food in my eyes. Prosaic, is it not?¡±

    The silver-haired princess shrugged her shoulders with a wry smile.

    ¡°Not at all. I am actually envious. The Capital is located ind, so I only ever get to eat freshwater fishes here.¡±

    The fishes used in food almost entirely amounted to saltwater fishes for Zenjirou, a born Japanese.

    By no means did the freshwater fishes served in the Royal and Inner Pce taste bad, but because of their peculiar taste, he did prefer saltwater fishes after all. Nilda turned around to the two royal members and joined their conversation with a friendly smile.

    ¡°I like fishes, too. When I was still living in the vige, I caught and ate small fishes from a waterway this big. It channelled off a far away river.¡±

    While saying this, Nilda spread her arms and if her words could be trusted, the waterway in her home vige was not even measuring thirty centimetre in width or depth. Even a child would be able to cross it easily. It may have been a small vige, but did they never consider to expand it? At this size, it would not be strange if it were to dry up during the Hottest Season.

    ¡°Did they ever talk about expanding that waterway? I would think having more water would be better.¡±

    Nilda shook her head to his question, then answered.

    ¡°No, it is too dangerous. If they were to expand it any further than this, then crocodiles or carnivore dragons would get to the vige, when the river is in flood during the ¡®Rainy Season¡¯.¡±

    Apparently they also had a well in the vige as another water source, so there was no real shortage of water during the Hottest Season.

    ¡°I see. So you have to consider these factors, too.¡±

    Hearing this story, Zenjirou once again realized how much hecked themon knowledge of this world.

    (Speaking of, I wonder how the water source for the Capital is managed? With so much water required, the waterway can¡¯t be all that small.)

    Did they strain a wire mesh or alike somewhere on the way to prevent dangerous animals from entering? Zenjirou was curious about that, but as royalty and kind of master of the Pce, he knew better than to satisfy his curiosity by asking royalty from another country or the daughter of a noble from his own country.

    (I¡¯ll ask Aurater.)

    Zenjirou was preupied with his thoughts. In the meantime, Nilda spotted a building in the back of the garden and spoke up.

    ¡°Say, Master Zenjirou, what is that building over there?¡±

    The building she pointed at was very far away and partly concealed by trees, so no details of it could be made out, but even then, it looked obviously out of proportion to this garden.

    All things here, be it the pond, the fountain or the pavilion, admittedly differed in size, but they all shared a thoughtful beauty. Yet that building looked like nothing but a crude wooden hut.

    Faced with her question, Zenjirou did gave a wry smile, but answered honestly as it was nothing to hide in particr.

    ¡°Oh, that is the ¡®Goat Shed¡¯. Sorry, but I cannot show it to you.¡±

    ¡°A ¡®Goat Shed¡¯?¡±

    Nilda tilted her head puzzled. Apparently the word ¡°goat¡± did not exist in her vocabry.

    Since the ¡°Soul of Words¡± worked properly, the term must exist in thenguage of the western part of the South Continent, but Nilda probably did note across the word so far as she was raised in the bordend.

    ¡°A goat is a livestock from the North Continent. Princess Freya here was so kind to give us some. It is the first time our country is farming them.

    We try to keep people away as much as possible until the goats have gotten used to their new environment.¡±

    The expert dispatched by Princess Freya, Nici was taking care of the goats with all his might, so the goat milk sent to the Inner Pce had recently lost most of its smell.

    Right now, the breeding seemed to go well, too, and some yeanlings had already been born in the shed.

    However, Princess Freya voiced a little worry to Zenjirou.

    ¡°I am a bit worried, because we did not expect this constant rain. You carefully built the shed ording to Nici¡¯s instructions, so I do not think anything serious will happen, but still¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh? You¡¯re worried?¡±

    In light of her unexpected utterance, Zenjirou forgot his royal manner of speech for a moment and responded casually.

    Totally warming up to Princess Freya beyond their standings, Nilda asked the question at hand before he could.

    ¡°Princess Freya, are these so-called goats bad with rain?¡±

    When Nilda looked at her straight with her round ck eyes, Princess Freya affirmed it with a smile.

    ¡°Yes. Goats are known for their exceptional ability to adapt to the environment as they manage with little food, but they originallye from dry high ins, so they are somewhat weak to rain and humidity. It is not a fatal vulnerability, though.¡±

    The reason she spoke so politely to Nilda was because she was addressing Zenjirou at the same time.

    In fact, Zenjirou replied to her and not Nilda.

    ¡°Is that so? That certainly is a bit worrying.¡±

    To him, the goats in the shed embodied the hope to enrich his eating habits in the future.

    As of recently, the goat milk in particr had lost a lot of its smell and was a lot easier to drink now.

    He might actually cry for real, if the goats were to die out due to some skin disease.

    ¡°I hate to trouble you, Princess Freya, but could you inquire about the situation from Nici?¡±

    Nici was currently dispatched to the Carpa Kingdom, but he still used Princess Freya as an intermediary, because their rtionship was not all that close yet.

    When the goats died out, Zenjirou would cry and that was the end of it, but Nici was left in charge of them as an expert, so his very life might actually be on the line here.

    Neither Zenjirou, nor Aura assessed the farming of northern livestock in an unfamiliar environment such as the Carpa Kingdom as easy, so even if it did fail by some kind of twist, they would not give him such a severe sentence.

    But who would actually believe it, when rtively unacquainted royalty told you: ¡°It¡¯s okay. Even if you fail, there won¡¯t be a punishment, so take it easy.¡±

    With an exnation from Zenjirou, Princess Freyaprehended that approach and epted his request with a calm smile.

    ¡°Very well. I shall meet with Nici soon and discuss it with him.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Princess Freya.¡±

    Zenjirou somehow ended up talking away with Princess Freya, but the main guest today was Nilda, not Princess Freya.

    Remembering that, he faced the young girl with the imposing big ck eyes again.

    ¡°Well then, are you thirsty by chance? If you like, we can take a break in the pavilion over there.¡±

    ¡°Yes, thank you for your consideration, Master Zenjirou.¡±

    Nilda nodded to him with a friendly smile.

    * * *

    Around the time Zenjirou was talking with the two girls in the garden, Queen Aura was working in one room of the Royal Pce.

    Not long ago, Doctor Michelle had diagnosed her with a ¡°pregnancy without a doubt.¡±

    Learning from the previous pregnancy, it was highly likely that her morning sickness would soon be worse and heavily obstruct her work efficiency.

    In light of the child in her belly, she definitely could not overdo things, but she wanted to get the work she was capable of right now out of the way.

    The stack of dragon leather parchment at her hands in particr were important documents for a smooth delivery in the future.

    ¡°Now let me see who we got for the second recruitment.¡±

    With these words, Aura looked through the bundle of parchments.

    Just as she had muttered now, these documents were the second round of applications for waiting maids of the Inner Pce.

    A few waiting maids had retired due to marriage or age reasons, so they had started a recruitment for new waiting maids a few months ago.

    The elected people from the first round had be ustomed to the Inner Pce in thest few months, so they were going to run a second election now.

    Secretary Fabio had gone through the applicants beforehand and eliminated the candidates not worth the trouble of the Queen herself, so applications were unexpectedly sparse.

    The Queen silently looked through the bunch of papers with her loyal secretary standing besides her.

    These rmendation letters were kept rather short. All of them had written the name of the candidate, her age, the name of her backer and their rtionship on it for sure.

    Then each backer had written down the fortes of their candidates in an attempt to appeal, but to be honest, Aura skipped most of these.

    In the first ce, it was always the same bragging about appearance and manners. If she were to take them at face value, the Carpa Kingdom would apparently be overflowing with girls, who were supposed to be peerless beauties in the future.

    ¡°Mir, fourteen years old. Backed by Count Marquez. Uncle and niece. Oh, the niece from Count Marquez. So she is already at this age?¡±

    Looking at the first parchment, Aura recalled the person from her name.

    Aura had memorized Count Marquez and his entire family, which had fielded Raffaelo Marquez as one of the two former marriage candidate for her, so she did not need to ask the secretary standing next to her about it.

    ¡°This goes here.¡±

    She ced the dragon leather parchment to the right. Then she looked through the others papers one after another.

    ¡°Isidora, thirteen years old. Backed by Marquis Bervides. Father and daughter.

    Lorensha, twelve years old. Backed by Baron Massana. Father and daughter. Additionally, the little sister of the former waiting maid Keyshia.

    Hasmin, sixteen years old. Backed by Viscount Boni. Father and daughter. Hmm.¡±

    There was no reason to reject them, but neither was there any decisive factor that warranted hiring them, so these candidates went to the left side of the desk.

    ¡°Next one. Luisa, thirteen years old. Backed by Marquis Rh. Wait, that means¡­ Yep, as expected, ¡®Lord and Subject¡¯. Since my husband works outside more often now, Ines and Margret cannot cope with it alone anymore. This obviously goes here.¡±

    cing the dragon leather parchment to the right, the Queen showed a satisfied smile.

    Afterwards, Aura checked all the papers, but after going through them once, there were hardly any worthwhile candidates.

    The troublesome ones had been dropped before Aura got to see them and the remaining ones hardly ever distinguished themselves from the others.

    So far she had almost mechanically sorted the papers to the left and right (mainly to the left), but the Queen suddenly stopped her hand at the veryst parchment.

    ¡°Nilda, fifteen years old. Backed by Marquis Guzzle. Father and daughter. ¡­Miss Nilda as a waiting maid?¡±

    Taken somewhat by surprise, the Queen looked up to the face of her trusted retainer by her side.

    ¡°Fabio, I want to hear your opinion. What do you think of this?¡±

    Addressed by the Queen, the Secretary replied calmly with his usual inexpressive mask.

    ¡°There are generally two reasons to send your daughter into the Inner Pce: First, wanting a connection to the Royal Family. And second, giving your daughter some prestige.

    For an influential family like the Guzzle Family, it is usually the former, but in the case of Miss Nilda, I would say it is more likely thetter.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, considering her situation, any decent parent would try to polish her up.¡±

    Aura looked up at the ceiling and put her right hand against her head.

    Raised as an illegitimate child in a vige, the little girl had made a grand debut at the audience room, because she had not been listed on the ¡°Roll of Names¡± until recently. Her past could not be any more dubious than that.

    Moreover, Marquis Guzzle already suffered a trauma from not being able to marry off his eldest daughter Lucinda until she passed her best years. So it was not unthinkable that he would dote a little bit too much over his second daughter.

    ording to Zenjirou, their rtionship was positive to the point, where theirplicated starting point was nowhere to be seen anymore.

    After pondering for a while, Aura made a decision.

    ¡°Well, her birth and upbringing aside, I did kind of put her on disy with the ¡®Roll of Names¡¯ incident. I guess I will have to make up to them.¡±

    Thest parchment was ced on the right side of the desk.

    * * *

    At night of the same day.

    Done with their work, the Queen and the Prince Consort were reporting thetest news to each other as always in the living of the Inner Pce.

    After dinner and bath, they had sat down across from each other on the couches in their light nightgowns, drinking cold water in a rxed manner.

    In a departure from convention, three waiting maids were standing by Aura¡¯s side, though.

    Now that her second pregnancy had been confirmed for sure, Aura had to pay attention to her body and the other life within it.

    Normally, Aura was sending the waiting maids away in consideration of Zenjirou¡¯s moral values, but she was actually pure-blooded royalty.

    To be honest, she could rx better with some maids by her side to order about.

    Usually Aura was considerate towards Zenjirou, but during her pregnancy, it was Zenjirou¡¯s turn to be considerate towards her. Neither of them actually mentioned it, it just happened naturally.

    In this rxing environment, Aura spoke up first.

    ¡°Well then, I have something to tell you first. We have gotten applicants for the second waiting maid recruitment. I have already narrowed them down to the final candidates. The new maids are scheduled toe in soon.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Sounds good. The first neers have settled in after all.¡±

    The first round of newly hired waiting maids hade into the Inner Pce while Zenjirou had been away to the March of Guzzle, so he did not really have time to get used to them, but they had never gotten in the way.

    Zenjirou had agreed to increase the personnel, when the other maids retired, a long time ago, so there was no point in rejecting them now.

    But he was certainly surprised at her next words.

    ¡°I want you to be mindful of one thing. Truth be told, Nilda will be one of the new waiting maids.¡±

    ¡°Nilda!?¡±

    Naturally, he unwittingly eximed in surprise.

    This was the first time that someone he got to know outside wasing into the Inner Pce.

    When Zenjirou disyed confusion and a bit of wariness on his face, Aura expanded on it.

    ¡°Ah, needless to say, you do not need to treat her any different. If anything, you are getting a bit along too well with her. Just be careful you do not start to treat the other waiting maids differently, too.¡±

    He was obviously relieved to hear that.

    ¡°Alright then. But still, that surprised me. For a moment, I thought she was going on the offensive, too.¡±

    ¡°I would have rejected her, if that were the case. Apparently Marquis Guzzle purely wants her to work in the Inner Pce. Given her background story, you know.

    He must want to give her the prestige as a ¡®former waiting maid of the Inner Pce¡¯ to find her a fine husband.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. That¡¯s his aim.¡±

    Zenjirou already knew about Nilda¡¯s birth circumstances.

    So he immediately epted that reasoning.

    Well, Marquis Guzzle simply wanted to ¡°finish the education of his daughter under a kind master in the Inner Pce¡±, but Queen Aura had no way of knowing that yet.

    She would only realize itter in a conversation with Supervisory Maid Amanda.

    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡±

    Zenjirou had taken a liking to Nilda, so he weed it that she would be working at his side as a waiting maid.

    He had been with her just recently at noon, so he gave a report as well.

    ¡°Nothing really serious happened on my side. Both Nilda and Princess Freya seemed to have enjoyed the tour.

    Frankly speaking, I¡¯m not really the type to notice, when a woman harbours feelings for me, but it looked to me like Nilda simply wanted to see the pce. She had no ulterior motives.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    Aura nodded with a stern expression to his report. She kept it a secret from Zenjirou, but amongst the waiting maids in the garden had been a subordinate from Margret. In other words a secret agent.

    It was indispensable to get another opinion than Zenjirou¡¯s subjective view from herter on, but Aura herself also considered neither Nilda, nor Marquis Guzzle behind her capable of utilizing sex appeal for power y. Most likely, Zenjirou¡¯s assessment was spot-on.

    Yet, Aura was not able to avoid warning him on that score.

    ¡°Fine. But you still need to be careful, when meeting her.

    She might not harbour romantic feelings for you, but her feelings are favourable nheless.

    I might be getting ahead of myself, but it seems you have the same level of intimacy with Miss Nilda as with Princess Bona.¡±

    ¡°Uhh¡­ Okay, I¡¯ll be careful.¡±

    When his wife pointed out what he himself had also been aware of, the husband averted his eyes and obediently took her advice to heart.

    At any rate, Aura had no intention to nag about it all that much.

    She immediately moved onto the next topic.

    ¡°What else is there? Oh right. You, bring me that.¡±

    The Queen looked at one waiting maid, who simply bowed without questioning the vague order.

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    Smoothly moving to one corner of the room, the waiting maid came back with a package wrapped in red cloth.

    Considering she was carrying it by herself, it must not be all that heavy.

    Then Aura gave that waiting maid another order.

    ¡°Put it down there. But be careful so as not to break it.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    As she had been told, the waiting maid put the wrapped package onto the table between Aura and Zenjirou and unwrapped the red cloth skilfully.

    ¡°OHH!?¡±

    Seeing what was inside, Zenjirou unwittingly leaned forward and eximed joyful.

    Pleased by the reaction of her husband, the Queen smirked and threw out her big chest that was wrapped in her light nightgown.

    ¡°Behold the newest achievement of our craftsmen!¡±

    In a nutshell: It was a ¡°ss flower vase¡±.

    Illuminated from all sides by the white light of the LED floormps, the light green ss twinkled and any person from modern Earth would identify it as a ¡°ss flower vase¡± for sure. It was such a perfect workmanship.

    It stood on its own on top of the t table and had a hole on top to put in flowers. As it had no other visible holes, you could expect it to hold water as well.

    A ¡°ss flower vase¡° well and truly.

    It was indeed well-done to the point, where you would ask impressed ¡°did you make that yourself?¡±.

    But even though it could stand by itself, it seemed like the bottom was not perfectly t and seemed somewhat unstable. On the whole, it looked obviously distorted, too.

    No one on Modern Earth would probably buy this, not even in a hundred yen shop.

    Even with the biggest form of ttery, it was only about the level of a better result from the try-it-yourself corner at a ss museum.

    But Zenjirou¡¯s delight had nothing to do with the workmanship of the ss container.

    The important point was that they finally managed to produce ¡°ss¡± without doubt in this world. The ss vase cast a light green shadow over the table due to the light from the LED floormps.

    Its colour was way more transparent than the colour from Ramune bottles at least.

    ¡°Wow. The craftsmen must have really given it their all, given the short time span.¡±

    The Queen narrowed her eyes pleased in light of thepliment from Zenjirou.

    ¡°Well, yes, their future depends on it after all.¡±

    The reinstated former smiths asides, the young craftsmen headhunted from all the smith apprentices would have a dark future awaiting them, if they failed to make a name for themselves as ss manufacturers.

    The royal family was paying them enough to not be troubled in their livelihood, but hardly any woman would marry a guy working in a line of work without prospects.

    In order to find a wife and build a stable family, they needed to establish the job known as ¡°ssblower¡± in this world. Compared to women, men were suitable for marriage over a longer period of time, but a time limit existed nevertheless.

    Then Aura suggested to the excited Zenjirou.

    ¡°As a result, I would like to finally try making these ss marbles next. You already had an idea about how to make them spherical, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s not really my idea, but just something I saw at a ss museum in the past, though. Give me a sec. Like I told you before, it¡¯s hard to exin with words, so I¡¯ll draw a sketch.¡±

    With these words, Zenjirou stood up from the couch and headed for the desk, where he kept the printing paper and pens.

    ¡°Ah, wai¡ª¡±

    Aura did not even have time to stop him. Her raised hand dangled awkwardly in the air as she put on a wry smile.

    In her eyes, it was questionable why royalty had to get up and fetch something by themselves, when there were waiting maids around, but to Zenjirou, it was only normal to go fetch something by yourself without relying on others, if it was in the same room.

    These trivial things really showed the difference in moral values between them.

    But the reason the couple was still getting along just fine was because they both understood that it was normal for their partner and respected each other¡¯s moral values.

    Anyway, Zenjirou did not notice the wry smile of his wife at all, since he had turned his back to her, and returned to the couch with paper and pen in hand.

    ¡°Ehm, I have two ideas. A primitive method and a modern method. I¡¯ll draw down both, but I think the modern one won¡¯t work out, since it requires a driving force.¡±

    Saying this, he drew down a device to make the ss marbles spherical.

    His struggle persisted for a while.

    Having no artistic disposition, Zenjirou had troubles drawing it, but somehow finished two sketches that tried to convey his idea to the beholder.

    ¡°Something like this. I suggest the first one. The second one would be better, but is more like something to work towards to.¡±

    ¡°Let me see¡­ Oh, I see. The first one is easy to understand. You pour a controlled amount of molten ss down this repetitive spiral-shaped channel.¡±

    ¡°Yes, exactly. While the molten ss rolls down this spiral slope, it naturally bes round and by the time it gets to the end, it has cooled down somewhat and bes firm.

    Although it looks simple, I believe it will require a lot of trial and error, so you better tell the craftsmen to be prepared for that.¡±

    The theory was extremely simple: You just let molten ss roll down a spiral slope made of metal. But with a bit of thinking, you coulde up with a lot of reasons why it could fail.

    If the molten ss was too viscous, it failed by sticking to the metal.

    If the spiral slope was too steep, it failed by rolling over the edge.

    But if the slope was too shallow, it failed by losing momentum in the middle and stopping premature.

    Needless to say, it also failed, when there was a single distortion or bump in the spiral slope.

    The method was rtively simple, but required a fine-tuned assembly.

    ¡°And this is the other one? I do not really understand it, even with this drawing. Does this circling line mean this roller is turning around?¡±

    ¡°Yes. You take two uniform round rollers with grooves carved into them and let them spin at the same speed, in the same direction. Then you pour the molten ss into the groove. The gap between the rollers is smaller than the diameter of the marbles, so the molten ss does not drop down and keeps spinning in between.

    By spinning in the grooves of the rollers, the molten ss naturally globes itself, cools down over time and bes firm.¡±

    The other sketch pictured only the crucial part of the modern process for making marbles.

    Normally, that ss manufacture was fully automated. ss shards were melted, cut into the right amount and moulded into a sphere. Uneven ones were eliminated while the rest naturally cooled down.

    But it would be impossible to recreate that whole production line in this world. Neither was it necessary to do so.

    What mattered was how they could shape the molten ss into a proper sphere before it cooled down and hardened.

    The craftsmen themselves could take care of adjusting the amount of molten ss or picking out uneven ones.

    One bag of marbles was sold for around a hundred yen on Modern Earth, so they needed to make thousands, if not ten of thousands all at once, otherwise there would be no profit, but that did not apply to this world.

    The marbles were going to be a catalyst for the magic tools, so strictly speaking, making one marble a day would already be plenty enough.

    ¡°How are you going to spin these rollers? Manually by hand?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, if possible, I would like to use a waterwheel. At any rate, this is just another scenario. For now, we should work with the first method.

    I just wanted to give an alternative in case we can¡¯t get the first method to work out at all.¡±

    It goes without saying that Zenjirou was no expert on making ss or marbles. The only experience he had with it was seeing the assembly line once at a museum during a school trip.

    Apart from that, he only vaguely remembered stuff from reading on the inte or in books.

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    The Queenpared the two sketches with each other. Even an amateur like her, could tell at a nce that the second method was far moreplicated than the first.

    Needless to say, the simple structure of the first one did not necessarily mean it was equally simple to recreate, but its feasibility was higher without doubt.

    ¡°Okay. Then I shall only pass the first spiral method to the craftsmen for now.

    They are all former smiths. It should not prove to be all that difficult to recreate its appearance. They might even be d to get to forge something again in a long time.¡±

    Although Aura said this, she was actually not thinking that it would go so smoothly.

    Even if they were former smiths, most of them had been young apprentices with uncertain job prospects in that business.

    In spite of being overseen by retired professionals, the smithcraft of these ss craftsmen was probably going to be inferior to the work of regr cksmiths.

    However, she could not simply allocate that work to some other professional cksmiths just because of that.

    The ss craftsmen themselves would actually be using the tools to make marbles, whereas other cksmiths would have absolutely no clue about ss itself or what these tool would be used for.

    So it was self-evident that outsourcing the creation of tools in the testing would involvemunication problems somewhere down the road.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll leave it to you, Aura.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Having finished her report about the ss now, Aura look at the waiting maids at her side once more.

    ¡°You two, bring me the other stuff now.¡±

    The two waiting maids calmly epted the obscure order without getting flustered.

    ¡°Yes, very well.¡±

    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡±

    Like the maid before them, the two of them moved to one corner of the room and brought a barrel small enough to be carried in one hand and a palm-sized round block of wood.

    ¡°Excuse us.¡±

    When the two waiting maids returned, they put the small barrel and round wood block onto the table with these words.

    Zenjirou could tell at a nce what these things were.

    ¡°This is ¡®Distilled Liquor¡¯ and a ¡®Compass¡¯?¡±

    The Queen affirmed it with a smile, when her husband leaned forward.

    ¡°Indeed. The ¡®Distilled Liquor¡¯ is from the first batch up for sale and this ¡®Kuhmpuhs¡¯ was made ording to the sketch you drew before.

    The liquor was already well-received at the night banquet, so we are starting a little mass-production this year and will sell it to the public.¡±

    ¡°Ohh!¡±

    Seeing how the culture he introduced was taking root in this world, Zenjirou was greatly excited, but also somewhat worried.

    Well, the ¡®Distilled Liquor¡¯ had already existed on the North Continent, so it would have been only a matter of time until it reached the South Continent, though.

    ¡°Pour us some.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Ordered by the Queen, the waiting maid at her side filled the empty Kiriko sses they had used before to drink some cold water, with the liquor from the small barrel.

    It looked no different than water, colourless and transparent.

    Zenjirou immediately grabbed his ss and carefully took a nip of it. After savouring it a bit on his tongue, he swallowed it.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s well done. We can sell it like that.¡±

    As such, Zenjirou gave it his seal of approval.

    At first, they could only make ¡®Distilled Liquor¡¯ with the electrical hotte distillery he had brought along, but it had already been more than half a year, since the people of this world had started their quest to recreate it with the tools of this world.

    They could make a in ¡®Distilled Liquor¡¯ without problem now.

    ¡°Seeing as you want to sell it, it is profitable already?¡±

    Zenjirou asked curiously, whereas Aura shook her head with a grim face.

    ¡°No, it is hardly profitable at the present. And considering the investment in the facility, we are actually operating in the red.¡±

    In a way, he had expected that answer. Zenjirou put the ss down on the coaster and spoke grimly as well.

    ¡°Yeah, thought so. The distilling process isn¡¯t all that effective, either, so it¡¯s only natural.¡±

    ¡°The costs for the materials and fuel are more of a problem, though. Considering its supply and demand, there is no perfect season for the manufacture. We recruited people for the typical handiwork of the ¡®Rainy Season¡¯ this time, but I would like to try making it during the ¡®Hottest Season¡¯ next year.¡±

    ¡°Hm? What do you mean?¡±

    Her husband titled his head puzzled, as he seemed to not understand, whereat Aura exined it in simplified terms.

    ¡°I intend to use fruit wine or ale shy of spoiling as the raw materials for the ¡®Distilled Liquor¡®. We can purchaserge quantities of these for cheap during the ¡®Rainy Season¡¯, but the price for the fuel we need for the distilling process is at its highest during the ¡®Rainy Season¡¯.

    Taking the price for the fuel into ount, the ¡®Hottest Season¡¯ would be best, but then the raw materials be scare goods.¡±

    ¡°Oh, a cause for worry for sure¡­¡±

    Comprehending what she was getting at, Zenjirou heaved a troubled sigh.

    On top of having a climate with high temperatures and high humidity, the Carpa Kingdom had not developed a preservation method, so the average fruit wine or ale with low alcohol content was spoiling rtively quickly.

    Unlike Modern Japanese, themoners of the Carpa Kingdom would still drink it with a bit of spices or sugar, when the alcohol turn a bit sour, but there was a limit to that as well.

    The ¡°Rainy Season¡± with its continuous rain and the ¡°Hottest Season¡± with its abnormal temperatures were especially bad for its preservability.

    Once the alcohol had gone bad for good, it certainly was out the question to use it for the Distilled Liquor, so they wanted to use alcohol just shy of spoiling, but that was only avable inrge quantities during the ¡°Rainy Season¡±.

    Hence, the cheapest season for buying a lot of ¡°alcohol¡± was the ¡°Rainy Season¡±.

    But needless to say, the continuous rainfall of the ¡°Rainy Season¡± made it difficult to obtain firewood or charcoal, which they needed as a fuel for the distilling.

    Usable firewood during the ¡°Rainy Season¡± was limited to the stock you sheltered from the rain inside, and that effort obviously made the firewood more expansive than during the ¡°Hottest Season¡± or ¡°Vibrant Season¡±, where you could just let it lying around outside.

    In conclusion, the ¡°Rainy Season¡± was good for buying the raw materials cheap, but screwed up the prices for the fuel.

    On the other hand, the ¡°Hottest Season¡± was the exact opposite.

    Since humidity went down and temperature up, firewood became cheaper as a fuel, but it was more difficult to getrge amounts of alcohol as a raw material.

    It was self-evident. The alcohol just had went through its archenemy, the entire ¡°Rainy Season¡±.

    Most of the ¡°cheap alcohol shy of spoiling¡± in the ¡°Rainy Season¡± would have changed to ¡°useless spoiled alcohol¡± by the time the ¡°Hottest Season¡± began.

    And then, the little alcohol that remained would obviously be more expensive due to thew of supply and demand.

    In conclusion, the ¡°Hottest Season¡± was good for buying fuel cheap, but screwed up the prices for the raw materials.

    ¡°Hmm, how about making it during the ¡®Vibrant Season¡¯? The prices for firewood won¡¯t be as bad as during the ¡®Hottest Season¡¯ then and they are making fresh fruit wine and ale at that time, so there will definitely be some ¡®by-products that barely qualify as alcohol, but are unfit for selling¡¯. If we buy that up, we should be able to get a portion of the materials for cheap.¡±

    Zenjirou had thought it up on the spot and deemed it a rather clever idea after giving tongue to it, but Aura shook her head brusquely.

    ¡°That will not do. Both the farmers and the craftsmen will be busy during the ¡®Vibrant Season¡¯, precisely because they are making the new alcohol. We may be able to scrape up the manpower, but the ¡®wages¡¯ will be rocketing during that season.¡±

    ¡°That definitely won¡¯t do¡­¡±

    In light of her exnation, Zenjirou looked up at the ceiling and heaved a sigh.

    Even if they managed to economize on fuel and material costs, there was no point, when higher wages ruined it.

    And above all, the Carpa Kingdom still seeing some effects from the previous great war. The whole country suffered from ack of manpower and the Royal Family would surely spark a fierce bacsh, if they were to try hiring people for a new business during the busiest season.

    Realizing that this matter could not be resolved here and now, Zenjirou moved the topic to the other item beside the ¡°Distilled Liquor¡±.

    ¡°So, this is the ¡®Compass¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Yes. It was not all that difficult to make, actually. The needle in the middle was made by cksmiths, the rest by carpenters. I believe it was done right ording to your instructions, but what do you say?¡±

    Zenjirou took the ¡°Compass¡± in question in his hands, checking it out.

    The needle in the middle was not yet maized, so it technically was not apass, but he could check for any other discrepancies for now.

    ¡°Lemme see¡­ Hmm¡­¡±

    He did so by raising it, turning it around and shaking it a bit.

    Except the needle, everything was made out of wood. Because there was no ss or stic in this world, it had no cover on top. Instead, the needle was held in ce by a wooden frame in the shape of a cross.

    The needle seemed to be properly bnced and spun around neatly, when he nudged it with his finger.

    There was no problem structure-wise.

    ¡°Yeah, looks good. I¡¯ll maize the needleter. Mh, wait? How do I take out the needle?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that wooden cross is simply pushed on, so it will easilye off, if you pull with a bit of force. That part can easily be remade, even if you break it, so do not worry about it.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ Oh, it really came off so easily. How are we going to attach it in the end, when the needle is maized? It¡¯s a bit unreliable like this.¡±

    With the dismantled pseudopass in hand, Zenjirou asked Aura, whereat she answered naturally.

    ¡°I guess with small nails? Or maybe glue it? Well, either way, the craftsmen will do their job properly.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, speaking of, you have no screws here, do you? I did give the merchant one of mine, but I guess a replication is too difficult?¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily. He might not have seen any value in recreating it. After all, merchants only ever act on profit.¡±

    ¡°I see. Guess that¡¯s true.¡±

    Convinced, Zenjirou put the dismantledpass back onto the table.

    First the ss, then the distilled liquor and thepass after that.

    While they were taking about these three things, quite some time had actually passed.

    Zenjirou looked at the desk clock, then faced his beloved wife again and dered.

    ¡°You should go to bed now, Aura. After saying good-night to Zenkichi, that is.¡±

    With these word, he stood up and offered his right hand to the Queen, who obediently replied to him.

    ¡°Already thiste? Fine. Doctor Michelle would nag at me, if I stay up toote after all. But what about you?¡±

    Still grasping the hand of his wife after helping her get up, her husband answered honestly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll practice ¡®Teleport¡¯ for a bit longer in the living room after seeing Zenkichi, before going to bed. I¡¯m getting a feel for it.¡±

    ¡°I admire your enthusiasm, but do not overdo it.¡±

    Zenjirou unwittingly cracked a smile, when his wife frowned worriedly, and reassured her.

    ¡°Yeah, I know. I¡¯ll keep it in moderation.¡±

    ¡°Alright then.¡±

    The Queen and her husband then naturally crossed arms and left the living room in order to say good-night to their beloved child Carlos Zenkichi in the other room.

 Chapter Volume 8 3 part1

    <hr>

    <span><strong>Important so read:</strong>

    <em>For starters this series will be released on Thursday every two weeks. Depending on the amount of readers, I¡¯m willing to upgrade the release rate to once weekly. I¡¯m the kind of trantor that likes people reading my trantions andmenting them. You want faster releases, spread the word!</em>

    <em>Unlike the previous trantor¡¯s way of releasing full chapters but irregrly, I will release the chapters in parts but regrly. The number of parts per chapter will be announced in the release post of the first part of each chapter.</em>

    <em>I value the previous TL¡¯s work and thus want to keep many of the terms and specific phrasings he used alive to make the overall readability of this series enjoyable for all current and future readers. It has taken me a significant time to search all the terms used so far for this part, effectively slowing down my trantion speed. You want to help?</em><strong>Fill out the !</strong>

    <em>The story is written in third person view. asionally there are thoughts of people thrown in. Those will be marked with italic fonts format.</em>

    <em>If you find any mistakes or terminology that was used differently before, feel free to point it out in thement section. Otherwise enjoy the read!</em>

    ©¤©¤ Your local trantor, Shasu<hr>

    The invocation of magic requires ¡ºCorrect Intonation¡», the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» andstly a ¡ºCorrect Perception¡».

    Several months of training have been racked up for¡ºTeleport¡».

    Zenjirou, just at the point of reliably and sessfully chanting with¡ºCorrect Intonation¡» while pouring the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» appropriate for ¡ºTeleport¡» into the spell, is finally beginning to tackle thest obstacle, the ¡ºCorrect Perception¡».

    ¡ô

    Having given him passing marks for ¡ºCorrect Intonation¡» and the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» of ¡ºTeleport¡», Aura took Zenjirou to a windowless stone room in a secluded section of the royal pce.

    ¡°Aura, this ce is¡­?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Watching her husband restlessly survey the room in confusion, the queen, who was d in afortable and soft-looking dress, smiled meaningfully.

    It''s been three months since her periodst came, but it hasn''t yet reached the point where her belly is noticeable. The morning sickness that gued herst pregnancy also hasn''t made an appearance.

    Even for the same mother every pregnancy is different, and it seems that it will be much easier this time around.

    Doctor Michelle had dered, "I''m certain that you''re pregnant", and only given Aura permission to continue with governmental affairs within the pce on the condition that she always keeps a maid with her.

    ¡°As expected, you remember this ce, huh? Right, Zenjirou, this is the room where you were summoned into this world.¡± (Aura)

    It¡¯s the room where Aura drew Zenjirou to this world using ¡ºDifferent World Summoning¡».

    In other words, this is where Zenjirou had first stepped into this world. It''s already been three years since his arrival. Even so Zenjirou vividly remembers the shock of when he was summoned to this world for the first time.

    ¡°Whoaa, that¡¯s really nostalgic somehow. I feel like this ce hasn¡¯t changed at all.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Well, that only makes sense. This ce is a ¡ºSpecial Room¡» after all.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Eh? What do you mean?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Watching him tilt his head in confusion, the queen exins to her husband,

    ¡°This is a room established for us Carpa royalty, or rather, users of ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡», to make it as easy as possible to use ¡ºTeleport¡».

    Until you¡¯ve grown ustomed to drawing a clear image of activating the ¡ºTeleport¡» spell in your mind, it¡¯s very difficult. In the beginning you will learn how to do it in this room.¡± (Aura)

    Zenjirou understands what Aura is saying, but it doesn''t make any sense to him why things are done like this, and he only has more questions.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it easier to imagine a more familiar ce as the destination when learning ¡ºTeleport¡»? Like the inner pce¡¯s living room in my case?¡± (Zenjirou)

    As if she''d been waiting for that question, the queen immediately responds with,

    ¡°Space that you''re familiar with is unexpectedly difficult actually. The spirit can ount for slight differences between the image in your mind and reality to some degree, but it has its limits.

    A space that doesn¡¯t change in appearance depending on the time of year, or even the time of day, is difficult to find.

    Also, and this is knowledge exclusive to space-time magic users, if you try to travel too far from east to west, night and day will be reversed. That makes imagining extremely difficult.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Ah, I see. The time difference, huh?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou pped his hands together in understanding upon Aura¡¯s exnation.

    In the end ¡ºTeleport¡» is no more than a spell allowing one to travel a certain distance instantaneously. It doesn''t mean that you can ignore time.

    For example, just because it¡¯s daytime in Japan right now, doesn''t mean it''s daytime in New York. If you imagine New York in the daytime, the spell will not be invoked.

    Unless one includes the time difference in their calctions and imagines New York at night, ¡ºTeleport¡» won¡¯t work.

    It¡¯s also the same if the seasons are drastically off. A person who has never experienced anything but Hokkaido¡¯s winter, won¡¯t be able to activate ¡ºTeleport¡» to Hokkaido in summer, even if they try to do so.

    Zenjirou understood the gist of it after receiving that exnation, but as expected, he still has some unanswered questions.

    ¡°Mmh? You¡¯re saying, if the image in my mind diverges too much from reality, ¡ºTeleport¡» won¡¯t be invoked, right? In that case it means that it¡¯ll misfire even in situations like the room being majorly rearranged or unexpected people being present?¡± (Zenjirou)

    <em>If that¡¯s true, it¡¯s actually impossible to use </em>¡ºTeleport¡»<em> to move somewhere outside, which means that this spell is a lot more limited in its application than I had expected.</em>

    However, the queen shakes her head at Zenjirou¡¯s question.

    ¡°No, if it¡¯s just that much, it will invoke without problems in most cases. As a matter of fact, when I used ¡ºTeleport¡» to travel to our field encampment during the great war, everyone had already moved out due to some mimunication.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°I got really scared back then,¡± the queenughs.

    ¡°You know, if it¡¯s a field encampment before and after being vacated, I feel like the differences are about the same as the difference between the royal pce in the ¡ºRainy Season¡» and the ¡ºHottest Season¡», though.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Laughing goodnaturedly at Zenjirou''s dissatisfaction, the queen agrees.

    ¡°To be honest, I think so too. But, reality is different. Even if you find it difficult to ept, you have no option but to do so. Well, I think the ways of the great spirit are too mysterious for humans to understand in the first ce.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s magic after all. I guess it¡¯s only natural for it to be somewhat irrational and random.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou, remembering how he had found many aspects of the ¡ºTime Reversal¡» spell difficult to ept, decided to just leave it at face value for the time being.

    ¡°That''s why I rmend that you start practicing ¡ºTeleport¡»here to begin with. At the very least, you''ll always be able toe back to the royal pce in an emergency.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Okay. Ah, but wait a moment. Can such a room only be found in the royal pce? Look, there are other royal territories, like Valentia or Potosi, right? I¡¯m sure it would be convenient if simr rooms were also in those provincial royal territories.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Queen Aura doubtfully tilts her head to the side as she thinks over Zenjirou''s suggestion.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it mess up the image if several versions of the same room existed, and render all of them useless?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°No, they wouldn''t have to bepletely identical. I think it would be fine if you rearrange the positions of the oilmps or write ¡ºRoyal Pce¡» and ¡ºValentia¡» on the walls in big letters.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Hmm¡­it might be worth considering, but the risk of confusion is also significant.

    If you get used to imagining what''s needed for¡ºTeleport¡», such rooms may help the process to some extent, but then again it¡¯s not that difficult to move within the Kingdom. As long as it¡¯s within the country, the difference in time and season isn''t that big, after all.¡± (Aura)

    This is especially true if you use the capital as your reference.

    The Carpa Kingdom isrge enough to be considered a major power, so there is some time difference between the western coast and the eastern border. However, the capital is situated in the center, reducing the distance to something where the time difference would be negligible.

    Even if the sun rose and set an hour earlier at the eastern border inparison to the western coast, the time difference from the capital is a mere thirty minutes.

    If it¡¯s daytime in the capital, the easternmost and westernmost points of the country are both still experiencing the daytime. And the same can be said about nighttime.

    Apart from the actual sunrise and sunset, there''s no significant difference in the images.

    ¡°What about outside the Kingdom then? If I remember correctly, you previously sent Princess Isabelle of the Jilbell family to the Twin Kingdom with ¡ºTeleport¡», didn¡¯t you?¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°I have visited the Twin Kingdom several times in the past. It was good luck that the Twin Kingdom was within the area for which I was responsible.¡± (Aura)

    The queen reveals a somewhat wistful smile.

    It¡¯s said that back when there were many members of the royal family the Carpa Kingdom allowed members of the royal family to stay in friendly neighboring countries for some time, since it was possible to travel by¡ºTeleport¡».

    Aura is the sole survivor of the royal family of that time. Thus, the foreign countries that can be visited through ¡ºTeleport¡» right now are limited to those that Aura had visited in the past. It certainly wasn''t a lie to say that it was great luck that the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, a country that could not be allowed to slip through their fingers at any cost, was included among those countries.

    But, the fact that the number of visitable countries had been significantly reduced also reminds Aura that all the royal family members besides herself had perished in the great war.

    Zenjirou, noticing the lonely expression of his wife, timidly puts his right arm around Aura¡¯s waist and awkwardly embraces her.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks to that I can go to the Twin Kingdom as well.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Uh huh.¡± (Aura)

    Obediently entrusting her body to her husband, the queen nodded with a gentle smile.

    ¡°But, before I can teleport you to the Twin Kingdom, you have to master ¡ºTeleport¡». You understand that, right?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, of course.¡± (Zenjirou)

    If Aura uses ¡ºTeleport¡» on Zenjirou, it would only take an instant for him to go to the Twin Kingdom, but as long as Zenjirou doesn¡¯t learn ¡ºTeleport¡», the only method for him to return would be thend route.

    Back when Zenjirou went to Valentia, Aura picked him up with ¡ºTeleport¡» as an¡ºEmergency Measure¡». She did the heavy lifting required to send Zenjirou to the capital with ¡ºTeleport¡» and then returning with ¡ºTeleport¡» herself, but that had only been possible because both ces were still within the country.

    In the first ce, the reason Zenjirou is heading to the Twin Kingdom is to get ready to summon a healing practitioner of the Jilbell family for the birth of Aura¡¯s second child.

    If Zenjirou doesn¡¯t learn ¡ºTeleport¡», there¡¯s no point in him visiting the Twin Kingdom.

    Zenjirou, having made a full circle back to the beginning of the conversation, renews his determination and scans the dim room.

    ¡°Alright, if it¡¯s like this, I have to master ¡ºTeleport¡» as soon as possible, don¡¯t I? All that¡¯s left is the image, so I will do my best.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Having dered his determination, Zenjirou seriously stares at the interior of the room, not even blinking as he tried to burn its appearance into his mind.

    ¡°It¡¯s great that you¡¯re doing your best, but don¡¯t stay here too long. I don¡¯t think it will pose too big a problem since the venttion holes are open, but there are several oilmps burning in this windowless room after all.¡± (Aura)

    Hearing Queen Aura¡¯s warning, Zenjirou obediently assents.

    ¡°Ah, right. In that case I''ll just grab my digital camera from the living room. If I take a picture of this ce, even if I''m not here the image will¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    Halfway through his sentence, he noticed his own stupidity. Hanging his head in disappointment, Zenjirou groans.

    ¡°Right, the problem is the image. Leaving aside other spells, as long as I can solidify the image of ¡ºTeleport¡», I can take pictures of the ces where I want to travel to in advance and use the spell while looking at those. Why didn¡¯t I realize such an obvious thing¡­?¡± (Zenjirou)

    The queen pats his back consolingly, with a wry smile.

    ¡°That often happens when you throw yourself into something. Or rather, isn''t it a good thing that you noticed it early on?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re right. Now that I think of it, since I only recently managed to pour the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» into the spell, not to mention using the ¡ºCorrect Pronunciation¡», I barely lost any time anyway.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. There¡¯s no need to think too hard about everything. You¡¯re actually doing quite well. It¡¯s usually impossible to achieve one¡¯s goal without wasting some time on a step or two.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°I know, right? I reflected since I made a stupid oversight, but in the grand scheme of things, it¡¯s not an uncorrectable mistake. I guess there¡¯s no point in me worrying about it so much.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Having pulled himself together, Zenjirou stands up straight again and takes a deep breath.

    ¡°I¡¯m going back to the living room to bring the camera then. Once I finish taking the pictures, I will stop for the day.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Aura)

    Zenjirou leaves the room quickly.

    He returned after a short while, took pictures and a short video on the room then, as promised, stopped for the day.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    Five days after that.

    Zenjirou, after lunch, began thest step of learning ¡ºTeleport¡» in the inner pce¡¯s living room.

    Among the three necessaryponents for invoking a spell he has already cleared the ¡ºCorrect Pronunciation¡»and the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡». All that¡¯s left is thest one, the ¡ºCorrect Perception¡».

    Since he¡¯s past the stage of tracking his sesses and failure with ¡ð and ¡Á in the¡ºSpell Result Chart¡» on the spreadsheet program by now, he hasn¡¯t booted up his PC.

    Standing in a corner of the living room, he holds the camera in his hand and recites the spell.

    ¡°Send my chosen target to the ce I envision¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    For the umpteenth time during these five days Zenjirou opened his eyes after finishing the chant, but he is still standing in the living room.

    ¡°No good, huh¡­?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Despite this, Zenjirou doesn''t appear to be impatient or disappointed.

    He can''t really put it into words, but he feels like realizing that he could imagine the destination with the image on the camera in front of him was a big step forward.

    ¡°Yeah, as expected. It really is easier to form a clear mental image using a picture rather than a video. If the video is too bad, the image will be blurred too.

    Alright, one more time!¡± (Zenjirou)

    Fortunately the magic in this world doesn¡¯t consume any mana if one fails to invoke it. There are no other penalties either.

    The oue is only that ¡°nothing happened.¡±

    Thanks to that a person can practice magic as much as they like as long as they can continue to focus and they have the time.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Zenjirou stares at the camera¡¯s image again, concentrating with every fiber of his being.

    A part of the royal pce. A dim stone room illuminated by constantly burningmps with absolutely no outside light.

    An image of him standing in the middle of that room, facing the wall in front where the fire of an oilmp burns.

    Having vividly imagined that, he silently closed his eyes.

    And then, imagining that the stone room in his mind is projected to his surroundings, he next ¡°shifts¡± his own position.

    ¡°Send my chosen target to the ce I envision. Aspensation, I will¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    Having finished chanting the spell, Zenjirou slowly opened his eyes and found not the familiar living room, but a stone room with several brightly burning fires.

    The guards in the room are staring at Zenjirou with such obvious astonishment that it can actually be felt despite the darkness of the room.

    The eyes of the onlookers. His image as a member of royalty. There was some small sliver of rational judgement left in a corner of Zenjirou''s mind, but there was no way that it could restrain the emotions overwhelming him at this moment.

    ¡°Wooohooo! I did it!¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou literally jumped for joy in an outburst that startled the two soldiers into stepping back on reflex. Even after returning to the inner pce¡¯s living room, Zenjirou¡¯s excitement hadn''t abated at all.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah! I did it, I really did it! I¡¯m amazing! I¡¯m a magician!¡± (Zenjirou)

    If you were to say that he¡¯s already a magician given that he can use ¡ºSpace Istion Barrier¡» and ¡ºDraw¡», it wouldn''t be a lie, but ¡ºTeleport¡» is a spell in apletely different league.

    Practically, ¡ºTeleport¡» is a dream-like spell that tremendously increases the potential range of Zenjirou¡¯s activity unlike the previous two.

    With Zenjirou¡¯s shoddy imagination he probably ¡°won¡¯t be able to teleport anywhere he''s visited once without a problem¡± like Aura, but if he has the help of the digital camera like this time, the range of the¡ºTeleport¡» spell increases tremendously.

    And above all, it means that Zenjirou haspleted his preparations to transfer to the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, which is a big aplishment.

    ¡°I made it in time! I made it this time, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou flopped himself on the ck, leather-covered sofa, thrusts his right fist towards the ceiling as hey sprawled upside-down.

    He¡¯s remembering Aura¡¯sst delivery, the moment of the birth of his beloved, eldest son ©¤©¤ Carlos Zenkichi.

    Doctor Michelle said, ¡°It was an extremely stable and rtively short delivery,¡± but Zenjirou couldn¡¯t believe that at all.

    The pained and exhausted voice of his beloved wife that had seemed tost an eternity.

    The feeling of helplessness as he listened to that voice in the adjoining room.

    If there was really nothing to be done about this, he would have likely resigned himself to this fate.

    But, in this world the healing practitioners of the Jilbell family, who can manipte techniques far beyond even modern medicine, exist.

    The Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, where they live, is a distantnd halfway across the continent, but Zenjirou had the potential to unlock an ability that would render that distance inconsequential. ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡» is the bloodline magic of the Carpa Kingdom. If he could have used ¡ºTeleport¡» back then, the epitome of ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡», he would definitely have brought a healing practitioner.

    In that case he could have prepared a much safer childbirth environment for his beloved wife and child than even the most advanced nations of modern Earth.

    It was all just hindsight in the end, but even though the Zenjirou of that time had that option as father and husband, he had spent his time idly, and didn¡¯t take his magic education seriously at all.

    That¡¯s why Zenjirou felt a shiver running down his spine when he was told, ¡°I might be pregnant with your second child,¡± by Aura when he returned from the Guzzle Margraviate.

    <em>Once on shore, you pray no more.</em>

    <em>Didn¡¯t I unconsciously waste my days again, forgetting the fear and feeling of helplessness from back then? Won¡¯t I be definitely be punished for it this time?</em>

    But, fortunately fate had taken pity on Zenjirou.

    ¡°With this I can go to the Twin Kingdom¡­! This time it¡¯ll be fine, Aura. Since I will protect you this time, give birth to your second baby with peace of mind.¡± (Zenjirou)

    A bright hope for the future and the will to make that hope reality no matter what it takes appeared in Zenjirou''s eyes as he muttered to himself.

    That evening.

    A bright smile was on Queen Aura¡¯s face when she returned to the inner pce after finishing her work.

    From her expression, Zenjirou knows that she''s heard of his¡ºExploits¡».

    ¡°It looks like you seeded.¡± (Aura)

    Blessed with the image of his wife with a smile stered over her whole face and thatment, Zenjirou fistpumps, his smile not losing one bit to Aura''s.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks to you. Honestly, even I still can¡¯t believe it, though.¡± (Zenjirou)

    nked by her maids, the queen draws closer to the smiling Zenjirou.

    ¡°In the case of ¡ºTeleport¡» everyone feels like that at first. After all, it¡¯s not like you can test it too many times to reassure yourself.¡± (Aura)

    ¡ºTeleport¡» is a big spell that can barely be used three times a day with Aura¡¯s level of mana, and two in Zenjirou¡¯s case.

    The queen, finally in front of Zenjirou, gently grabs her husband''s right hand with both of hers.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you would learn ¡ºTeleport¡» this quickly. Everything is the result of your tireless efforts. I¡¯m sure you did your very best for my sake. Thank you.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°That is, umm¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    At his wife''s words, Zenjirou shifts ufortably but doesn''t pull his hand away.

    Normally when they have such mushy conversation he''s alone with Aura, but right now there are maids on standby nearby in order to support the pregnant Aura.

    The young maids are showing unconcerned expressions as if saying, ¡°I don¡¯t hear anything,¡± but Zenjirou, who has been acquainted with them for a fairly long time, knows.

    Those are the eyes of someone listening with all their might with the intention toter use what they heard as material for a steamy gossip among the maids.

    <em>Well, it''s impossible to prevent gossip after all.</em>

    That¡¯s why he doesn¡¯t want to act shamefully in front of the maids, but with his cherished wife being so loving, you can''t just respond with a smile.

    ¡°Hmm, I guess you¡¯re correct. Yeah, I did my best. I kept at it for your sake, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    In reality there really is no other reason for Zenjirou trying so hard to master ¡ºTeleport¡» as quickly as possible than Aura''s pregnancy.

    ¡°With this I can go to the Twin Kingdom. That¡¯s why you can have peace of mind and give birth to the child in your belly, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou bes very emotional as he says this, wrapping his arms around his beloved wife.

    ¡°Thank you, Zenjirou.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°My pleasure.¡± (Zenjirou)

    He savors the sensation of his wife¡¯s two soft breasts pressed against his chest through the twoyers of cloth she¡¯s wearing as she obediently entrusts her body to him.

    Normally he would have begun kissing her by now, but acutely aware of the maids¡¯ looks, it¡¯s difficult for him to take such bold action.

    Besides, even though her abdomen hasn¡¯t be conspicuous yet, a new life is dwelling in his wife¡¯s belly.

    He can¡¯t hug here as tightly as always

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In the end the queen and her husband don¡¯t say anything else. They simply press their bodies against each other as if trying to savor each other¡¯s warmth as long as possible.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô<hr><hr>

    <em>Trantion Notes:</em>

 Chapter Volume 8 31 part2

    <hr>

    <span><strong>Important so read:</strong>

    <em>For starters this series will be released on Thursday every two weeks. Depending on the amount of readers, I¡¯m willing to upgrade the release rate to once weekly. I¡¯m the kind of trantor that likes people reading my trantions andmenting them. You want faster releases, spread the word!</em>

    <em>Unlike the previous trantor¡¯s way of releasing full chapters but irregrly, I will release the chapters in parts but regrly. The number of parts per chapter will be announced in the release post of the first part of each chapter.</em>

    <em>I value the previous TL¡¯s work and thus want to keep many of the terms and specific phrasings he used alive to make the overall readability of this series enjoyable for all current and future readers. It has taken me a significant time to search all the terms used so far for this part, effectively slowing down my trantion speed. You want to help?</em><strong>Fill out the !</strong>

    <em>The story is written in third person view. asionally there are thoughts of people thrown in. Those will be marked with italic fonts format.</em>

    <em>If you find any mistakes or terminology that was used differently before, feel free to point it out in thement section. Otherwise enjoy the read!</em>

    ©¤©¤ Your local trantor, Shasu<hr>

    The invocation of magic requires ¡ºCorrect Intonation¡», the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» andstly a ¡ºCorrect Perception¡».

    Several months of training have been racked up for¡ºTeleport¡».

    Zenjirou, just at the point of reliably and sessfully chanting with¡ºCorrect Intonation¡» while pouring the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» appropriate for ¡ºTeleport¡» into the spell, is finally beginning to tackle thest obstacle, the ¡ºCorrect Perception¡».

    ¡ô

    Having given him passing marks for ¡ºCorrect Intonation¡» and the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» of ¡ºTeleport¡», Aura took Zenjirou to a windowless stone room in a secluded section of the royal pce.

    ¡°Aura, this ce is¡­?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Watching her husband restlessly survey the room in confusion, the queen, who was d in afortable and soft-looking dress, smiled meaningfully.

    It''s been three months since her periodst came, but it hasn''t yet reached the point where her belly is noticeable. The morning sickness that gued herst pregnancy also hasn''t made an appearance.

    Even for the same mother every pregnancy is different, and it seems that it will be much easier this time around.

    Doctor Michelle had dered, "I''m certain that you''re pregnant", and only given Aura permission to continue with governmental affairs within the pce on the condition that she always keeps a maid with her.

    ¡°As expected, you remember this ce, huh? Right, Zenjirou, this is the room where you were summoned into this world.¡± (Aura)

    It¡¯s the room where Aura drew Zenjirou to this world using ¡ºDifferent World Summoning¡».

    In other words, this is where Zenjirou had first stepped into this world. It''s already been three years since his arrival. Even so Zenjirou vividly remembers the shock of when he was summoned to this world for the first time.

    ¡°Whoaa, that¡¯s really nostalgic somehow. I feel like this ce hasn¡¯t changed at all.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Well, that only makes sense. This ce is a ¡ºSpecial Room¡» after all.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Eh? What do you mean?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Watching him tilt his head in confusion, the queen exins to her husband,

    ¡°This is a room established for us Carpa royalty, or rather, users of ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡», to make it as easy as possible to use ¡ºTeleport¡».

    Until you¡¯ve grown ustomed to drawing a clear image of activating the ¡ºTeleport¡» spell in your mind, it¡¯s very difficult. In the beginning you will learn how to do it in this room.¡± (Aura)

    Zenjirou understands what Aura is saying, but it doesn''t make any sense to him why things are done like this, and he only has more questions.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it easier to imagine a more familiar ce as the destination when learning ¡ºTeleport¡»? Like the inner pce¡¯s living room in my case?¡± (Zenjirou)

    As if she''d been waiting for that question, the queen immediately responds with,

    ¡°Space that you''re familiar with is unexpectedly difficult actually. The spirit can ount for slight differences between the image in your mind and reality to some degree, but it has its limits.

    A space that doesn¡¯t change in appearance depending on the time of year, or even the time of day, is difficult to find.

    Also, and this is knowledge exclusive to space-time magic users, if you try to travel too far from east to west, night and day will be reversed. That makes imagining extremely difficult.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Ah, I see. The time difference, huh?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou pped his hands together in understanding upon Aura¡¯s exnation.

    In the end ¡ºTeleport¡» is no more than a spell allowing one to travel a certain distance instantaneously. It doesn''t mean that you can ignore time.

    For example, just because it¡¯s daytime in Japan right now, doesn''t mean it''s daytime in New York. If you imagine New York in the daytime, the spell will not be invoked.

    Unless one includes the time difference in their calctions and imagines New York at night, ¡ºTeleport¡» won¡¯t work.

    It¡¯s also the same if the seasons are drastically off. A person who has never experienced anything but Hokkaido¡¯s winter, won¡¯t be able to activate ¡ºTeleport¡» to Hokkaido in summer, even if they try to do so.

    Zenjirou understood the gist of it after receiving that exnation, but as expected, he still has some unanswered questions.

    ¡°Mmh? You¡¯re saying, if the image in my mind diverges too much from reality, ¡ºTeleport¡» won¡¯t be invoked, right? In that case it means that it¡¯ll misfire even in situations like the room being majorly rearranged or unexpected people being present?¡± (Zenjirou)

    <em>If that¡¯s true, it¡¯s actually impossible to use </em>¡ºTeleport¡»<em> to move somewhere outside, which means that this spell is a lot more limited in its application than I had expected.</em>

    However, the queen shakes her head at Zenjirou¡¯s question.

    ¡°No, if it¡¯s just that much, it will invoke without problems in most cases. As a matter of fact, when I used ¡ºTeleport¡» to travel to our field encampment during the great war, everyone had already moved out due to some mimunication.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°I got really scared back then,¡± the queenughs.

    ¡°You know, if it¡¯s a field encampment before and after being vacated, I feel like the differences are about the same as the difference between the royal pce in the ¡ºRainy Season¡» and the ¡ºHottest Season¡», though.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Laughing goodnaturedly at Zenjirou''s dissatisfaction, the queen agrees.

    ¡°To be honest, I think so too. But, reality is different. Even if you find it difficult to ept, you have no option but to do so. Well, I think the ways of the great spirit are too mysterious for humans to understand in the first ce.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s magic after all. I guess it¡¯s only natural for it to be somewhat irrational and random.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou, remembering how he had found many aspects of the ¡ºTime Reversal¡» spell difficult to ept, decided to just leave it at face value for the time being.

    ¡°That''s why I rmend that you start practicing ¡ºTeleport¡»here to begin with. At the very least, you''ll always be able toe back to the royal pce in an emergency.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Okay. Ah, but wait a moment. Can such a room only be found in the royal pce? Look, there are other royal territories, like Valentia or Potosi, right? I¡¯m sure it would be convenient if simr rooms were also in those provincial royal territories.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Queen Aura doubtfully tilts her head to the side as she thinks over Zenjirou''s suggestion.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it mess up the image if several versions of the same room existed, and render all of them useless?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°No, they wouldn''t have to bepletely identical. I think it would be fine if you rearrange the positions of the oilmps or write ¡ºRoyal Pce¡» and ¡ºValentia¡» on the walls in big letters.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Hmm¡­it might be worth considering, but the risk of confusion is also significant.

    If you get used to imagining what''s needed for¡ºTeleport¡», such rooms may help the process to some extent, but then again it¡¯s not that difficult to move within the Kingdom. As long as it¡¯s within the country, the difference in time and season isn''t that big, after all.¡± (Aura)

    This is especially true if you use the capital as your reference.

    The Carpa Kingdom isrge enough to be considered a major power, so there is some time difference between the western coast and the eastern border. However, the capital is situated in the center, reducing the distance to something where the time difference would be negligible.

    Even if the sun rose and set an hour earlier at the eastern border inparison to the western coast, the time difference from the capital is a mere thirty minutes.

    If it¡¯s daytime in the capital, the easternmost and westernmost points of the country are both still experiencing the daytime. And the same can be said about nighttime.

    Apart from the actual sunrise and sunset, there''s no significant difference in the images.

    ¡°What about outside the Kingdom then? If I remember correctly, you previously sent Princess Isabelle of the Jilbell family to the Twin Kingdom with ¡ºTeleport¡», didn¡¯t you?¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°I have visited the Twin Kingdom several times in the past. It was good luck that the Twin Kingdom was within the area for which I was responsible.¡± (Aura)

    The queen reveals a somewhat wistful smile.

    It¡¯s said that back when there were many members of the royal family the Carpa Kingdom allowed members of the royal family to stay in friendly neighboring countries for some time, since it was possible to travel by¡ºTeleport¡».

    Aura is the sole survivor of the royal family of that time. Thus, the foreign countries that can be visited through ¡ºTeleport¡» right now are limited to those that Aura had visited in the past. It certainly wasn''t a lie to say that it was great luck that the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, a country that could not be allowed to slip through their fingers at any cost, was included among those countries.

    But, the fact that the number of visitable countries had been significantly reduced also reminds Aura that all the royal family members besides herself had perished in the great war.

    Zenjirou, noticing the lonely expression of his wife, timidly puts his right arm around Aura¡¯s waist and awkwardly embraces her.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks to that I can go to the Twin Kingdom as well.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Uh huh.¡± (Aura)

    Obediently entrusting her body to her husband, the queen nodded with a gentle smile.

    ¡°But, before I can teleport you to the Twin Kingdom, you have to master ¡ºTeleport¡». You understand that, right?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, of course.¡± (Zenjirou)

    If Aura uses ¡ºTeleport¡» on Zenjirou, it would only take an instant for him to go to the Twin Kingdom, but as long as Zenjirou doesn¡¯t learn ¡ºTeleport¡», the only method for him to return would be thend route.

    Back when Zenjirou went to Valentia, Aura picked him up with ¡ºTeleport¡» as an¡ºEmergency Measure¡». She did the heavy lifting required to send Zenjirou to the capital with ¡ºTeleport¡» and then returning with ¡ºTeleport¡» herself, but that had only been possible because both ces were still within the country.

    In the first ce, the reason Zenjirou is heading to the Twin Kingdom is to get ready to summon a healing practitioner of the Jilbell family for the birth of Aura¡¯s second child.

    If Zenjirou doesn¡¯t learn ¡ºTeleport¡», there¡¯s no point in him visiting the Twin Kingdom.

    Zenjirou, having made a full circle back to the beginning of the conversation, renews his determination and scans the dim room.

    ¡°Alright, if it¡¯s like this, I have to master ¡ºTeleport¡» as soon as possible, don¡¯t I? All that¡¯s left is the image, so I will do my best.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Having dered his determination, Zenjirou seriously stares at the interior of the room, not even blinking as he tried to burn its appearance into his mind.

    ¡°It¡¯s great that you¡¯re doing your best, but don¡¯t stay here too long. I don¡¯t think it will pose too big a problem since the venttion holes are open, but there are several oilmps burning in this windowless room after all.¡± (Aura)

    Hearing Queen Aura¡¯s warning, Zenjirou obediently assents.

    ¡°Ah, right. In that case I''ll just grab my digital camera from the living room. If I take a picture of this ce, even if I''m not here the image will¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    Halfway through his sentence, he noticed his own stupidity. Hanging his head in disappointment, Zenjirou groans.

    ¡°Right, the problem is the image. Leaving aside other spells, as long as I can solidify the image of ¡ºTeleport¡», I can take pictures of the ces where I want to travel to in advance and use the spell while looking at those. Why didn¡¯t I realize such an obvious thing¡­?¡± (Zenjirou)

    The queen pats his back consolingly, with a wry smile.

    ¡°That often happens when you throw yourself into something. Or rather, isn''t it a good thing that you noticed it early on?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re right. Now that I think of it, since I only recently managed to pour the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» into the spell, not to mention using the ¡ºCorrect Pronunciation¡», I barely lost any time anyway.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. There¡¯s no need to think too hard about everything. You¡¯re actually doing quite well. It¡¯s usually impossible to achieve one¡¯s goal without wasting some time on a step or two.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°I know, right? I reflected since I made a stupid oversight, but in the grand scheme of things, it¡¯s not an uncorrectable mistake. I guess there¡¯s no point in me worrying about it so much.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Having pulled himself together, Zenjirou stands up straight again and takes a deep breath.

    ¡°I¡¯m going back to the living room to bring the camera then. Once I finish taking the pictures, I will stop for the day.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Aura)

    Zenjirou leaves the room quickly.

    He returned after a short while, took pictures and a short video on the room then, as promised, stopped for the day.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    Five days after that.

    Zenjirou, after lunch, began thest step of learning ¡ºTeleport¡» in the inner pce¡¯s living room.

    Among the three necessaryponents for invoking a spell he has already cleared the ¡ºCorrect Pronunciation¡»and the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡». All that¡¯s left is thest one, the ¡ºCorrect Perception¡».

    Since he¡¯s past the stage of tracking his sesses and failure with ¡ð and ¡Á in the¡ºSpell Result Chart¡» on the spreadsheet program by now, he hasn¡¯t booted up his PC.

    Standing in a corner of the living room, he holds the camera in his hand and recites the spell.

    ¡°Send my chosen target to the ce I envision¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    For the umpteenth time during these five days Zenjirou opened his eyes after finishing the chant, but he is still standing in the living room.

    ¡°No good, huh¡­?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Despite this, Zenjirou doesn''t appear to be impatient or disappointed.

    He can''t really put it into words, but he feels like realizing that he could imagine the destination with the image on the camera in front of him was a big step forward.

    ¡°Yeah, as expected. It really is easier to form a clear mental image using a picture rather than a video. If the video is too bad, the image will be blurred too.

    Alright, one more time!¡± (Zenjirou)

    Fortunately the magic in this world doesn¡¯t consume any mana if one fails to invoke it. There are no other penalties either.

    The oue is only that ¡°nothing happened.¡±

    Thanks to that a person can practice magic as much as they like as long as they can continue to focus and they have the time.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Zenjirou stares at the camera¡¯s image again, concentrating with every fiber of his being.

    A part of the royal pce. A dim stone room illuminated by constantly burningmps with absolutely no outside light.

    An image of him standing in the middle of that room, facing the wall in front where the fire of an oilmp burns.

    Having vividly imagined that, he silently closed his eyes.

    And then, imagining that the stone room in his mind is projected to his surroundings, he next ¡°shifts¡± his own position.

    ¡°Send my chosen target to the ce I envision. Aspensation, I will¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    Having finished chanting the spell, Zenjirou slowly opened his eyes and found not the familiar living room, but a stone room with several brightly burning fires.

    The guards in the room are staring at Zenjirou with such obvious astonishment that it can actually be felt despite the darkness of the room.

    The eyes of the onlookers. His image as a member of royalty. There was some small sliver of rational judgement left in a corner of Zenjirou''s mind, but there was no way that it could restrain the emotions overwhelming him at this moment.

    ¡°Wooohooo! I did it!¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou literally jumped for joy in an outburst that startled the two soldiers into stepping back on reflex. Even after returning to the inner pce¡¯s living room, Zenjirou¡¯s excitement hadn''t abated at all.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah! I did it, I really did it! I¡¯m amazing! I¡¯m a magician!¡± (Zenjirou)

    If you were to say that he¡¯s already a magician given that he can use ¡ºSpace Istion Barrier¡» and ¡ºHaul¡», it wouldn''t be a lie, but ¡ºTeleport¡» is a spell in apletely different league.

    Practically, ¡ºTeleport¡» is a dream-like spell that tremendously increases the potential range of Zenjirou¡¯s activity unlike the previous two.

    With Zenjirou¡¯s shoddy imagination he probably ¡°won¡¯t be able to teleport anywhere he''s visited once without a problem¡± like Aura, but if he has the help of the digital camera like this time, the range of the¡ºTeleport¡» spell increases tremendously.

    And above all, it means that Zenjirou haspleted his preparations to transfer to the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, which is a big aplishment.

    ¡°I made it in time! I made it this time, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou flopped himself on the ck, leather-covered sofa, thrusts his right fist towards the ceiling as hey sprawled upside-down.

    He¡¯s remembering Aura¡¯sst delivery, the moment of the birth of his beloved, eldest son ©¤©¤ Carlos Zenkichi.

    Doctor Michelle said, ¡°It was an extremely stable and rtively short delivery,¡± but Zenjirou couldn¡¯t believe that at all.

    The pained and exhausted voice of his beloved wife that had seemed tost an eternity.

    The feeling of helplessness as he listened to that voice in the adjoining room.

    If there was really nothing to be done about this, he would have likely resigned himself to this fate.

    But, in this world the healing practitioners of the Jilbell family, who can manipte techniques far beyond even modern medicine, exist.

    The Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, where they live, is a distantnd halfway across the continent, but Zenjirou had the potential to unlock an ability that would render that distance inconsequential. ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡» is the bloodline magic of the Carpa Kingdom. If he could have used ¡ºTeleport¡» back then, the epitome of ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡», he would definitely have brought a healing practitioner.

    In that case he could have prepared a much safer childbirth environment for his beloved wife and child than even the most advanced nations of modern Earth.

    It was all just hindsight in the end, but even though the Zenjirou of that time had that option as father and husband, he had spent his time idly, and didn¡¯t take his magic education seriously at all.

    That¡¯s why Zenjirou felt a shiver running down his spine when he was told, ¡°I might be pregnant with your second child,¡± by Aura when he returned from the Guzzle Margraviate.

    <em>Once on shore, you pray no more.</em>

    <em>Didn¡¯t I unconsciously waste my days again, forgetting the fear and feeling of helplessness from back then? Won¡¯t I be definitely be punished for it this time?</em>

    But, fortunately fate had taken pity on Zenjirou.

    ¡°With this I can go to the Twin Kingdom¡­! This time it¡¯ll be fine, Aura. Since I will protect you this time, give birth to your second baby with peace of mind.¡± (Zenjirou)

    A bright hope for the future and the will to make that hope reality no matter what it takes appeared in Zenjirou''s eyes as he muttered to himself.

    That evening.

    A bright smile was on Queen Aura¡¯s face when she returned to the inner pce after finishing her work.

    From her expression, Zenjirou knows that she''s heard of his¡ºExploits¡».

    ¡°It looks like you seeded.¡± (Aura)

    Blessed with the image of his wife with a smile stered over her whole face and thatment, Zenjirou fistpumps, his smile not losing one bit to Aura''s.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks to you. Honestly, even I still can¡¯t believe it, though.¡± (Zenjirou)

    nked by her maids, the queen draws closer to the smiling Zenjirou.

    ¡°In the case of ¡ºTeleport¡» everyone feels like that at first. After all, it¡¯s not like you can test it too many times to reassure yourself.¡± (Aura)

    ¡ºTeleport¡» is a big spell that can barely be used three times a day with Aura¡¯s level of mana, and two in Zenjirou¡¯s case.

    The queen, finally in front of Zenjirou, gently grabs her husband''s right hand with both of hers.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you would learn ¡ºTeleport¡» this quickly. Everything is the result of your tireless efforts. I¡¯m sure you did your very best for my sake. Thank you.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°That is, umm¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    At his wife''s words, Zenjirou shifts ufortably but doesn''t pull his hand away.

    Normally when they have such mushy conversation he''s alone with Aura, but right now there are maids on standby nearby in order to support the pregnant Aura.

    The young maids are showing unconcerned expressions as if saying, ¡°I don¡¯t hear anything,¡± but Zenjirou, who has been acquainted with them for a fairly long time, knows.

    Those are the eyes of someone listening with all their might with the intention toter use what they heard as material for a steamy gossip among the maids.

    <em>Well, it''s impossible to prevent gossip after all.</em>

    That¡¯s why he doesn¡¯t want to act shamefully in front of the maids, but with his cherished wife being so loving, you can''t just respond with a smile.

    ¡°Hmm, I guess you¡¯re correct. Yeah, I did my best. I kept at it for your sake, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    In reality there really is no other reason for Zenjirou trying so hard to master ¡ºTeleport¡» as quickly as possible than Aura''s pregnancy.

    ¡°With this I can go to the Twin Kingdom. That¡¯s why you can have peace of mind and give birth to the child in your belly, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou bes very emotional as he says this, wrapping his arms around his beloved wife.

    ¡°Thank you, Zenjirou.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°My pleasure.¡± (Zenjirou)

    He savors the sensation of his wife¡¯s two soft breasts pressed against his chest through the twoyers of cloth she¡¯s wearing as she obediently entrusts her body to him.

    Normally he would have begun kissing her by now, but acutely aware of the maids¡¯ looks, it¡¯s difficult for him to take such bold action.

    Besides, even though her abdomen hasn¡¯t be conspicuous yet, a new life is dwelling in his wife¡¯s belly.

    He can¡¯t hug here as tightly as always

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In the end the queen and her husband don¡¯t say anything else. They simply press their bodies against each other as if trying to savor each other¡¯s warmth as long as possible.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    The day after Zenjirou seeded in casting ¡ºTeleport¡» for the first time, the princess of the northern continent¡¯s Upps Kingdom requested an urgent audience with him.

    Zenjirou had been in a state of euphoria that was rather unbing for his age, following his acquisition of the first practical spell and third overall after ¡ºSpace Istion Barrier¡» and ¡ºHaul¡», but upon receiving a request for an ¡ºurgent¡» audience from foreign royalty, hepletely switched back his mindset.

    By the time he met with Princess Freya in a room of the royal pce, he hadpletely regained hisposure.

    ¡°Sorry for keeping you waiting, Your Highness.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°No, it is I who should be sorry for visiting you on such a short notice. Let me express my gratitude, Your Majesty.¡± (Freya)

    As he exchanges greetings with Princess Freya from the opposite sofa, Zenjirou begins to have some suspicions.

    <em>(Hm? Doesn¡¯t she seem rather calm for someone who requested an urgent audience?)</em> (Zenjirou)

    <em>It¡¯s dangerous to judge genuine royalty by their behavior and apparent expressions, but conversely, if it was truly urgent, Princess Freya would deliberately have shown an obviously panicked and impatient expression.</em>

    <em>This might not be as serious as I thought it would be.</em>

    Zenjirou rxed a bit, but since this audience was still ssed as ¡ºurgent¡», it would be rude to waste more time on introductions and idle chat.

    ¡°So, what might be your business with me, Your Highness?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Princess Freya smiles happily as Zenjirou cuts right to the point.

    ¡°Yes, actually I¡¯m very sorry for the sudden change of schedule, but I¡¯d like to return to ¡ºValentia¡». Would you be able to give me your permission?¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Nh, did something happen?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Surprised, Zenjirou asked back. In response the silver haired princess quietly borated.

    ¡°Yes. As a matter of fact, I received a message from my subordinates who stayed behind in Valentia. It looks like there¡¯s a small problem with the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡».¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Problem, you say?¡± (Zenjirou)

    <em>Isn¡¯t that a quite serious matter then?</em> Seeing Zenjirou tilt his head with a quizzical look, Princess Freya adds with aposed smile,

    ¡°I suppose I could call it a problem, but it''s not as if the ship has sunk or that the damage is irreparable. It¡¯s somewhat embarrassing, but it seems we took the situation too lightly because it¡¯s the first time we''ve experienced the ¡ºRainy Season¡» on the southern continent. It has apparently caused a huge dy in our progress.¡± (Freya)

    The people of the northern continent, who have never experienced the ¡ºRainy Season¡», have difficulty imagining it, even when they are told that, ¡°The probability of rain is around once every two or three days during those three months.¡±

    For that reason the ship''s repair has fallen behind the initial schedule.

    Princess Freya has either borrowed or received a great deal of things, including the dock, the materials, and the craftsmen that her crew wascking from the Carpa Kingdom in order to repair ¡ºYellow Leaves¡».

    If the work falls behind, Princess Freya has to request an extension from Queen Aura. If that proves to be the case, the word of messengers would not be reliable enough to make a proper case.

    If she doesn¡¯t see the actual state with her own eyes and hear directly from the workers on-site, she won¡¯t be able to properly face Queen Aura in negotiations. That was Princess Freya¡¯s im.

    ¡°I see¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    <em>The arguments she mentioned are reasonable. It¡¯s not a disadvantageous proposal for Carpa either.</em>

    However, because Princess Freya is a ¡ºVisitor of the Royal Family¡» after all, she requires the ruler, Aura¡¯s, permission to leave the capital.

    ¡°I understand your circumstances. I¡¯m sure you will be granted permission if it¡¯s something like this. I will inform Her Majesty Aura today, so you can expect to hear back from her soon.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Thank you very much, Your Majesty.¡± (Freya)

    In a sudden burst of inspiration, Zenjirou asks Freya, who has already bowed with a smile, onest question.

    ¡°Just to rify, are you going to Valentia alone?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Thinking over Zenjirou¡¯s question, Princess Freya answers slowly,

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­I guess the ones that have to go by all means are Skathi and I. Of course, considering the dangers of the journey, I¡¯d like permission to be apanied by around half of the soldiers that I brought along as guards, though.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°I see.¡± (Zenjirou)

    As he absorbs Princess Freya''s answer, Zenjirou thinks.

    <em>From another perspective, bringing guards simply because of the danger of the journey means that the number of people who need to leave is reduced to two if the journey doesn¡¯t exist in the first ce or if it¡¯s possible to guarantee their absolute safety.</em>

    ¡°Understood. I can¡¯t give you a definitive answer, but I think the odds of you having a positive answer by tomorrow are high.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°I thank you for your help, Your Majesty.¡± (Freya)

    Princess Freya bowed her head once more and smiled.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    That evening.

    Zenjirou, who had returned to the inner pce, wrote the characters of this world on dragon skin meant for official documents with an unfamiliar dragon bone brush.

    ¡°Alright, there should be no mistakes. Amanda, can I have you check it over?¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Yes, I shall take a look at it.¡± (Amanda)

    Zenjirou hands the dragon skin, to Supervising Maid Amanda and stretches atop the chair.

    ¡°Ugh, the characters of this world are difficult after all. The most important thing is that I don¡¯t have the confidence in whether I can write smoothly on my own or not.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou''s reading and writing ability in the southern continent''s westernnguage isn''t high by any standard, hence why he''s griping like this.

    <em>Since I practice whenever I have spare time, I have a reasonable level of skill, but it''s probably around the same level as a Japanese middle schooler''s English.</em>

    To put it bluntly, Zenjirou¡¯s reading and writing ability is below that of even Nilda Guzzle who hadughed and said, ¡°I have the most difficulty with letters.¡±

    Well,ing from apletely differentnguage system, Zenjirou¡¯s reading and writing being bad after around three years is only natural, however.

    Usually he has someone read documents aloud, and then has the civil officials write on his behalf. Zenjirou only signs the finished documents, but at this rate he won¡¯t improve no matter how much time passes.

    In order to remedy that situation, he tries to personally write the documents that are rtively simple, and those that would not cause too big a problem if there was a mistake.

    This time it¡¯s an official document, but since it''s a document Zenjirou is essentially directly handing to Aura, the only ones who will see it are Zenjirou, Aura, and Aura¡¯s First Secretary, Fabio.

    Even if he makes a few mistakes in the writing, it won¡¯t be a big issue.

    ¡°I had a look. There¡¯s no problem.¡± (Amanda)

    ¡°Great, thanks.¡± (Zenjirou)

    As Zenjirou takes back the dragon skin to check it onest time, the entrance door opens.

    ¡°I''m back.¡± (Aura)

    It was the other master of the inner pce ©¤©¤ Queen Aura.

    The queen, apanied by several inner pce maids,posedly steps into the living room.

    ¡°Oh! Wee back, Aura. I¡¯m done here as well.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Upon his wife¡¯s return, Zenjirou stands up from his chair with the dragon skin in hand.

    ¡°Yeah, fortunately I haven''t had any morning sickness like when I had Carlos yet, but Doctor Michelle has repeatedly emphasized that I''m not to strain myself.

    Hmm? Is it an official document that you¡¯re holding in your hand? How unusual for you to bring work into the inner pce.¡± (Aura)

    Discovered by the queen''s sharp eyes, the prince consort nods lightly and holds it out to her.

    ¡°Yeah, it would be best to do this quickly. In any case, it¡¯s the kind of talk fit for the inner pce. I will exin the detailster, I¡¯d like you to sign this document, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    The document Aura received was a request form for the use of Queen Aura''s ¡ºTeleport¡». As the requestor, Zenjirou had noted down the name of Princess Freya and the female warrior Skathi as targets for ¡ºTeleport¡».

    Seeing it, the queen¡¯s expression quickly stiffens.

    ¡°I guess I will listen to the details first.¡± (Aura)

    Sitting on the sofa across from each other, Zenjirou exined the situation to Aura.

    ¡°I see. I understand the circumstances. You might say that it was inevitable that they would be overly optimistic in their initial estimation of the work progress if the rainy season doesn¡¯t exist on the northern continent.

    Under such circumstances the shorter travel time and the safety of Princess Freya certainly bear enough importance to have me use ¡ºTeleport¡».¡± (Aura)

    Traveling during the ¡ºRainy Season¡» is difficult. Aristocrats in particr travel inrge dragon carriages with equallyrge roofs, but such travel options are limited by the road.

    At worst, they will run into a dead end caused by andslide or a quagmire along the way. Even if they try to return the way they came, the rain may have washed out the road by then. As a result, travelers will be trapped on the road. Such unlucky cases are rare, but they do exist.

    There¡¯s nothing that canpete with ¡ºTeleport¡» in regards to safety or speed

    The state of the repairs of the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡» is an important matter for the Carpa Kingdom, too.

    As long as the repairs aren''tplete, Princess Freya and her entourage can¡¯t return to Upps Kingdom. And, as long as they are stuck, the establishment of official diplomatic rtions between the Carpa Kingdom and the Upps Kingdom will be dyed as well.

    Originally, there would be a need to discuss suitablepensation for the use of ¡ºTeleport¡», but if it is also beneficial for the royal family to do so, then there is no need.

    Of course this is assuming that the other party epts traveling by¡ºTeleport¡», though.

    Zenjirou is obviously relieved at Aura¡¯s reply.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. Princess Freya didn''t seem too flustered, but personally I think that it¡¯s better to hurry, you know?

    I¡¯m afraid that those on-site might lose their calm and act rashly if the work falls behind schedule too much, since the distance between the ship''s top brass, its trading partners, and the workers is so great.¡± (Zenjirou)

    What Zenjirou is fearing is the possibility that the craftsmen on-site will do the unreasonable to meet the initial work schedule at all costs.

    Princess Freya and Queen Aura are born and bred royalty. Hence there are moments when they are unable to understand how seriously those under them will take their orders.

    Workers on-site may go slightly too far in order to keep their promises with their superiors and trade partners.

    The troublesome matter is that ship repair during the rainy season is ¡ºdangerous¡» but not ¡ºimpossible¡».

    The queen, now privy to Zenjirou''s concerns, thinks it over with a serious expression.

    ¡°I see. Certainly, now that you mention it, I happened to witness simr actions from my subordinates during the great war.

    If there are injured, or even worse, casualties because those on-site acted unreasonably on a mimunication or simply dyedmunications, it will also leave a bad aftertaste during negotiationster.¡± (Aura)

    Negotiations between statesprise mostly of power struggles and making favorable deals, but the ones holding those negotiations are actual humans with feelings.

    If someone close to you is injured or killed under themand of the other party, it will be difficult to get through the negotiations without any negative impact at all.

    ¡°Understood. I will call Princess Freya and Warrior Skathi first thing tomorrow. Because I must give warning before I use ¡ºTeleport¡», I won¡¯t be able to send them to Valentia immediately tomorrow, but I can speed things up enough to have them depart the day after.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯ll be fine. Thanks, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou sighed, letting the tension out of his shoulders due to his wife¡¯s quick support.

    ¡°What, the one who is grateful is me. The diplomatic rtions with the Upps Kingdom are a national project, and I¡¯m the one in charge of this country.

    While we''re at it, I just got an idea. I¡¯d like you to use your knight, Natalio, or Ines as forewarning that you¡¯re going to send a number of people over through ¡ºTeleport¡». How about it?¡± (Aura)

    Though it''s an unexpected suggestion, once Zenjirou thinks it over, he understands what Aura is trying to say.

    Those two always apany Zenjirou when he goes somewhere. To be more precise, they are Zenjirou¡¯s close aides.

    ¡°With that you¡¯re basically saying that I will go over there after them as well?¡± (Zenjirou)

    The queen confirms Zenjirou¡¯s question,

    ¡°Yeah. I thought it would be a good opportunity. You also grasped ¡ºTeleport¡», right?

    Rather than trying to test it by going abroad and visiting the Twin Kingdom all of a sudden, I wondered if you could just try to return from Valentia, since you''ve already been there before. And, if you manage to return safely, you will ¡ºTeleport¡» to Valentia yourself the next day.

    If you can aplish all that, no one will be able to say anything about you sending Princess Freya and Victoria-dono back with ¡ºTeleport¡» after Princess Freya¡¯s business there is done.

    Of course, you have to send Natalio or Ines back first as forewarning.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Ah, I see. If I reach the point where I can master¡ºTeleport¡», I will also be able to do things like that.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou buries his head in his hands, overwhelmed.

    ¡ºTeleport¡» is truly a spell in a different league to ¡ºSpace Istion Barrier¡» and ¡ºHaul¡», the two spells he had learned before now.

    It''s not an exaggeration to say that he would literally have the world in his hands if he masters this spell.

    Zenjirou doesn''t have a huge ego, but even he can''t help but be proud of the progress he''s made.

    <em>The current me possesses an ability that will have a huge influence on national politics.</em>

    The queen gently smiles at her husband who is just now realizing his own power.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. The true worth of ¡ºTeleport¡» shows itself when several users are deployed inside and outside the country. It¡¯s only once or twice per day, but it bes possible to travel anywhere almost instantaneously.

    Ideally, I¡¯d like to have teleport users at the eastern fortress Mujuque, the western port city Valentia, the southern silver mines of Potosi and the northern ancient capital in the L Dukedom.¡± (Aura)

    Before the great war, when there were still many members of the royal family, ¡ºTeleport¡» users had actually been deployed to those four points.

    However, Zenjirou frowns at Aura¡¯s words.

    ¡°Yeah, that might be the duty of royalty, but honestly, I really dislike that.

    Even in the distant future, I don¡¯t want to be separated from the capital for an extended period of time. If possible I don¡¯t want to make my own children go to such distant ces, either.¡± (Zenjirou)

    It¡¯s impossible for Space-Time Magic users that will be born from now on to be anyone¡¯s but Zenjirou¡¯s children.

    Knowing that, Zenjirouins, but in order tofort him, Aura says,

    ¡°That''s not what I meant, don''t worry, it probably won''t happen. Deploying royal family members in the four cardinal directions is something that can only happen after plenty of royal family members have already been deployed in the capital.

    The reason why the ¡ºTeleport¡» requests are so overly frequent is because this ce is the capital. In particr, as queen, prince consort, crown prince and second heir to the throne, you, me, Carlos, and our next child will never be stationed out in the provinces.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, I got it.¡± (Zenjirou)

    The queen can¡¯t help but feel a stab of guilt in her heart upon seeing her husband''s relieved expression.

    Currently the talks concerning Princess Freya bing Zenjirou''s concubine have begun to head in a promising direction.

    It has been decided that Princess Freya will be granted the rank of Duchess by the Carpa Kingdom and receive a small territory on the coast, if she bes Zenjirou¡¯s concubine.

    Naturally this means that any children born between Princess Freya and Zenjirou in the future will seed the dukedom. Once that happens, those children won¡¯t live in the capital but in that dukedom.

    For Zenjirou, living apart from his own children is a near inevitability.

    The children between Princess Freya and Zenjirou.

    For Queen Aura they''ll simply be ¡°the future generation of royalty that should be carefully handled,¡± but for Zenjirou they will be his children from a different mother.

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no point thinking too deeply about the future.¡± (Aura)

    Smiling, the queen unconsciously strokes her belly, where her second child dwells, with her right hand.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô<hr><hr>

    <em>Trantion Notes:</em>

 Chapter Volume 8 3 part3

    Chapter 3 ¨C Freya Upps 1

    Important so read:

    For starters this series will be released on Thursday every two weeks. Depending on the amount of readers, I¡¯m willing to upgrade the release rate to once weekly. I¡¯m the kind of trantor that likes people reading my trantions andmenting them. You want faster releases, spread the word!

    Unlike the previous trantor¡¯s way of releasing full chapters but irregrly, I will release the chapters in parts but regrly. The number of parts per chapter will be announced in the release post of the first part of each chapter.

    I value the previous TL¡¯s work and thus want to keep many of the terms and specific phrasings he used alive to make the overall readability of this series enjoyable for all current and future readers. It has taken me a significant time to search all the terms used so far for this part, effectively slowing down my trantion speed. You want to help? Fill out the Glossary!

    The story is written in third person view. asionally there are thoughts of people thrown in. Those will be marked with italic fonts format.

    If you find any mistakes or terminology that was used differently before, feel free to point it out in thement section. Otherwise enjoy the read!

    ©¤©¤ Your local trantor, Shasu

    The invocation of magic requires ¡ºCorrect Intonation¡», the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» andstly a ¡ºCorrect Perception¡».

    Several months of training have been racked up for¡ºTeleport¡».

    Zenjirou, just at the point of reliably and sessfully chanting with¡ºCorrect Intonation¡» while pouring the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» appropriate for ¡ºTeleport¡» into the spell, is finally beginning to tackle thest obstacle, the ¡ºCorrect Perception¡».

    ¡ô

    Having given him passing marks for ¡ºCorrect Intonation¡» and the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» of ¡ºTeleport¡», Aura took Zenjirou to a windowless stone room in a secluded section of the royal pce.

    ¡°Aura, this ce is¡­?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Watching her husband restlessly survey the room in confusion, the queen, who was d in afortable and soft-looking dress, smiled meaningfully.

    It¡¯s been three months since her periodst came, but it hasn¡¯t yet reached the point where her belly is noticeable. The morning sickness that gued herst pregnancy also hasn¡¯t made an appearance.

    Even for the same mother every pregnancy is different, and it seems that it will be much easier this time around.

    Doctor Michelle had dered, ¡°I¡¯m certain that you¡¯re pregnant¡±, and only given Aura permission to continue with governmental affairs within the pce on the condition that she always keeps a maid with her.

    ¡°As expected, you remember this ce, huh? Right, Zenjirou, this is the room where you were summoned into this world.¡± (Aura)

    It¡¯s the room where Aura drew Zenjirou to this world using ¡ºDifferent World Summoning¡».

    In other words, this is where Zenjirou had first stepped into this world. It¡¯s already been three years since his arrival. Even so Zenjirou vividly remembers the shock of when he was summoned to this world for the first time.

    ¡°Whoaa, that¡¯s really nostalgic somehow. I feel like this ce hasn¡¯t changed at all.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Well, that only makes sense. This ce is a ¡ºSpecial Room¡» after all.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Eh? What do you mean?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Watching him tilt his head in confusion, the queen exins to her husband,

    ¡°This is a room established for us Carpa royalty, or rather, users of ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡», to make it as easy as possible to use ¡ºTeleport¡».

    Until you¡¯ve grown ustomed to drawing a clear image of activating the ¡ºTeleport¡» spell in your mind, it¡¯s very difficult. In the beginning you will learn how to do it in this room.¡± (Aura)

    Zenjirou understands what Aura is saying, but it doesn¡¯t make any sense to him why things are done like this, and he only has more questions.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it easier to imagine a more familiar ce as the destination when learning ¡ºTeleport¡»? Like the inner pce¡¯s living room in my case?¡± (Zenjirou)

    As if she¡¯d been waiting for that question, the queen immediately responds with,

    ¡°Space that you¡¯re familiar with is unexpectedly difficult actually. The spirit can ount for slight differences between the image in your mind and reality to some degree, but it has its limits.

    A space that doesn¡¯t change in appearance depending on the time of year, or even the time of day, is difficult to find.

    Also, and this is knowledge exclusive to space-time magic users, if you try to travel too far from east to west, night and day will be reversed. That makes imagining extremely difficult.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Ah, I see. The time difference, huh?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou pped his hands together in understanding upon Aura¡¯s exnation.

    In the end ¡ºTeleport¡» is no more than a spell allowing one to travel a certain distance instantaneously. It doesn¡¯t mean that you can ignore time.

    For example, just because it¡¯s daytime in Japan right now, doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s daytime in New York. If you imagine New York in the daytime, the spell will not be invoked.

    Unless one includes the time difference in their calctions and imagines New York at night, ¡ºTeleport¡» won¡¯t work.

    It¡¯s also the same if the seasons are drastically off. A person who has never experienced anything but Hokkaido¡¯s winter, won¡¯t be able to activate ¡ºTeleport¡» to Hokkaido in summer, even if they try to do so.

    Zenjirou understood the gist of it after receiving that exnation, but as expected, he still has some unanswered questions.

    ¡°Mmh? You¡¯re saying, if the image in my mind diverges too much from reality, ¡ºTeleport¡» won¡¯t be invoked, right? In that case it means that it¡¯ll misfire even in situations like the room being majorly rearranged or unexpected people being present?¡± (Zenjirou)

    If that¡¯s true, it¡¯s actually impossible to use ¡ºTeleport¡» to move somewhere outside, which means that this spell is a lot more limited in its application than I had expected.

    However, the queen shakes her head at Zenjirou¡¯s question.

    ¡°No, if it¡¯s just that much, it will invoke without problems in most cases. As a matter of fact, when I used ¡ºTeleport¡» to travel to our field encampment during the great war, everyone had already moved out due to some mimunication.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°I got really scared back then,¡± the queenughs.

    ¡°You know, if it¡¯s a field encampment before and after being vacated, I feel like the differences are about the same as the difference between the royal pce in the ¡ºRainy Season¡» and the ¡ºHottest Season¡», though.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Laughing goodnaturedly at Zenjirou¡¯s dissatisfaction, the queen agrees.

    ¡°To be honest, I think so too. But, reality is different. Even if you find it difficult to ept, you have no option but to do so. Well, I think the ways of the great spirit are too mysterious for humans to understand in the first ce.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s magic after all. I guess it¡¯s only natural for it to be somewhat irrational and random.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou, remembering how he had found many aspects of the ¡ºTime Reversal¡» spell difficult to ept, decided to just leave it at face value for the time being.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I rmend that you start practicing ¡ºTeleport¡»here to begin with. At the very least, you¡¯ll always be able toe back to the royal pce in an emergency.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Okay. Ah, but wait a moment. Can such a room only be found in the royal pce? Look, there are other royal territories, like Valentia or Potosi, right? I¡¯m sure it would be convenient if simr rooms were also in those provincial royal territories.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Queen Aura doubtfully tilts her head to the side as she thinks over Zenjirou¡¯s suggestion.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it mess up the image if several versions of the same room existed, and render all of them useless?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°No, they wouldn¡¯t have to bepletely identical. I think it would be fine if you rearrange the positions of the oilmps or write ¡ºRoyal Pce¡» and ¡ºValentia¡» on the walls in big letters.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Hmm¡­it might be worth considering, but the risk of confusion is also significant.

    If you get used to imagining what¡¯s needed for¡ºTeleport¡», such rooms may help the process to some extent, but then again it¡¯s not that difficult to move within the Kingdom. As long as it¡¯s within the country, the difference in time and season isn¡¯t that big, after all.¡± (Aura)

    This is especially true if you use the capital as your reference.

    The Carpa Kingdom isrge enough to be considered a major power, so there is some time difference between the western coast and the eastern border. However, the capital is situated in the center, reducing the distance to something where the time difference would be negligible.

    Even if the sun rose and set an hour earlier at the eastern border inparison to the western coast, the time difference from the capital is a mere thirty minutes.

    If it¡¯s daytime in the capital, the easternmost and westernmost points of the country are both still experiencing the daytime. And the same can be said about nighttime.

    Apart from the actual sunrise and sunset, there¡¯s no significant difference in the images.

    ¡°What about outside the Kingdom then? If I remember correctly, you previously sent Princess Isabelle of the Jilbell family to the Twin Kingdom with ¡ºTeleport¡», didn¡¯t you?¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°I have visited the Twin Kingdom several times in the past. It was good luck that the Twin Kingdom was within the area for which I was responsible.¡± (Aura)

    The queen reveals a somewhat wistful smile.

    It¡¯s said that back when there were many members of the royal family the Carpa Kingdom allowed members of the royal family to stay in friendly neighboring countries for some time, since it was possible to travel by¡ºTeleport¡».

    Aura is the sole survivor of the royal family of that time. Thus, the foreign countries that can be visited through ¡ºTeleport¡» right now are limited to those that Aura had visited in the past. It certainly wasn¡¯t a lie to say that it was great luck that the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, a country that could not be allowed to slip through their fingers at any cost, was included among those countries.

    But, the fact that the number of visitable countries had been significantly reduced also reminds Aura that all the royal family members besides herself had perished in the great war.

    Zenjirou, noticing the lonely expression of his wife, timidly puts his right arm around Aura¡¯s waist and awkwardly embraces her.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks to that I can go to the Twin Kingdom as well.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Uh huh.¡± (Aura)

    Obediently entrusting her body to her husband, the queen nodded with a gentle smile.

    ¡°But, before I can teleport you to the Twin Kingdom, you have to master ¡ºTeleport¡». You understand that, right?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, of course.¡± (Zenjirou)

    If Aura uses ¡ºTeleport¡» on Zenjirou, it would only take an instant for him to go to the Twin Kingdom, but as long as Zenjirou doesn¡¯t learn ¡ºTeleport¡», the only method for him to return would be thend route.

    Back when Zenjirou went to Valentia, Aura picked him up with ¡ºTeleport¡» as an¡ºEmergency Measure¡». She did the heavy lifting required to send Zenjirou to the capital with ¡ºTeleport¡» and then returning with ¡ºTeleport¡» herself, but that had only been possible because both ces were still within the country.

    In the first ce, the reason Zenjirou is heading to the Twin Kingdom is to get ready to summon a healing practitioner of the Jilbell family for the birth of Aura¡¯s second child.

    If Zenjirou doesn¡¯t learn ¡ºTeleport¡», there¡¯s no point in him visiting the Twin Kingdom.

    Zenjirou, having made a full circle back to the beginning of the conversation, renews his determination and scans the dim room.

    ¡°Alright, if it¡¯s like this, I have to master ¡ºTeleport¡» as soon as possible, don¡¯t I? All that¡¯s left is the image, so I will do my best.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Having dered his determination, Zenjirou seriously stares at the interior of the room, not even blinking as he tried to burn its appearance into his mind.

    ¡°It¡¯s great that you¡¯re doing your best, but don¡¯t stay here too long. I don¡¯t think it will pose too big a problem since the venttion holes are open, but there are several oilmps burning in this windowless room after all.¡± (Aura)

    Hearing Queen Aura¡¯s warning, Zenjirou obediently assents.

    ¡°Ah, right. In that case I¡¯ll just grab my digital camera from the living room. If I take a picture of this ce, even if I¡¯m not here the image will¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    Halfway through his sentence, he noticed his own stupidity. Hanging his head in disappointment, Zenjirou groans.

    ¡°Right, the problem is the image. Leaving aside other spells, as long as I can solidify the image of ¡ºTeleport¡», I can take pictures of the ces where I want to travel to in advance and use the spell while looking at those. Why didn¡¯t I realize such an obvious thing¡­?¡± (Zenjirou)

    The queen pats his back consolingly, with a wry smile.

    ¡°That often happens when you throw yourself into something. Or rather, isn¡¯t it a good thing that you noticed it early on?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯re right. Now that I think of it, since I only recently managed to pour the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡» into the spell, not to mention using the ¡ºCorrect Pronunciation¡», I barely lost any time anyway.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. There¡¯s no need to think too hard about everything. You¡¯re actually doing quite well. It¡¯s usually impossible to achieve one¡¯s goal without wasting some time on a step or two.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°I know, right? I reflected since I made a stupid oversight, but in the grand scheme of things, it¡¯s not an uncorrectable mistake. I guess there¡¯s no point in me worrying about it so much.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Having pulled himself together, Zenjirou stands up straight again and takes a deep breath.

    ¡°I¡¯m going back to the living room to bring the camera then. Once I finish taking the pictures, I will stop for the day.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Aura)

    Zenjirou leaves the room quickly.

    He returned after a short while, took pictures and a short video on the room then, as promised, stopped for the day.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    Five days after that.

    Zenjirou, after lunch, began thest step of learning ¡ºTeleport¡» in the inner pce¡¯s living room.

    Among the three necessaryponents for invoking a spell he has already cleared the ¡ºCorrect Pronunciation¡»and the ¡ºCorrect Amount of Mana¡». All that¡¯s left is thest one, the ¡ºCorrect Perception¡».

    Since he¡¯s past the stage of tracking his sesses and failure with ¡ð and ¡Á in the¡ºSpell Result Chart¡» on the spreadsheet program by now, he hasn¡¯t booted up his PC.

    Standing in a corner of the living room, he holds the camera in his hand and recites the spell.

    ¡°Send my chosen target to the ce I envision¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    For the umpteenth time during these five days Zenjirou opened his eyes after finishing the chant, but he is still standing in the living room.

    ¡°No good, huh¡­?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Despite this, Zenjirou doesn¡¯t appear to be impatient or disappointed.

    He can¡¯t really put it into words, but he feels like realizing that he could imagine the destination with the image on the camera in front of him was a big step forward.

    ¡°Yeah, as expected. It really is easier to form a clear mental image using a picture rather than a video. If the video is too bad, the image will be blurred too.

    Alright, one more time!¡± (Zenjirou)

    Fortunately the magic in this world doesn¡¯t consume any mana if one fails to invoke it. There are no other penalties either.

    The oue is only that ¡°nothing happened.¡±

    Thanks to that a person can practice magic as much as they like as long as they can continue to focus and they have the time.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Zenjirou stares at the camera¡¯s image again, concentrating with every fiber of his being.

    A part of the royal pce. A dim stone room illuminated by constantly burningmps with absolutely no outside light.

    An image of him standing in the middle of that room, facing the wall in front where the fire of an oilmp burns.

    Having vividly imagined that, he silently closed his eyes.

    And then, imagining that the stone room in his mind is projected to his surroundings, he next ¡°shifts¡± his own position.

    ¡°Send my chosen target to the ce I envision. Aspensation, I will¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    Having finished chanting the spell, Zenjirou slowly opened his eyes and found not the familiar living room, but a stone room with several brightly burning fires.

    The guards in the room are staring at Zenjirou with such obvious astonishment that it can actually be felt despite the darkness of the room.

    The eyes of the onlookers. His image as a member of royalty. There was some small sliver of rational judgement left in a corner of Zenjirou¡¯s mind, but there was no way that it could restrain the emotions overwhelming him at this moment.

    ¡°Wooohooo! I did it!¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou literally jumped for joy in an outburst that startled the two soldiers into stepping back on reflex. Even after returning to the inner pce¡¯s living room, Zenjirou¡¯s excitement hadn¡¯t abated at all.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah! I did it, I really did it! I¡¯m amazing! I¡¯m a magician!¡± (Zenjirou)

    If you were to say that he¡¯s already a magician given that he can use ¡ºSpace Istion Barrier¡» and ¡ºHaul¡», it wouldn¡¯t be a lie, but ¡ºTeleport¡» is a spell in apletely different league.

    Practically, ¡ºTeleport¡» is a dream-like spell that tremendously increases the potential range of Zenjirou¡¯s activity unlike the previous two.

    With Zenjirou¡¯s shoddy imagination he probably ¡°won¡¯t be able to teleport anywhere he¡¯s visited once without a problem¡± like Aura, but if he has the help of the digital camera like this time, the range of the¡ºTeleport¡» spell increases tremendously.

    And above all, it means that Zenjirou haspleted his preparations to transfer to the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, which is a big aplishment.

    ¡°I made it in time! I made it this time, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou flopped himself on the ck, leather-covered sofa, thrusts his right fist towards the ceiling as hey sprawled upside-down.

    He¡¯s remembering Aura¡¯sst delivery, the moment of the birth of his beloved, eldest son ©¤©¤ Carlos Zenkichi.

    Doctor Michelle said, ¡°It was an extremely stable and rtively short delivery,¡± but Zenjirou couldn¡¯t believe that at all.

    The pained and exhausted voice of his beloved wife that had seemed tost an eternity.

    The feeling of helplessness as he listened to that voice in the adjoining room.

    If there was really nothing to be done about this, he would have likely resigned himself to this fate.

    But, in this world the healing practitioners of the Jilbell family, who can manipte techniques far beyond even modern medicine, exist.

    The Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, where they live, is a distantnd halfway across the continent, but Zenjirou had the potential to unlock an ability that would render that distance inconsequential. ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡» is the bloodline magic of the Carpa Kingdom. If he could have used ¡ºTeleport¡» back then, the epitome of ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡», he would definitely have brought a healing practitioner.

    In that case he could have prepared a much safer childbirth environment for his beloved wife and child than even the most advanced nations of modern Earth.

    It was all just hindsight in the end, but even though the Zenjirou of that time had that option as father and husband, he had spent his time idly, and didn¡¯t take his magic education seriously at all.

    That¡¯s why Zenjirou felt a shiver running down his spine when he was told, ¡°I might be pregnant with your second child,¡± by Aura when he returned from the Guzzle Margraviate.

    Once on shore, you pray no more.

    Didn¡¯t I unconsciously waste my days again, forgetting the fear and feeling of helplessness from back then? Won¡¯t I be definitely be punished for it this time?

    But, fortunately fate had taken pity on Zenjirou.

    ¡°With this I can go to the Twin Kingdom¡­! This time it¡¯ll be fine, Aura. Since I will protect you this time, give birth to your second baby with peace of mind.¡± (Zenjirou)

    A bright hope for the future and the will to make that hope reality no matter what it takes appeared in Zenjirou¡¯s eyes as he muttered to himself.

    That evening.

    A bright smile was on Queen Aura¡¯s face when she returned to the inner pce after finishing her work.

    From her expression, Zenjirou knows that she¡¯s heard of his¡ºExploits¡».

    ¡°It looks like you seeded.¡± (Aura)

    Blessed with the image of his wife with a smile stered over her whole face and thatment, Zenjirou fistpumps, his smile not losing one bit to Aura¡¯s.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks to you. Honestly, even I still can¡¯t believe it, though.¡± (Zenjirou)

    nked by her maids, the queen draws closer to the smiling Zenjirou.

    ¡°In the case of ¡ºTeleport¡» everyone feels like that at first. After all, it¡¯s not like you can test it too many times to reassure yourself.¡± (Aura)

    ¡ºTeleport¡» is a big spell that can barely be used three times a day with Aura¡¯s level of mana, and two in Zenjirou¡¯s case.

    The queen, finally in front of Zenjirou, gently grabs her husband¡¯s right hand with both of hers.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you would learn ¡ºTeleport¡» this quickly. Everything is the result of your tireless efforts. I¡¯m sure you did your very best for my sake. Thank you.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°That is, umm¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    At his wife¡¯s words, Zenjirou shifts ufortably but doesn¡¯t pull his hand away.

    Normally when they have such mushy conversation he¡¯s alone with Aura, but right now there are maids on standby nearby in order to support the pregnant Aura.

    The young maids are showing unconcerned expressions as if saying, ¡°I don¡¯t hear anything,¡± but Zenjirou, who has been acquainted with them for a fairly long time, knows.

    Those are the eyes of someone listening with all their might with the intention toter use what they heard as material for a steamy gossip among the maids.

    Well, it¡¯s impossible to prevent gossip after all.

    That¡¯s why he doesn¡¯t want to act shamefully in front of the maids, but with his cherished wife being so loving, you can¡¯t just respond with a smile.

    ¡°Hmm, I guess you¡¯re correct. Yeah, I did my best. I kept at it for your sake, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    In reality there really is no other reason for Zenjirou trying so hard to master ¡ºTeleport¡» as quickly as possible than Aura¡¯s pregnancy.

    ¡°With this I can go to the Twin Kingdom. That¡¯s why you can have peace of mind and give birth to the child in your belly, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou bes very emotional as he says this, wrapping his arms around his beloved wife.

    ¡°Thank you, Zenjirou.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°My pleasure.¡± (Zenjirou)

    He savors the sensation of his wife¡¯s two soft breasts pressed against his chest through the twoyers of cloth she¡¯s wearing as she obediently entrusts her body to him.

    Normally he would have begun kissing her by now, but acutely aware of the maids¡¯ looks, it¡¯s difficult for him to take such bold action.

    Besides, even though her abdomen hasn¡¯t be conspicuous yet, a new life is dwelling in his wife¡¯s belly.

    He can¡¯t hug here as tightly as always

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    In the end the queen and her husband don¡¯t say anything else. They simply press their bodies against each other as if trying to savor each other¡¯s warmth as long as possible.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    The day after Zenjirou seeded in casting ¡ºTeleport¡» for the first time, the princess of the northern continent¡¯s Upps Kingdom requested an urgent audience with him.

    Zenjirou had been in a state of euphoria that was rather unbing for his age, following his acquisition of the first practical spell and third overall after ¡ºSpace Istion Barrier¡» and ¡ºHaul¡», but upon receiving a request for an ¡ºurgent¡» audience from foreign royalty, hepletely switched back his mindset.

    By the time he met with Princess Freya in a room of the royal pce, he hadpletely regained hisposure.

    ¡°Sorry for keeping you waiting, Your Highness.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°No, it is I who should be sorry for visiting you on such a short notice. Let me express my gratitude, Your Majesty.¡± (Freya)

    As he exchanges greetings with Princess Freya from the opposite sofa, Zenjirou begins to have some suspicions.

    (Hm? Doesn¡¯t she seem rather calm for someone who requested an urgent audience?) (Zenjirou)

    It¡¯s dangerous to judge genuine royalty by their behavior and apparent expressions, but conversely, if it was truly urgent, Princess Freya would deliberately have shown an obviously panicked and impatient expression.

    This might not be as serious as I thought it would be.

    Zenjirou rxed a bit, but since this audience was still ssed as ¡ºurgent¡», it would be rude to waste more time on introductions and idle chat.

    ¡°So, what might be your business with me, Your Highness?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Princess Freya smiles happily as Zenjirou cuts right to the point.

    ¡°Yes, actually I¡¯m very sorry for the sudden change of schedule, but I¡¯d like to return to ¡ºValentia¡». Would you be able to give me your permission?¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Nh, did something happen?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Surprised, Zenjirou asked back. In response the silver haired princess quietly borated.

    ¡°Yes. As a matter of fact, I received a message from my subordinates who stayed behind in Valentia. It looks like there¡¯s a small problem with the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡».¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Problem, you say?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Isn¡¯t that a quite serious matter then? Seeing Zenjirou tilt his head with a quizzical look, Princess Freya adds with aposed smile,

    ¡°I suppose I could call it a problem, but it¡¯s not as if the ship has sunk or that the damage is irreparable. It¡¯s somewhat embarrassing, but it seems we took the situation too lightly because it¡¯s the first time we¡¯ve experienced the ¡ºRainy Season¡» on the southern continent. It has apparently caused a huge dy in our progress.¡± (Freya)

    The people of the northern continent, who have never experienced the ¡ºRainy Season¡», have difficulty imagining it, even when they are told that, ¡°The probability of rain is around once every two or three days during those three months.¡±

    For that reason the ship¡¯s repair has fallen behind the initial schedule.

    Princess Freya has either borrowed or received a great deal of things, including the dock, the materials, and the craftsmen that her crew wascking from the Carpa Kingdom in order to repair ¡ºYellow Leaves¡».

    If the work falls behind, Princess Freya has to request an extension from Queen Aura. If that proves to be the case, the word of messengers would not be reliable enough to make a proper case.

    If she doesn¡¯t see the actual state with her own eyes and hear directly from the workers on-site, she won¡¯t be able to properly face Queen Aura in negotiations. That was Princess Freya¡¯s im.

    ¡°I see¡­¡± (Zenjirou)

    The arguments she mentioned are reasonable. It¡¯s not a disadvantageous proposal for Carpa either.

    However, because Princess Freya is a ¡ºVisitor of the Royal Family¡» after all, she requires the ruler, Aura¡¯s, permission to leave the capital.

    ¡°I understand your circumstances. I¡¯m sure you will be granted permission if it¡¯s something like this. I will inform Her Majesty Aura today, so you can expect to hear back from her soon.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Thank you very much, Your Majesty.¡± (Freya)

    In a sudden burst of inspiration, Zenjirou asks Freya, who has already bowed with a smile, onest question.

    ¡°Just to rify, are you going to Valentia alone?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Thinking over Zenjirou¡¯s question, Princess Freya answers slowly,

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­I guess the ones that have to go by all means are Skathi and I. Of course, considering the dangers of the journey, I¡¯d like permission to be apanied by around half of the soldiers that I brought along as guards, though.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°I see.¡± (Zenjirou)

    As he absorbs Princess Freya¡¯s answer, Zenjirou thinks.

    From another perspective, bringing guards simply because of the danger of the journey means that the number of people who need to leave is reduced to two if the journey doesn¡¯t exist in the first ce or if it¡¯s possible to guarantee their absolute safety.

    ¡°Understood. I can¡¯t give you a definitive answer, but I think the odds of you having a positive answer by tomorrow are high.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°I thank you for your help, Your Majesty.¡± (Freya)

    Princess Freya bowed her head once more and smiled.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    That evening.

    Zenjirou, who had returned to the inner pce, wrote the characters of this world on dragon skin meant for official documents with an unfamiliar dragon bone brush.

    ¡°Alright, there should be no mistakes. Amanda, can I have you check it over?¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Yes, I shall take a look at it.¡± (Amanda)

    Zenjirou hands the dragon skin, to Supervising Maid Amanda and stretches atop the chair.

    ¡°Ugh, the characters of this world are difficult after all. The most important thing is that I don¡¯t have the confidence in whether I can write smoothly on my own or not.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou¡¯s reading and writing ability in the southern continent¡¯s westernnguage isn¡¯t high by any standard, hence why he¡¯s griping like this.

    Since I practice whenever I have spare time, I have a reasonable level of skill, but it¡¯s probably around the same level as a Japanese middle schooler¡¯s English.

    To put it bluntly, Zenjirou¡¯s reading and writing ability is below that of even Nilda Guzzle who hadughed and said, ¡°I have the most difficulty with letters.¡±

    Well,ing from apletely differentnguage system, Zenjirou¡¯s reading and writing being bad after around three years is only natural, however.

    Usually he has someone read documents aloud, and then has the civil officials write on his behalf. Zenjirou only signs the finished documents, but at this rate he won¡¯t improve no matter how much time passes.

    In order to remedy that situation, he tries to personally write the documents that are rtively simple, and those that would not cause too big a problem if there was a mistake.

    This time it¡¯s an official document, but since it¡¯s a document Zenjirou is essentially directly handing to Aura, the only ones who will see it are Zenjirou, Aura, and Aura¡¯s First Secretary, Fabio.

    Even if he makes a few mistakes in the writing, it won¡¯t be a big issue.

    ¡°I had a look. There¡¯s no problem.¡± (Amanda)

    ¡°Great, thanks.¡± (Zenjirou)

    As Zenjirou takes back the dragon skin to check it onest time, the entrance door opens.

    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± (Aura)

    It was the other master of the inner pce ©¤©¤ Queen Aura.

    The queen, apanied by several inner pce maids,posedly steps into the living room.

    ¡°Oh! Wee back, Aura. I¡¯m done here as well.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Upon his wife¡¯s return, Zenjirou stands up from his chair with the dragon skin in hand.

    ¡°Yeah, fortunately I haven¡¯t had any morning sickness like when I had Carlos yet, but Doctor Michelle has repeatedly emphasized that I¡¯m not to strain myself.

    Hmm? Is it an official document that you¡¯re holding in your hand? How unusual for you to bring work into the inner pce.¡± (Aura)

    Discovered by the queen¡¯s sharp eyes, the prince consort nods lightly and holds it out to her.

    ¡°Yeah, it would be best to do this quickly. In any case, it¡¯s the kind of talk fit for the inner pce. I will exin the detailster, I¡¯d like you to sign this document, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    The document Aura received was a request form for the use of Queen Aura¡¯s ¡ºTeleport¡». As the requestor, Zenjirou had noted down the name of Princess Freya and the female warrior Skathi as targets for ¡ºTeleport¡».

    Seeing it, the queen¡¯s expression quickly stiffens.

    ¡°I guess I will listen to the details first.¡± (Aura)

    Sitting on the sofa across from each other, Zenjirou exined the situation to Aura.

    ¡°I see. I understand the circumstances. You might say that it was inevitable that they would be overly optimistic in their initial estimation of the work progress if the rainy season doesn¡¯t exist on the northern continent.

    Under such circumstances the shorter travel time and the safety of Princess Freya certainly bear enough importance to have me use ¡ºTeleport¡».¡± (Aura)

    Traveling during the ¡ºRainy Season¡» is difficult. Aristocrats in particr travel inrge dragon carriages with equallyrge roofs, but such travel options are limited by the road.

    At worst, they will run into a dead end caused by andslide or a quagmire along the way. Even if they try to return the way they came, the rain may have washed out the road by then. As a result, travelers will be trapped on the road. Such unlucky cases are rare, but they do exist.

    There¡¯s nothing that canpete with ¡ºTeleport¡» in regards to safety or speed

    The state of the repairs of the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡» is an important matter for the Carpa Kingdom, too.

    As long as the repairs aren¡¯tplete, Princess Freya and her entourage can¡¯t return to Upps Kingdom. And, as long as they are stuck, the establishment of official diplomatic rtions between the Carpa Kingdom and the Upps Kingdom will be dyed as well.

    Originally, there would be a need to discuss suitablepensation for the use of ¡ºTeleport¡», but if it is also beneficial for the royal family to do so, then there is no need.

    Of course this is assuming that the other party epts traveling by¡ºTeleport¡», though.

    Zenjirou is obviously relieved at Aura¡¯s reply.

    ¡°That¡¯s great. Princess Freya didn¡¯t seem too flustered, but personally I think that it¡¯s better to hurry, you know?

    I¡¯m afraid that those on-site might lose their calm and act rashly if the work falls behind schedule too much, since the distance between the ship¡¯s top brass, its trading partners, and the workers is so great.¡± (Zenjirou)

    What Zenjirou is fearing is the possibility that the craftsmen on-site will do the unreasonable to meet the initial work schedule at all costs.

    Princess Freya and Queen Aura are born and bred royalty. Hence there are moments when they are unable to understand how seriously those under them will take their orders.

    Workers on-site may go slightly too far in order to keep their promises with their superiors and trade partners.

    The troublesome matter is that ship repair during the rainy season is ¡ºdangerous¡» but not ¡ºimpossible¡».

    The queen, now privy to Zenjirou¡¯s concerns, thinks it over with a serious expression.

    ¡°I see. Certainly, now that you mention it, I happened to witness simr actions from my subordinates during the great war.

    If there are injured, or even worse, casualties because those on-site acted unreasonably on a mimunication or simply dyedmunications, it will also leave a bad aftertaste during negotiationster.¡± (Aura)

    Negotiations between statesprise mostly of power struggles and making favorable deals, but the ones holding those negotiations are actual humans with feelings.

    If someone close to you is injured or killed under themand of the other party, it will be difficult to get through the negotiations without any negative impact at all.

    ¡°Understood. I will call Princess Freya and Warrior Skathi first thing tomorrow. Because I must give warning before I use ¡ºTeleport¡», I won¡¯t be able to send them to Valentia immediately tomorrow, but I can speed things up enough to have them depart the day after.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯ll be fine. Thanks, Aura.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou sighed, letting the tension out of his shoulders due to his wife¡¯s quick support.

    ¡°What, the one who is grateful is me. The diplomatic rtions with the Upps Kingdom are a national project, and I¡¯m the one in charge of this country.

    While we¡¯re at it, I just got an idea. I¡¯d like you to use your knight, Natalio, or Ines as forewarning that you¡¯re going to send a number of people over through ¡ºTeleport¡». How about it?¡± (Aura)

    Though it¡¯s an unexpected suggestion, once Zenjirou thinks it over, he understands what Aura is trying to say.

    Those two always apany Zenjirou when he goes somewhere. To be more precise, they are Zenjirou¡¯s close aides.

    ¡°With that you¡¯re basically saying that I will go over there after them as well?¡± (Zenjirou)

    The queen confirms Zenjirou¡¯s question,

    ¡°Yeah. I thought it would be a good opportunity. You also grasped ¡ºTeleport¡», right?

    Rather than trying to test it by going abroad and visiting the Twin Kingdom all of a sudden, I wondered if you could just try to return from Valentia, since you¡¯ve already been there before. And, if you manage to return safely, you will ¡ºTeleport¡» to Valentia yourself the next day.

    If you can aplish all that, no one will be able to say anything about you sending Princess Freya and Victoria-dono back with ¡ºTeleport¡» after Princess Freya¡¯s business there is done.

    Of course, you have to send Natalio or Ines back first as forewarning.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Ah, I see. If I reach the point where I can master¡ºTeleport¡», I will also be able to do things like that.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou buries his head in his hands, overwhelmed.

    ¡ºTeleport¡» is truly a spell in a different league to ¡ºSpace Istion Barrier¡» and ¡ºHaul¡», the two spells he had learned before now.

    It¡¯s not an exaggeration to say that he would literally have the world in his hands if he masters this spell.

    Zenjirou doesn¡¯t have a huge ego, but even he can¡¯t help but be proud of the progress he¡¯s made.

    The current me possesses an ability that will have a huge influence on national politics.

    The queen gently smiles at her husband who is just now realizing his own power.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. The true worth of ¡ºTeleport¡» shows itself when several users are deployed inside and outside the country. It¡¯s only once or twice per day, but it bes possible to travel anywhere almost instantaneously.

    Ideally, I¡¯d like to have teleport users at the eastern fortress Mujuque, the western port city Valentia, the southern silver mines of Potosi and the northern ancient capital in the L Dukedom.¡± (Aura)

    Before the great war, when there were still many members of the royal family, ¡ºTeleport¡» users had actually been deployed to those four points.

    However, Zenjirou frowns at Aura¡¯s words.

    ¡°Yeah, that might be the duty of royalty, but honestly, I really dislike that.

    Even in the distant future, I don¡¯t want to be separated from the capital for an extended period of time. If possible I don¡¯t want to make my own children go to such distant ces, either.¡± (Zenjirou)

    It¡¯s impossible for Space-Time Magic users that will be born from now on to be anyone¡¯s but Zenjirou¡¯s children.

    Knowing that, Zenjirouins, but in order tofort him, Aura says,

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant, don¡¯t worry, it probably won¡¯t happen. Deploying royal family members in the four cardinal directions is something that can only happen after plenty of royal family members have already been deployed in the capital.

    The reason why the ¡ºTeleport¡» requests are so overly frequent is because this ce is the capital. In particr, as queen, prince consort, crown prince and second heir to the throne, you, me, Carlos, and our next child will never be stationed out in the provinces.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yeah, I got it.¡± (Zenjirou)

    The queen can¡¯t help but feel a stab of guilt in her heart upon seeing her husband¡¯s relieved expression.

    Currently the talks concerning Princess Freya bing Zenjirou¡¯s concubine have begun to head in a promising direction.

    It has been decided that Princess Freya will be granted the rank of Duchess by the Carpa Kingdom and receive a small territory on the coast, if she bes Zenjirou¡¯s concubine.

    Naturally this means that any children born between Princess Freya and Zenjirou in the future will seed the dukedom. Once that happens, those children won¡¯t live in the capital but in that dukedom.

    For Zenjirou, living apart from his own children is a near inevitability.

    The children between Princess Freya and Zenjirou.

    For Queen Aura they¡¯ll simply be ¡°the future generation of royalty that should be carefully handled,¡± but for Zenjirou they will be his children from a different mother.

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no point thinking too deeply about the future.¡± (Aura)

    Smiling, the queen unconsciously strokes her belly, where her second child dwells, with her right hand.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    The next day Queen Aura had a meeting with Upps Kingdom¡¯s First Princess, Freya Upps.

    Upon hearing the chain of events, Princess Freya widens her ice green eyes in surprise.

    ¡°Then what you¡¯re saying is that you will send me and Skathi to Valentia with your ¡ºTeleport¡»technique, Your Majesty?¡± (Freya)

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The one who suggested it is my husband, but after hearing the story, I judged that to be the best approach as well. There is no knowing what kind of harm would befall you if you were to travel the road during the ¡ºRainy Season¡».

    My husband also pointed out that another problem is that we don¡¯t know how seriously the workers on-site are taking the dy.

    If they have overestimated the importance of the work, they may try to continue regardless of the rainy weather. I¡¯m sure that you¡¯re very well aware of the dangers of that, much more so than us.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Certainly, it¡¯s just as you say.¡± (Freya)

    Hearing the red-haired queen¡¯s exnation, the silver-haired princess contemted for a short while.

    She knows the truth of Aura¡¯s im. Her being unable to give an immediate reply is solely due to the potential risk involved in entrusting her safety to ¡ºTeleport¡».

    For Princess Freya, both the nature of ¡ºTeleport¡»and the nature of Queen Aura are uncertain.

    If Princess Freya were to be sent into the distant skies or the burning crater of a volcano under the guise of a trip to Valentia, that would spell her immediate death. And even without going that far, sending Princess Freya to andpletely unknown to her would result in the same thing. But then again Princess Freya is convinced that the trade between continents along with her suggestion of bing Zenjirou¡¯s concubine will bring huge benefits to the Carpa Kingdom.

    She can¡¯t say that shepletely understands Aura, but at the very least Princess Freya hasprehended that she¡¯s a statesman with plenty of reason and discernment.

    Speaking of which, she had also heard that the royal members of the Carpa Kingdom offer ¡ºTeleport¡» as a service to people inside and outside the country for a fee.

    To put it bluntly, ¡ºTeleport¡» is a big advantage for Carpa¡¯s royal family but also an important source of ie.

    Using ¡ºTeleport¡» as means for murder would mean cutting off that source of ie. (After all, no one would willingly pay for a service that, depending on the practitioner¡¯s mood, might spell their doom).

    Given all this, one can conclude the possibility of Queen Aura deceiving Princess Freya and sending her to a dangerous ce as close to zero.

    Once she made up her mind, Princess Freya acted quickly.

    ¡°Understood. If that¡¯s how it is, then please allow me to take advantage of your kindness. Would you mind telling me how muchpensation you¡¯ll be requiring?¡± (Freya)

    The blonde warrior behind Princess Freya lets out a gasp at her words. Since Princess Freya will be using¡ºTeleport¡», that means that Skathi will do the same, so the surprise is natural.

    Having said that, Princess Freya is the master to whom Skathi has pledged her lifelong allegiance. There won¡¯t be any objection from her as to what her master has decided.

    As Skathi regains control over her expression, Queen Aura speaks up.

    ¡°No, this is a serious affair concerning the repairs on ¡ºYellow Leaves¡». This will also affect our Carpa Kingdom. We won¡¯t be asking forpensation from the people who are teaching us the amazing iron-working and shipbuilding techniques of the northern continent, especially not for something of this level.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Oh, my! I cannot thank your Majesty enough for this gesture.¡± (Freya)

    Princess Freya smiles somewhat bitterly in her heart at Aura¡¯s words.

    Of course Aura waiving thepensation fee cannot simply be taken at face value.

    It means ¡°Since I won¡¯t demand a fee each and every time an incident urs, return safely to your own country so you can marry into the Carpa royalty with your¡ºShipbuilders¡» and ¡ºIron Manufacturing Experts¡»as dowry.¡±

    However, for Princess Freya, who had developed a deep affection for Zenjirou, that¡¯s exactly what she wishes to do.

    ¡°Now that it¡¯s been decided, it¡¯s best to be quick about it, isn¡¯t it? Your Majesty, when are you going to send Skathi and I to Valentia?¡± (Freya)

    ¡°If it suits you, it¡¯s possible to send you tomorrow at the earliest.¡± (Aura)

    Upon hearing Aura¡¯s words, Princess Freya casts a look at her trusted aide.

    ¡°Skathi, I think we¡¯re fine with tomorrow as well, what do you think?¡± (Freya)

    The female warrior, who acts simultaneously as bodyguard and caretaker, immediately answers her master.

    ¡°Yes. There is no problem with that. I will have the luggage in order before the day is over.¡± (Skathi)

    The queen quickly advises the capable female warrior.

    ¡°Ah, Victoria-dono, ¡ºTeleport¡» can only transport baggage a person can reasonably carry. Please prepare your luggage with that in mind.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Very well. Thank you very much for your kind advice, Your Majesty.¡± (Skathi)

    The tall warrior respectfully bowed her head towards the queen.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    The next day.

    As scheduled, Princess Freya and the female warrior Victoria Kronkvist (aka Skathi) stood in Valentia where the rain was pouring down.

    The inner pce¡¯s maid Ines had been transferred ahead to Valentia the previous day to give a forewarning, so the preparations to wee Princess Freya and Skathi had already beenpleted when they arrived at the Duke¡¯s mansion through ¡ºTeleport¡».

    When Princess Freya had gone to the capital she had taken a little more than half the warriors on the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡» with her. The remaining warriors had stayed behind in Valentia to protect the sailors who cannot defend themselves.

    Princess Freya, who was weed by those warriors, hurriedly greets Valentia¡¯s Governor Damian, and then heads to the port where the rain¡¯s falling heavily.

    Carpa Kingdom, with its ¡ºRainy Season¡», has proper rain gear.

    The princess and the female warrior put hooded raincoats made from the skin of an aquatic reptile on over their clothes and walk straight through the puddles on the paved stone road.

    Having experienced camping and going on a boat downstream in the Upps Kingdom, Princess Freya is no longer flustered by a few sshes of water.

    Princess Freya, who had witnessed the same heavily raining sky before at sea, lightly shakes the water off her hood, and sighs,

    ¡°Now that I have personally experienced it, I cannot help but understand why the southern continent treats ¡ºBloodline Magic¡» as something absolute.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Certainly, this defies reality. It seems the numbers of times it can be used is limited, but even so, the existence of such magicpletely undermines strategy.¡± (Skathi)

    The tall female warrior is also rather resigned as she expresses her agreement.

    In Princess Freya¡¯s nativend, the Upps Kingdom, royalty doesn¡¯t possess bloodline magic. It¡¯s a statergely focused on engineering.

    Hence the idea that science surpasses magic is prevalent, but if the people were shown the practical application of bloodline magic like this, their beliefs would sway.

    Even if it¡¯s limited in its use to a small number of people, a method allowing one to instantaneously travel a distance that would take several days in a royal carriage is pretty much cheating, going by themon sense of the northern continent.

    ¡°How wonderful. I really want that.¡± (Freya)

    Hearing her master mumbling that many times under her breath, obviously revealing her desires, the warrior walking next to her cautions her with a whisper,

    ¡°Mdy, on this southern continent the act of stealing bloodline magic seems to be regarded as a barbaric act that may even lead to a deration of war.¡± (Skathi)

    Even Zenjirou, who simply has the potential to use the bloodline magic of a foreign country, through no fault of his own, was under a fair amount of pressure.

    It¡¯s unclear just how severe a bacsh someone who intentionally steals bloodline magic would have to face.

    ¡°¡­How regrettable.¡± (Freya)

    The princess, grumbling with a crestfallen look, quickly changes the topic, and turns to her trusted friend with a smile,

    ¡°By the way, Skathi, we¡¯re already at the port. Thanks to this rain gear, you can¡¯t see my garments, right?¡± (Freya)

    As she speaks, Princess Freya points to the menswear she¡¯s wearing beneath the raincoat with her right hand.

    ¡°Excuse me, Captain.¡± (Skathi)

    Skathi, guessing what her master wanted to say, corrected herself while smiling wryly.

    ¡ô

    The port is not that far away from Duke Valentia¡¯s mansion.

    Before long the two arrived at the wharf where the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡» is anchored.

    Even now heavy rain is pouring down, but because Valentia¡¯s port is protected by a threefold breakwater on top of there being no wind, the sea within the port is calm.

    Having said that, there¡¯s no way that it¡¯s not dangerous to continue the repairs in this heavy rain.

    Princess Freya looks up from the shore at her ship, which she is seeing for the first time in several months, and mutters,

    ¡°His Majesty Zenjirou really has keen insight, hasn¡¯t he?¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Yes. At the very least, he sees things that we do not consider.¡± (Skathi)

    Just as Zenjirou feared, people forcibly continuing with the repairs in this rain can be seen on the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡».

    Among them there¡¯s a number of veterans swinging their hammers while perched on the main mast.

    Princess Freya sighs, half in astonishment and half in reflection, and orders her aide.

    ¡°Skathi, please handle it.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Aye aye, Captain.¡± (Skathi)

    Having received her master¡¯smand, thergely built female warrior quickly fills her lungs with air.

    ¡°Listen up! There¡¯s been a change in orders! Those at work, stop what you¡¯re doing ande down!!¡± (Skathi)

    Her loud voice didn¡¯t lose out to the sound of the heavy rainfall in the slightest.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    Zenjirou teleported over to Valentia several dayster.

    Having finished greeting the Governor of Valentia Dukedom, he first photographed his room in Duke Valentia¡¯s mansion with the digital camera he brought along.

    Zenjirou, who had only just grasped the principle, still can¡¯t use ¡ºTeleport¡» without looking at the pictures he took with the digital camera. (Even while looking at it, his sess rate is still about 20%, but he can offset that weakness by trying many times).

    ¡°If I continue taking photos like this, it should also extend the range of where I can move with ¡ºTeleport¡».¡± (Zenjirou)

    The drawback of doing it this way is that Zenjirou won¡¯t be able to use ¡ºTeleport¡», if the battery of the camera dies or the camera itself breaks down.

    As insurance against that, he used some of the precious remnants of the printer ink and printed out the picture of the important stone room in the royal pce. Even though he¡¯s carrying that picture with him, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s indestructible or evesting either.

    As expected, eventually I want to be skilled enough that I can easily ¡ºTeleport¡» to ces I have visited once like Aura.

    Although that is definitely a goal for the future, in the current situation every single ¡ºTeleport¡» user is greatly needed.

    Even Zenjirou, who needs the camera for assistance, is a precious asset. Right now he has no option but to throw himself onto the battlefield while still relying on that support.

    Anyhow, Zenjirou, counting this as his break, immediately headed to a meeting with Princess Freya¡¯s group with his personal knight Natalio and the maid Ines.

    ¡ô

    Probably because she came to a shipyard, Princess Freya wasn¡¯t wearing a dress like he¡¯d grown ustomed to seeing her in, but a captain¡¯s attire simr to the time when Zenjirou met her for the first time.

    It¡¯s Zenjirou¡¯s personal impression, but he feels like male clothing suits her more than the dresses she usually wears.

    That doesn¡¯t mean that Princess Freya is manly. It means that her moving around energetically in dynamic attire is more natural for her.

    Having obtained Zenjirou¡¯s permission, the princess sat down on the opposing sofa, and expressed her gratitude as soon as she opened her mouth

    ¡°Thank you very much for investing your time and effort for our cause on this asion. Thanks to your help, we were able to deal with the situation before it developed into a serious incident, Your Majesty Zenjirou. Let me thank you once more for that.¡± (Freya)

    Behind her, Skathi presses her right fist against her left shoulder, and bows her head.

    Guessing from the nuance in her words that the reason she¡¯s thanking him isn¡¯t just for sending them via Aura¡¯s ¡ºTeleport¡», Zenjirou gently asks,

    ¡°So they did try to continue with the repairs after all?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Princess Freya nods in response to Zenjirou¡¯s question, making her short silver hair sway.

    ¡°Yes, it is just as you say. Your insight was remarkable, Your Majesty.¡± (Freya)

    Since Princess Freya¡¯s words don¡¯t seem to be mere ttery, Zenjirou smiles wryly, looking embarrassed.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m just prone to worrying, therefore it¡¯s nothing worthy of such admiration.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°However, it was my oversight. Even though I have sailed with the crew of the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡»for so long, I didn¡¯t realize that there was such a discrepancy between our ways of thinking until you pointed it out, Your Majesty. I am ashamed.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Excuse me, but you sailed on the same ship as them right, Your Highness? When you¡¯re close to your subordinates, you can adapt orders, but you can¡¯t do that if you¡¯re separated. Inevitably loyal subordinates will try toply with their initial order.¡± (Zenjirou)

    With his understanding of Princess Freya¡¯s character. Zenjirou felt it would be better to exin his reasoning than to simply console her.

    ¡°I see, so that¡¯s how those in their position will take it. I¡¯m grateful for your wise advice.¡± (Freya)

    Having such heartfelt admiration directed at him, Zenjirou shifted ufortably.

    Just because Zenjirou was able to predict that the workers on-site might continue the repairs even during rainy weather, it doesn¡¯t mean that he¡¯s more intelligent than Queen Aura or Princess Freya.

    It¡¯s merely because he had the same experience when he was an on-site worker while he was still at thepany.

    For example, there was a time when the ship carrying crucial materials ran into trouble overseas and was dyed by over a month, after he¡¯d already epted a request from a frequent client.

    Because of that, the time frame to finish the work was shortened by a month. He somehow managed toplete it in time with a hellish schedule only for the other party to nonchntly tell him, ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t expect you to make the deadline. I¡¯d already prepared myself for a month-long dy, but thank you.¡±

    ¡°Then please tell me from the start!!¡± was what Zenjirou¡¯s soul had screamed behind his silence.

    Like this, people in weak positions like subordinates and subcontractors can¡¯t easily ask to, ¡°Please extend the deadline since it¡¯s impossible,¡± from their side since the contract had already been established.

    Disappointing a precious client and being told, ¡°Then I will give this job to someone else,¡± means losing everything to them. If they are somehow able to make the deadline by doing the unreasonable, there are many people who will pick that option.

    If they have to admit that ¡°I won¡¯t make it in time¡±, that means that they really won¡¯t be able to do it no matter what. And, in such a situation, they will do their utmost to minimize the dy as much as possible.

    For Zenjirou, who has experienced such situations, it was easy to surmise that saying, ¡°It might be difficult to finish by the set date,¡± would be difficult for the workers on-site who had made a promise with Princess Freya, their direct superior, and Aura, who is the queen of the country where they are staying.

    ¡°Were you able to adjust the work schedule then?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Even though Princess Freya confirms it with a small nod, she reveals a troubled expression.

    ¡°Yes. Given that it¡¯s possible to roughly estimate the dy due to the ¡ºRainy Season¡», we finished the adjustment of that part. However, I¡¯m slightly worried that our ns will be derailed again because of the ¡ºHottest Season¡» afterwards.

    A heat like the one when we came to the Carpa Kingdom is going to continue for three months, right?¡± (Freya)

    At Princess Freya¡¯s words, Zenjiour hesitates, but ultimately decides that she should know the truth.

    ¡°Princess Freya, you should have arrived during the ¡ºSeason of Activity¡» ording to the calendar. Since the weather won¡¯tpletely transform in a day, thetter half of the ¡ºSeason of Activity¡»is simr to the start of the ¡ºHottest Season¡», but the month when the temperature is highest is not then.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡± (Freya)

    After an unusually long pause, Princess Freya leaked a dimwitted sound with a bbergasted expression.

    Even Skathi has widened her reddish brown eyes in disbelief.

    Zenjirou truly understands their feelings. Even Zenjirou would have likely felt that his life was in danger without the ice electric fan when he first came to this world, much less a princess from the northernmost part of the northern continent. Compared to Zenjirou, who had experienced sweltering nights with temperatures higher than 30¡ãC and extremely hot days with more than 35¡ãC in the Kanto area of Japan, her experience with heat was meager.

    I feel like she won¡¯t be able to get a real sense of it even if I tell her, but I still have to warn her.

    ¡°The temperature during the hottest season exceeds a person¡¯s body temperature. Because of the heat during the day, the temperature remains high through the night. Even the people of Carpa Kingdom, who were born and raised in this area, mostly stick to being active during early morning and evening, when the heat goes down slightly, because it¡¯s dangerous to be active at midday during the ¡ºHottest Season¡».

    During the day, almost everyone ¨C bothmoners and nobles ¨C preserve their stamina with a ¡ºSiesta¡».¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Apparently having heard about the actual details of the ¡ºHottest Season¡»for the first time just now, master and servant of the Upps Kingdom were both lost for words.

    ¡°Our country¡¯s craftsmen should be participating in the repairs of the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡». Haven¡¯t you heard about it from them?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Princess Freya releases a deep sigh upon hearing Zenjirou¡¯s question.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t talked directly to them, but I have heard that there were doubts raised, like ¡°Is it going to be really alright with this schedule?¡± from the craftsmen on-site.

    However, since I was told that it was their first time repairing arge sailing ship, I carelessly dismissed their worries as mere fretting over technical details and didn¡¯t investigate further.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s understandable, I suppose.¡± (Zenjirou)

    When one works with people from a different cultural background, there¡¯s bound to be misunderstandings.

    Princess Freya¡¯s crew of the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡» doesn¡¯t know about the ¡ºHottest Season¡» of the southern continent. They can¡¯tprehend that people will suffer health issues from just being active outside during the day.

    On the other hand, the craftsmen of the Carpa Kingdom have never left the Midwest of the southern continent. Hence they can¡¯t understand that there are people who don¡¯t know about the heat of the ¡ºHottest Season¡».

    Even if they have doubts about the schedule, given the circumstances, they might just assume that it¡¯ll be alright since that¡¯s what they¡¯ve been told.

    After all, participating in the repairs of a big four-mast ship is a first for the craftsmen of the Carpa Kingdom. They don¡¯t have the slightest idea how difficult it will be and how much time will be necessary to repair it.

    As neither side can understand the ¡ºCommon Sense¡» of the other side, they aren¡¯t even aware that they can¡¯t understand each other. It¡¯s this sort of situation.

    ¡°Let¡¯s call all the craftsmen together and confirm how much work they can carry out during the ¡ºHottest Season¡» in this area.

    It¡¯s not what we originally nned, but I would like to stay here in Valentia until the repairs of the ¡ºYellow Leaves¡» have beenpleted. What do you think?¡± (Freya)

    ¡°I think that¡¯s fine. The return to the capital will be instantaneous since I will be taking you. As for your livelihood during your stay in Valentia; it¡¯s probably fine to continue as you have been, I will talk to Governor Damian about it.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Okay, I apologize for the trouble, Your Majesty.¡± (Freya)

    Princess Freya thanked Zenjirou once more for his understanding.

 Chapter Volume 8 intermission 2

    <hr>

    <span><em>T/N: Yellow Leaves -> Golden Leaves</em><hr>

    While Zenjirou was checking the progress of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» with Princess Freya in Valentia, General Puyol applied for an audience with Queen Aura.

    With a military post as general and as a minister of civil affairs, he certainly has every right to request an audience with the ruler at any time, but he rarely exercises that right.

    It goes without saying, but the posts of minister or general are only held by high-ranking nobles and the main authorities of the country. For better or worse, high-ranking nobles are shackled by various obligations and factions. As such, their actions are limited in the long run.

    Those that try to clumsily do things on their own tend to be chided with the words ¡°You lost yourposure¡± or ¡°It¡¯s an act not befitting your standing.¡±

    However, not paying attention to suchmon sense and judgemental gazes is what makes General Puyol General Puyol.

    ¡°I hoped that he might mellow out a bit after getting married, but I guess it¡¯s the same as usual with him.¡± (Aura)

    The secretary with the slender face waiting next to the sighing queen replies expressionlessly as always,

    ¡°General Puyol mellowing out is as unlikely a future as Your Majesty bingdylike, isn¡¯t it?¡± (Fabio)

    ¡°Hoh, so basically you¡¯re saying that there¡¯s a future where General Puyol will settle down?¡± (Aura)

    The secretary raises his thin eyebrows with a twitch, smiling.

    ¡°Oh? It seems as if Your Majesty wants to say that you have bedylike?¡± (Fabio)

    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s what I¡¯m exactly saying. You don''t know, dear fool, just how womanly and graceful I be when I''m alone with my husband.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°I have never been so thankful that I haven¡¯t had the chance to step into the inner pce as now.¡± (Fabio)

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Please pardon me from an exnation. I don¡¯t want to be arrested for lese majeste yet.¡± (Fabio)

    ¡°If I held you to the normal standards for lese majeste, it wouldn¡¯t be enough even if you had several heads.¡± (Aura)

    As the queen and her secretary crack their usual jokes, there¡¯s a knock at the door, and the strong voice of a man from the other side.

    ¡°Excuse me! General Puyol hase for an audience. Is it alright to let him in?¡±

    The queen answers the guarding knight with clear yes,

    ¡°Show him in.¡± (Aura)

    Hearing her voice, the door was opened with a nk.

    ¡°Excuse me.¡± (Puyol)

    The one who entered was a man in the prime of his life, the military uniform of the Carpa Kingdom barely containing a huge frame that had been trained to the limits ©¤ General Puyol Guill¨¦n.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice of you to havee. Please, have a seat.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty! Excuse me!¡± (Puyol)

    With the queen¡¯s permission, the general calmly strides into the room, and sits down on the sofa opposite of the queen.

    The sofa, which was made for an ordinary person, definitely shouldn¡¯t be suitable for the giant General Puyol, but his sitting posture is not awkward at all.

    <em>Probably because he has such control over his body.</em>

    Queen Aura, moistening her throat with a sip of tea, gets right to the point and asks,

    ¡°So, what¡¯s your business with me?¡± (Aura)

    <em>When dealing with General Puyol, who¡¯s slightly disconnected from noble conversation etiquette, this much is fine. This man opposite of me vastly prefers a point-nk conversation that doesn¡¯t waste any time.</em>

    Just as she thought, General Puyol didn¡¯t utter a singleint towards the queen¡¯s blunt words, and said,

    ¡°First I¡¯d like to extend my congrattions.¡± (Puyol)

    ¡°Hmm? If you¡¯re congratting me for my pregnancy, I remember that I received it a good while ago already, though?¡± (Aura)

    The general smoothly continues despite the queen''s fruitless efforts at ying dumb,

    ¡°That¡¯s not it. Rather than Your Majesty¡¯s auspicious pregnancy, I¡¯m expressing my congrattions towards Zenjirou-sama grasping ¡ºTeleport¡».¡± (Puyol)

    <em>So, as expected, it¡¯s about that, huh?</em> The queen clicked her tongue inside her mind.

    It¡¯s been a mere few days since Zenjirou seeded in invoking ¡ºTeleport¡».

    They still haven¡¯t announced that fact yet.

    Nheless, there are several eye-witnesses such as the guard knights and the maids working in the royal pce. They haven¡¯t been forbidden to speak about it in particr.

    Hence, it¡¯s not all that strange that nobles, who have sharp ears, already know about the fact that ¡°Zenjirou has grasped ¡ºTeleport¡».¡±

    However, even if the news spread, there still has not been an official announcement. To apply for an audience in this gap and start talking about ¡°congrattions¡± is something that only General Puyol could do.

    The queen deliberately sighs dramatically and res at the man sitting across from her.

    ¡°You do have very good ears. Even though I had nned to announce it officially once the situation settled down a bit more.¡± (Aura)

    The spell ¡ºTeleport¡» ounts for an exceedinglyrge percentage of the ¡ºSpace-Time Magic¡»that the royal family uses. The existence of this spell might very well be defined as the reason the Carpa Kingdom could be a major power that reigns supreme over the west of the southern continent.

    Just increasing the number of users for this spell by one holds great significance for the current Carpa Kingdom.

    Basically the royal family offers the use of ¡ºTeleport¡» for domestic and foreign nobles as long as they receive a fixedpensation.

    Because after the great war, apart from Queen Aura, no one could cast it, opportunities to use it dropped sharply. Now that the prince consort, someone with a lower standing than the queen, had aplished it, the rich high-ranking nobles will expect to be able to receive his favor.

    ¡°My husband is currently in Valentia. He will probablye back within a few days, but the ces to which my husband can transfer to with ¡ºTeleport¡» are still very limited.¡± (Aura)

    The queen scowls and uses those words to remind him of Zenjirou''s newness to the spell, believing that the aim of General Puyol, who went as far as requesting an audience for the express purpose of congratting Zenjirou, might be to book Zenjirou¡¯s ¡ºTeleport¡» before anyone else.

    However, the general responds to her remark without showing any particr difort.

    ¡°I am well aware. Zenjirou-sama¡¯s wishes should be most important when discussing Zenjirou-sama¡¯s ¡ºTeleport¡».

    Zenjirou-sama always said that he wanted to head to the Twin Kingdom as soon as he grasped ¡ºTeleport¡», didn¡¯t he?¡± (Puyol)

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true.¡± (Aura)

    The queen honestly confirmed the general¡¯s question.

    <em>Since we constantly dered that Zenjirou would travel to the Twin Kingdom, there¡¯s no reason to hide it at this point in time.</em>

    ¡°There is only one reason why Zenjirou-sama would want to go to the Twin Kingdom so badly. It must be his worries for Your Majesty¡¯s body. Once Zenjirou-sama is able to go to the Twin Kingdom with ¡ºTeleport¡», he will also be able to bring a healing practitioner of the Jilbell family in an emergency after all.¡± (Puyol)

    ¡°Yes¡­indeed.¡± (Aura)

    The queen confirms this since she''s quite aware of that fact herself, but hearing about her husband¡¯s passionate love from someone else makes her feel a bit embarrassed, too.

    ¡°Just as Zenjirou-sama worried, you are now pregnant, Your Majesty. Taking that into consideration, it¡¯s my humble opinion that Zenjirou-sama might want to head to the Twin Kingdom at once.¡± (Puyol)

    ¡°I dare say that¡¯s very likely my husband¡¯s wish, but it¡¯s a pointless exercise. After all we are now in the ¡ºRainy Season¡» and afterwards we will enter the ¡ºHottest Season¡». Traveling to the Twin Kingdom will have to wait until the ¡ºVibrant Season¡», right?¡± (Aura)

    Aura said, shrugging her shoulders.

    There¡¯s no need for Zenjirou himself to adhere to the seasons since he can be transferred with Aura¡¯s ¡ºTeleport¡», but it¡¯s different when ites to his personal guards and the maids who are going to take care of his personal well-being.

    Because Aura doesn¡¯t have the spare time to cast ¡ºTeleport¡» for all that personnel, they have no other option but to travel thend route. For this reason they can¡¯t escape the seasons¡¯ conditions, no matter what they do.

    Traveling during the ¡ºRainy Season¡» when the roads turn into mud or rivers due to the heavy rain is out of the question. Traveling during the ¡ºHottest Season¡»is also fairly difficult, ounting for the time lost in the middle of the day to the siesta.

    Long-term travel should be done during the ¡ºVibrant Season¡» if at all possible, especially if the journey is expected to include unfamiliar terrain, like traveling to a distant country in the central region of the southern continent.

    Even General Puyol should know this, however he still bends forward and objects.

    ¡°However, Your Majesty, you are already in the middle of your pregnancy. Do you think that Zenjirou-sama has the mental fortitude to wait until the ¡ºVibrant Season¡» ?¡± (Puyol)

    If all goes to n, Aura should give birth to her second child around the middle of the ¡ºVibrant Season¡», ording to Doctor Michelle.

    Carpa Kingdom¡¯s ¡ºVibrant Season¡» is equivalent to autumn and winter in Japan. In other words, the ¡ºVibrant Season¡»sts for half a year.

    With simple arithmetic, if they leave as soon as the ¡ºVibrant Season¡» starts, they should have three months before Aura''s scheduled delivery, but life isn¡¯t that simple.

    An expected delivery date is nothing more than just that. The possibility of a premature delivery naturally exists. The dangers for a pregnant woman aren¡¯t limited to just the birth either. It¡¯s not wrong that the delivery is the most dangerous period, but it is quite possible that her physical condition will suddenly deteriorate even before the delivery.

    If you consider that, General Puyol¡¯s opinion that ¡°Zenjirou-sama should go to the Twin Kingdom as quickly as possible, as he desires¡± ispletely correct.

    Understanding that, the queen bes serious.

    ¡°What are you suggesting that we do then?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yes. As expected, I must admit that traveling for an extended period of time during the ¡ºRainy Season¡» is suicidal. However, I believe that it¡¯s not impossible if you choose trained soldiers and dispatch them at the beginning of the ¡ºHottest Season¡».¡± (Puyol)

    ¡°Hmm, the beginning of the ¡ºHottest Season¡», you say?¡± (Aura)

    The queen didn''t immediately reject General Puyol¡¯s proposal, mulling it over.

    <em>Although it¡¯s coined as the</em>¡º<em>Hottest Season</em>¡»<em>, obviously it''s not as if the same temperature persists the entire three months.</em>

    <em>The temperature rises the most during the middle month. The months before and after it are more or less easy to bear.</em>

    <em>But then again the ¡°easy to bear¡± is only inparison against the worst month, when the temperature is only a little over 35¡ã C rather than 40¡ã C.</em>

    The queen considers these facts and shakes her head again.

    ¡°No, even then it¡¯s still no good. I admit that the possibility for sess is fairly high, but there are also many dangers that can¡¯t be ignored.

    The journey to the Twin Kingdom passes through unknown areas. It¡¯s not just a problem of distance either. It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know that, right?¡± (Aura)

    Just as Aura pointed out, traveling along an unknown path and a well-known path arepletely different issues.

    The fast and slow dragons of this world are leagues above horses and donkeys in regards to transport ability. Moreover there''s still the ultimate cheat skill that is magic, which the old Earth is no match for, but even so, various problems await such a long-term travel.

    How long do you have to follow the road until you reach the next human habitat? Where can water sources be found? Traveling without such information is extremely difficult. To say nothing of the reduced travel speed due to needing to take a rest during the day in the ¡ºHottest Season¡». Moreover, the necessary amount of water will increase the higher the temperature bes.

    Information about watering ces and feeding grounds for the dragons is indispensable, too.

    Even though those can bepensated with magic, that also has a limit.

    General Puyolpletely agrees with Aura but has more to say,

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. It will be dangerous if it''s just us. But, if there¡¯s a guide familiar with the route, those issues should be solvable.

    Therefore I propose using the pretext of allowing about half of the guards of Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, who havee from the Twin Kingdom, to be reced and return to their country and have them apany us in the process.¡± (Puyol)

    ¡°What?¡± (Aura)

    That was an unexpected proposal.

    The general continues exining to the queen, whose eyes are wide with surprise,

    ¡°By the next ¡ºHottest Season¡», it will have been a year since Their Highnesses havee to the Carpa Kingdom. It¡¯s probably a time when the escorting soldiers will start bing homesick.

    They will very likely ept this proposal if our side shoulders the expenses caused by the travel, don¡¯t you think? They are the ones who most recently traveled the route we are trying to use, albeit from the opposite direction. It¡¯s my humble opinion that we might be able to keep the issues during the travel at a minimum, even during the ¡ºHottest Season¡», with them as guides.¡± (Puyol)

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± (Aura)

    As it¡¯s an extremely pragmatic though unexpected suggestion, Aura carefully considers it once more.

    <em>Certainly, if they are apanied by the people of the Twin Kingdom, who have traveled the route already, there will be significantly fewer problems.</em>

    <em>Thinking back, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona arrived from the Twin Kingdom right before the</em> ¡º<em>Vibrant Season</em>¡»<em>, during the</em> ¡º<em>Hottest Season</em>¡».

    <em>It¡¯s certainly true that this also serves as proof of them having sessfully arrived in the Carpa Kingdom.</em>

    <em>Besides that, General Puyol¡¯s opinion is very likely not mistaken.</em>

    <em>Spending a year in apletely different culture, experiencing varying degrees of homesickness ispletely normal. </em>

    <em>The proposal of allowing half the guards to return home should be greeted with approval, at least among the soldiers present here. </em>

    <em>If the Carpa Kingdom takes charge of the financial burdens as General Puyol suggested, even the higher-ups of the Twin Kingdom shouldn¡¯t object. And if the Carpa Kingdom can buy its soldiers¡¯ safety with money, that is an eptable expense.</em>

    With this, Aurapletely changes her attitude and begins tackling this problem with a positive approach. Leaning forward on the sofa, she cross-examines the general.

    ¡°I understand your proposal. Certainly, if we follow it, it will improve our chances. However, that also creates another problem. The representative of the guard unit for the prince and princess is naturally a fairly high-ranking knight.

    If our side doesn¡¯t appoint someone of equal position as a representative, the leadership of the journey will be entirely reliant on the other side.¡± (Aura)

    For Aura that was a question she believed had to be answered before all else.

    ¡°That concern is very natural. Therefore, with your permission, I would like to personally take this task.¡± (Puyol)

    And General Puyol¡¯s answer was just as Aura had expected.

    If he bes the person in charge of the guard unit, he will always be near Zenjirou during the stay in the Twin Kingdom.

    For someone trying to curry favor with the prince consort Zenjirou, that¡¯s an outstandingly good opportunity.

    Once Queen Aura sighs dramatically,

    ¡°You¡¯re a cornerstone of the royal army, aren¡¯t you? What¡¯s going to happen if you irresponsibly leave the work here to your subordinates?¡± (Aura)

    She repeats a lecture she had given many times before.

    Under the queen¡¯s scolding, the general ponders for a bit, and then answers,

    ¡°That¡¯s a valid point. In that case; there¡¯s a promising guy among the young battalion leaders of the Dragon Archer Cavalry. This time I will leave the practical business to him and devote myself to being a figurehead, except for times of emergency.¡± (Puyol)

    At the general''s carefree deration that, ¡°It¡¯s important to foster young talent early on,¡± the queen¡¯s face cramps up a bit.

    In essence, he was saying that ¡°I¡¯m going to send a subordinate, but I wille along as well.¡±

    ¡°Listen, I¡¯m telling you that, as a central part of the royal army, you cannot stay in a foreign country for as long as you like.¡± (Aura)

    General Puyol¡¯s response to Aura''s exasperation was somethingpletely unexpected.

    ¡°I¡¯m also well aware of that. That¡¯s why I¡¯m nning to return to the Carpa Kingdom through Zenjirou-sama¡¯s ¡ºTeleport¡» after Zenjirou-sama arrives in the Twin Kingdom.¡± (Puyol)

    ¡°¡­What?¡± (Aura)

    The shock of hearing that suggestion causes Queen Aura''s mask to slip in front of the man that may as well be her political opponent.

    However, that¡¯s only natural. General Puyol¡¯s words were just that unexpected.

    After a short silence, the queen speaks as she tries to process the information.

    ¡°In other words, what? You head to the Twin Kingdom asmander of the guard unit. And as soon as my husband arrives there, you yield themand to that young battalion leader and return to our kingdom through my husband¡¯s ¡ºTeleport¡». That¡¯s what you¡¯re saying?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yes. However, since I will need to make sure with my own eyes that my sessor is capable of fulfilling his guard duties without problems, it probably won¡¯t be right after Zenjirou-sama arrives.¡± (Puyol)

    General Puyol¡¯s arguments were sound in all respects.

    That¡¯s why it feels so suspicious to Aura.

    This set of proposals is beneficial for Aura and Zenjirou, and General Puyol¡¯s gains will be small.

    Of course, if he delivers the guard unit safely to the Twin Kingdom, it will be a splendid achievement, so it¡¯s not like there¡¯s no benefit for him at all.

    However, it¡¯s unnatural for General Puyol, who always aims for the very best oue and is insatiable in his quest, to say, ¡°I will return to the royal capital,¡± by himself.

    Zenjirou will be there without Aura. And General Puyol¡¯s official position will be that ofmander of Zenjirou¡¯s guard unit.

    It should be the most suitable situation to indoctrinate Zenjirou and make him agree to any demands. The General Puyol Aura knows would do just that, without hesitation.

    And yet he deliberately says that he will return as soon as possible.

    ¡°How to put it; I can¡¯t believe these wordsing out of your mouth. What¡¯s gotten into you?¡± (Aura)

    The queen, having given up on thinking her way out of the conundrum, tries hurling her doubts directly at him like that.

    General Puyol answered her with a bold, broad grin.

    ¡°Although it might be bted, even I am aware that I¡¯m a ¡ºcornerstone of the royal army¡», just as Your Majesty said not long ago.

    In order to serve as ¡ºcornerstone of the royal army¡» in ¡ºdue form¡» for a long time toe, I have judged that what I just proposed would be the best course of action.¡± (Puyol)

    ¡°!¡± (Aura)

    With that answer Aura was able to grasp General Puyol¡¯s aim.

    And yet there are still many more questions left, but even just understanding his objective is a boon.

    ¡°I see. That¡¯s an admirable view. I appreciate your opinion. Your proposal on this asion is very promising. I shall consider it positively.¡± (Aura)

    Upon the queen saying, ¡°You may withdraw,¡± the huge general obediently stands up from the sofa.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty! Please excuse me then.¡± (Puyol)

    With those words and a handsome smile, General Puyol leaves.

    ¡ô

    Once General Puyol leaves the room, only Queen Aura and her secretary, Fabio, remain.

    Rxing slightly on the sofa, Aura sighs deeply and then asks the secretary next to her,

    ¡°What do you think?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°It¡¯s very likely as you imagine, Your Majesty.¡± (Fabio)

    He answered in his usual emotionless, detached way.

    ¡°General Puyol¡¯s aim is the rank of ¡ºMarshal¡».¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any doubt about that.¡± (Fabio)

    There¡¯s no other way to interpret the words, ¡°serve as ¡ºcornerstone of the royal army¡» in ¡ºdue form¡» for a long time toe.¡±

    <em>Puyol Guill¨¦n targeting the army¡¯s highest rank ©¤ marshal is an open secret. Even he himself doesn¡¯t really try to hide it.</em>

    <em>His request itself isn¡¯t all that strange, but the problem is the fact is he''s taking concrete action now.</em>

    As it''s her second pregnancy, Aura is well aware of the dangers to the current system.

    Because of her pregnancy and childbirth, her actions will be limited, resulting in a stagnation of the national politics. For that reason Aura decided to intentionally reduce her own authority, appointing a ¡ºMarshal¡» and a ¡ºPrime Minister¡», and ce them in charge of politics and military matters respectively.

    General Puyol expressly requested an audience at this stage, when Aura is preparing for those appointments, to appeal that he¡¯s the most suitable candidate for bing the marshal.

    One can only imagine how General Puyol caught hold of the information that Aura intends to assign a marshal soon.

    The queen ponders while wrinkling her eyebrows in displeasure.

    ¡°Honestly, I can¡¯t believe that Puyol obtained the information at this stage.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°I agree, but it¡¯s still a fact. I think at this point we should probably consider ¡ºHow did General Puyol get hold of the information?¡»¡± (Fabio)

    Aura nods and says, ¡°I know,¡± upon her secretary¡¯s suggestion.

    At present, they are hiding the information as much as possible, but still, when ites to appointing a ¡ºMarshal¡» and a ¡ºPrime Minister¡», they have no choice but to give instructions to the civil officials about things such as preparatory documents, tools used for the ceremonies, and arrangements for the location.

    Of course the civil officials have been forbidden to speak about it, but it¡¯s impossible topletely prevent others from seeing any of the preparations.

    However, to deduce that Queen Aura is nning to establish a mashal just from that is difficult.

    Countless rumors that mix truth and falsehood together umte and circte in the royal pce. To be able to carefully scrutinize these and extract the truth of what¡¯s going to happen in the near future requires a substantial level of resourcefulness.

    General Puyol doesn¡¯t possess that resourcefulness. After associating with him for a long time, Aura can confidently assert that.

    Next the queen says,

    ¡°In the first ce, the order of topics was weird this time. If we assume that General Puyol knew that I¡¯m about to appoint a marshal, he would normally have started from there at the foremost. He¡¯s that kind of man by nature.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Certainly. Trying to push his own agenda as far as possible beforepromising was General Puyol¡¯s modus operandi until now.¡± (Fabio)

    Seeing the queen nod in response, he continues,

    ¡°But, this time it was different. He proposed to dispatch soldiers during the ¡ºHottest Season¡» to the Twin Kingdom which will be a benefit for us, swept away our concerns by saying that he will return right away, and moreover only insinuated that he¡¯d like to be marshal at the end.¡± (Fabio)

    She groans while he says so.

    <em>Speaking frankly, this time¡¯s proposal by General Puyol can be epted without any issues.</em>

    <em>It¡¯spletely different from his usual requests of ¡°Gimme, gimme, gimme everything I want¡± so far.</em>

    <em>In conclusion, General Puyol''s behavior today is an anomaly.</em>

    ¡°Puyol Guill¨¦n has raised his ability to gather intelligence. What do you think is the reason for this?¡± (Aura)

    The secretary answers the queen,

    ¡°There¡¯s little hope that his own ability has gone up all of a sudden. I believe we should consider the possibility that he has won over someone possessing that ability.¡± (Fabio)

    and the queen continues with,

    ¡°Puyol Guill¨¦n has raised his ability to negotiate. What do you think is the reason for this?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°He most likely prepared himself in advance. With General Puyol¡¯s character, it¡¯s difficult to believe that he did something like that by himself, thus we should probably assume that someone else wrote the script.¡± (Fabio)

    and asks once more,

    ¡°Puyol Guill¨¦n never mentioned the word ¡ºMarshal¡» to the very end. He was well-mannered beyond belief inparison to his behavior until now. What do you think is the reason for this?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°General Puyol is a person with extremely strong ambitions, but he¡¯s definitely no fool. In theory, if he was given a reason like, ¡ºA person, who takes the conversation in such direction, will reach their ambition more easily¡», he can and will do so. Though there¡¯s no one close to him that can persuade him to do that, is there?¡± (Fabio)

    ¡°¡­¡± (Aura)

    Aura''s questions were more because she did not wish to believe the conclusions that she hade to, rather than out of any true confusion.

    But, no matter how unbelievable it might be, it¡¯s the duty of a country¡¯s ruler to ept the truth for what it is.

    Lastly Queen Aura asks,

    ¡°The owner of a good information gathering ability. A person who advised him on the negotiations. Someone who managed to rein in the overly ambitious Puyol. Do you think that it¡¯s possible that all of these were one and the same person?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Rather than him coincidentally obtaining three small game pieces in such a short time, the possibility of him having obtained one big game piece is still much bigger, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Fabio)

    Fabio¡¯s reply was reasonable. Above all, the number of people at Puyol Guill¨¦n¡¯s side recently has only increased by one.

    The queen considers her secretary''s answers for a while, eventually giving an order.

    ¡°Gather information about Lucinda Guill¨¦n, the legal wife of Puyol Guill¨¦n, again. Investigate her abilities of course, but also her personality.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°As you wish, Your Majesty.¡± (Fabio)

    The secretary bowed courteously upon the queen¡¯s order.<hr>

 Chapter Volume 8 4 part1-2

    Whates after the ¡ºRainy Season¡» is the ¡ºHottest Season¡».

    To begin with, even if the ¡ºRainy Season¡» and the ¡ºHottest Season¡»are clearly separated on the calendar, it doesn¡¯t mean that the weather necessarily follows that calendar.

    In the first ce, the calendar in the Carpa Kingdom is a lunisr calendar. The lunisr calendar needs to be adjusted by adding an intercry month every few years. That means that it could be misaligned by up to a month depending on the year.

    Even without that, the ¡ºRainy Season¡»is longer in some years than others.

    Because of this, even though the calendar might still say that it¡¯s the ¡ºRainy Season¡» , there might not be any more heavy rain. On the other hand, there are also times when it rains every day, even though it¡¯s technically already quite a while into the¡ºHottest Season¡».

    However, the people have learned to adapt to these conditions.

    The humans living in that area assess whether the ¡ºRainy Season¡» has actuallye to an end based on the sky¡¯s color and the local nt growth rather than depending on the calendar.

    One day, when it had be the¡ºHottest Season¡» in the proper sense, Zenjirou¡¯s escort, led by Puyol Guill¨¦n, lined up in the royal pce¡¯s audience hall for the official send-off.

    ¡°Well then, Your Majesty Aura, Zenjirou-sama, we are off.¡± (Puyol)

    Dressed in traveling clothes and acting as representative, General Puyol announces the departure to Aura and Zenjirou, who are sitting on the elevated thrones.

    Normally Zenjirou is only allowed to act as silent decoration during official events with Aura, but today that¡¯s not going to happen.

    After all, Zenjirou will be personally speaking with the guard unit that will be apanying him at the Twin Kingdom to improve morale.

    In a certain sense, Zenjirou is the main character today.

    Zenjirou lightly raises his right hand from his spot next to Aura, and speaks up.

    ¡°I feel honored that so many excellent soldiers are going to make a great effort for me. However, what I¡¯d like you to not forget is the fact that you are our country¡¯s treasure.

    It might be boorish to say this to you, who possess an indomitable fighting spirit, but I will make this clear now.

    Understand, protecting each other¡¯s lives is the supreme order. I do not wish you to pursue the schedule to the point of sacrificing human life.

    What I desire above all is to be able see everyone present when I arrived in the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jillbell.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty! Such words are more than we deserve!¡± (Puyol)

    Once General Puyol answers, all soldiers present press their right fist against their left chest, and bow.

    Even though he knows that it¡¯s a ceremony, the stern-looking knights all hitting their chests at once still manage to startle Zenjirou.

    He believes that he has managed to hide any obvious signs of his surprise, but the soldiers that excel at observation might have seen through him.

    Well, it¡¯s toote now anyway. Zenjirou will be the first to say that his fighting strength and courage is not that of a soldier, but at the same level of women and children. That¡¯s only his personal opinion though.

    Next Zenjirou addresses the blond prince and the princess with the chestnut-colored hair standing at the side.

    ¡°Your Highness Francesco, Your Highness Bona, allow me to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude for lending your valuable guards to us as guides.¡± (Zenjirou)

    The one to open his mouth first after hearing Zenjirou¡¯s words is the prince ©¤ Francesco.

    ¡°No, please do not take it to heart. It is a worthwhile proposal for us as well. After all, you are giving those who yearn for their hometown a chance to return. Just between you and me, there are also some lonely, sobbing fellows among these young soldiers. Ahaha.¡± (Francesco)

    ¡°Your Highness!¡± (Bona)

    The princess standing next to him ©¤ Bona pulls his sleeve and quietly chides him, but it was toote.

    Several young knights among the Twin Kingdom¡¯s soldiers, who are lined up in their traveling clothes, blush extensively and tremble slightly, drawing quite a bit of pity.

    Fortunately everyone present seems to be rather benevolent, feigning ignorance, but the people concerned probably wish the earth would swallow them up.

    Probably trying to distract from the awkward atmosphere as soon as possible,

    ¡°I shall also express my thanks, Your Majesty Zenjirou. You should not be the grateful party here as we are relying on your kindness. I would like to express my gratitude on behalf of all the soldiers returning to our country.¡± (Bona)

    Zenjirou naturally breaks into a smile at Princess Bona¡¯s usual, serious and polite manner of speaking.

    ¡°No, not at all, Your Highness Bona. As I said before, we find it very reassuring to have the soldiers of the Twin Kingdom to apany us as guides. It¡¯s nothing you would need to thank us for.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Watching Zenjirou say all that in one breath, the queen, who had left the conversation to her husband up till now, speaks up.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that there¡¯s much more to be said, but at this rate they will never be able to depart. This is enough, right?¡± (Aura)

    Hearing Aura¡¯s words, Zenjirou nods rather exaggeratedly like a mechanical doll.

    ¡°Indeed. The cool period of the ¡ºHottest Season¡» is precious. All present, depart.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty! We shall be on our way!¡±

    With Zenjirou¡¯s permission, the elite soldiers of Carpa¡¯s royal army, and half of the Twin Kingdom¡¯s military escort respond in unison.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    Meanwhile, Upps Kingdom¡¯s First Princess Freya Upps panted like a dog in the detached room assigned to her in the port city of Valentia, on the west coast of the Carpa Kingdom.

    ¡°Jeez, the daily rain was still much better than this here¡­¡± (Freya)

    The silver-haired princess sprawls limply atop a sofa as if she¡¯d melted, dressed in an attire that looks inappropriate even as house wear for royalty. To be precise, her feet are bare and she¡¯s only wearing a thin, translucent white dress.

    ¡°Are you alright, Princess?¡± (Skathi)

    She weakly corrects the tall female warrior ©¤ Skathi, who had worriedly called out to her, ¡°Right now I¡¯m not your princess, but your captain.¡±

    ¡°¡­No good. It¡¯s as if I¡¯ve been locked up in a giant steam bath with no cold water avable. I¡¯vee to believe that the church¡¯s im about the southern continent being a penal colony is correct.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Please get your act together, Princess. If His Majesty Zenjirou¡¯s words are correct, the temperature in the next month will rise until it cannot even bepared to this.¡± (Skathi)

    ¡°¡­¡­I wonder, how are humans able to survive in this area? I don¡¯t think that this is an environment suited for humans to live in.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°I do sympathize with your feelings, but the one that dered that she will marry His Majesty Zenjirou and move to thisnd is you, Princess.¡± (Skathi)

    ¡°¡­¡± (Freya)

    Imagining how she would live in thisnd for the rest of her life, Princess Freya¡¯s mouth dropped open and a single tear left her eye.

    Princess Freya wipes away that tear with the back of her right hand, and sits up on the sofa with a ghost-like, sluggish motion.

    ¡°Phew. Anyway, Skathi, don¡¯t you feel hot?¡± (Freya)

    Taking in thenguid look of her master, the female warrior replies with an unconcerned look.

    ¡°I train every day.¡± (Skathi)

    ¡°Even if you do that, what¡¯s hot is still hot, though.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°¡­There¡¯s no way that I canin during the course of my duties.¡± (Skathi)

    ¡°In other words, you¡¯re just pretending not to feel hot, right?¡± (Freya)

    ¡°¡­¡± (Skathi)

    ¡°Tell me, Skathi?¡± (Freya)

    Due to the persistent questioning of Princess Freya, even Skathi cannot hold back, her voice cracking a little,

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s hot! So please, don¡¯t speak about it being hot all the time. That makes even me feel depressed, you know!?¡± (Skathi)

    It was on such a day during the ¡ºHottest Season¡» that the notification about thepletion of the repair works for the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» arrived.

    ¡ó¡ô

    Thepletion of the repair work for the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡».

    That news reached even the capital quickly, a small flying dragon having been sent as messenger.

    For the current Zenjirou, going to Valentia cost no time, once he received this news.

    The same day he received the notice, Zenjirou and Aura respectively sent his knight Natalio and her maid Ines to Valentia with ¡ºTeleport¡», and then on the next day, he sent himself after them.

    ¡°We have awaited you, Zenjirou-sama.¡±

    ¡°All preparations have already been put in order.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Thank you for going ahead to prepare this time as well, Natalio, Ines.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou thanks the two who awaited him at the destination.

    Even though he was in the capital just moments ago, he¡¯s now in the distant Valentia.

    When he had ¡ºTeleport¡» cast upon himself by Aura, he felt that, ¡°Magic is amazing!¡±, but now that he is able to use it himself, he feels a very indescribable sense of difort.

    ¡°The world widened or¡­shrank in an instant¡­what a truly strange sensation.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou mutters under his breath and tilts his head to the side in confusion.

    This is Zenjirou¡¯s third time in Valentia, but because all of his visits had been round-trips through ¡ºTeleport¡», it doesn¡¯t feel like he¡¯se to a distant ce at all.

    For the March of Guzzel, he has vivid memories of his aching buttocks after a long journey in a royal carriage, cementing it as a distant ce in his mind. However, he definitely doesn¡¯t have the same feelings for Valentia.

    Once he processes that the ces within the kingdom to where he can ¡ºTeleport¡» like this will increase from now on, he can somewhat understand the feelings of all the nobles trying to increase the number of royal family members ©¤ bloodline magic sessors, to the extent of trying to force concubines on him.

    Anyway, because travel through ¡ºTeleport¡» doesn¡¯t exhaust one¡¯s stamina at all either, Zenjirou can go into action quickly as long as he has prepared himself mentally.

    ¡°How about Her Highness Freya?¡± (Zenjirou)

    The one who answers Zenjirou is Ines, who had been in Valentia since the previous day.

    ¡°Yes, Her Highness is already waiting in the anteroom.¡± (Ines)

    ¡°I see, I guess I will go meet her at once then. What about the preparations for the parlor?¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°They have beenpleted.¡± (Ines)

    ¡°Alright, then lead the way.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°As you wish. This way, please.¡± (Ines)

    Guided by the middle-aged maid, Zenjirou started to walk through the corridors of Valentia mansion.

    ¡ó¡ô

    Princess Freya arrived almost immediately after Zenjirou entered the parlor.

    ¡°Your Majesty, thank you very much for repeatedly troubling yourself for our convenience.¡± (Freya)

    The smiling Princess Freya is once again dressed in the attire of a ship¡¯s captain.

    ¡°No, if it concerns the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡», it also matters to us.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou replies and invites Princess Freya to sit down.

    ¡°Yes, excuse me.¡± (Freya)

    Zenjirou sighs in admiration in thefort of his mind as he watches the princess sit down as elegantly as ever.

    (Wow. She doesn¡¯t even sweat in this heat. There isn¡¯t a bubble of cool air just around her, is there?) (Zenjirou)

    With her silver hair, her ice blue eyes and her pure white skin, the quietly smiling Princess Freya appears not to be affected by the heat at all.

    In truth, this is simply her suppressing the sweating above her neck with fighting spirit and willpower, but being blissfully unaware of these underlying circumstances, Zenjirou honestly admires her.

    ¡°So, you mentioned it in your report, but the repairs of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡»have beenpleted safely?¡± (Zenjirou)

    The princess nodded with a sincerely happy smile.

    ¡°Yes, thanks to your assistance, it finally came to an end a few days ago. After receiving permission from Valentia¡¯s port warden, we have gone through several test runs within the harbor.

    All that¡¯s left is today¡¯s trial run beyond the harbor.¡± (Freya)

    Valentia¡¯s port, which is protected by a threefold breakwater, is perpetually calm

    Of course no one would assume that the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡», which is a big ship designed for travel between continents, will only be used within the calm waters of a harbor.

    Hence it¡¯s necessary to ensure that there will be no problems beyond the harbor where the sea is rough.

    Nheless, the ship has beenpletely checked and carefully repaired until now. In reality the final test of leaving the harbor is more like a ceremony.

    ¡°I see. Is it alright to allow me to apany you on that final test run?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Princess Freya delightfully consents.

    ¡°Yes! Please apany us by all means. Please enjoy the sensation of riding the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡», the pride of the Upps Kingdom. Having said that, we will be just making one round outside the harbor today.¡± (Freya)

    To Princess Freya, the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» is her greatest pride. It¡¯s a cutting-edge sailing ship manufactured in her own country on which she serves as ¡ºCaptain¡». Although she is almost no more than a figurehead, this ship is like her own personal castle.

    She always feels the urge to express her pride in it.

    ¡°Understood. Please treat me well.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou answered with a smile as if seeing something pleasant.

    ¡ó¡ô

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- End of Part 1 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-

    ¡°I already thought so when I saw it thest time, but now that I¡¯m seeing it up close, it¡¯s truly a masterpiece. Rather than calling it a ship, a mountain of wood would be more appropriate.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Looking up at the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» from the wharf, Zenjirou expresses his heartfelt admiration once more.

    In Modern Japan, ships that are bigger than the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» aremonce, but something this size madepletely out of wood is still very impressive.

    The wharf at Valentia¡¯s port has been built tofortably amodate small one-mast ships. Because the wharf is situated much lower than the ship¡¯s deck, one has to look up making the ship seem all the more intimidating.

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, please climb up over here. Please watch your step.¡± (Natalio)

    ¡°Yeah, thanks, Natalio.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou, who had been looking up at the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» like an idiot until then, turns his feet in the direction of the wooden ramp connecting the wharf and the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» under the guidance of his knight Natalio.

    The stairway-like ramp had obviously been hurriedly built expressly for the sake of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡».

    Small single-masted ships from the Carpa Kingdom could be boarded just by bridging the gap with a sturdy nk but a four-mast ship like the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡»is in a ss entirely of its own.

    The sailors are nimbly climbing ropedders up and down, but using those for loading or unloading cargo is difficult.

    That¡¯s the reason why the ramp had been built in a hurry.

    ¡°Eep, this makes one feel quite weak at the knees.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Zenjirou-sama, it¡¯s better to not look down.¡± (Natalio)

    ¡°Yeah, that makes sense.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Because it has handrails despite its simple structure, Zenjirou, who has no fear of heights, climbs the ramp at an unexpectedly brisk pace.

    Sandwiched between Natalio in the front and Ines in the back, he reaches the deck before long.

    The instant he lets out a breath of relief at his safe arrival, a jolt throws him backward.

    ¡°Uh oh.¡± (Zenjirou)

    ¡°Are you alright, Zenjirou-sama?¡± (Ines)

    However, before his bnce falls apartpletely, Ines gently props him up from behind, preventing anything serious from happening.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks, Ines.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou looks slightly embarrassed as he thanks her, quickly separating.

    Since they are still inside the harbor, the swaying isn¡¯t strong. He was merely surprised in the beginning. The swaying isn¡¯t a problem so long as he¡¯s only expected to walk and stand normally.

    Moreover, the soldiers of the Valentia Dukedom, who had boarded first, have secured the area around Zenjirou.

    The ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» is technically territory of the Upps Kingdom, even though it¡¯s floating in the Carpa Kingdom.

    In the most extreme case, the ship could depart for the northern continent with Zenjirou still on board. In such a case, the Carpa Kingdom would have no means to chase after the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡».

    Of course Princess Freya wouldn¡¯t consider doing something so reckless and pointlessly detrimental to all parties involved, but it¡¯s best to be cautious.

    I guess it¡¯s 10 people in total?

    As might be expected of soldiers from the port city of Valentia; none of them have any trouble moving around aboard.

    The one who likely has the shakiest foothold is Natalio. Well, he¡¯s the only one who was born ind, so it¡¯s a rather unfairparison. To put it bluntly, his foothold is even shakier than Zenjirou¡¯s.

    Meanwhile Princess Freya, who had boarded ahead of Zenjirou¡¯s group, shows up on the deck.

    ¡°Wee, Your Majesty. As representative of the sailors of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡», I, Captain Freya, shall offer you some words of wee.

    Though it will just be for a brief time today, please enjoy your outing on the ocean.¡± (Freya)

    Princess Freya in her stylish and charming captain¡¯s uniform for men boasts, as she puffs out her chest.

    The stern men waiting behind her are probably the officers of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡».

    Having so many men that are taller than even Skathi lined up is rather intimidating.

    Zenjirou shifts his eyes back from the men in the back to Princess Freya and replies with a strained smile,

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m looking forward to it. While it may be embarrassing, just standing on the deck like this is already exciting.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou¡¯s words are entirely sincere.

    The big, wooden sailing ship is in active service, and has weathered a voyage of several months. Boarding a ship that he would never have been able to see in the modern era is quite emotional for him.

    If he wasn¡¯t royalty, he might be frolicking like a child right now.

    Naturally, since automation doesn¡¯t exist in this world, everything is done by rying orders down the chain ofmand.

    ¡°Your Highness, is it fine for us to be on the deck?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou asks with a bouncy voice. Princess Freya considers it with a slightly serious look and then,

    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­I think for now it¡¯s okay, but can I have you grasp the railing over there, just for caution¡¯s sake? If we were to make absolutely sure, you should probably sit in an affixed seat, but that would at least halve the thrill.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°You¡¯re definitely correct there.¡± (Zenjirou)

    As if charmed by Princess Freya¡¯s impish smile, Zenjirou also breaks into a smile and agrees with her.

    At any rate, for today¡¯s final check they will only be leaving the harbor for a very short time. The possibility of a problem urring simply because he¡¯s standing on his own two feet should be extremely low.

    Zenjirou obediently steps up to the railing Princess Freya pointed at, and firmly grabs the wooden handrail with both hands.

    If there¡¯s a ce he can hold onto like this, nothing serious will happen even if they encounter severe turbulence.

    Having established a firm grip, Zenjirou suddenly remembers and calls out to the middle-aged maid standing behind him.

    ¡°Ines, you grab it as well. Untrained people like us staggering around will only cause trouble.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Looking back, he found that Ines had a much more stable standing posture than Natalio but nheless, as people with no military training or experience with ships, he and Ines are the most likely to have problems.

    A faint smile forms on Ines¡¯ small mouth because of her master¡¯s concern.

    ¡°Thank you very much for your concern, Zenjirou-sama. Very well, I shall ept your kind offer and take hold next to you. Excuse me.¡± (Ines)

    She gracefully positions herself next to Zenjirou, and extends her hands to the railing.

    Behind her, Natalio looks on slightly enviously. Natalio is a reliable soldier and knight onnd, but the situation seems to be entirely different onboard.

    As soon as she was sure that Zenjirou and Ines had grasped the railing, the captain of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡»- Freya orders at the top of her lungs,

    ¡°¡ºGolden Leaves¡», depart! Raise the anchor!¡± (Freya)

    ¡ó¡ô

    Around 30 minutes after that.

    The ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» with Zenjirou¡¯s group aboard left Valentia¡¯s harbor, allowing its big frame to freely glide across the sea.

    Just as Princess Freya herself had said before, her title of ¡°Captain¡± was essentially just a title.

    The first order was the only one Princess Freya gave as captain. The detailed handling of the ship afterwards is carried out by a grim, middle-aged man who was introduced as vice-captain.

    Each time the vice-captain loudly gives an order, the sailors move across the ship to turn the rudder or adjust the angle of the sails.

    Today the wind and waves appear to be calm. Even outside the harbor there was unexpectedly little swaying, but whenever the ship drastically changed its direction, the entire hull tilted to the side.

    ¡°The sailors are really amazing to work atop the masts even with all this shaking.¡±

    If we had to rte it to something in Zenjirou¡¯s experience, the sensation is not unlike when a train needs to make a fairly big turn.

    It doesn¡¯t really matter as long as Zenjirou holds onto the railing, but if he were to stand around without a support, it wouldn¡¯t be odd even if he were to fall off. That¡¯s how unstable the foothold is.

    In defiance of the tilting and swaying, the sailors run around on deck.

    It was obvious that Zenjirou¡¯s admiration, evident in his words, was nothing but his true feelings.

    Princess Freya responds to that with a happy smile.

    ¡°Yes. A sailor¡¯s first task in training is ¡ºStanding¡».¡± (Freya)

    Of course, that¡¯s not what happens on arge ship like the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡».

    It¡¯s something done on a small fishing vessel that has a maximum capacity of about ten people.

    Obviously, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do any work if they couldn¡¯t even stand without holding onto something.

    Tying ropes. Mopping the deck. Hauling in the if they are fishermen. Shooting harpoons. All of these are things one cannot do unless both hands are free.

    Hence, it¡¯s said the sailors of the Upps Kingdom are allowed to board their parents¡¯ ships from a young age to rack up training.

    ¡°I see. I hadn¡¯t expected that being a sailor was a job specialized enough to require an apprenticeship. Given that, I¡¯m pretty sure that even steering that rudder is a job that requires quite some skill, right?¡± (Zenjirou)

    The man that Zenjirou had expressed interest in had both hands on arge wooden wheel.

    Given that the man is turning the knobbed wheel in ordance to the vice-captain¡¯s instructions, it¡¯s very likely that it¡¯s the rudder of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡».

    However, seeing him point it out, Princess Freya widens her eyes in surprise for an instant.

    ¡°¡­That¡¯s correct. The one currently turning the rudder is the steering chief. In addition, there are three other men who possess the qualifications to take the helm, but when pushes to shove, the difference in skill is clear.

    When we want to arrive as soon as possible or run low on stored food after being washed away in an unexpected direction during a storm, we can only leave it to the steering chief.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Hoh, I suppose one should truly call that the work of an expert.¡± (Zenjirou)

    While Zenjirou is busy admiring, Princess Freya and Skathi exchange nervous nces.

    His nonchnt way of mentioning it is rather discouraging, but Zenjirou¡¯s words just now were enough to make their vignce rise, bringing up the value of the man called Zenjirou.

    This type of steering mechanism, where one turns a wheel, as on the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» is state-of-the-art technology that has only been introduced on ships with more than three masts, even on the northern continent.

    Using several cogs and the principle of leverage to connect the steering wheel and the rudder, it¡¯s possible to turn a ship of any size with minimal effort. Even the steering bes simple with a wheel.

    With the addition of scales, one can even tell whether the wheel needs to be turned to the left or right and by how much.

    On the other hand, more traditional small ships rely on pushing and pulling a long and heavy tiller directly connected to the rudder to change direction.

    A primitive rudder like that is so heavy in a rough swell that two or three adult men are needed to take charge of it. It¡¯s difficult to make minute adjustments with it too.

    They borrowed the power of Carpa Kingdom¡¯s shipbuilding craftsmen for the repairs, but they heard that not a single one of them knew about steering wheels or showed a keen interest in it.

    It goes without saying, but the craftsmen who had been lent for the repairs should have been the very best within the Carpa Kingdom.

    Why is Zenjirou able to understand technology unknown to even them so naturally?

    Of course it¡¯s possible that craftsmen of the Carpa Kingdom obtained that information, and reported it to the capital, but Freya doesn¡¯t believe that fits Zenjirou¡¯s current behavior.

    Zenjirou seems to regard the wheel-shaped rudder as something ¡°natural.¡±

    Producing distilled liquor, knowing about ring-shaped rudders; in Princess Freya¡¯s eyes, Zenjirou is a man of many mysteries.

    Of course neither Zenjirou nor Aura hide the fact that Zenjirou hase from a different world, but to Princess Freya of the northern continent, which is advanced in technology but undeveloped in magic, the concept of a ¡ºDifferent World¡» is something she can¡¯t quite grasp.

    However, it makes her realize once again that Zenjirou is a person with a different set of values and knowledge to the other people of the Carpa Kingdom.

    While this is going on, the final check of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» is proceeding favorably.

    The sailors work briskly and skillfully move the ship ording to the vice-captain¡¯s orders.

    It appears the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» ns to sail in a big circle outside the harbor and then return.

    Of course, this might be the n, but a sailing ship needs to take the direction of the wind into ount. As such, it advances in a zig-zag. Because the direction and strength of the wind varies, the course taken ends up being a rather crooked circle.

    Rather, Zenjirou, who¡¯s riding the ship as it¡¯s doing such maneuvers, can tell that the sailors of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» are indeed excellent just from the fact that they have managed to plot a course that is a recognizable circle.

    Eventually the bow of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» is turned in the direction of Valentia¡¯s port.

    It looks like the final test has finished, and all that¡¯s left now is to return to harbor.

    As the port of Valentia gradually gets bigger before his eyes, Zenjirou unconsciously lets out a breath in relief.

    It¡¯s not that he doesn¡¯t trust Princess Freya, but getting on the ship of a foreign country and leaving the harbor on it carries a certain kind of tension.

    In contrast to that, the relief of having safely returned wells up within him as the harbor draws closer.

    ¡°Indeed, this might have a charm that ¡ºTeleport¡» doesn¡¯t possess.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou whispers with his eyes turned towards Valentia¡¯s port.

    Certainly, traveling through ¡ºTeleport¡» is rather unromantic. Compared to that, traveling on a sailing ship has a certain level of ss to it.

    To begin with, if people were asked to choose between a ¡°tasteless, quick method of travel¡± or a ¡°tasteful, slow method of travel,¡± most would likely pick the former.

    While Zenjirou is thinking about such things, the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» returns to Valentia¡¯s port.

    Being able to bring arge ship alongside the pier in one attempt should be fairly difficult, but these are the sailors who seeded in traveling between continents.

    They managed to pull the ship¡¯s big hull right up next to the stone pier without any noteworthy troubles.

    However, while it may be true that they have safely lowered the anchor, that doesn¡¯t mean that it¡¯s possible to disembark the ship right away. As long as the stair-like ramp hasn¡¯t been set up, amateurs like Zenjirou definitely can¡¯t get off. Besides that, the sailors still have plenty of work left to do, such as properly tying and fixing the sails, or coiling the leftover rope out of the way.

    While the sailors are busily scurrying around, Zenjirou waits with a hand still on the railing.

    Seeing that I can¡¯t disembark at the moment, I will only be a hindrance if I do something. I have no other option but to wait patiently and try to stay out of the way.

    As though saying she¡¯s finished her job now, Princess Freya speaks to Zenjirou with a bright smile.

    ¡°And with that the final test run of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» hase to an end.

    Thank you very much, Your Majesty. All of this is the result of Carpa Kingdom¡¯s kind help.¡± (Freya)

    Princess Freya bowed gracefully. However, it was by cing her right fist to her shoulder and lowering her head ¨C a manly bow.

    It¡¯s probably because she¡¯s not a princess right now but the captain of a ship.

    Aware that it was slightly improper, Zenjirou turns to face Princess Freya but retains his hold on the railing behind him.

    ¡°No, the pleasure is ours. Our country¡¯s craftsmen had the privilege of gaining valuable experience.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Those words are sincere. Of course, Carpa Kingdom¡¯s craftsmen likely won¡¯t be able to build arge sailing ship based on just this one experience, but it should be quite a good foundation.

    Princess Freya¡¯s happy smile deepens with Zenjirou¡¯s reply.

    ¡°Hearing that is a blessing for me.

    By the way, Your Majesty. Seeing as the repairs of the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» have beenpleted, we must return to our home country.¡± (Freya)

    That was a very reasonable statement, but Zenjirou received such a shock that it surprised even himself.

    ¡°Eh? Y-Yeah. That¡¯s right. How soon are you nning to return?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Leaving aside the troublesome matter of her bing his concubine and so on, Zenjirou is well aware that he enjoys being with Princess Freya like this.

    At the very least, the time he has spent with her was enough to make him feel a touch of loneliness at the thought of her leaving.

    Seemingly oblivious to Zenjirou¡¯s mood, the silver-haired princess answers with a beautiful smile.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Ideally I think I¡¯d like to depart the month after the next. However, while it may be embarrassing, Carpa Kingdom¡¯s ¡ºHottest Season¡» will be hard on us. Since it looks like next month will be even hotter than now, I can¡¯t stop worrying that there will be some of my subordinates whose health will deteriorate.

    In that case, I believe the earliest departure will be during next year¡¯s Winter ©¤ the month right in the middle of the ¡ºSecond Half of the Vibrant Season¡», or we may dy it even further to the month after.¡± (Freya)

    Zenjirou cocks his head to the side in curiosity at Princess Freya¡¯s answer.

    ¡°I can understand that the heat of the ¡ºHottest Season¡» will take a toll on those from the northern continent. But, is it going to take several months to recover from that?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou¡¯s doubt is reasonable.

    If you forcefully convert the month in the middle of the ¡ºHottest Season¡» to the Japanese calendar, it would be August. On the other hand, the middle month and the following month of the ¡ºSecond Half of the Vibrant Season¡» would be February and March of the next year.

    There¡¯s actually around half a year between those two.

    No matter how weak the Sweyar people of the Upps Kingdom might be to heat, do they really need half a year to recover from what would be at most heat fatigue?

    But, Princess Freya shakes her head at Zenjirous question, making her short silver hair sway, and says,

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not as worrisome as that. It¡¯s likely the sailors¡¯ conditions will improve within 10 days of the end of the ¡ºHottest Season¡».

    The problem lies with the season at that time, and the number of days it takes to travel to our mothend.

    We took approximately 120 days to arrive in Valentia after leaving Upps. That includes us running into storms, and traveling an unknown route, so we should be able to shorten the journey time by quite a bit. Even so, taking safety into consideration, we should estimate it to be around 100 days.

    If we depart from here at the beginning of the Vibrant Season, we will be sailing through Upps¡¯s ¡ºWinter Sea¡», no matter what we do.¡± (Freya)

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s bad, isn¡¯t it?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Zenjirou easily agreed with Princess Freya¡¯s answer.

    The start of the Vibrant Season is in 10 months. Adding a hundred days ©¤ a little bit more than 3 months, their arrival in the Upps Kingdom will be in January.

    Right at the height of the ¡ºVibrant Season¡» is the mostfortable time in the Carpa Kingdom, but at the same time the Upps Kingdom wees the ¡ºWinter¡», their most difficult season.

    No matter how state-of-the-art the ¡ºGolden Leaves¡» might be, in the end it¡¯s just a wooden sailing ship.

    Working on deck is unavoidable on a voyage. Even below deck there are no heating devices like on the passenger ships of the modern era. Upps¡¯s port seems to be ice-free because of the ocean currents, but the outside temperature is merciless.

    Sailing for an extended time through the northern continent¡¯s northern seas during winter, where the temperature falls below minus 20¡ã C and at times even reaches minus 30¡ã C, is extremely dangerous.

    Even if you say that the Sweyar people are used to the winter sea, there are limits.

    There¡¯s no need to deliberately face a mid-winter sea that is capable of giving you frostbite within five minutes of being drenched by a stray wave, and instantly killing you from shock if you happen to fall overboard. The heat during the Hottest Season in Valentia is harsh. The same can be said for the coldness of Upps¡¯s Winter, which is equivalent to the second half of the Vibrant Season. And, if one assumes that the route between Valentia and Upps takes more than three months, it¡¯s best to decide on a period where it¡¯s possible toe and go without problem.

    That¡¯s precisely the reason why Princess Freya needs to start the return preparations so as not to miss the opportunity, now that the ship has been repaired.

    Since it¡¯s not like she can return any time she pleases, that¡¯s only natural.

    ¡°Then you¡¯re saying that you will return to your country at the end of this year¡¯s Hottest Season as long as there¡¯s no problem with the sailors?¡± (Zenjirou)

    Upon Zenjirou¡¯s query, the princess boldly nods once, and after taking a breath deep enough to move her shoulders, she asks with a nervous smile,

    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s the n. But, at any rate I have to persuade my father and my elder brother at home, and then I want to ¡ºReturn¡» to this country.

    Your Majesty, would you please wee me at that time?¡± (Freya)

    Upon Princess Freya¡¯s question, Zenjirou¡¯s expression tightens. Of course that question isn¡¯t to be taken literally.

    Gaining the permission of her father and brother ©¤ the king and crown prince in her own country and returning to Carpa Kingdom can¡¯t imply anything but her officially bing Zenjirou¡¯s concubine.

    Asking Zenjirou ¡°Would you wee me?¡±, she is almost explicitly asking him.

    For Zenjirou it¡¯s a question that he is hard pressed to answer.

    If Zenjirou is going to refuse Princess Freya bing his concubine, this might really be the veryst opportunity to do so.

    If he gives a positive reply here, he won¡¯t be able to back out anymore.

    (Be that as it may, after all there¡¯s no way that I can crush the trade between continents out of selfishness.) (Zenjirou)

    Thiste in the game, there aren¡¯t many options left to pick for Zenjirou. Zenjirou¡¯s understanding, logical thinking and character would never allow him to refuse now.

    ¡°Of course, Your Highness. I shall wait together with Her Majesty Aura for Your Highness¡¯ swift return.¡± (Zenjirou)

    Those words, clearly stated with a smile, cannot be taken back any longer. They¡¯re a deration that he will ept Princess Freya as concubine.

    Intentionally adding ¡°with Her Majesty Aura¡± to that is Zenjirou¡¯s small personal resistance, his slight warning.

    A reminder that, ¡°My legal wife is only Queen Aura. I will wee you so long as my rtionship with Queen Aura is harmonious.¡±

    Princess Freya has probably resolved herself to that.

    Of course, it¡¯s impossible for her to stay calm when the partner she has confessed to tells her that ¡°There¡¯s a woman I prefer over you¡±, but Princess Freya isn¡¯t such a thoughtless woman that she would allow even the slightest trace of that to show on her face in this ce.

    ¡°Yes! I will return to you, Your Majesty, without fail.¡± (Freya)

    A smile on her face and eyes moist, her expression is unmistakably one of a woman, despite her male captain¡¯s uniform.

 Chapter Volume 8 5 part1

    <hr><hr>

    <span><em>Trantion Notes:</em><em>

    </em>

    <em></em>

    <em><span>Two joyous (maybe?) pieces of information for you, the readers:</em><ol><li><em><span>Starting from today, this series will switch over to a weekly release, every Thursday.</em></li><li><em><span>You can further influence the release speed by bing a patron. Check themunity-based goals on Patreon by clicking the banner above. As little bonus you will be able to read ahead and also support the trantor as well as editor.</em></li></ol>

    <span><em>Burning Pair Parchment -> Parchments of Shared Fire</em><hr>

    Approximately one month after the advance unit led by General Puyol left the capital,

    two¡ºSmall Flying Mail Dragons¡» arrived at the royal pce.

    ¡ô¡ó

    The sender: General Puyol. The contents: ¡°We have safely arrived in the capital of the Twin Kingdom. There were no casualties. The preparations for the reception areplete. You maye at any time.¡±

    ¡ô¡ó

    The first words of Queen Aura, the one who received the letter in a private room in the royal pce, are not about the letter¡¯s content, but rather the dragons that carried the letter.

    ¡°Two copies, eh? Even though I explicitly instructed him to be cautious and send 10 flying dragons simultaneously¡­¡± (Aura)

    ¡°There¡¯s quite the distance between the Twin Kingdom¡¯s capital and this ce after all. A few more dragons mighte in a few days, but it might be wise to expect more than half not to return.¡± (Fabio)

    The queen, dressed in a maternity dress, raises her eyebrows at the secretary with his usual, emotionless expression, and responds with ¡°I know that.¡±

    As she leans back on the chair to reduce the pressure on her belly which ¨C now that she entered the stable period of her pregnancy ¨C is unmistakable, the queen stares intensely at the ceiling.

    ¡°I knew it would happen, but it¡¯s still concerning. The small dragons entrusted to Puyol were carefully selected specimens.¡± (Aura)

    The small messenger dragons are raised inrge numbers in the royal pce, but obviously there are differences between their individual abilities.

    In contrast to normal flights within the country, the dragons that can make the journey from the Twin Kingdom in the center to the Carpa Kingdom in the midwest are only the youngest and best specimens.

    Even for those elite dragons it¡¯s very dangerous to cross approximately half of the southern continent. The longer the flight, the higher the possibility of them being preyed upon byrger flying dragons and simr along the way. The possibility of their homing instincts failing and getting lost increases as well.

    As such, it appears that the fact that they would have to keep losing elite messengers on this long distance flight was inevitable.

    Unfortunately, a method to resolve this problem fundamentally hasn¡¯t been developed yet. Right now there¡¯s no other option but to have the trainers of the dragons do their best.

    Anyway, the queen is not in a position where she could spare a lot of time and energy in the problem of the flying dragons.

    Breaking that train of thought, the queen refocuses on the details written in the letter.

    ¡°It seems the guard unit has safely arrived over there, huh? I suppose all that¡¯s left is for me to send over the entourage and then my husband.¡± (Aura)

    Staring at the ceiling, Aura thinks about the personnel she should send to the Twin Kingdom.

    <em>Natalio and Ines are going, of course. Besides those two, I think it will also be necessary to send a few of the young maids from the inner pce so that Zenjirou can rx while he''s there.</em>

    <em>The guard unit that headed to the Twin Kingdom bynd mostly consists of male soldiers, as its name implies.</em>

    <em>It wouldn¡¯t have been possible to take maids along on such a long journey during the Hottest Season as they would have be a burden because of their stamina.</em>

    <em>On the other hand, several of Prince Francesco and Princess Bona''s maids were among the personnel of the Twin Kingdom that returned to their country together with the soldiers, but since the letter says that there had been no drop-outs, I guess they also reached the Twin Kingdom safely.</em>

    Queen Aura exims in admiration.

    ¡°Truly, the presence or absence of magic tools ys a big role after all. I suppose, the rest is getting ustomed to using them.¡± (Aura)

    The Pope Jilbell family, one of the two royal families reigning over the Twin Kingdom of Sharrow and Jilbell, has many members visiting foreign countries to perform ¡ºHealing Magic¡».

    Because they apany the members of the Jibell family, there are many maids ustomed to traveling in the Twin Kingdom.

    The Sharrow family, users of ¡ºBestowal Magic¡», are aware of the Jibell family''s situation and devote themselves to developing ¡ºMagic Tools¡»to make the journeys smoother.

    As a result, the Twin Kingdom is much better equipped for long journeys than other countries.

    To Aura, who encountered the terrible conditions of the camps in the previous great war, that¡¯s honestly very enviable.

    ¡°Anyway, with this the preparations are in order. When are you going to start sending maids over with ¡ºTeleport¡»?¡± (Fabio)

    The queen considers Fabio¡¯s question.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Firstes a message to His Highness Francesco and Her Highness Bona. It''s probably a bit much, but my husband¡¯s safety takes top priority. If possible, I¡¯d like to get confirmation from His Highness Francesco¡¯s side as well.¡± (Aura)

    There¡¯s a magic tool called ¡ºParchments of Shared Fire¡» in the Twin Kingdom.

    It capitalizes on the special characteristic of dragon skin paper: two sheets of dragon skin paper burn in exactly the same way. It''s reliant on having an iron pen to burn letters into the paper, it''s possible to transmit messages regardless of the distance.

    ¡°I think that should be fine. If you consider the Twin Kingdom¡¯s rtionship with us, the possibility that their side will get any foolish ideas is fairly low, but there¡¯s an exception for everything.¡± (Fabio)

    The secretary agreed monotonously.

    ¡ô¡ó

    That afternoon. Queen Aura received the two royals of the Twin Kingdom, Prince Francesco and Princess Bona, in a parlor in the pce.

    Sending a message in the morning and having a meeting that very afternoon is very fast ¨C almost unbing for royalty ¨C but this is the norm in Prince Francesco¡¯s case. There¡¯s no merit in being surprised at this point in time.

    As usual, the queen, princess and prince sit on sofas facing each other. What¡¯s different from usual is that the heavily pregnant Aura borrows the hand of a maid to sit down and that there are more guards than usual, protecting the queen more closely than usual.

    Queen Aura, stretching out a bit to amodate her girth, first starts with greetings and a report about a different matter.

    ¡°Let me express my thanks for your swift response to my sudden summons. Ah, speaking of thanks, there was the matter of the magic tool, wasn¡¯t there Your Highness Bona?

    It was decided that we would install the ¡ºDecorative Candlestand¡» we received from you in the courtyard.

    We will be holding a dinner party for the unveiling so please allow me to invite you two to the asion. Of course you will be the guest of honor, Your Highness Bona.¡± (Aura)

    She has been invited as the sole guest of honor at a party in the foreign country that is the Carpa Kingdom.

    For Princess Bona, who had been born a low-ranking noble before bing part of the Sharrow family, that was quite the responsibility.

    ¡°Thank you very much, Your Majesty. I shall be looking forward to it.¡± (Bona)

    Subduing the nervousness in her heart, she answers with a forced smile.

    But then again, although her smile is fake because of the pressure and her own nervousness, her words are sincere.

    The ¡ºDecorative Candlestand¡» she gave the Carpa family as a gift this time was a masterpiece that required all the effort of even Princess Bona.

    Of course, she''s afraid of the criticism, but even more than that, she feels the desire to hear the true impressions of the public.

    Watching Princess Bona''s smile be more real as she pictured this, Queen Aura''s eyes crinkle as she smiles back.

    ¡°Yes, we will do our utmost not to betray your expectations, Your Highness.

    By the way, Your Highness Francesco.¡± (Aura)

    She changes the target of the conversation from the princess to the prince.

    ¡°Yes, what might it be, Your Majesty?¡± (Francesco)

    Even with this abrupt topic change, the blond prince answers with a carefree smile.

    ¡°We received a message from the unit that leftst month that they had arrived in the Twin Kingdom''s capital. Have you received one yet?¡±

    The prince meets the queen''s piercing stare, and honestly responds,

    ¡°Yes, I have. It looks like everyone arrived safely. Here¡¯s the ¡ºDuplicate¡» of that.¡± (Francesco)

    Prince Francesco retrieves a sheet of dragon skin from his pocket, unfolding it and cing it on the table.

    As might be expected, he wasn¡¯t so careless as to bring the actual ¡ºParchments of Shared Fire¡», a precious and somewhat dangerous magic tool.

    If the party holding the other sheet of the pair makes a mistake and burns it, it''s counterpart will burn too.

    Given the worst case scenario, it¡¯s usually stored in a non-mmable box made of metal and stone.

    ¡°Hmm, let me have a look. Please check this as well forparison.¡± (Aura)

    Queen Aura ced the dragon skin brought back by the messenger dragon on the table.

    ¡°¡­¡± (Aura)

    ¡°¡­¡± (Francesco)

    ¡°¡­¡± (Bona)

    Three royals of two major powerspare the contents of the two short letters.

    There isn¡¯t that much topare, but the date and time of the arrival match.

    <em>With this, the information that the guard unit led by General Puyol has arrived safely and that the other side has finished its preparations to receive us is probably trustworthy.</em>

    ¡°I see. It appears our country¡¯s knights are being taken care of by your country. Thank you.¡± (Aura)

    ¡°No, not at all. Thank you as well. Those of our soldiers who left with yours managed to safely return home because of your assistance.

    By the way, the preparations being in order means that His Majesty Zenjirou will soon head to the Twin Kingdom as well, I suppose?¡± (Francesco)

    The queen confirms Prince Francesco¡¯s inquiry.

    ¡°Indeed. We have some preparations to make on our side so it won''t be today or tomorrow, but he will likely transfer over within ten days at thetest.¡± (Aura)

    Hearing the queen¡¯s words, the prince leans forward and exims in delight,

    ¡°Ooh, that is good news. As promised we would like to return to our country temporarily in the event that everything is settled on your end. Is that still alright?¡± (Bona)

    ¡°Eh!?¡± (Bona)

    Next to him Princess Bona raises her voice in surprise at that.

    Aura, guessing that Prince Francesco didn¡¯t tell Princess Bona about this, turns to face the princess and grins at her.

    ¡°Once my husband arrives in the Twin Kingdom, there will be ¡ºTeleport¡» users in both countries. In that case it bes possible to make a day trip between the Carpa Kingdom and the Twin Kingdom, though it is limited to one person per day.

    At the end of this¡ºHottest Season¡», it will have been a year since Your Highnesses havee to our country. It¡¯s not just the soldiers who are feeling a touch of homesickness, right?

    If it¡¯s just the two of you, I can send you there and my husband can send you back with¡ºTeleport¡». How about returning home during my husband¡¯s stay in the Twin Kingdom?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°T-That certainly makes sense¡­¡± (Bona)

    Princess Bona barely manages to respond, her face still caught in surprise.

    Having experienced much hardship on the way to the Carpa Kingdom despite how well-travelled the Twin Kingdom''s guards are, Princess Bona can''t seem to fully ept Aura''s words, even though she understands what they mean logically.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how it is. I will dly ept the offer and n to return home for a short while, but what about you, Bona?¡± (Francesco)

    The princess, who acts as Princess Francesco¡¯s chaperone, res hatefully at the problem child who smiled back indifferently.

    ¡°Your Highness, please tell me such things in advance. It puts me on a spot having to react to such talk so suddenly.¡± (Bona)

    ¡°Eh? So, you won¡¯t go home then, Bona?¡± (Francesco)

    ¡°No, I will. I will go home, but that¡¯s exactly why you must contact me in advance. After all there are some things I have to prepare, too.¡± (Bona)

    Aura mediates the two-personedy act, which had already be famous even in the Carpa Kingdom, with a soft chuckle.

    ¡°Certainly, His Highness Francesco has been rather careless, but this is also my mistake. Even though both of you are concerned, I only talked about it with His Highness Francesco. I forgot to personally exin it to you, Your Highness Bona.

    That was impolite of me. Pardon me, Your Highness.¡± (Aura)

    Seeing the queen of another country apologizing even though it¡¯s something trivial at best, Princess Bona vigorously shakes her head, to the point of stirring up the silver dust in her chestnut hair.

    ¡°N-N-No, please. We showed you something unsightly due to ourck ofmunication!¡± (Bona)

    Princess Bona returned the apology.

    ¡°Is it fine to assume then that you will eventually be returning home for a while, Your Highness Bona?¡± (Aura)

    ¡°Yes! I''ll be in your care, then. Ah, could you tell us what will be needed for remuneration?¡± (Bona)

    There is no such thing as getting the royalty of another country to use their ¡ºBloodline Magic¡» for free. If there was, that could only be a sign of more troublesome demands in the future.

    Even Princess Bona, who hasn''t been a royal for very long, is aware of suchmon knowledge.

    However, even that concern was for naught.

    ¡°Ah, as for that, we havee to the agreement that I will pay for it all at once. The price is my magic tool.¡± (Francesco)

    In contrast to Prince Francesco''s bright smile, Princess Bona''s lips tremble furiously with those words.

    If Teleport is the Carpa family¡¯s trump card, the same can be said about the creation of magic tools for the Sharrow family.

    ¡°Your Highness! Why do you have to be so careless!?¡± (Bona)

    Forgetting the fact that she¡¯s in front of the queen of another country, Princess Bona shrilly admonishes Prince Francesco, for making such a thoughtless agreement behind his chaperone''s back.

    ¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô¡ó¡ô

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C End of Part 1 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¨C<hr><hr>

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