The king was tucking into a delicious set of french fries and steamed fish sold at a morning market stall. He looked like a retired man of a small merchant family, but he stood out from the crowd because of his fine traveling clothes, which still had a luxurious feel even when covered with dust from his travels and the presence of the Sword Saints who were surrounding him.
“Hmm. Freshly fried and steamed hot food is delicious after all. Look here, Randall brat. Try some of this”
“Haa. No, but……”
“Gardner hasn’t seen it either. Don’t be so formal. ……You’re just like your father, you can’t read the air”
“Eh……no, that”
“Youth bullying should be moderated. Randall is still studying on the streets. It would be absurd to suddenly send him out to deal with such a difficult person as Your Highness”
“You are a casual poisoner, Grants”
“I beg your pardon. I’m a little offended”
“You haven’t apologized at all”
The late king laughs and offers it to me.
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“How about it? How about we have breakfast together? In the palace, we are only allowed to eat cold food. The only way to get a good meal was to go to Linda’s”
One of the Sword Saints immediately interrupted, saying, 「That’s not a good thing to hear」.
“It is for the sake of poisoning, I suppose. The soup should have been served hot”
“I have already given you the throne. I don’t need to wait for the soup to get cold before I can taste it”
“That will not be the case”
“Even if you leave me alone, I won’t live another ten years. No one will be troubled if it is inadvertently cut short”
“The newborn prince will be sad, won’t he? Ah, how he would have loved to play with his grandfather”
“……He’s taking up the shield right away”
The king shakes his head and still offers me the plate. No, the former king.
“……Then, be my guest”
I don’t want to get into a conversation. I’ll just take a bite of it and let the conversation move on. Erik, who had been in trouble for some time, looked at me with surprised eyes. Then he saw Tetes with the same look.
“Y, You´re very courageous, 10-man captain Smithson”
Oh, you call me that in the foreign mode. Well, now that she’s wearing a gauntlet, even if its told that I’m the master, it’s just a hassle to explain, so that’s fine.
“Well, I’m a commoner, so I don’t know the do’s and don’ts of the court”
“Hoohoohoo That’s fine. This is not the court and I am not a king, but just an old man in retirement. Above all, the …… 『Hero of the Elf Territory』 should not be bothered by a mere shell of a king”
“!?”
He poked at me again. The appeal that he knows so far.
“Don’t look so complicated. It is true that you are a threat to Trot. But you’re doing very well”
“……S, So……right?”
“You have made many powerful alliances and you have reduced your enemies well. Still, you push your credit to others and avoid the record so that you can not notice the unscrupulous person……is it cautious or a good staff member? Are you blessed? In any case, those who have power are rarely able to do anything and those who try to diminish their power are hard to see and keep a good position”
“…………”
I’m not aware of it, but that’s certainly the way things are going. Are Dianne, Laila, and Irina very good at this area?
“It seems that the cunning is more scary to me than the 『Connection』that I have. ……I’m not sure if you are planning on owning a territory? I would rather know that than let it go unchecked”
“I have no intention of doing so. It’s just that……”
“Just what?”
“I love women”
“…………”
“I have a little ambition to get as many of the girls around me now as possible as wives and keep them and live off them”
I blurted out my vision of the future with a straight face as I snatched the third french fry from the former king, who was offering me a plate with a subtle expression. No deception would work with this old man. That is why I thought I would be honest.
“……Buu……buwahahahahahahaha!”
And when the old man heard this, he burst out laughing. A few fries spilled from the plate and just before they were about to fall, Maia used something to magically hold them still in mid-air and slowly retrieve them.
I see, I see. So your ambition is more women than territory”
“I’m a commoner. I don’t know how to use something so big”
Dragon power, elven blessings, or……the qualifications of a hero. I think I’m probably not using the big ones I’ve had so far most effectively. I don’t see that as a bad thing. The future me that I want is not the one in a big castle, on a throne, in fancy clothes. It is not the one who is surrounded by lots of money and plays as he pleases. I don’t think such a thing would make me happier than I am now. The best happiness I can understand is now, when many of the best women adore me and the best life plan is the peaceful future that lies ahead. Not by exhausting what I have, not by taking all I can get. We just do what we need to do to get there.
“Hoohoohoo. Well, I understand. ……You are not cunning. You just don’t see things wrong”
“……I don’t understand well”
“Yes. You don’t understand it yourself, I’m sure. You don’t know how important it is”
The old man shook my hand as he placed the plate in the hands of the Sword Saint beside him.
“I am so glad you are not Ruth´s ……not our king´s enemy. Please do not abandon Trot. ……Linda and Gardner are on the move now. It won’t be long before we see proof of our friendship. I don’t know if I will be around to see the next era you and Ruth will create”
“……Is something wrong?”
“Not enough to worry about. But I am not a man who can live that long. I’m not sure how long I’m going to live, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to live seventy years and talk like that. ……During my long reign, I have worn myself out. Literally”
“…………”
The former king looked at me with eyes that showed some resignation, but also a strong will that surpassed that resignation. Perhaps there really is something wrong with him. And I guess he came here, wanting to do something, even a little, before he collapsed from it.
“I’m fine. ……Please come to Polka after this trip and come with old man Bonaparte. If you soak in the hot springs of Polka, I am sure you will be fine until the prince comes of age”
“Hoohoo. That’s a good idea. I had never thought of taking a hot spring bath with that Arthur”
He probably thought of it as a social call. He brushed it off lightly. But I have a new goal. A Polka where my women, my wife, Sir Bonaparte and the future king could live in peace. I may need help from many people before this dream comes true. I will do my best. I’m sure it’s more realistic and more me than becoming a lord with a territory.
-
The first time I returned to the mansion a little before noon, I found that the supplies arranged by Sir Buster were being brought into the yard one after another.
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“Isn’t that a bit……much?”
“I can make the round trip. If it is a little too much, I can carry it by attaching it to my dragon body with a hidden illusion”
Laila agreed. That’s certainly a way to go.
“So can Laila carry it all by herself?”
“It would be difficult to fly if I had to carry too much. The weight itself can’t be forgotten”
……Then you shouldn’t push yourself too hard. Laila is a fire dragon, so she seems to be less stable than an ice dragon in the event of strong winds or bad weather.
“What about 100-man commander Becker?”
“He is still sleeping. The threat to his life is over, but Hilda says he can move around a lot, so there’s no guarantee he won’t think of something strange”
“……Is it the pursuit of that guy?”
“Umm”
The risk of doing something crazy is high when you’re in an unstable state of mind. Even if 100-man commander Becker remains asleep, it is unlikely to cause any problems at the moment and that’s okay.
“What about that General Bird?”
“Huh. He said he was going to pack his bags”
Laila looked around. She was probably looking for the whereabouts of General Bird by hearing rather than looking around. And then.
“Yossu”
General Kingfisher entered through the main gate in a strangely good mood a short time later.
“Th, Thank you very much for your help”
A girl with glasses. In other words, he was accompanied by Ms. Lucia Arts.
“……What’s the matter?”
“I went to greet Lucia-sensei with a bit of tragic resolution, but she said she would come with me to take care of me, iyahahahaha”
He was in a good mood or completely floating. And then he suddenly put me between his wings and started talking in private.
“Hey, she’s going to take care of myself from meals to a foreign country? Don’t you think my time has definitely come? Kuikukuku”
“……I can’t follow you if you’re laughing like a creep. I mean, are you sure you can move your wings like this?”
“I hear you well. It is actually quite painful. Look at that, the left wing is not extended”
“Then don’t do it, it’s too hot……”
“But now I feel like I can fly with this wing. Kuikukukuku”
This person is no good.
“Emm, Cray-san”
General Kingfisher turned his head back in a panic as he was called out from behind. I’m in front of him, but I’m still grossed out by him, so please don’t do that.
“It doesn’t hurt, does it? I can see the stitches clearly when you move your wings like that……”
“Kua, th, that’s alright, I´m a Master Knight. I’m so reputed that it’s okay to be a Over Knight if there is a crisis chance in the national survival class, hahahahaha”
I escape from the wing of General Kingfisher, who is smiling briskly. And as I listen, Lucia-san looks a little embarrassed.
“‘Well, then……that, could you give me a little try, that”
“Kua?”
“That, you know, pinching it with your wings……seems kind of fun or comfortable or something……”
I think it’s just hot. However, General Kingfisher opened his beak and stiffened for about a second, looking to his left and right and screaming, forcing him to make a dignified face.
“I, I’ve never heard someone say that before, though. I hope you’ll take a bite of my winged embrace”
He tried to force himself to spread his wings and stiffened with pain. Then Keiron came up to me.
“……That General Bird, come on”
“Yeah”
“Whether it works or not, I think it will hurt to death by the time it heals”
“I have a feeling about that, too”
The contrast between Lucia’s happy face and Kingfisher’s pain-stricken eyes, which were visible through the unexpanded wings, was incredible.
“Well, Becker-kun brought it in properly? Andy-kun and Keiron-kun, make sure it’s properly secured. Even though there is a mat, be careful about the inclination at the time of takeoff and landing”
“Yes”
“Uiissu”
Hilda gave us detailed instructions as we waited for takeoff. General Kingfisher and Lucia-san, who were experiencing dragon transportation for the first time, stuck to the window as if it were a rarity. It may have been just General Kingfisher’s casual flirtation with Lucia.
“I’m going, Andy-sama”
Maia will be in charge of the personnel carriages and Laila will be in charge of the supplies.
“Go ahead”
I said, which was conveyed to Laila and they both began beating their wings at the same time.
“Wow……I’ve never seen a dragon flying before……!”
I could hear Lucia-san sounding a little excited.
“The bone at the base of that wing……I want to touch the elbow, too……!!”
“A, Ah, Lucia-sensei?”
“Haa……ah, no, the base of Cray-san’s wing is lovely, too, don’t you think?”
“No, that……emm. Kua”
General Kingfisher sounded puzzled by Lucia-san’s mysterious excitement. ……I wonder if he hadn’t noticed that it seemed like a strange hobby.
- ToC -
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