CH 195

Speaking of Summer…

What the hell!!

When I think of summer, I think of the sea! and so I decided to bring Dirk, Milfi, Elder brother, Cidar-kun and his little siblings to the beach. As an added bonus, I had two princes and tons of guards accompany us. I couldn't say no because I owed them a favor... well, they had business to take care of, so they were not here just to play.

And I had no idea. The seas of this world were dangerous zones! People can’t swim in the seas full of sea serpents and sirens like this! I mean, isn’t there an unusual number of Sirens here?

We were now on the southern coast of Christia. This is where Martha is from, or so I was told. Martha grew up in the fishing village here until she was five years old, and when Ark was born, she was invited to the Duke's mansion. Martha and Ark’s mother was originally a maid at the Duke's mansion and she was actually Grandmother’s personal maid, apparently. They were good friends and exchanged letters frequently, and since it was close to the time of the birth, she was called in by the wet nurse to see if they could help. I mean, I just found out that my father and Ark were not childhood friends, but milk brothers.

We will talk more about that in the future as there’s something else that's on my mind right now.

“Martha.”

“Yes.”

“... Isn’t there an unusual amount of Sirens here?”

“... I was here only until I was five, but it wasn’t like this before. Usually, there was only one of them here, if even that.”

As far as I could see, there were ten of them in sight. There were clearly too many.

“Rosarin, what are you going to do? Rather, what did you come here for in the first place?”

“... I wanted to swim in the sea.”

“Swim in the sea?”

There was no concept of swimming in this world in the first place. The seas are considered dangerous zones, after all. No one was stupid enough to swim in them. But hey, when you think of summer, you think of the sea! You would want to go swimming, right!

“Fu… fufufu…”

“Rosarin?”

“Who cares about the number of monsters! I will hunt them down for lunch and dinner!”

“Oneechan, you are going to eat the Sirens, too?”

The tension that has sky-rocketed was destroyed instantly by the cute little light blue goldfish.

“.........”

The Siren who was singing froze, as if she could hear our conversation. By the way, the Sirens here have the lower body of a fish, not a bird. They are the mermaid type Siren. They seem to attract humans with their songs, sink ships, and eat them.

I would like to avoid splatter, as well as getting eaten or eating them. I won't eat them!

By the way, a fisherman from around here also suffered damage and had his boat sunk, so he also wants to do something about it. I was lamenting that the store where seafood dishes were sold was not able to serve seafood. One can’t fish by sitting inside, after all.

“No, I won’t. That would be impossible even for me. Let’s resolve this peacefully! Valkyrie!! Anti-Siren mode!!”

“Rosariiin!!”

“I told you to stop doing that!”

Valkyrie this time, had sea specifications. A motorboat with face, microphone, and speakers.

“Now, Valkyrie! I'm going to show off my singing voice to the fullest, which I was going to save as a banquet trick!”

“Rosariiin!”

Double the power with speakers! Shut up! I mean, that's why you don't call people names!

Valkyrie went near the Sirens and sang a certain Vocaloid song. The Sirens will have to compete. Apparently, the Sirens have a rule that if they lose a sing off, they have to leave the area where they lost (Kuurin’s information).

Fuhahaha, bow down to the song of the digital angel that descended on Christia!

“Now then, we will go hunting while Valkyrie keeps the Sirens company. Let’s compete.”

“Good! Should we team up!”

“That’s reasonable since it’s dangerous here. Rosarin and Dirk have to be on different teams, though.”

Adeil-san decided calmly.

“Why!?”

“I don’t feel like we could win if you guys teamed up.”

“......... Tch.”

It was a very convincing reason. So we divided the teams.

Dirk, the two princes and their guards, my brother, Gator, and Jash team.

Me, Milfi, Cidar-kun, and his family, and Rabisha-chan team. I was allowed to use the magic beasts and spirits since we had less people.

The three former assassins, Martha and Zilva were to guard us in case of danger as well as act as referees.

“Well then, let’s begin!”

As Martha declared the start, Dirk caught a fish with a whip and chopped it up.

“Wow.”

“As expected of Dirk Barton. He’s said to be on the top even among the Knights.”

While talking, the Light-sama and Dark-sama duo defeated a fish monster as Dirk caught one of his own. I did not know Pitch Dark-sama was able to use swords, too.

“Hah!”

Jash skillfully took down a monster with a throwing knife. He and Dirk seemed to be in perfect synch, as they killed one after another.

They are quite good, as expected of Dirk! We cannot lose! I shouted.

“Kuurin! Go into the sea, turn huge, and chase them to the shore!”

“Oka~y!”

Chased by the giant fish Bahamut, the monsters were driven to the shore. There…!

“Suigetsu-san! Make a net!”

“Kisha~!”

The Water Spider Suigetsu-san cast a sticky net on the monsters.

“I will turn you into sashimi!”

I got a big haul by using wind magic! I really want to eat sashimi now.

“......... Wow.”

“Can we win against that?”

Dirk's team was stupefied. I've taken down dozens of them all at once, and Rabisha-chan, Milfi, Sabo-san, and Cidar-kun were chasing down the the spillovers... no, Cidar-kun’s pipsqueaks were taking them down too! They were a surprisingly strong force to be reckoned with!

“Kyaaa!”

One of the fish that escaped the net attack was charging towards Milfi! I told her to step back, but she was too far away from me. I couldn’t make it in time from my position!

“Watch out!”

In the nick of time, Cidar-kun took Milfi into his embrace and avoided the monster. Sabo-san immediately took care of the fish with his needles.

“What about Milfi!?”

“The princess is safe.”

“Princess?”

“Ah, uh… she seems to have no injuries, right!”

Cidar-kun confirmed with Mifli to try and deceive his way out. Milfi nodded.

Milfi has soft pink blonde hair with a light curl. She has sapphire eyes, long lashes and rosy lips. She's also currently wearing a white dress onesie. She's indeed a princess! She sure looks like a princess from a story!

“You certainly are graceful and gentle, and beautifully cute like a princess, Milfi.”

“Oh my… thank you.”

Milfi smiled bashfully. She’s a princess, even from my point of view. Cidar-kun scratched his head. Was he embarrassed?

“No, well… yeah. I have never seen a girl as pretty as you, so I thought you were a princess. Sorry.”

“Fueh!? T… thank you. That’s the first time I have been told something like that.”

Milfi turned bright red at the direct compliment. Hmm, they might be a good fit. Cidar-kun is an excellent family-forward man.

Cidar-kun put down Milfi who was in his arms and bowed his head.

“Umm, it might be too late for that now, but I have always wanted to apologize. I’m sorry for trying to steal your purse!”

“Eh? Ahh, yes. It’s already a thing from the past, I don’t mind. You seemed to have your own circumstances, so it’s not like you were stealing for your own self-interest. You have saved me now, so we are… even? I guess.”

“... No, stealing is stealing. Something like this is not enough to repay you.”

“Eh? Ah, aren’t you injured!”

“I just have to lick thi---”Light Heal.”

Milfi promptly cast recovery magic. She stretched out her hand and told him clearly.

“You feel ashamed of what you have done, but I have no intention of punishing you for trying to commit a crime for the well-being of your family.”

“... I see.”

“If you think that it’s still not enough compensation then… let’s see, become my friend please!”

“... Huh?”

“I find you quite likable! If you feel sorry for trying to steal my purse, then please become my friend!”

“No… Only nobles like Rosarin are suitable to be friends of a princess like yo---”... Are you saying no?”

Don’t push him too hard, Milfi. Cidar-kun was overwhelmed by the pleading of the adorable princess.

N? Somehow, he seems…? Milfi was holding both of Cidar-kun’s hands. Cidar-kun was panicked. However, Milfi never let go.

“Becoming friends is not something to seek as compensation! Rather, you will get dirty by touching something like me!”

Cidar-kun tried to remove Milfi's hands, but I guess he couldn’t be too rough with them. He turned bright red and panicky. Milfi looked straight at Cidar-kun.

“Indeed. I said something cowardly like trying to force you to become my friend as a repayment. I find you likable. Please become my friend.”

“......... Ah, yes.”

Yeah, no one's going to win that one. Cidar-kun nodded with his face bright red. Is this… perchance!? Milfi's dere was MAXed out!

“Niichan, you are friends with the princess?”

“Aren’t you glad, Niichan. You were saying she’s beautiful as a princess, too.”

Cidar-kun’s pipsqueaks mean no harm, probably. They were only giving him their blessings.

“I’m going to beat you all!”

Cidar-kun, who was too embarrassed, lost his temper and chased the pipsqueaks around. The kids were so fast! The chase between Cidar-kun and the pipsqueaks continued for a while.