CH 147

The next day, I was completely exhausted. Mentally.

“Here, Kosuke. Ahhh.”

“…..”

I stared silently at the fork with a sausage stuck in it that Sylphy offered me. Then I look at her face.

“Look, can’t you hear what Sylphy-Oneechan says? Hmm?”

“…Ahh.”

I gave up to the smiling Sylphy and opened my mouth, and Sylphy shoved the sausage into my mouth with a happy smile on her face. I chewed the sausage that was shoved into my mouth. Hahaha, it’s so salty.

“Here’s the next one, Kosuke-san.”

“…..”

Melty smiles and brings a small piece of bread to my mouth with her hand. I realized that resistance was pointless, so I meekly opened my mouth and accepted the bread into my mouth. Hahaha, the bread is soft and delicious.

“Thank you, Melty-Oneechan.”

“Fufufu…”

When I thanked her, Melty smiled at me in a very good mood. A One-Eyed girl is grinning at the situation.

“Isla…”

“Isla-Oneechan.”

“Isla-Oneechan…”

“What is it?”

“Can’t you do something about it?”

“I can’t. Not until we’re satisfied.”

“Gnunu.”

I was pampered to the hilt last night. The three of them spoiled me more than I could have ever imagined. Physical exhaustion was not a big deal. Even mentally, it was nothing because I was in a state of unconsciousness from being pampered and drunk.

The problem came when I woke up in the morning. Memories of last night flooded in! The unspeakable abominations! My mind took a tremendous amount of damage over time. I’m done, I’m done… The three of them are in a great mood, though!

What’s wrong with Grande, you ask? Grande is still asleep, buried in the cushions… As expected of a dragon, once she starts sleeping, she doesn’t wake up! It’s probably a good thing that Grande didn’t witness the ugliness of last night.

And while this was happening, the Harpies showed up.

“Good morning!”

“Morning!”

“Good morning!”

“Morning.”

And suddenly, the place became lively, and the atmosphere of continuing the sister-brother play was erased. Yes! The Harpies are the best! They’ll help me when I need it most! That’s what I love about them!

“Good morning! Did you eat breakfast? If you haven’t, I’ll serve you whatever you want!”

“Well then, hot cake, please! The one with lots of cream and strawberry jam!”

The bright, fearless, and sensitive Pessar makes a request with sparkling eyes. All right, all right, pancakes. I’ll serve you as many as you want.

I put the pancakes out on a flat plate and quickly cut them into bite-sized pieces with a knife so that the Harpies could eat them easily. This way, even the less dexterous Harpies can eat them with just a fork.

The Harpies started to eat the pancakes with their forks, looking happy and cheerful.

“Noja, noja!”

Grande, who woke up before I knew it, was also among them. When did she wake up? I mean, her sense of smell for pancakes is amazing.

After breakfast, it’s time to take a short break. People in this world don’t live in a time crunch. I guess it’s different for people who work as farmers or in business, though. Sylphy and Melty usually start their work early, but today they are taking their time.

“Kosuke has decided to go on an expedition to the Great Omit Wilderness. The purpose is to explore the ruins of the Omit Kingdom and look for old books.”

At Isla’s words, the Harpies, who were literally poking at the pancakes while cackling, fell silent.

“Noja, noja.”

Grande is not shaken. The Grand Dragon is unfazed.

“I’ll accompany him since I can use detection magic, also a few Harpies who can scout from the sky, plus Grande and Zamir for escort, and also a good adventurer since we’ll be exploring the ruins.”

The Harpies were shocked, and their feathers swelled up with a buzz. They exchanged glances with each other as if they were checking each other out.

“I think one person as direct cover for Kosuke and two or three for surveillance would be appropriate. What do you think?”

“That’s right… When exploring the wilderness, you’re going to set up a temporary accommodation on stilts at night, aren’t you, Kosuke-san?”

“I think so.”

“When it comes to that, you don’t need to be very vigilant at night, but it’s better to have at least one person who can see at night.”

Pirna, who is in charge of organizing the Harpies, glances at two people who can see at night: Flamme, a small brown-feathered Harpy with animal-ear-like feathers on her head, and Capri, another brown-feathered Harpy similar to Flamme but without animal-ear-like feathers on her head.

“I-it’s either Capri-san or me, isn’t it?”

“It’s either Flamme or me then.”

The two looked at each other and nodded at the same time.

“Then, how about the two of us go?”

“Of course, our eyes work well at night, but we also have good eyesight during the day, too, you know?”

“That’s no good. Depending on the situation, we may need to do some nighttime reconnaissance, so one of you will have to stay here.”

Isla shook her head firmly, making a cross mark in front of her chest.

“Normally, we operate in groups of three, but since we don’t want anything to happen to Kosuke-san, we decided to have four people in total. One of them is one of the two who can see at night, so that leaves three more.”

How on earth are they going to decide who will accompany me?

“I think Ygrett would be a good choice. You haven’t spent much time with Danna-san, have you?”

“M-me?”

Ygrett flinched wide-eyed at Pessar’s recommendation. She’s a white-feathered harpy, a beauty with an air of nobility about her. She is a large bird species with a relatively large body among the Harpies. She has a swan-like image.

“That’s good, I think. The same reason for Eyja.”

“…?”

The jet-black-feathered Harpy, Ray, recommended the dark-reddish-brown Harpy, Eyja, and Eyja, who was recommended by Ray, said, “Me?.” She, like Ygrett, is a large bird-type Harpy and a taciturn girl. I hardly remember hearing her voice. She is a beautiful woman with sharp eyes.

“Who would you like to be for the last one?”

“Well, if Orio, Aegis, or Dicle were here, I would have recommended them. But they’re away on missions.”

“Then let’s decide who’s left.”

“As you wish.”

Ygrett, Eyja, and the rest of the Harpies, except for Flamme and Capri, who are discussing, are all walking out of the lord’s mansion. What are they doing? I was curious and decided to follow suit.

“What’s the format?”

“Battle Royale.”

“That’s fair enough.”

“I won’t lose.”

There was only one slot left, and the seven Harpies vying for it were Pirna the blue-feathered Harpy, Fronte the light blue-feathered Harpy, Bron the pink-feathered Harpy, Fitch the orange-feathered Harpy, Ray the jet-black Harpy, Shou the red-feathered Harpy, Pessar the dark-brown-feathered Harpy, and Torch the green-feathered Harpy. All of them are small birds, and they are all of a similar build.

“Now… let’s all begin flying!”

With Pirna’s call, a strong wind blew, and in an instant, the seven Harpies soared into the sky. They circled above the lord’s mansion for a while, then formed a circle in the sky at almost equal intervals. Then, unexpectedly, the circle in the sky collapsed, and the Harpies began to follow behind each other in a complicated trajectory. It’s like a fighter jet in midair.

“How is the victory or defeat determined in that game?”

“If you can get behind them and hit them with a physical or magical blow, you win.”

“I see.”

“Fumu… that’s not bad.”

Grande is looking up at the Harpies who are fighting in the air. I’m sure Grande is quicker in a straight line than them, but I don’t think she can fly with such finesse, you know.

After a while, the Harpies, who seemed to have dropped out, came down. And the last one left.

“I did it.”

Pirna swoops down from the sky and strikes a pose with a smug look on her face. Well, I think it’s fair to say that she’s the one who put everyone together.

“I couldn’t beat the captain…”

“So strong.”

“I was so close…”

The defeated Harpies kneeled on the ground and hung their heads. It was Isla who followed up on these girls.

“We will not be leaving today; we need to prepare. In the meantime, the remaining people should have more contact with Kosuke.”

“That’s right. That would be good. Isn’t that good? Is that okay, Kosuke-san?”

“That’s fine, but be gentle with me.”

The expressions of the defeated Harpies brighten. Isla is quite aware of these details. She’s very good at coordinating interests, or so to speak.

“I’ll keep a low profile during the preparation period. Kosuke, please be kind to the people who will be staying here.”

“I-I understand. I’ll do what I can to help.”

“Hmm, do that.”

Isla looks up at me and smiles. Hmm, she has overflowing motherhood and generosity. Although her body is small, she may actually be the most mature of them all.

“How should we proceed with the preparations?”

“I’ll arrange for supplies and adventurers.”

Melty raises her hand and speaks up. It’s best to leave such matters to Melty.

“It would be best if Kosuke could carry the supplies. However, this alone is dangerous if we get separated from Kosuke. It’s best for each of us to have a certain amount of water and food.”

“I’ll prepare a golem communicator for the Harpies.”

“That’ll come in handy.”

“We should make a gondola for Grande to carry people. Not for two people, but for more people.”

“That’s right. That gondola can only carry two people, after all.”

“Let’s see, it’ll be me, Isla, Ms. Zamir, and some adventurers, right? Do you think you can carry eight people?”

“I still have a lot of strength left in me, so I’ll be fine.”

“I see.”

She said it would be difficult to fly if it was a box-shaped carriage that had too much wind resistance… Should I make a streamlined gondola with aerodynamic characteristics? I don’t think the bullet shape would be a good idea. I will try to make various kinds.