CH 178

Chapter 178 – Immediate Fall Easy-Dragon

would pull herself back

I spent some time with Lime and the others having a sweet or rather early lunch, talking about what to do after leaving Lime and the others and what to do after returning to the other side until it was time for the meeting.

“You’re really broad-minded, aren’t you, Kosuke?”

“Right. You could say I’m a man without restraint.”

“Let’s just call it charming… You’re almost always pushed over.”

“He is an easy… sweet man-nodesu.”

“Hey, what did you say?”

Poizo spit venom at me. You poisonous Slime. Shall I put a Cure Poison Potion on you? No, it doesn’t seem to work, though. Poizo is more of a medicinal Slime than a poisonous Slime… and can refine poisons and medicines almost at will. It seems that the digestive capacity is also the highest among the three.

“But I’m a monster, and Beth and the others are essentially the same. Aside from subhumans like Sylphy and the others, isn’t it a bit of a stretch to accept monsters like me with little resistance?”

“Why are you being so subtly self-deprecating… are you so unsure of yourself?”

“Mghh… it’s not like that, you know? I’m cute, you know? I’m super-pretty, aren’t I?”

As if she had hit the bull’s-eye with Beth’s point, Grande was flustered as she played with the tips of her toes, which were growing out of her big, strong hands. What? Did you have such complex feelings?

“How is it from Kosuke’s point of view-nodesu?”

“Eh, I think she’s super cute in general.”

Then I patted her horned head.

“I think these magnificent horns are cute, as are the unaltered, robust limbs, the cool wings, and the thick, powerful tail. I mean, I think Grande was cute even before she took human form.”

I think her reaction is cute, or her heart is cute… Well, it was impossible for me to lust after Grande in dragon form before she took human form, though. There must be some people out there who can lust after Grande in dragon form. I can’t do it. I’m going to say this twice because it’s important.

“That’s the real thing-nodesu.”

“He’s so broad-minded…”

“You’re not very concerned about looks, are you?”

“I don’t think so…?”

I think they are all stunningly beautiful women and girls, not only Lime and the others and Grande, but also Sylphy and the others. And they are Slimes, Dragon girl, Elf, One-Eyed girl, Harpies, or some other strong and evil demon-like race that I don’t know what it is. That’s just great.

Ellen? Ellen is a level of beauty that’s hard to approach, to be honest. I’m in awe of her, to be honest. I mean, when I say awe-inspiring in that sense, they all are.

“Ugh…”

I was petting Grande’s head while thinking, and Grande turned bright red and rolled her eyes. Her tail was violently slapping the stone floor. The broken and scattered pieces of stone were buried in Lime’s body, bouncing around on Beth’s surface and beaming into Poizo’s body. It’s still a powerful tail.

“…Love.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you!”

“Woah!”

Grande, with her tail wagging wildly, jumped on me! Idiot! Stop it! What the hell are you doing? The Wyvern’s leather armor is like a piece of paper! Ow, ow, ow! The horns are rubbing against my chest! It’s scratching me!

“Nfuu… sunsun… nfufu…”

Grande is rubbing her face (and horns) against my bare chest while sniffing and tripping. I can only see Grande’s head and horns from me, but if I look into her eyes, there might be a heart mark or something. And the horns! The horns are hurting me!

“”She’s madly in love?””

“Immediately fall easy dragon-nanodesu.”

“Don’t mind us here, okay…”

Lime splitting (!) Poizo looked at us with a smirk on her face as she observed us from various angles. Beth looked a little taken aback, but she didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping Grande.

As a result, after about five minutes, Grande came to her senses, realizing what was going on, and nothing serious happened. My breastplate was a little sore from all the rubbing by Grande’s horns, but I didn’t bleed, so I guess that’s a good thing.

“…..”

Grande, having come to her senses, is sitting like the one at the PE session in the corner of the room, facing the corner. She seems to be quite concerned, as she is covering her body with her wings to form a wall.

“Grande?”

“…..”

I tried calling out to her, but her tail just twitched, and she was completely silent.

“Are you embarrassed?”

“There’s nothing to be shy about.”

“Kosuke doesn’t get angry at the mere mention of it, does he?”

The divided Lime was cuddling up to such Grande and comforting Grande. Grande felt extremely guilty about tearing up my Wyvern leather armor and clothes. She didn’t have to worry so much about it, though, because I could have repaired it at the blacksmithing facility in no time at all.

Grande seems to have suffered considerable psychological damage from the guilt of the attack on my leather armor and clothes and the embarrassment of what she did. It’s okay, though. It’s not like I was injured.

“Monsters have strong instincts and impulses, so it can’t be helped-nodesu.”

“Especially since Grande seems to have been in contact with humans for only a short period. Well, you’ll get used to it eventually… Oh, it’s about time.”

Beth said and started to go to the large golem communicator. Beth is going to be the one to relay the message today. Lime’s main body also came toward the golem communicator. The split body seems to be continuing to comfort Grande as before.

“Ellen is already at the meeting place?”

“She’s here. Do you want me to tell her something?”

“Can you tell her briefly that I’m already here and that I’d like to see her soon? It would also be nice if you could tell her that the Liberation Army wants to talk to her about it today.”

“Okay… When are you coming after I tell her? I’m just asking.”

“As soon as everything is ready. Just let me know when and where to go. You can tell her the same way you did today, around tomorrow or the morning after, through one of Beth and the others. Oh, but I thought Beth and the others were escorting her now?”

“Yes, I’m escorting her. Why don’t you just ask for us when she’s alone?”

“Yeah, tell her that.”

“Okay… the saint says she understands.”

“Roger that. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I thanked her, and Beth smiled.

Not long after that, the meeting began, but it seemed that today’s meeting would be a very short one. Ellen would soon find out that I was already here and that she had been informed of my arrival. I thought there was no way there would be any new information after yesterday’s meeting.

“There’s someone I’d really like Kosuke to meet.”

“To Kosuke? What do you mean?”

“I received news this morning that in about five days, the executive of the nostalgist group… that is, my superior, will arrive in Merinesburg. I would very much like Kosuke to meet with her.”

“Is she… a woman?”

“She is indeed a woman, but she is almost fifty years old. If it were Kosuke, it might be possible, but…”

“I don’t think that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

I had to butt in. No, no matter how womanizer I am, to do that with a woman as old as my mother is, as expected.. age alone, and so are Sylphy, Isla, Melty, and Grande, right?　No, no, no. It isn’t. It’s not an age issue. It’s a matter of appearance… You’ve proven that age doesn’t matter if you look okay on the outside, right? No, a human woman close to fifty years old, the other side would would pull herself back. No, no, no.

“…Don’t take it so seriously. Yes, let’s resume.”

“I think there was a subtle pause, but oh well. So, you say you want to have Kosuke meet with your boss over there; what’s the intention? In some cases, I may not agree with you.”

“I thought of putting a crown of luminosity on Kosuke to prove that the apostles are with us.”

“The crown of luminosity is, as I recall, a ritual instrument to visualize God’s blessing, right? What’s the use of doing that? Are you planning to use Kosuke’s presence as a weapon in a power struggle within the Adol religion?”

“It depends. In the Adol religion, a person with strong luminosity has strong authority. To be honest, the reason why the weak faction, the nostalgist, has not been crushed in a head-to-head battle with the mainstream is because they have the saint that I am. If Kosuke, who radiates luminosity comparable to mine, supports the nostalgist and brings the Adol scriptures before they are falsified, which is convenient for the nostalgists and inconvenient for the mainstream, the nostalgists will be able to regain power in a single stroke.”

“Are you willing to put Kosuke’s life in danger for that? That’s not a good idea. I can’t let him take such a risk.”

Sylphy immediately rejected Ellen’s proposal with an immediate answer. Well, I guess that’s what Sylphy would say.

But Ellen was not the type to back down.

“Sooner or later, Adol religion and the Holy Kingdom will discover Kosuke’s existence. If that happens, Kosuke’s danger will be reduced if he is widely recognized as an apostle of God. If Kosuke is recognized as an apostle of God, neither the Holy Kingdom nor Adol religion will be able to assassinate him lightly.”

“It would be far more dangerous to make Kosuke’s existence public, wouldn’t it?”

“The story that Kosuke is your lover is already well known among the Liberation Army, isn’t it? I think the Holy Kingdom has long been aware of that. The Holy Kingdom is not as incompetent as you think. In fact, that is how Kosuke and I came to meet. Am I wrong?”

“That’s… but I thought you said you didn’t know about Qubi’s affiliation either?”

“Yes, as for the Fox-beastman in question, at least he is not a member of our nostalgist faction. But it is hard to imagine that he is a member of the mainstream faction either. I don’t think they would use subhuman spies.”

That brings us to Qubi, the man who kidnapped me. Who the hell is that guy, and why is it hard to believe that he’s not the hand of the nostalgist group or even the hand of the mainstream group? He may be a third force that is neither, but Ellen doesn’t know what kind of force that is.

“If it’s neither, then maybe he’s an agent of the Empire, which is at war with the Holy Kingdom.”

“I wouldn’t say that’s an absolute possibility.”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s more realistic than the talk of a mainstream hand.”

I meant it as a joke, but Sylphy and Ellen both replied in the affirmative to my words. If so, that would mean that the empire had been harboring Qubi in the Merinard kingdom for at least three years before Danan and the others rebelled in the kingdom. Maybe even before that.

But, true or false, spies on earth also spend years, in some cases decades, hiding in a target country… For example, ninjas, originally, are not so flashy, dressed in black, carrying ninja swords, and throwing shuriken, but rather, they are essentially humble intelligence agents… I’m talking about blending in with the land. Given that, is it not possible that Qubi was the same?

“Well, it would be good to know that there are other beings of equal or greater luminosity than me who belong to the nostalgist group. When it is widely known to the public, there is no problem hiding the name and face. Eventually, it will be necessary to show his face, but we will be careful about that. I would like my boss to see his face, though.”

“Hmm… why is that?”

“No matter how much glitter you show, it’s not enough to gain trust. It’s not the same as showing it to the masses.”

“Hmm… well, that’s good.”

Sylphy seemed to have something on her mind, but she decided not to pursue the matter. I wondered if that was possible. Even if I were to actually wear that dazzling crown in person, it would be hard to believe that someone would entrust their fate to a person who hid his face behind a mask or something.

If it was “some noble and great person who is out of reach” from the people’s point of view, they might not care so much.

“For the time being, the Liberation Army will allow Kosuke to meet your boss as a way to strengthen cooperation with the nostalgist. We will leave it to Kosuke to decide whether or not he will actually meet her. But don’t forget that our objective is to recapture the territory of the Merinard Kingdom. If the nostalgist takes control of the Holy Kingdom and returns the remaining territories, we will be happy to cooperate with them, but if that is not possible, we will have to take the same approach as south of Erichburg, which is to fight and take back the territories. We have not made peace, and our relationship at this point is that of enemies of enemies, and we are essentially incompatible. Kosuke is merely a bridge between you and us. Please don’t do anything strange to Kosuke… I will use any means to kill you then.”

“I understand. I, for one, do not want to see any more deaths. Although they have different claims, the mainstream people are also Adolians, and they are my fellow citizens. At the same time, I do not want to fight with the members of the Liberation Army, who are also very important to Kosuke. I will do my best to resolve the situation amicably and without bloodshed.”

“Don’t forget those words. Then, if you need anything else, please contact me through Lime and the others. What about the next regular contact?”

“If all goes well, we will discuss this in five days with my superior.”

“I understand. Well then… Kosuke, don’t let your guard down.”

“I understand. Call me as soon as you have something going on over there.”

“Yes, of course. See you then.”

Sylphy’s voice cuts off. It seems that she ended the communication.

“She speaks in a gentle voice to you, too.”

“Well, yes.”

“Should I be nice to you, too?”

“Isn’t it a little late for that now? That kind of thing isn’t bad, but I like our current relationship where we can talk casually.”

“Yes, I agree. Let’s only do that kind of thing when we’re alone.”

“O-oh.”

“Please give me some time to confirm the schedule for the delivery of the scriptures. As soon as it is decided, I will inform one of the Slimes.”

“I understand. Take it easy.”

“Yes. Goodbye.”

“…And the saint has also left the meeting place.”

“I see… phew.”

I sighed vaguely at Beth’s words. What can I say? Listening to Sylphy and Ellen discussing is more tiring than I thought it would be. It’s not like it’s a battlefield, but I feel like my heart is getting fatigued. The atmosphere is completely different from when Sylphy is talking with Isla, Melty, the Harpies, and others. Can I say that there is a wall between them? It’s not surprising since they have never met face-to-face.

“Is it too much?”

“I don’t think it goes that far. It’s more of a probing sort of thing.”

“It’s a person whose voice is the only thing I know. I don’t dislike her, though. She’s pretty interesting.”

“Lime, too. She’s pretty sweet.”

“She is a curious girl. She’s not afraid to touch us, you know-nodesu?”

“Really?”

Well, Ellen might do something as normal as that. It’s kind of like going her own way, isn’t it, Ellen?

“Is that all for today?”

“I guess… I’ll just have to leave the armor repair alone, and it’s not like there’s anything that needs to be made right now ― Huh!”

By the time I realized it, it was too late. I made a mistake.

I made a mistake, a mistake, a mistake, a mistake, a mistake――.

“Forgive me.”

“Will you be gentle?”

“We’ll take care of it-nodesu.”

“Or, you’ll be lost.”

Beth’s arms literally entangle and restrain me. Oh, Grande is carried from the corner of the room by Lime’s sub-bodies. Grande, you’re on their way, too. Hahaha.

“Let’s seriously weigh ourselves down, for now, Poizo, shall we? Right?”

“I’ll think about it-nodesu.”

Poizo grins. No, she has zero intention of pulling herself back in. Poizo’s ability to refine chemicals is really bad. Specifically, it’s about three times worse than the drugs Isla makes. It’s so bad that it evaporates your vocabulary rather than diminishes it. It’s terrible.

In this case, Grande is my last hope. I believe that Grande’s ability as a dragon will save me.