CH 342

Chapter 342 – Return Trip

I made combs, brushes, and other accessories for the women we rescued to trim their hair and tails, gave the oni girls a bonus of a gold coin, handed them the ingredients to cook their lunch, and made donuts for Grande, who begged for a snack when she was hungry.

“So, how’s it going?”

“I can’t see into their minds, no matter how good my eyesight is. But their bodies seem to be in good shape now, and they are able to withstand the travel.”

“They are splendid.”

I’m having a serious conversation with Tozume, but our current location is the bathtub. We are soaking in the bathtub. By the way, Tozume’s voice is coming from above my head. I’m wondering if it’s customary for oni, like Shumel and Bella and Tozume, to enter the bathtub while holding me in their arms.

“Well, although things got a little stingy at the end, the job itself is done, right? The saint and the others’ babies are about to be born, so I guess you’ll be taking a break for a while, huh?”

“I don’t know. First of all, we will check the situation of the village we built this time, and after identifying the problems and other issues, we may have to adjust the plan again. Then I will be free for a while.”

“I think you work too much. I think it’s okay to live a more relaxed life.”

“It certainly feels like you’re in a hurry to get on with your life. You have many partners, so you should have a lot of children before winter.”

“We’ll welcome you with open arms, you know?”

The three oni all grinned at each other.

“Please don’t do that; I’ll die. Oh well. I’ve got a lot of things to do in Merinesburg.”

“I told you to take it easy, but now you’re talking about work.”

“I’ll tell Her Majesty to force you to take a break, okay?”

“Should we make sure you’re not up on your legs every day?”

“Stop that; it’s not funny.”

I only have one body. Please be more considerate.

“Anyway, we’re still on schedule for tomorrow, right?”

“That’s right. We can’t just sit around here forever.”

I’m worried about Ellen and Amalie-san, who are pregnant. I want to go home as soon as possible. However, when I come back to Comoran tomorrow, I will have to respond to Viscount Beryl’s hospitality for a few days, I suppose. It would be a hassle, but if I were to quickly return to Merinesburg without receiving any hospitality from Viscount Beryl, I would be ruining his reputation. If I leave without receiving Viscount Beryl’s hospitality, Viscount Beryl will be slammed behind his back by other nobles who will say, “He’s a lousy guy who can’t even show respect to His Highness the Prince Consort.”

If Viscount Beryl’s response was actually bad and I walked away without receiving any hospitality, well, I guess he deserved it, but if I walked away for my own reasons and there was no flaw in Viscount Beryl, it would simply be a disgrace to the innocent Viscount Beryl, and of course, I would be resented by Viscount Beryl.

Nobles are such troublesome people, aren’t they?

“Tomorrow, I have to go to Viscount Beryl’s place. Ah, what a pain in the ass.”

I don’t get along with nobility-related things, do I? Well, I’ll just have to give up and get used to it because of my position. Even if I fail a little, I’ll manage it with the power of His Highness the Prince Consort. And finally, violence, violence, violence.

I must be getting used to this world as I can come up with ideas like this.

☆★☆

My stay in Comoran was uneventful. Well, not exactly uneventful, but at any rate, there were no major disturbances.

Viscount Beryl had already received the news of the pioneer group’s destruction via Ms. Zamir, and the handover of the body and the memorial service proceeded smoothly. Viscount Beryl had prepared the funeral ahead of time.

After the funeral, Viscount Beryl himself approached the women victims. These women were originally residents of Viscount Beryl’s territory. It would have been impossible to predict the existence of more than fifty bandits who were made up of defeated soldiers, but as a result, the guards that Viscount Beryl had prepared were unable to protect them, their friends were killed, and they themselves suffered a terrible fate.

For this, Viscount Beryl apologized and gave them a bag full of silver coins. I know that money can’t solve their problems, but there are many problems that can be solved with money in their future lives. This is the best redemption he could do for them.

Certainly, it is not a problem that can be solved with money, but I understand what he is saying. As for the girls, I have unilaterally informed him that I will protect them, so this is certainly the best redemption he can do for them now.

Of course, before apologizing to the girls, Viscount Beryl apologized profusely to me as well. I, as the prince consort, went to the pioneer settlements, but the bandits took advantage of it, and I had to take care of the bandits. It is a great failure for a lord who protects the development and peace of this land.

However, I made the decision to take action against the bandits on the spot and did it on my own. It would have been a natural response to promptly inform Viscount Beryl when I saw the destruction of the pioneer group and let him handle it himself, and it would have been more of an overstepping of authority, a breaking of bylaws, or an extrajudicial measure for me to annihilate the bandits on my own without Viscount Beryl’s help.

I told him that I had done what I did without considering Viscount Beryl’s reputation and that there was no need to apologize for it.

After such a formal event, we were on our way home.

We were not returning on our usual air boards but on a modified large air board that had been modified in a rush job to improve the comfort of the ride, or rather, the comfort of the passengers.

With this, all the passengers can ride on one air board, which reduces the burden on the harpies, who are on airborne alert, compared to traveling with two air boards. And the top, or rather, the roof*? The roof is wide, so it can be used as a landing place for the harpies. This means that the harpies can take off, land, and rest at their leisure.

“This is good, isn’t it?”

“It is also possible to develop a large air board that can take off, land, and load harpies’ bombs.”

It would be like a ground carrier, so to speak.

The bomb-loaded harpies will inevitably have a shorter range and a limited weight payload. Air bombs for the harpies are heavy and bulky, making them difficult to use on the front lines, let alone in defensive combat. But what if there is a mobile base that can carry a large number of air bombs? The harpies would be able to be fierce on the front lines as well.

“This is good, isn’t it? The seat position is high, and the viewpoint is wide, which is refreshing.”

Bella, who is in charge of driving, is driving the air board in a good mood, seemingly oblivious to the serious conversation between Ygrette and me. Since the air board was considerably larger this time, the driver’s seat was raised in order to secure visibility. Bella was in a good mood from start to finish.

“Zzz…”

Grande is sleeping, buried in the cushions. Meme, the rabbit-type beastman, and Faye, the weasel-type beastman, are playing with Grande’s beautiful blonde hair by braiding it into three braids, but she shows no sign of waking up at all. Once Grande falls asleep, she doesn’t wake up very often.

Luna and Lana, the twins of the dog-type beastman, are smiling at the scene together, and Shen, the horse-type beastman, is talking with Shumel about something. Mito, the mouse-type beastman, is attached to Shen. She is always attached to Shen or Byaku, right?

By the way, Byaku, a fox-type beastman, and Olivia, a goat-type beastman, are working on sewing something while listening to the conversation between Ygrette and me right next to us―or rather, right next to me. It seems that she is fixing the clothes I gave her and the other girls into beastman specs. Tozume is helping them. She’s pretty good with her hands and does a little bit of sewing and crafting.

“Drive safely. If you are in a hurry and cause an accident, we will be delayed.”

“Got it!”

Anyway, that’s the end of my business trip for now. I’m going to spend a while relaxing in Merinesburg.