CH 316.2

(Still, there are so many young customers, huh? All of them are young boys and girls.)

There are a few exceptions, but the adults take a step back and play the role of their wallet.

I asked the village chief, who had just appeared, about this, and he provided the answer.

「It’s because the star of today’s festival is the children.」

The eve of the festival is for adults only, or so he told me. Looking back, it is true that I did not see anyone too young yesterday.

When I asked if this was for their 『educational purpose』, he smile at me.

「Those who cannot yet earn one’s keep will not be given the same share as others.」

The number of dancers is limited, so as the number of participants in the village increases, the number of times someone can do it with a dancer will decrease.

And apparently, at this point, the adults are already on the line of not being able to get turns to be satisfied. So they cannot afford to add children to the group.

This is quite a difficult situation.

(Right, now that I think about it, I have never heard of educational consideration since I came to this world.)

My expression relaxed and felt refreshed as my doubts had been cleared. The village chief also told me the reason why the stalls were all soft stuff.

「The dancers have used up all their energy on the eve of the festival and are quite exhausted. So making them do another intense thing the next day is impossible.」

Now that he mentioned it, there are several things that pointed it out.

Like the female dancers who occasionally rub their hips, and the male dancers who give off a strangely translucent vibe.

(Their bodies are the source of income after all.)

My physical strength aside, I don’t have to worry about injuries and illnesses because of my cheat ability.

After bowing to the mysterious stone statue in my mind for the first time in a while, I went to a food stall to get a drink.

***

The location moved far from the village in the mountain in the Kingdom.

Just south of the Spirit Forest are the ruins of what was once called the Northern City. Further south from there, passing through the territory of the old warrior, the commander of the Imperial Army, and further on, is the Imperial Capital.

The emperor had returned to the palace after a long absence, and that evening he summoned the old warrior, Count Rosehip, and the Marquis, who was away from home to his private chambers.

「There’s a news from the Margrave. He said that several elven Knights appeared in the Great Pit, attacked the guards, and then descended to the bottom.」

When the old warrior heard this, one side of his face formed a big frown, and opened his mouth with a groan.

「I had thought that since they did not appear in the Imperial Capital, they were scattered and hiding in various parts of the country. I had no idea that their destination was so far away.」

Noticing that he seemed to have started planning another expedition in his head, the emperor continued.

「All of them were defeated by Lord Reaper. Judging from the type and how many of them, wasn’t it all the Elven knights who slipped away at that time?」

What was shown was an A-class Knight and five B-class Knights. Then it is just as the emperor said.

「Hohh…」

This is all that came out of the old warrior’s mouth.

Even though they said it’s an A-class and B-class, when it comes to elven Knights, they are definitely at least half a rank higher. To slaughter them all with a single Knight, without leaving even one of them alive, did not seem to be in the realm of a human being.

「It seems he became a literal Grim Reaper huh.」

Count Rosehip sighed as he folded his arms and lightly shook his head. This big man with short gray hair felt the same way as the old warrior.

The Marquis was relatively calm, probably because he was not a pilot and therefore had little reaction.

「What was their purpose in going to the Great Pit? Did you get any prisoners? Also, we must retrieve the Elven Knights.」

The tall, gentleman-like Marquis spoke on behalf of his two colleagues, who had gone quiet.

The middle-aged emperor, however, looked troubled.

「Is something the matter?」

The emperor scratches his cheek and opens his mouth to the Marquis, who looks at him quizzically.

「There were no prisoners or any Knights to recover. The letter says that the entire group was eaten by the golems.」

Since there was no one to interrogate, they did not even know what they were looking for.

The old warrior, the commander of the Imperial Army, admonished the Marquis, who froze with his eyes and mouth wide open.

「You can’t blame Lord Reaper. He managed to win when he could’ve lost his life.」

The knight commander of the Rose Knights also nodded at his statement, indicating his agreement. The Marquis, his mouth still open, looked alternately at the two Knight Commanders.

The emperor chuckled at the situation and continued.

「The Margrave tried to send a survey team to the bottom of the cavern, but the golems were too strong for the Frontier Knights and the Lily Knights to handle. At present, the only one who can descend to the deepest part of the pit is Lord Reaper.」

And the Grim Reaper is very unsuitable for investigations and the like.

「I thought about having the Frontier Knights to escort him, but they are so weak that even Lord Reaper cannot protect them with just one Knight.」

After listening, the Marquis cleared his head and opened his mouth.

「So it means there is nothing we can do about it, huh?」

The emperor, the old warrior, and Count Rosehip. The silence that filled the room between the three men was an affirmation.

「A roundtable will be held soon. Until then, we’ll wait and see and maintain the status quo.」

The emperor spoke, to sum up the discussion and then turned to Count Rosehip.

「You may return to your territory and take some time off. Your butlers there miss you.」

The emperor had borrowed Rose Castle as a place to take refuge for a short period of time. The words were intended as a thank-you for that.

「Moreover, there will be the 『Rose Cup』 at your place this year too, is it not? Now you can do it without canceling the event.」

The white-haired middle-aged man with a large build nodded his head deeply in gratitude for his Lord’s kindness.

***

At the same time. This is Rose Castle in the northwest of the capital.

It is an elegant white castle that stands by the river, surrounded by roses in full bloom throughout the year.

Usually, under the moonlight, the only sound that could be heard was the gentle sound of the stream. But now, the place is filled with hustle and bustle.

『Head Butler! Another animal is approaching from the riverside.』

A black-painted C-class Knight reacts to the voice that was amplified with magic, emanating from the castle’s tallest tower. With a single slash, he slays two pairs of medium-sized magical beasts with four wings.

The C-class who looked around told them if there were any others, but the voice that came back from the castle said that they couldn’t see any from there.

(Countless magic beasts have come to invade the territory. I knew it, they were after that new species of rose.)

Talking to himself in the cockpit is a handsome, well-built man in his prime. He is the butler of Count Rosehip.

(It will be difficult if this continues as is.)

Although it is the home base of Rose Knights, there is currently no pilot among the servants. Therefore, he alone is handling the situation now.

However, as expected, he is at his limit. At this rate, he will be overwhelmed by the magical beast.

(…I guess we don’t have a choice. Let’s get him on a Knight.)

The image of a muscular young man with short black hair wearing a skirt appeared in his mind.

He is a skilled pilot, but he has a problem with his heart. He has lost his pride as a man and is now waving his buttocks and begging to anyone.

(How come he became like that when his father is so splendid that no one can compare to him?)

With a sigh, he shook his head from side to side.

The young man with short black hair is the son of Count Rosehip. He had a bright future ahead of him and was studying at the Imperial Army, but one day, he suddenly stopped being a man.

(The family motto of Count Rosehip’s family is 『To deal with both men and women without distinction』. It is no wonder that my Lord said he could not allow his son to succeed him.)

His Lord’s mood would drop drastically when his son entered his sight.

If that was the only problem, he would only be furious at him and want him to be chastised.

The last time he was offered a hundred consecutive rounds against rose knights, he happily lost a hundred in a row.

(I would like to talk to him about this once.)

Now that his beloved master is away from the castle, it is he, the steward, who is in charge of the castle.

Feeling both the satisfaction and the weight of this responsibility, he walked the C-class to the Knight’s hangar at the castle.