Chapter 470: 「That’s not it!」

Chapter 470: 「That’s not it!」

The day after the mechanic sisters soothed my mental fatigue, we decided to head to Elma’s family home, the Viscount Willrose House estate.

「Have a safe trip, Master.」

「Sorry to leave you behind again.」

「Please don’t worry about it. A mechanical intelligence like mine isn’t very welcome in the Imperial Capital anyway.」

In response to my apology, Mei shook her head and answered like that. Since Neve still couldn’t walk out of the medical pod, someone with medical knowledge needed to stay by her side. That left the suitable candidates to either be Dr. Shouko or Mei. One of the reasons we were going to visit the Viscount Willrose House was so the crew could meet the people of the Willrose family, so it was better if Dr. Shouko came along, which naturally made Mei the one to stay behind.Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

「Besides, you will compensate me later today, right Master?」

「Ah, yes.」

It seems that when we return to the Black Lotus today, I’ll be pampering Mei... no, it’s more like Mei will be pampering me.

「Come on, if you’re ready, let’s go. Mei, take care of things while we’re gone.」

「See you later!」

「Yes, Elma-sama. Mimi-sama. Everyone, have a safe trip.」

Mei saw us off with a bow, and we headed to the Viscount Willrose House estate in the Imperial Capital.

☆★☆

「Scoundrel targeting the young lady! Prepare yourself!」 「I will claim the position of Serena’s partner! Prepare yourself!」 「You fake noble, how dare you! Prepare yourself!」

「I thought we might be attacked by people spouting that kind of nonsense, but surprisingly, nothing like that has happened.」

「I doubt anyone would dare to act so recklessly against you now, Hiro-dono.」

Elma’s father, Viscount Eldmoore Willrose, responded with a wry smile. Next to him, Elma’s brother, Ernst, sipped his tea with a stern expression.

After safely arriving at the Viscount Willrose House estate, we quickly completed our introductions and split into male and female groups for a friendly exchange—though my side doesn’t look so friendly.

「What do you mean by ‘now’?」

「Your deeds have spread among the nobles. They say you mercilessly decapitated the stupid heir of the Earl Ixamal House with his own sword, and with that single sword, you wreaked havoc against dozens of fully armed private soldiers. Only a fool would pick a fight with a man who, once angered, wouldn’t hesitate to behead the heir of a noble house.」

「Uh... wasn’t that supposed to be classified information?」

I desperately tried to defend myself. I told them it was inevitable. I explained that since the entire crew, except for me, are women, it wasn’t feasible to add male crew members now. That would only create trouble.

「Given that it’s all water under the bridge now, I won’t say much... but you do understand what would happen if you neglect my daughter, don’t you?」

「There’s no way I could or would ever neglect her.」

If I did, I’d likely have my neck snapped, and besides, Elma is an irreplaceable partner for me. Elma might get fed up with me, but the opposite isn’t possible. She can probably live without me, but I would be completely lost without her.

「Good. As for the formal engagement ceremony, it involves the three families, so we’ll handle the discussions on our end. We’ll inform you once the details are decided, so be prepared.」

「So there really is such a thing.」

「Of course there is... did you think you could just casually marry three noble daughters without any formalities?」

「I’m quite ignorant and not well-versed in the Empire’s general customs.」

「Mercenaries... This is one of the reasons why they are no good...」

Ernst let out a deep sigh, looking genuinely exasperated. Well, I don’t know anything about these kinds of things what can I do about it? I suspected there might be some kind of formal procedure, but I just didn’t know the specifics.

「That aside, it looks like they’re having fun over there.」

「Milfi and Elfin are both quite talkative...」

When I looked over to the women’s side, they seemed to be having a great time, enjoying a tea party and chatting away.

「Shall we also engage in some light conversation? Brother-in-law, why don’t you start a topic?」

「Don’t call me brother-in-law... Well, I suppose I will become your brother-in-law. In the end, that’s what it is. Sigh...」

「That’s a huge sigh.」

「And whose fault do you think that is... well, never mind. So, tell me about how you met the Marquis Holz’s daughter. From the very beginning.」

「From the beginning? That’s going to be a long story...」

Even as I said that, memories of meeting Serena in the Termaine star system came flooding back. Now that I think about it, she was actually the first one that I met.

「The first time we met was in an interrogation room at the Termaine star system’s port authority.」

Both Eldmoore and Ernst listened intently, clearly intrigued. I began recounting the long story of how I met Serena and everything that had happened since. It’s definitely going to be a lengthy tale.