CH 25

November 3rd, 2022

T/N: Hello all. Thankfully I can post the next chapter a bit earlier, and its all thanks to… *drum roll* … Mr. My_Own_Worst_NPC !! or abbreviated as MoWNPC. Uh, I hope you don’t mind me abbreviating it.

Anyway, he volunteered to smooth out the chapters for me, correcting grammatical typo and making paragraphs feel more natural, so I don’t have to double check and triple check the grammar. Hopefully this will result in faster releases and more enjoyable read.

So, again, thank you My_Own_Worst_NPC for helping me out with this translation. I hope you’ll have a good health and good fortune.

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A wyvern landed on the Crescent Coast, and the single dragon rider dismounted and landed on the beach, raising a cloud of sand.

I wonder who’s visiting?

As I watched with anticipation, the figure that took off the flight cap turned out to be… Leanne.

“Heya, Shirou-chan! Thanks for picking me up.”

I would rather have Louise coming here… but I welcomed her nonetheless, careful to not let the disappointment show on my face.

Actually, in terms of beauty, Louise and Leanne were on the same level. Louise was plumper and had the allure of a compact and curvy figure, while Leanne’s build was tall and slender. As a self-proclaimed man of culture, I can appreciate both body types and I like them equally.

However, Louise’s reactions are so innocent that I want to tease her like a big brother, while Leanne would constantly sexually harass me whenever the opportunity arose, which reminded me of certain perverted old men. I didn’t feel very good about it because it reminded me of my boss at the company I worked for.

“Good afternoon, Leanne. I see you are visiting alone today.”

“Yeah. The empire has completely taken control of the sky around here, so there’s no need to fly in formation anymore.” [1]

It seems the war was going in the Empire’s favor… and now I’m worried about Chris. Let’s try fishing for information.

“Now that I think about it, I heard the empire was also at war with the Kingdom of Regalta. How is the situation now?” I tried to sound casual.

“It was a great victory to our army… is what I’d like to say, but things are difficult at Bawanda Fortress in the East. Rumor has it that Regalta’s War Princess is taking command there, y’know? The top brass is having a headache over it.”

It seems like Chris managed to reach Bawanda Fortress safely… Thank God…

“Sounds like a difficult situation.”

“Yep, that’s right… and that’s why I need Shirou-chan to comfort me.”

“But Leanne-san, aren’t the soldiers on the front lines the ones who are struggling right now?”

“Well, yes, but…”

And so, our silly conversation continued as we walked back to the cave.

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“Here, I have souvenirs for you!” Leanne smiled brightly while handing me a large jute bag. She only needed one hand to hold it, but it was actually so heavy that I needed to hold it with both hands. Again, I was reminded of the difference in strength with the woman in this world.

“Uwah, this is heavy.”

“Sorry, my bad,” Leanne said apologetically while wrapping her arms around me to support my body.

It would have been better if she would’ve just taken the bag from me instead of holding me upright, but I think this had been her plan from the start.

“What’s inside?”

“Here, I brought things that might be useful to you.”

The contents of the bag were food items such as flour, butter, and wine. There were also new clothes inside it.

“You know I can’t accept this…”

“Dontcha worry about it, it’s just a mere token of appreciation.”

Having said that, I still felt like there was an ulterior motive.

“But still…”

“Look… If you really feel bad about it, how about washing my back the next time I’m taking a bath? That’s a simple enough reward.” [2]

Hmmm… What should I do?

“Uh… Well…”

“That much is fine, right? I won’t do anything weird!”

Honestly, it’d be fine even if she did something weird later. Or rather, it’d be preferrable if she did something weird. No wait, I absolutely want her to do something weird!

Then again, it’s probably not a good idea to get involved with Leanne here. Soon there will be a survey team of about 100 people coming from the mainland, and who knows, maybe there’ll be someone that I like better than Leanne.

Besides, if I get involved with a flirtatious woman, there’s the possibility it could start a ‘this boy is mine’ kind of possessiveness.  I don’t mind having a one-night stand with a girl like that, but I doubt she could keep a secret. Maybe I’m biased, but I feel that a woman like Leanne is likely to brag to her friends about having slept with me, or rather, I think she is the type to brag to everyone whether they want to hear about it or not. [3]

Like Kawasaki-san, the senior during my part-time job.  He was a prick that loved to tell the details of his conquests to the junior staff. If Leanne did the same, I might end up being approached by many soldiers, thinking I’m an easy score.

And that situation would not be preferrable.

The type of women that would approach me after hearing those stories couldn’t possibly be right for me, since they’d just want me for my body. I don’t mind having casual sex once in a while, but if I were to do it all the time it would made me feel terrible.

Ultimately, the thought of taking gifts in exchange for washing someone’s back feels kind of dirty, and my pride won’t allow that.

“I’m sorry, but I have to decline. I’ll be returning this to you now.”

“Wait, no, that’s a souvenir for you…”

“This is a respectable inn, not a brothel.”

Leanne obediently bowed her head as she finally conceded. “I’m sorry, that was not my intention.”

I’m pretty sure that was her intention though, but since she seemed genuinely apologetic, I decided to forgive her. Besides, I can’t stay mad at Leanne. Honestly though, I really wish she would just try to flirt with me like a normal person. If she could do that, it’d just be a matter of timing. [4]

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Leanne had also brought with her an official letter from the empire.

According to the letter, the survey team would depart in four days, and the number of people would be 118, both soldiers and non-combatants. The survey project would last approximately 30 days, and the person in charge of the site will be a military commander named Lotte Gram.

“So, what kind of person is the commander?”

“She is the second daughter of Baroness Gramm. Or was it the third daughter…? Anyway, she’s the daughter of a loyal retainer family who got her position mostly due to her family’s connections. Oops, but don’t you dare tell anyone I said that!”

Still a little loose-lipped, eh Leanne?

“Do you know how old the commander is?”

“Why do you wanna know her age?”

The real reason is because the ideal age for a romance partner is between 17 and 45, which is as wide as the Pacific Belt. Anyone not in that range is too young or too old for me.  Well, there’s no polite way I can just say that to Leanne, so I’ll have to choose my words carefully…

“Look, depending on your age, your food preferences can change, right? Like becoming averse to greasy food…”

“Is that so? Well, she’s in her 20s, I think. Good for you, right? Since Shirou-chan prefers younger women.”

“I don’t particularly prefer younger woman… I just thought that Louise-san was really cute back then.”

Actually, I’m more inclined toward older woman, but if I tell that to Leanne she might get overexcited.

“By the way, you’re making roads now?”

She must be referring to the narrow path from the front of the cave leading towards the south.

“I asked the golems to make a new path and they really hopped to it. I thought it might make it more convenient for the survey team when they go to the ruins,” I said, trying to present myself as a considerate (and hopefully attractive) kind of guy.

“Yep, they’ll be thankful for that. Thanks to Shirou-chan, I’m sure the survey team will do their very best.  I will make report of this to HQ.”

That’s it, please report good things about me flirty girl. Hopefully Miss Lotte and her team will get a good impression about me.

So, the leader of the survey team is an aristocratic young lady, huh? Though, I wonder what kind of person she is… I can’t just ask Leanne if the commander is hot.

“Haah… I’ve been flying since the early hours and I’m beat. Let me crash on your bed for a bit.”

“Will you be staying the night?”

“Yeah. Even with a wyvern, going on a day trip between here and the capital is kinda harsh.”

Even if travelling by Wyvern is the fastest way to fly, it’s still an eight-hour journey over the sea. Once I finished preparing her bed, Leanne’s head had barely hit the pillow before she was fast asleep.

So, I will be alone with Leanne tonight…

Part of me was looking forward to spending the night together with another person; living on a deserted island can be rather lonely after all.  No matter how many golems I create, I still yearn for conversation with other people.

And maybe some physical interaction…

I went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

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1 Oh shucks. The empire keeps winning. Maybe the empire was like Rome during their golden age; spanning across continents.

2 Alright, if any of you readers are good with women, I need to ask, does this kind of strategy actually works? I’m asking for a friend here…

3  This here probably the reason why we shouldn’t kiss-and-tell, boys.

4  Meaning if Leanne just take the normal approach instead of being like a creepy old guy, Shirou would sooner or later enter a one night stand with her, or maybe even go to the next level relationship.