CH 357

What to do?

“Has that lass left at last?”

Kaguya was hiding somewhere when Mariel-chan came and after saying ‘good grief’ she hopped on the bed and lied down to prepare for a nap.

What do I say, she seems poor at dealing with Mariel-chan.

“Cristea, did you have fun?”

Mashiro was holding back so I could enjoy my time with Mariel-chan and waited for me. I replied to him while thoroughly enjoying the mofumofu.

“Yes, it was a lot of fun.”

“As long as you had fun, Lord.”

Kurogane sat down at my feet and wagged his tail.

“Fufu, I have promised Mariel-chan to go shopping with her the next time.”

“Going out? I will be your escort!”

“Naturally, I will tag along as well.”

Mashiro vigorously announced his candicacy for my escort while Kurogane spoke as if it was only natural thing to do.

Kurogane aside, wouldn’t be Mashiro too eyecatching as a guard… while thinking such, I decided to keep silent.

“Will it be all right for you guys to go outside, though? Won’t you get found out as Sacred Beasts?”

“I have never been found out in human habitat while in my human form.”

“Won’t it be fine?”

Said the proud Kurogane and the optimistic Mashiro.

Am I the only one concerned here?

“Think about it, that lion is frequently wandering aimlessly around the downtown. Since he didn’t raise a ruckus, it means that he wasn’t found out, no?”

“Ahh…”

Certainly. The Sacred Beast Leon-sama who is the symbol of our country said that he often buys meat skewers at the street stalls. Wouldn’t he cause a great ruckus were people to recognize him?

I also couldn’t tell he was a Sacred Beast when I met him for the first time.

… That means, Kurogane and Mashiro also shouldn’t get recognized.

“Besides, I have already finished scouting out the town.”

Kurogane smoothly dropped the bombshell.

“Eh!? When did you manage to do that!”

“While you were asleep, Lord. I went to a bar for a little.”

What. Kurogane shrewdly went for a drink to a bar.

“I wanted to go too.”

When Mashiro muttered dejectedly, Kurogane snorted at him.

“There’s no way I could bring a youngling like you along. Besides, I went there to confirm whether there were any suspicious guys. The alcohol came along naturally.”

… Came along naturally, what a shrewd way to drink. Even though I was admiring him for the scouting job. Oh well…

“So you were doing something like that, Kurogane? What about the money?”

“I still have the money I earned as adventurer.”

Ah, right. Kurogane did say that he earned money for the subjugation of monsters.

Kurogane had no use for them, so he tried to give it all to me when I became his Lord, but I told him to keep it for himself since it’s money he earned himself.

To think he would use it as drinking money though?

Kurogane in his human form has the appearances of an adult male and since he’s free to go where he pleases, it’s not like he can stay penniless. Would it be better to give him some spending money? Let’s consult with Otousama later.

“From what I scouted out, there are only a few people who contracted either Sacred Beasts or Magic Beasts in the Capital. In the first place, the high magical power necessary to form a contract aside, the lion wouldn’t let dangerous people stay in the Capital.”

I see. Thinking about it like that, strolling around the town might be linked to Leon-sama’s work.

“Would it be all right then? You see, I promised Mariel-chan to go shopping at the Bastea Campany.”

“Mu, are you intending on seeing Byakko and that noisy bird again even after coming here?”

Noisy bird, he said… is he talking about Suzaku-sama!? Kurogane, you will stop picking a quarrel with her after coming here, right!?

“No, that’s not it. Mariel-chan has interest in the ingredients sold at the Bastea Company, but she doesn’t know what to buy, so she asked me to accompany her.”

“Is Mariel able to cook?”

Mashiro’s simple question is the problem. Mashiro-kun, what a sharp discovery!

“Hmm, she’s a bit… no, she’s considerably bad, that’s why I plan on carefully teaching her something simple to cook.”

If she buys this and that, it’s likely that she will be buying it in vain. I’m thinking of supervising her so that this doesn’t happen.

“That’s why I have no plans on meeting with Sei and others this time, but if we come across them, I am worried that Byakko-sama and others won’t be able to feign ignorance properly.”

“Feign ignorance? Why?”

“Sei intends to enroll in the same academy as me, but no one except us knows that Sei is a boy, right? Since I was close to the girl Sei, it might damage my reputation quite a lot if I am similarly close to the boy Sei, so we mutually decided to pretend to not know each other.”

Sei’s circumstances are complicated as the Empress is trying to get rid of him in secret so that his elder brother from a different mother could safely become the next Emperor.

“You are going even though you will be feigning ignorance?”

“It’s not my purpose to meet Sei and others after all.”

That can’t be said for Mariel-chan though.

“It might be better to let Sei and others know that we are coming.”

There’s Oniisama in the mansion, so it would be a bad idea to warp to Sei’s place and I don’t know whether it’s a good idea to carelessly contact Byakko-sama via telepathy. The reason Byakko-sama has not warped here since I came to the Capital might be because our mansion is close to the castle.

“Hmm. Shall I deliver your letter to the Bastea Company then?”

“Eh?”

“I wouldn’t mind a verbal message, but a letter would be better if you want to be more accurate. I can find Byakko’s whereabouts by his presence, so we should be able to get in touch once we are close enough.”

… No way. Kurogane is so reliable!

“Can I leave it to you?”

“Umu.”

Striking while the iron’s hot, I swiftly took out the letter set and wrote Sei a letter.