Half-elves Fall in Love

Chapter 331: Today, moving day

“Ah……how can you do that with your back rattling……and how can you do that 10-man captain Smithson against four people without hesitation……”

“Ahaha, a, as you can imagine, I might not be able to do battle right now either……”

“You don’t work out enough!”

“Almeida……you ended up passing out the second time and leaving everything else to the other three……”

The morning after the orgy. The four gauntlet knights sat stiffly together at a very long table in the dining room of the Celesta mansion, dressed somewhat sloppily and babbling away, exchanging their thoughts about last night. As I watched from a distance, Hilda’s hand snapped out from behind me.

“How is it really going? Isn’t it painful for your muscles and joints?”

“I don’t have any subjective symptoms”

As one would expect, there is a temporary shortness of breath or the like when shaking one’s hips violently, but there is not much in the way of fatigue that lingers afterward.

“It’s the opposite of me. I am confident that I can do combat and intelligence work for three days without a break, but I can’t have sex so many times a day”

“Wow”

100-man commander Becker put his elbow on my shoulder opposite of Hilda’s. ……When or rather naturally entered into the conversation, he might have somehow peeked into yesterday’s thing too.

“The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that the two of you are both human beings, and you’re already 40 years old, Becker-kun”

“Well, it’s true that at my age, I tend to leave the front lines of physical competition to those who come after me. While Kingfisher and Vincent are still active, I can’t afford to age out of the game, being just a little younger than them”

“Vincent, that Overknight”

“That’s it, Scott Vincent. I was a lot stronger than him when I was younger. That son of a bitch”

Along with Sir Bonaparte at Trot, the Overknight is a symbolic figure in the Celesta army. General Scott Vincent, one of the two Overknights, is known as the 「King of Lightning」 or 「Sword of Celesta」 and is one of the most feared warriors on the continent. 100-man commander Becker casually refers to him as such and claims that he was stronger than him. It is true that his strength is Master Knight level no matter how you look at it, but once again, I think it is amazing.

“I wonder if General Vincent was over forty? I think it’s about to decline because he’s an ogre”

I feel caught up in the way Hilda-san says it and ask her back.

“Because he’s an ogre?”

“Yes, ogres age a little faster than humans and beastmen. They are said to have the shortest lifespan of any subrace so far”

“……I see”

It makes me a little sad to hear that. I’m not a long-lived species either. I guess I would age too quickly for the elves and dragons, which is a pity. I don’t have much of a problem with that. I’m sure Goto and Isaac will die of old age much sooner than I will.

“There are others out there like Arthur Bonaparte, though. Even at sixty, he’s not only not weak, he’s getting stronger with a new set of eyeballs”

“Ah……there are always exceptions to everything, aren’t there”

100-man commander Becker with a faraway look in his eyes, and Hilda, who laughs bitterly. Well, I think that old man is really too helpful when talking about race theory.

“We’re heading to Catalina now. It seems that this time Catalina is packed with Gold Arm Great Knight Chief Lister Jail. Unlike the time of the great invasion, Catalina is not deployed for battle, but the population is almost the same because farmers who cultivate and herd cattle until the fall will also be there. Don’t get too sloppy just because it’s a town you know”

『Roger that』

All members of the special task force return a salute to Dianne’s instruction. Well, I can’t deny that I’ve been a bit slack lately, no matter where I go.

“It’s about time we did some training”

“No, the only person who has been completely slacking off is 10-man captain Keiron. Lantz and I had at least some target practice”

“Seriously? When did you do it?”

“In Polka, there were 100-man commander Isaac and 100-man commander Williams and I felt a strange pressure if I played around too much”

“……I thought Lantz and Goto were the kind of guys who didn’t feel that way”

“Only 10-man captain Keiron can live that freely in the army”

I heard that the three peaceful men of our troop were enjoying Polka very much. ……It is somewhat frustrating that I was quite busy.

“Boyd, I hope you haven’t missed any training”

“O, Of course, I’m. There was nothing else to do but date and hunt……”

“I’ll give you a review when we get to Catalina. If you’re weaker than you were before winter, we’ll triple your basic training”

“Hiii”

Anzeros had been in demon instructor mode for a long time.

————————————

Moving smoothly on the wings of Laila and Maia. As expected, there was still a glimmer of snow on the ground, but Catalina, which is much further south than Polka, was already showing signs of spring.

“I was contacted by communication magic yesterday, so I thought you were about to come”

Great Knight Chief Lister greets us.

“Communication magic? ……If only Celesta had it, we could spare more than half of the flying dragon flights”

“Tell Alex. It’s one of the few military advantages we have in this country. I don’t think he’ll give it up”

Dianne and Great Knight Chief Lister exchange wry smiles. In today’s world, not only transportation but also communication is slow. We rely on messages and letters. If communication magic could be transmitted to all countries, it would be revolutionary, but if it were used for military purposes, it would also reduce transmission loss and time differences to as close to zero as possible. The battlefield where people intercept each other would surely be a wilderness of wonders. The development of such a system, if started, would in turn reduce the operational reliability of Renfangas in the country. The probability of disinformation being replaced by disinformation even in areas unrelated to the war would be less than zero. That’s why it can’t be leaked to the outside……is the logic I was taught by Tetes, who is a user.

“Rather, you can have a flying dragon in Renfangas. There are some subspecies in the Eastern Mountains, as I recall”

“We’ve had a few plans for this in the past, but unlike your species, they’re not as accustomed to people. Some of the people in charge of keeping them have become pitiful. Afilm and Celesta won’t give us their eggs under realistic conditions. The actual carrying capacity is not that great, and the risk is not worth it”

“Oh dear. I guess the hardship is mutual”

“Absolutely”

Celesta with its flying dragons, Renfangas with its genius in magic creation. One of them wants a means of communication that covers a large country and the other wants a safe and extensive means of reconnaissance. The two sides are probably itching to make a clean exchange.

“Well, that’s all right. We have a lot to report, but first let’s get you settled in”

“I understand. Thanks for the welcome”

Our room is almost exactly as we left it. I guess that’s to be expected since we are part of the dragon’s crew and they don’t know when we’ll be back. Still, it’s not as comfortable as it should be after a while.

“It’s dusty, as you’d expect. Maybe I should clean up today”

“I’ll go wash the quilts”

“Lantz, Goto, you guys mop”

『Yeah』

The two look uncomfortable when Keiron orders them to do something. ……They are too arrogant for regular soldiers who are not yet ready to act like big shots.

“No, wait a minute, Keiron. What are you going to do?”

“Eh? I was thinking I’d go and sit in the sun for a bit……”

No good boss. These guys are all here.

“Goto is helping the girls get their stuff together Lantz and Keiron, mop!”

『Yeaf』

The three of them looked disgusted at my corrective order. What the hell, that’s reasonable.

“What is 10-man captain Smithson supposed to do?”

……That’s what I’m getting at.

“……Greetings with Dianne”

“You work too!”

Keiron’s leaping kick came flying in. Don’t jump to eye level, even if you’re an athletic fox.

Well, cleaning itself is not that big a job. We are almost done by lunch and meet up with the girls in the corridor near the rooftop. There is still snow on the rooftop, so it was not a good place to gather.

“I got my ration”

“Ration……You’re not in the middle of a battle”

“No, the mayor and the people at the station said it was for lunch……what should I say if it wasn’t rationed?”

“……Well, rationing”

There are stores inside Catalina and food and alcohol are normally distributed now that the town is functioning as a town. If you want something, you have to pay for it. Even so, the fact that they are providing us with food, albeit at a minimal level, is a sign that they are including us in their army numbers. Boyd brought a jar of soup in a cart and freshly baked bread in a wooden box. In another jar, there were meat dishes and pickled vegetables and a few bottles of alcohol.

“Oho, it’s gorgeous beyond compare to the fall”

Lantz rubbed his hands and rejoiced.

“Well, it’s just normal, though”

“We just can’t go around eating without moderation during a major invasion that disrupts distribution for a month!”

Naris and Tetes each get their own portion. I, too, saw the city’s resilience in the bread’s subtle warmth and the aroma of the soup. Yes, this is not just a fort. It is a 「Town」 where Renfangas still make food and survive. We can’t always say, 「It’s not enough」. They eat and drink delicious food and live while creating various things. This city has never given up on being such a normal city.

“We have to quickly take back the land ahead of us from the demons as well……”

“What a sudden”

100-man commander Becker gave me a dubious look, but I didn’t want to explain myself in a wild way.

“…………”

Neia also grabbed a piece of bread and nodded with somewhat sad eyes.

“……Yeah. We all want to at least enjoy eating to our satisfaction, don’t we, guys?”

“Neia”

“If this one and Kalwin connect, it will come true. ……No, I’m afraid I’m not talking for 「People over here」 as you say, Smithson-san, but for Kalwin”

“No, that’s important too, right?”

“……Yeah”

Neia took a quick bite of bread and smiled very deliciously, like a child.

- ToC -