Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi

Aegir POV–

「Owww……」

「Don’t move. It’s a pretty deep cut. 」

We returned to the mansion after running from the scene of the brawl.

None of the ones who rushed in were heavily injured, only a few suffered scratches here and there, and none needed first aid.

「I didn’t train so poorly that a few outlaws could take me out! Aahn…… what are you doing!?」

Celia pushed out her chest so I instinctively grabbed them, causing her to let out a cute moan.

「So I’m the only one who got injured…… ahaha. 」

Meanwhile, Kroll’s a mess.

He didn’t suffer any life-threatening injuries, although his face is swollen from getting punched and his body is covered with bruises.

Well, those are his scars of honor from showing how manly he was by fighting alone against all those opponents.

Alma holds him down, telling him not to move while applying ointment and wrapping bandages around his body.

Her face as she was treating him was slightly red, with none of the previously hostile mood between the two of them.

「Alma…… I’m sorry for everything I’ve done in the past. 」

「It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I should be apologizing for getting deceived by such a man. If Kroll didn’t come save me, by now I would be…… it was all my fault that this happened. 」

Tears well up in Alma’s eyes, which were gently wiped away by Kroll’s finger.

「Alma. 」

「Kroll. 」

Their faces slowly get close.

「If you’re going to have sex, that sofa over there is nice and soft. 」

The sex after saving a girl should be exciting.

This is the living room, but if you’re going to get riled up here, I don’t mind watching.

「S-sex…… uwaah……」

Compared to Alma who hides her blushing face, Kroll’s face turns gloomy.

「I…… can no longer sleep with women. 」

Oh right. Kroll’s regained his interest for women, however his body haven’t recovered yet.

「Oh yeah…… you were impotent. 」

It unconsciously slipped out of my mouth.

Suddenly, Melissa and Dorothea censure me.

「Aegir-san, how could you!!」「Saying that in front of his lover is too cruel of you!」

「Kroll? What does that mean, impotent?」

「I guess I can’t hide it anymore. Actually……」

Kroll tells Alma about the fight with the Lich and the tragedy that occurred afterwards.

That was the harsh story of Kroll almost dying.

「So that’s what happened…… I thought for sure that you lost interest in me after those two came along. 」

「Of course not. I’ve always loved Alma the most. 」

The two of them hold each other’s hands.

「In that case, I can at least show you how to lick her va-――」

「「Oh, just be quiet already!」」

Melissa and Dorothea destroyed my nice idea.

The mood was building up so I thought I could teach him how to please a girl without using his dick.

「More importantly, are you going to let that Gerald guy go like this? It became a mess midway through but those guys pulled knives on us after all. 」

Celia puts a finger to her mouth and thinks for a while.

Since she was so cute, I scratch the bottom of her chin, making her melt limply.

「Funyaa…… not! I don’t exactly mind that man’s hostility towards Kroll, but if he were to set fire to the mansion, it would be serious trouble. 」

I had Gido look for him after that, but the incident was really treated as just an average brawl.

There were quite a few who ended up bedridden.

Irijina must have beat them up pretty bad.

「Arson, eh…… I don’t think he’s the type of man who is courageous enough to do anything like that. 」

He was the first one who ran away after all.

「He wouldn’t do anything to Lord Hardlett, let alone his mansion, since that would be the end of him and his parents. If he were to target anyone, it would be those two the moment they step outside. 」

Alma shudders at Myla’s thought.

No matter how safe it is in the mansion, she can’t just stay inside all the time.

She frequently goes out to do shopping and other miscellaneous chores too.

「Don’t worry. I’ll protect her. 」

Kroll pulls Alma close to his body, which brings a smile of relief to her face, however――

「Sure, it would be foolish to try anything after. 」

Especially if he were to rape Alma, that would be trouble.

It won’t be a happy ending for everyone if that guy gets killed either.

「If people found out Lord Hardlett killed a small fry like that over a servant’s complications, it would actually bring down his status. 」

It’s uncool for a parent to act out on their children’s scuffles.

Let’s see, what should I do…… hm, I have no idea. I’ll let the people who have ideas think about it.

「Where did Leopolt run off to?」

「He took Nina and returned to his room. 」

I unconsciously stand up.

「What did you say!? They’re definitely going to do it. I can’t let this be. 」

He might finally be getting a chance to do it with Nina.

I make my way noisily along the hallway towards Leopolt’s room and open the door without knocking―― although I used too much strength and fell forward together with the door.

「Uoooh!」

「Kyaaah!」

I let out a shout as I collapse onto the fallen door. At the same time, I hear a scream.

Lifting up my head expecting Leopolt’s love affair, I see him sitting normally at his desk busy with work, with Nina carrying a stack of documents beside him.

Of course, their clothes were still on.

The girl only screamed because she was surprised.

I don’t blame her. A guy destroying the door and suddenly barging into the room would do that.

「Why are your clothes on?」

「This isn’t the bathroom. 」

Leopolt turns to me unfazed.

Fine. Let’s get to the problem at hand.

「I have something I want you to think about. 」

It feels like his neutral expression scowled just a little.

Evening. Capital. Bar District.

「The window is so narrow. Plus it rattles every time we move it. 」

「It can’t be helped. This is a cheap mid-sized carriage after all. 」

Celia and I took turns to look out the small window.

The carriage itself is actually pretty big, but it doesn’t have cushions for the hard seats so it can’t be considered pleasant.

「If it moves now, our butts will hurt. 」

Will Kroll come out already?

I speak as I look out at the darkening scenery.

「Oh, he’s here. 」

Kroll and Alma run towards us.

It looks like things went smoothly.

The area our carriage is stopped at is the section of the city where many bars and taverns are located.

It isn’t the most peaceful place, but it’s where Gerald and his buddies frequent according to Rebecca’s information.

「Haa, haa!」

「Wait right there! I’ll make you pay!」

Kroll is running with Alma in his arms, yet the distance between him and the chasing men behind is not getting any shorter.

He’s properly training that body of his.

「Our plan was for Irijina-san to step in if they caught up, but it looks like they’re fine. 」

Celia comments while fixing the collar of my shirt.

「The two of them are getting along well today soon after what happened yesterday and are holding hands on a date. That would definitely piss that guy off. 」

I told Kroll and Alma to wander around them while flirting with each other until they got discovered.

Of course we narrowed down the places to where Gerald and his buddies were most likely to gather.

「G-go now!」

Kroll shouts loud enough so even the guys behind him could hear as soon as he jumps into my carriage with Alma.

Gido, who is in the driver’s seat, immediately whips the horse once and gets the carriage moving.

「Hey, that carriage over there, stop this instant! If you don’t stop, I’ll destroy the carriage!」

Not giving the men anymore than a sidelong glance, we close the door of the carriage. Kroll and Alma take off their casual clothes and change quickly.

Formal uniforms meant for servants to wear during occasions such as parties were prepared for them.

「Kyaa!」

「Geez, Aegir-sama!」

「Sorry, my hand moved by itself. 」

Seeing Alma’s ass shake in her underwear, I just couldn’t help rubbing it.

It’s like a reflex. Forgive me.

「I’ve finished changing!」「Me too!」

Right when Kroll and Alma finished, something hits the carriage.

The men giving chase probably threw rocks at us. The thin and cheap wood breaks.

「This is perfect. Stop the carriage. 」

Gido playing the role of driver suddenly brings the carriage to a halt.

The men outside quickly surround the vehicle, beginning to kick and hit the carriage with sticks.

「Alma! You thought you could escape? I’m not going to let you off that easily! I’ll beat the shit out of you!」

That must be Gerald. Alma trembles and clings onto Kroll.

I’m glad. If he didn’t show up, these tricks would have gone to waste.

I wait until the surrounding men bust a hole in the window before kicking down the door and going outside.

「So you’re finally coming out! I have to pay you back for yester-…… eh?」

「W-who the heck are you……」

It’s to be expected that the men were shocked.

Right now I’m in complete noble dress as if I’m about to visit the royal palace.

The reason is because some acting is needed here.

「What a surprise. 」

I look at the men with a despising gaze.

「Picking a fight so boldly like this, looks like I’m also being underestimated despite my rumors. 」

An arrogant noble just came out of the tattered carriage they saw Kroll and Alma jump in and chased after.

The agitation of the men was so painfully obvious that I almost wiped them out myself, but I have to hold back.

「Are they your acquaintances?」

Behind me stand Kroll and Alma both in their formal dress, as well as Celia in her military uniform with a sword at her hip.

「「No, I don’t know them. 」」

After the two declare firmly, I glare at the men with all the bloodlust built up within me before they could say anything.

「So they’re fodder for my sword, how foolish. 」

I retrieve the dragon longsword left in the carriage and take a stance after drawing the blade from its sheath.

「Don’t lie!」「Why is a noble here?」「That sword’s way too big!」「What’s going on here!?」

At the moment, the men only have six with them, although more of their friends are running closer from behind them.

Of course it doesn’t matter how many amateurish brats they gather, it still doesn’t frighten me.

「Gerald-san, isn’t this looking bad for us!?」「Use the name of your family like you always do!」

「N-no, that’s not……」

Gerald is faltering.

He should be. He’s been acting all high and mighty with his delinquent friends, but his status of second son of a family in which he isn’t even inheriting is actually nothing special.

If he brings trouble back home and gets disowned, he’ll be downgraded to a stupid brat who’s only slightly good looking.

He’s in a pitiful situation that’s only going to get worse.

「Shut up, lackey!」

I swing my longsword across my body, barely grazing the face of the man standing at the front.

Only the tip of his nose was cut, though it was enough to make the man fall flat on his ass.

That “lackey!” was pretty good just now. If I was on stage, I’d definitely bring in big money for that performance.

「Hiiih!」「Shit!」

「W-wait! Don’t take out your knife, stupid!!」

Seeing me swing my sword, the other men hastily take out their knives and short swords from their pockets.

Gerald tries to stop them but he’s too late.

Conveniently, a sharp whistling sound reverberated. Some guards must have heard the noise from the commotion and ran in this direction.

This area has many low class taverns and is a place where public order is not the greatest, so fights often break out.

That’s why they attacked our carriage like it was natural, however the capital isn’t a completely lawless zone.

It’s because public order is bad in these parts that guards occasionally patrol the streets of this district, and the stubborn old man captain in charge of this end of town is extremely strict about patrols carried out at regular intervals.

「Is what Leopolt said. 」

In time with my internal monologue, Gido climbs up onto the top of the worn out carriage and tears off the dirty cloth covering the roof.

The cloth was filling up the hole opened in the ceiling as if to make the carriage seem older, but the real motive appeared to be something else.

The crest covered by the cloth showed itself.

Unfitting the decrepit carriage is a beautiful metallic crest of the Hardlett household…… or it was supposed to be.

「……did my crest always look like this?」

「At least remember what your own symbol looks like!」

Celia yells at me but the men in front of us don’t even have time to worry about the tiny details.

「That crest, where have I see it…… geh!」

「Isn’t that the crest of the Hardlett house!?」

「N-not good! He’s here in person too!! What should we do!?」

The men get flustered and Gerald turns pale.

I rest my longsword on my shoulder, seeing as how they’re not going to attack.

This reaction is refreshing.

Maybe I’ll do some similar play with Mel. I’ll end it by play-raping her and making her drown in pleasure.

As the delusions cause my dick to form a bulge in my pants, the guards arrive.

The guards get in between us and point their spears at the assailants.

「Both of you, get away from each other! Be good and stand down!」「If you delinquents run away, no mercy will be shown to you!」

The older man who seems to be the captain looks dubiously at Celia and I, though quickly kneel to the ground when he spots the crest on the carriage.

「If it isn’t Margrave Hardlett! Forgive my rudeness!」

「No, thanks for your hard work. Take care of the rest. 」

I return my sword to its sheath and hand it to Celia.

The girl respectfully takes it, but gets pinned to the ground under its weight.

「H-heavy! It’s squishing me!」

Gido and Kroll quickly help lift it up, the three of them cooperating to carry it into the carriage.

「What is going on here? If you don’t mind, could you explain?」

In conflicts between a noble and a commoner, more often than not the commoner would automatically be considered in the wrong without question.

Depending on the noble, asking carelessly would instantly result in the heads of dozens of captains flying.

Still, this captain decided to ask about the situation. This man has a strong sense of justice.

「I was on my way to see the Military Commissioner. Then my carriage was attacked. I don’t know anything else besides that. 」

To increase my prestige even further, I bring out Erich’s name.

The guards tense up immediately and the captured men tremble.

I actually don’t have such plans, but there’s no way the guards will check. I just borrowed his name on a whim.

「I-it’s that bastard with Alma!」

「That male servant picked a fight with us!」

「We didn’t think Hardlett-sama would be in that worn out carriage…… it was a mistake!」

The men frantically give out excuses.

「It certainly was a personal dispute. 」

「But who thought they would assault master’s carriage……」

「Sorry it’s shoddy. My usual one broke down all of a sudden so I had to borrow this one. 」

Kroll and Alma shudder as they express their fear. Of course they’re acting.

The expression of the captain is getting stricter.

「In other words, the dispute with the servant led to an attack on the Margrave’s carriage?」

「No, that’s-……」「Err……」

The men stumble on their words. It’s inexcusable that the carriage of the master gets attacked just based on a dispute with the servant.

I deliver the finishing blow.

「I was wondering about their wielding of weapons in the city too, after all they took out those shiny things. 」

The men try to throw their knives away as soon as I bring them to the captain’s attention. But it’s too late.

A group attacking a noble’s carriage with blades.

No matter what underlying circumstances were between the two sides, it can’t be seen any other way but the gang of delinquents were aiming to kill someone.

In order to create such a story, we deliberately purchased a mid-sized dirty carriage from a street cart vendor and just attached my crest to it.

Exactly like we planned, they didn’t imagine the carriage Kroll and Alma jumped into would be mine and attacked it.

It would dishonorable if I jumped in to deal with my servant’s problem, plus Erich would get upset.

However it’s a different story if they were the ones who attacked first.

「T-that’s not it! We were tricked by Alma!! I’m not wrong hereee!」

Gerald shouts, then gets knocked on the head by the handle of the guard’s spear and falls to the ground.

The old captain stands in front of the restrained delinquent.

「You got caught red-handed this time. You’ve committed all those heinous acts, paid off witnesses, and probably also had your father talk with his acquaintances in the guards…… that’s why you never went to prison. Many victims had no choice but to accept the unfair result. 」

Remembering something unpleasant, the captain’s face became dark.

「It finally looks like your devil’s luck has run out. To think out of all the people out there, it was Margrave Hardlett who you laid your hands on. I’m looking forward to it…… seeing the pale faces of your father’s friends, the higher ups in the guards. 」

This time, he was unmistakably caught in the act and can’t make any excuses to get himself out of this situation.

「This isn’t a simple case where you can bribe the guards to free yourself after assaulting a noble with blades. Especially in a case where Aegir-sama is involved, no amount of bribes would work. Doing that would be equivalent to picking a fight with him. 」

Celia told him in a whispering manner.

How cute, I want to squeeze her cheeks but it would be embarrassing for her at this moment.

「So what should we do with these guys?」

「Put them in prison for now, then find out whether there is someone else backing him. It’s unbelievable that he would just “make a mistake”. Arrest the rest of his friends too. 」

If all of them get sent to prison, Alma should be safe.

「It’ll probably be a strict investigation. Although the conclusion is a foregone one. 」

The captain seems pleased to know that he was able to round up Gerald and his gang after they eluded him for so long.

「I-I didn’t mean any harm!」「I just did what Gerald told me to!」「I was threatened!」

The men make their pleas. Well, that’s the limit of their guts.

Now then, as for Gerald……

「Please contact my father, I’m sure he’ll prepare the settlement money! He has nobles as customers too!!」

He’s screaming the loudest and most pathetic out of all of them.

「How unsightly to bring that up now. Trying to pay off the Margrave isn’t going to work. We will eventually contact Geissler-dono…… but rather than saving you, he might piss himself and faint. 」

After the captain said that, Gerald’s shouting turns into falsetto and high-pitched shrieks.

「Noo, I’m not wrong! It’s Alma’s fault! Someone save me! Father, father…… pa-papaーー! Save me papaー!!」

Gerald whines as he gets dragged away. Before long, onlookers start to gather around and cheer loudly. I guess he’s pretty hated.

「What an unpleasant guy to the end. That defiled my ears. 」

To correct that, let’s have Celia call me papa.

「Pa, papaa……」

Umu, now Gerald’s voice is gone from my head. Case closed.

「If that’s it, then I’ll be going……」

As I was about to take my leave, the captain calls out to me.

「If you’re going to see the Military Commissioner, let me escort you. I don’t believe hoodlums would show up a second time, but misfortune can stack up. 」

I didn’t even notice that close to 50 guards have lined up.

「You must not keep the Commissioner waiting. You are heading to his private residence, right? Or perhaps the royal palace?」

Not good, this is going in a bad direction.

「The carriage is broken too, so I’m just going to head back to my mansion……」

I try to get away but the guard was more thoughtful than expected.

「We can go to a cart lender and get the best carriage. The crest can be removed too, so please use this!」

He quickly gets ready.

The captain drops his head again.

「There would be no greater shame than if our incompetence is brought up to the Commissioner in a discussion. Could you consider taking our help and using this?」

「U-um…… I guess. 」

While staring in amazement, we get on the carriage, then the surrounding guards on horseback form an orderly line around us.

Now I can’t run away from this.

「Is your destination the royal palace?」

「N-no, his private residence. 」

I can’t just show up at the palace without an appointment.

「It should be alright if it’s his private residence. 」

Erich should still be in his office in the palace at this time.

It’s not like the guards will walk me in all the way inside his mansion, then I can laugh it off and say I misremembered an appointment after the servants tell me of his absence.

「It should be fine. No problem. 」

Erich’s Private Residence.

「……so you only come during these times. 」

「…… did you say something?」

Erich was unfortunately staying in his mansion since noon, so he let me in and guided me to the guest room with a suspicious look on his face.

「So, why are you here all of a sudden?」

A sudden question, which I don’t have the answer to.

「Well, I thought we could deepen our friendship. 」

「And you came without an appointment and without a gift?」

Impossible. Too absurd. Let’s change that.

「Actually, I just happened to be close so I thought of paying you a visit. 」

「You’re wearing ceremonial dress and even bringing servants with you, where could you be going “casually”?」

The three beside me look away from Erich.

Erich’s eyes finally narrow.

「You probably did something unnecessary again, didn’t you?」

I also look away from Erich.

「I think you know already but I’m responsible for the military. I can get reports from the guards with just one order. 」

I turn my head the other way while still looking away.

「……bring out the alcohol. Since we’re here, let’s have a nice long chat. 」

That day, Kroll and Alma enjoyed a lavish feast.

Meanwhile Erich was mad at me until late into the night, voicing his complaints endlessly.

This is all Gerald’s fault. I’ll get you back.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 24 years old. Winter.

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. Mountain Legend. Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless. Dragon Slayer Hero.

Elf Mediator.

Citizens: 176,000. Refugees: 2400

Major Cities – Rafen: 27,000. Lintbloom: 5000. Vandolea Special Town: 9000.

Kroll (yummy), Alma (yummy), Celia (drunk), Irijina (neglected), Gido (neglected)

Tristan (scheming), Natia (returned)

Army: 7500 men

Infantry: 4500, Cavalry: 1000, Archers: 600, Bow Cavalry: 900, Temporary Refugee Guards: 500

Reserve Army: 2500

Cannons: 20, Large Cannons: 15, Dwarven Cannons: 16

Assets: 18,430 gold (Operation expenses -19)

Sexual Partners: 427, children who have been born: 55 + 555 fish