Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi

I walk through the city of Rafen with my kids.

Ever since the various mishaps, my subordinates became strangely kind and allowed me to have fun starting from noon.

Celia also took over the job of stamping documents while blankly staring out the window, so I brought Nonna who had been acting strange lately and her children out to play.

Both my daughter, Anastasia, and my son, Bartolome, are four years old.

They can safely walk outside without causing us to worry, plus they can eat and go to the toilet on their own.

Because the two of them have spent much of their time with the wet nurse, Nonna decided that it would be a good change for them to play with their parents.

「Anastasia, it’s not ladylike to walk with your legs apart. Bartolome, don’t pick up dirty branches. Put your arms tightly by your side. You two are the eldest son and daughter of the Hardlett family!」

「「Yes, mother.」」

Still, as toddlers it wasn’t easy for them to completely meet Nonna’s standard of etiquette.

They tense up their faces, which were excited by the rare opportunity of an excursion, and try their hardest to walk properly.

「You can’t be too harsh on four year-olds. Oh, that branch, doesn’t it resemble the Keravnos a little? The tip is really curved..」

When I pick up a branch without thinking, Nonna zooms over to me and repeatedly strikes me with mini headbutts.

「Teaching! Manners! Role model!」

「Sorry, my mistake. But are headbutts part of manners too?」

It seems the kids have relaxed again.

Where should we go?

「We’re going to the theater first. It is essential for children to learn how to appreciate art at a young age.」

「Fumu, I’m sure they will be happy there as well.」

The theater has been restored after being damaged in the war.

Nonna had intervened somehow for its restoration to be prioritized over the fixing of the city walls.

My face stiffens when we reach the theater.

『Story of the Eltoi Family ~A Splendid Love~』

「This play is based on a famous story in the royal court. It’s about the eldest son of the prestigious Eltoi family and his troubled relationships with the mother of his fiancee and the other lady he gets acquainted with at――」

「They’re four years old. They wouldn’t know anything about love or marriage. I think it’d be better if we went to this one……」

『Giant Octopus Vs. 5 Macho Men ~Muscles won’t lose to tentacles!~』

「What’s with that dumb title!?」

I think it sounds interesting.

The selling point is the elaborately constructed fierce battle scene against the giant octopus, and it says that towels will be handed out to those in the front row because they can expect to be splashed with sweat.

「Octopus……?」

「Slimy tentacles……?」

See, the kids’ eyes are sparkling.

「No! We are watching royal court literature!」

Nonna drags us to special seats.

「Pay attention, this is where you will understand the power dynamic between the fiancee’s mother and the protagonist. In addition to the family status, the marriage is not official yet and――」

As I listen to Nonna, I fall asleep within the first three minutes.

「――how was it? Wasn’t it educational?」

「「Yes, mother.」」

When I woke up, the play was over.

Nonna is talking proudly about it, but by the looks on the children’s faces, they likely didn’t understand what was going on.

「Next is shopping!」

We headed to a store Nonna uses to buy high-class clothes.

「Fumu, this mink fur is really well made.」

「Yes Nonna-sama, we used the finest squirrel skin.」

The children also tried on clothes, but aside from enjoying the fluffy feeling, they didn’t seem particularly interested.

Rather, they seem more attracted to the meat pizza sold by the food stand near the entrance.

「Are you hungry? Then let’s go to a restaurant.」

「「Food! ……a-ahem, time to eat.」

The two kids correct themselves after initially blurting out their desires happily.

No matter how they are disciplined, kids naturally love to eat and play.

I’m also starving and gladly head to the restaurant.

「Anastasia, don’t make any sounds with your spoon. Aegir-sama, please don’t lift up the entire bowl.」

「Yes……mother.」

「Bartolome, eat your meat and sides so they are finished at the same rate. Aegir-sama, please don’t grab the food with your hands, at least use cutlery.」

「Sorry, mother.」

「Don’t look away in the middle of a meal. It is rude. Aegir-sama, don’t fart and burp!」

You’re being too strict and the children are all nervous.

They won’t be able to enjoy the taste of the food.

「Ugh, my stomach feels a little……I-I’m returning to the mansion.」

Nonna seems to have developed a stomach ache.

She’s wearing a frilly dress so she can’t just use a dirty toilet around the corner.

「Go ahead, I’ll look after the kids.」

「……sure. I’ll be right back.」

Nonna totters to the mansion.

「F-father……」

「I-I’ll be in your care.」

I don’t know if it’s because they don’t get to play much, but Anastasia and Bartolome are jittery. This is convenient though.

I lift both of them as they try to straighten their postures and sit them on my shoulders.

「No need to be formal with me. I’ll bring you to an interesting place.」

「「O-okay!?」」

「Guuooooh!!」

「Hrnnn!!」

Two half-naked men wearing a white and red headband respectively wrestle with each other.

「This is white’s win for sure.」

As predicted, red’s leg floats up off the ground and is then thrown down.

Cheers erupt from the spectators.

「Father.」

「What is this place?」

「A fighting ring. Right now they’re doing a grappling match.」

Brawls and mock sword duels are held at other times, but they are probably much too graphic for four year-olds.

This was originally an empty lot behind the bar, but the store owner decided to turn the place into a fighting ring due to the frequent fights between drunks. Now, individuals proud of their strength also gather here with the usual drunks.

Of course killing is not allowed and watching is free. The profit comes from the drinks and snacks served to the spectators.

Actually, there is one more thing.

「Uoooh!!」

In the next match, one of the combatants grabs the opponent from behind arches backward for a throw.

「Wah, incredible!」

「Kyaa.」

I bet Nonna and the wet nurse never showed them this kind of entertainment.

Bartolome watches with an astonished yet thrilled expression, while Anastasia covers her eyes and hops excitedly.

They yell when a flashy technique is performed, ball their hands into fists so tightly that their knuckles turn white when the two fighters compete in a battle of power, and cheer when one of them displays his overwhelming strength.

I don’t want Nonna to feel bad, but the kids look like they’re having way more fun here than when they were watching the play.

「Here’s something to make things fun.」

I pay a copper coin to the owner of the bar and receive a red slip of paper.

I also give one copper coin each to the two of them and have them choose the slip they like.

「You see, when the person with the same color as your slip wins, you get double. You don’t get anything if they lose.」

This will be a suitable way for four year-olds to learn arithmetics.

The concept seems foreign to both of them, but since they’re Nonna’s children, they should be smart. Quickly understand how it works and gamb――and study arithmetics.

「「You can do it!」」

I gradually become emotionally invested and begin cheering for the combatant corresponding to my slip.

「Throw him there!」

Bartolome raises his arm and encourages his fighter.

「Don’t lose! Secretly step on his foot!」

Anastasia……well, she’s cheering in her own way.

After the bout ends, I carry the two sweaty kids once again and enter a familiar restaurant.

Yakov and Christoph also regularly visit this place, but it seems they aren’t here today.

I can’t exactly go to Andrei’s shop when I have children with me.

「Here you go. Whole roast chicken stuffed with turnips and onions.」

A large plate is set on our table by the waitress.

As the name describes, the dish is a stuffed chicken.

The children, who are used to eating only small pieces of food, are amazed by the portion size and don’t know where to stick their knife into first.

「Start eating from wherever you like, but the most delicious part is the breast meat. Try mixing the vegetables in the oil before eating them.」

I use my bare hands to tear it into bite-size chunks.

First, the boyish……Anastasia puts her hands on it.

「Haamu.」

Nonna would probably get upset if she saw her mouth full of meat.

「Isn’t it tasty? The meat is cheap, but the chef’s skill elevated the flavor.」

Although both of them can’t speak, I already know their answer by how much their cheeks are bulging.

There is also an extra big helping of potato soup.

Being polite is respectable, but as a kid, you are allowed to eat and make noise as you please.

It’s when you pass ten years old that you must have a little more decency.

「This is for me.」

I chug a stein filled to the brim with beer.

Oddly enough, it’s a product of Malt.

「Fufufu, would you like to have a sip?」

The timid Bartolome and the curious Anastasia reach out their hand.

「Gueh!」

And then a heavy hammer-like object slams against the back of my head, knocking my chin onto the table.

「You’re finally going for it directly!?」

My failure only made the situation, which could not be explained, worse as an eerie black shadow approaches and becomes less scary the more it reveals itself.

「I accept……」

Standing before me with hands balled into fists and a demonic expression is Nonna.

Her maids Sally and Maruru are also holding their heads in their hands in disappointment.

「Oh, that was your boob hammer? It packed quite a punch.」

「□△〇〇☆――――!!」

Nonna lets out a high-pitched scream close to ultrasonic frequency, causing the customers in the store to cover their ears.

「Sorry sorry. Stop your headbutts now or the shape of your head is going to change.」

I hug Nonna with a smile and then lead the kids by the hand back to the mansion.

「Why not help digestion by playing hide-and-seek in the courtyard? That shouldn’t be a problem, right?」

The children rejoice as their greasy hands and lips get wiped by the two maids.

「M-me too?」

Of course.

Nonna has also been lacking exercise lately.

Despite being unathletic and out of shape, Nonna doesn’t lose to four year-olds.

However, she got cocky during one part of the game and tripped on the root of a tree, inviting laughter from everybody.

In such peaceful times, the sound of the wind and flowing water can be heard if one listens carefully.

「Mama, they’re being born! So many of them!」

「A thousand……no, over three thousand! The pond will overflow!」

「Those who have given birth should get ready to move. Take your child and move to the other pond. I’ll ask Aegir-san to prepare a tub, and don’t forget to check the water quality.」

「There is an octopus monster in the eastern pond.」

「A mermaid won’t lose to an octopus. Chop it up, pack it in flour and bake it.」

I can’t help hearing Mirumi’s voice.

Anyways, a fairly uneventful day passes.

「That was fun.」

Nonna says.

「Yeah.」

I reply with a smile.

「Please create days like this from now on.」

Nonna gazes at me.

「Sure.」

I reply with a smile.

「I hope such days continue forever.」

Nonna squeezes my hand tightly.

「I’ll make them more interesting.」

I squeeze her hand harder.

That’s right, Leopolt submitted the document for the reinforcement of the army again.

Celia has been stamping the other documents for me, but I should at least do this one.

Hm, why is Nonna shuddering?

「Aegir-san!」

That’s Mel.

「It’s not fair that you played with Nonna-san for the entire day! Play with my children too! We’re having a picnic tomorrow.」

Carla and Maria also clamor around with their kids.

「Alright, why not? I’m free for the time being.」

I apologize to Nonna and let go of her hand with a final smile.

「――hii.」

Nonna is startled.

Oops, wrong smile. I meant this one, sorry.

Zwei Elfie – Tavern.

「Gahahahahaha!! Go on, drink! Eat!」

Zaphnes laughs heartily with a jug of alcohol in his right hand and black beast meat, which is extremely expensive in this city, in his left hand.

Women wearing thick makeup and gaudy outfits fawn on him, kissing his cheek and rubbing his crotch.

「The epitome of vulgarity.」

Zaphnes takes out a gold coin and slots it in between one of the women’s breasts.

He is greeted with shrill squeals and a storm of kisses and caresses.

「One must have fine wine and women after a hard day’s work, this nature of man hasn’t changed since ancient times.」

He proceeds to kick open a giant safe.

Inside it holds the fruits of his labor――specifically 12 000 gold coins.

「I’m not saying to increase our share, but the calculations are off to begin with.」

「Huh? The diamond was 10 000 gold and the relics from the fortress were 8000 gold, for a total of 18 000 gold. I’ll take half for the cost of the information and other expenses, then we split the remaining half equally between us, for an even cut of 3000 gold each. What’s off about that?」

Gido slumps his shoulders at the complete lack of guilt, but doesn’t say anything because he isn’t interested in the money.

「I knew my eyes weren’t wrong about you two! We encountered tricky situations but you surpassed expectations and we all returned alive. I’m impressed, gahahahaha!」

「Are you complimenting us? Or are you praising yourself?」

Visitacion scoffs and takes a sip of the shop’s highest-priced liquor.

「Both of course. It’s not contradictory.」

Zaphnes guffaws again and sticks his hand in between one of the prostitute’s legs.

Perhaps seeing the contents of the safe had an effect, but nobody rejects his advances, and even goes as far as pressing their bodies against him.

A new woman arrives and skips Zaphnes, placing a hand on Gido instead.

「Fufu, that man seems to have made a huge profit. But I prefer your type. You’re handsome and don’t resemble a gorilla at all, plus you’re skilled right?」

The woman’s hand slides down Gido’s stomach and she licks her way down from his cheek to his neck.

「Get away from me.」

Gido calmly rejects the woman and pulls away.

「……what’s your problem? So full of yourself.」

She harrumphs and curses once before stomping off.

Visitacion turns to Gido in disbelief.

「She wasn’t a bad girl. Or are you acting cool?」

In the corner of her eye, she could see Zaphnes unashamedly sticking his hand in a woman’s shirt and touching her boobs.

「I’m not interested.」

Gido quietly tilts his glass.

「Hmm.」

Another shadowy figure stands behind Gido.

Based on appearance, the girl is 12 or 13 years old at most――a rare sight in such a corrupt city.

The fact she is here means she experienced some tragedy or she is a person who is compatible with the city’s lifestyle.

Visitacion realizes her presence but deliberately stays silent.

The girl hides the sound of her footsteps and stealthily slips her hand into Gido’s pocket.

「Ah!」

Her arm then gets grabbed and twisted.

「Nmmn!」

Just as the girl mentally prepares herself for her arm to be broken, Gido presses his smooth lips, which nobody would believe belonged to a man, onto the girl’s mouth and lets her go after a wet slurp.

The girl instinctively tears herself away, only for a gold coin to be tossed at her.

She hastily catches the coin and runs out of the tavern.

「So you do have an interest in girls.」

「I simply didn’t want to give away gold for free. It’s a foolish way of having fun.」

Visitacion goads Gido as he tilts his glass again.

「Then do you want to have fun with me?」

「I’ll refrain.」

Visitacion replies, “is that so?” and then gets up from her seat without changing her expression.

「Are you leaving this city?」

Visitacion turns around in surprise at Gido’s question.

「……probably. I’ve gotten my money and I don’t have any attachment to this dump. I might go south to the Empire or west, I haven’t decided yet.」

「It’s reckless to travel such long distances with a child. The safest place is Hardlett’s territory to the north. It isn’t far.」

Visitacion awkwardly scratches her cheek.

「I don’t want to go there. Meeting him again……nevermind.」

As Visitacion is about to leave, someone grabs her arm.

「Idiot! Where do you think you’re going without your employer!?」

Zaphnes bellows loud enough for Visitacion to cover her ears.

「You don’t need to go anywhere! As long as you stay by my side, you are the safest and you will have the most promising future!」

Zaphnes wraps his arms around the unwilling Gido and Visitacion and pulls them in toward the table.

「It’s convenient for us now that the south has been devastated by bugs. You will know if you look at Zwei Elfie that those guys in Goldonia will throw in the towel if they can’t properly rule over the area. With my wits and money……fufufu, I’ll become a lord starting with this place!」

Gido sighs when Zaphnes speaks of his ambitions.

「This is Hardlett territory. If you try anything strange, the might of Goldonia’s strongest army will come erase you.」

「I wonder about that. According to my information network, things are not going well lately. I heard about someone losing a duel in Libatis……well it doesn’t have to be here, I could also try to curry favor with the city states further west and usurp them.」

「You can say the perfect conditions suddenly came about.」

Zaphnes tries to grope Visitacion’s boobs out of desperation, but she speedily evades and counters with a strike to the bridge of his nose.

「In any case, I intend to stand up once more as an independent force. You can’t go wrong if you follow me!」

Zaphnes exclaims spiritedly while wiping the blood dripping from his nose.

「Why are you so obsessed? With 12 000 gold, you can spend your whole life in luxury.」

Zaphnes embraces Gido like he was expecting such a question to be asked.

「That guy stole a woman from me, you see.」

「Aah……mm. So that’s it.」

Zaphnes continues, disregarding Gido’s nodding and look of deep thought.

「No it’s not that, she was kidnapped. No matter how you looked at it, the woman was in love with me, but a few things went wrong and she was taken away. I’m going to make her mine and leave Hardlett stunned!」

「Using your money?」

Zaphnes responds to Visitacion’s dubious stare by standing up and tossing a handful of the money in the safe in the air.

Immediately, prostitutes watching the development from afar squeal and swarm around him.

「Money is a part of power! Money, physical strength, smarts! It doesn’t matter what I use, I win as long as I steal her back in the end!」

Zaphnes howls as women surround him.

While he kisses a woman with a smirk, flames of passion burn brightly in his eyes.

One Month Later. Rafen.

I straighten the clothes of the newly hired maid before kissing her,

「Thank you. That was great fun.」

「Thank you for having me……I had fun also.」

The miad carries the sheets stained with her own virgin blood and exits the room.

Every day is the same, nothing changes and uneventful days pass endlessly.

「There were a few troubles.」

Catherine’s this and that led to such and such.

Natia experienced a disaster.

Rukino and Seika unbelievably had that happen to them.

Brynhildr and the elves unexpectedly did that.

Pochi and his family created a legend.

After Irijina fought against the giant octopus, Alice turned into something incredible.

There were some rather serious disturbances and some surprisingly trivial ones, but nothing so major that would have lingering effects,

There were a few conflicts and clashes between the new nobles and traditional nobles alike.

In general, they were all small incidents, but because I’m exercising self-restraint……or rather, because of the efforts of Adolph and the others, as well as a fortunate course of events, we were able to pull through everything safely.

Rebecca also told me that my investigation in the capital is dying down.

I guess it was worth staying quiet and I don’t have to worry anymore.

「It’s all good now.」

I exhale a sigh of relief and tilt my glass.

Then I hold up the empty glass to the moonlight before dropping it to the floor.

Naturally, the glass shatters.

「No wonder it’s so peaceful.」

As I gaze at the broken shards, the sound of horseshoes enter my ears.

They run right into the mansion.

It belongs to one person, likely an express messenger given the time.

I wonder if it’s because Rukino is crying.

It is already late at night.

Monsters or bandits attacked so-and-so village, a fire broke out in so-and-so city, Lord so-and-so suddenly died.

Situations like that which occur occasionally will wake up either Leopolt or Adolph, and they’ll report it to me the next day.

So-and-so is rebelling, so-and-so is flooding.

Such rare situations are now handled by Celia and I should hear her nimble footsteps.

Which one is it?

If it’s Celia, then I’ll ask her to bring a broom with her.

Oh, I hear footsteps.

It appears to be the latter, so this means she can clean up the broken glass.

「……there are so many footsteps.」

The door opens without a knock.

「Aegir-sama, please wake up!!」

It’s Celia as predicted.

「An assembly of traditional nobles in the capital was attacked! The details are still unknown due to the prompt report, but it appears several high-ranking nobles were injured and killed, and the place was set on fire!」

Even Myla is here.

「At the same time, bandits attacked a hunting party held for new nobles in the Military Commissioner’s territory! Crossbows were fired indiscriminately, injuring multiple people, please wait for the follow-up report for more details!」

Adolph is straining his voice more than usual.

「A simultaneous attack? On the capital and Erich’s territory? If the attack was done by the same group, they executed it splendidly.」

I collect the scattered glass with my feet and comment in admiration.

「Lord Hardlett……」

Myla’s lips turn blue.

What’s wrong, don’t tell me you had family there.

「Hardlett-sama……this is……」

Adolph is also shivering.

Yes it’s a major incident, but no harm was done to us.

I don’t want my mansion to be attacked so I’ll have to tighten up security.

A few moments later, a messenger runs in with the second report.

「Aegir-sama……」

A tearful Celia hands me the scribbled letter.

Minister ―― severely wounded, government official ―― dead, count ――dead, army commander――in a coma.

I return the letter to Celia and nod.

「They’re all guys who argued with me.」

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 26 years old. Spring.

Appears:

Nonna (hoping things stay the same), Anastasia (fortitude), Bartolome (delicate), Adolph (absentminded), Myla (fear)

Celia (confused)

Zaphnes (ambition), Gido (tough guy), Visitacion (indecisive)