From the length of the beams of light that were shining in through the curtain, I noticed that the sun had already risen to a position that's between morning and noon.
Lupetta and I seemed to have fallen asleep for just a little bit with our genitals still connected as we clung together.
Since I have to take Lupetta to the military base by noon, we can't be having sex in bed all day.
I shook off my sleepiness and called out to Lupetta who was dozing off in my arms.
「Lupetta」
「...Mn」
Sure enough, I have already claimed her lips so many times I could no longer keep count.
*Chuu*, *chuu*, *chuu*, I urged her to wake up with those multiple kissing sounds.
「I know this is sudden, but I want you to go into the field later today」
「…I thought I might get called for that. I'm ready to do so」
Things ended inconclusively yesterday since a magic beast appeared in the middle of our talk, but I did tell her that I wanted her to go into the field together with the military.
It seems that Lupetta had considered that the army might call her for that, so she took care of her equipment's maintenance in advance before she went to bed last night.
「So you already got ready, huh? Good girl」
「Mnmn…*chuu*」
I kissed her as a reward and patted her head.
「Do I just follow you and your team in there, captain?」
「No, I won't be going into the field」
「What…」
The team that's going into the field won't be a team that I'll be leading, so I told Lupetta that I would like her to be that unit's navigator.
While I was at it, I also took the opportunity to tell her that we won't be seeing each other for some time because I'm leaving for Nambonan city tomorrow. That information is not confidential so it's okay to let her know.
「There's going to be so many people I don't know…」
I think she's the type who will isolate herself if she's thrown in a group with an unspecified number of people she doesn't know at all. Moreover, since it's the army, there will only be men around, so it's no wonder she's worried.
However, Lupetta's participation is needed as a person who had a deadly fight with the mystery man from the Synod Church.
After I explained the importance of her field expedition to her, I gently hugged her.
「Don't worry, I will tell the guys in the army ahead of time to not do anything bad to you. Trust me」
With her face buried in my chest, she opened her mouth to give me a short reply.
「...Okay」
Her small and frail back is so cute, it makes me want to go another round with her.
Maybe she felt my cock getting hard, Lupetta looked up at me and said,
「Mr.Captain. We have to get ready soon…A festival is going on right now so the streets are crowded」
The villa is pretty much at the city's center, located in a corner of the high-class residential street. To get to the military base that's located outside of the castle town from here takes a bit of walking.
「A festival? There's something like that going on right now?」
There are many festivals in a year, but I didn't know there's such an event happening today.
How do I put it? It's strange that Lupetta knows about it but I don't when she's not even from here.
「Yeah」
「Really…? What kind of festival is it?」
Festivals in the city of Nyuneri usually start in the afternoon, evening, or at night.
The city's illumination magic circles would be fully activated on those nights, and sometimes the wealthy would donate and set up lighting equipment similar to paper lanterns, creating a fun atmosphere.
It's not that we don't have any festivals that start from the morning, but the only ones that come to mind are the festivals to celebrate the beginning of a new year.
「To celebrate the defeat of the magic beast」
「Oh, that thing I took down, huh?」
The appearance of a magic beast is a great threat to the public. Especially because it's harvest season right now, the people living in the agriculture area were probably all going pale.
Not only would a magic beast trample all the crops, depending on the situation, it could also pollute the soil and then nothing will grow for several years.
That low pitched alarm definitely brought fear into the city.
「Eh? Ah, that's right. Mr.Captain is a noble…」
Lupetta nodded to herself convincingly as if she just remembered that I was a noble.
It's natural for nobles to fight magic beasts.
「A festival to celebrate the successful subjugation, huh? I guess that's a thing too」
「The city is packed with people. That's why we should…」
「I see. Let's go get ready to go then」
With just one last deep kiss, I pulled out my cock that was in Lupetta.
White cloudy body fluid spilled out, and the scene of the fluid glittering in the sunlight was truly refreshing.
Lupetta and I went into the bathroom that's divided to the women's bath and the men's bath, and then we returned to the bedroom.
As she sat on the sofa dressed and ready to go, she looked at me and said,
「Mr.Captain. About the babies…are they okay?」
「The ones you picked up in the field?」
「Yeah」
Lupetta had picked up 8 babies from the field.
Due to a long time of shaking around in the mining carts, the leeches that were sucking on their blood here and there, and them not eating anything for more than a day, all 8 of them were in a really weakened state.
「Right now, the army is looking after them. We haven't decided what we're going to do with them yet」
「…What's going to happen to them then?」
There is an orphanage in the city of Nyuneri as well, but I can't really say that it has a good environment.
If the children are around 4 or 5 years old and expect to work, the orphanage will take them in. However, if they are just babies that'll take up a lot of people's time, they might possibly be denied. Even if the orphanage accepts the babies, they probably won't be properly cared for. Developments like "I left them on the floor and then they died after they got stepped on!" are also highly possible.
To young boys and girls, the orphanage is a labor camp with a cruel environment, but to infants, it's a cradle to wait to die in.
The 8 babies Lupetta saved too, if they were ordinary babies, their short lives could soon come to an end in an orphanage.
「Don't worry. Those babies will make it somehow. I can't tell you any details but…」
「Really? That's great」
Lupetta became relieved as she looked like she believed my words without any doubt.
That trust made me happy and it made me want to kiss her. …Then I decided to do so.
「Lupetta」
「Mmm…」
Surprisingly, all 8 of those babies possessed magic power.
When the soldiers came to ask me what to do about them, I noticed them getting thinly caught in my magic detection.
It's unthinkable for 8 babies with magic power to be together in a normal circumstance.
Anyway, if they are babies who possess magic power and don't know how to think for themselves, many people will want to take them in. No matter what happens, they will be able to live a life with freedom, unlike average commoners.
Since there's a high possibility that those babies are related to the Synod church's plan, they will be confiscated by the Qualdense family.
I'm sure that right about now in the castle of Nyuneri, my father is in a good mood thinking about how he's going to deploy them.
Our lips parted and I met Lupetta's eyes.
「Come back here after you're all set to leave. I'll take you to the army」
「…Okay」
After making a small arrangement with her, Lupetta went back to the inn to get her luggage.
I got on the horse that the villa servants prepared for me and exited the villa.
Like Lupetta said, the festival seems to be causing a stir in the city of Nyuneri, so I judged that it would be better for me to ride a horse so I can open up a path through the citizens as well.
After Lupetta prepared herself to enter the field, she was wearing clothes with long sleeves and long pants that seem easy to move in, with a cloak that's like a hooded robe on top. The sword she had by her waist and the spear she was carrying on her shoulder really matched her clothes.
The tip of her spear had a sack tied to it with a string. For some reason, it reminded me of couriers in the Edo period of Japan.
I explained to her that the military will bring food in there, so she's only carrying the bare minimum amount of equipment she needs.
「Let's go」
「…Yes sir」
I told her many times before we left to leave the bedroom attitude in the bedroom, so she did not reply to me in an overly familiar way.
Lupetta was walking directly behind me as my horse moved.
When I entered the main street on a horse with dignity, the citizens were delighted.
Knowing that the magic beast was subjugated is something for the citizens to be happy about, but I don't know why they are taking a day off work.
「Since the warning of the appearance of the magic beast came out, the city got into a state of emergency. Once a fight with a mature magic beast starts, the battle could last more than a day or two. The citizens were prepared to be on lockdown for the next several days」
「The citizens had only found out that the magic beast had been subjugated this morning. No one woke up expecting to work this morning」
When I tried asking my escorts about it, they replied to me like that.
「I see」
By the way, it seems that the citizens of the city were instructed to refrain from leaving their homes for a few days.
However, the magic beast was defeated overnight. It's inevitable that they would be excited and start celebrating in the morning.
「Indeed, it's because we defeated it on the same day」
Normally, a mature magic beast is not something that can be defeated in a few hours. You have to have an army whittle its stamina down bit by bit and have nobles attack it with magic when they see any openings. It's an endless cycle of repeating that before the beast could go down.
For example, my grandmother had fought against a mature magic beast when she was still alive, but that subjugation seems to have lasted about 3 days.
As a side note, after my grandmother defeated that magic beast, it seems she caught a weird illness that ate away at her spirit and died. I'm not quite sure about the incident because nobody told me about it in detail.
Anyway, I have no choice but to quarantine myself from the castle of Nyuneri after I defeated the magic beast. I have used healing magic on my entire body many times so I don't think I am infected, but it's just in case.
「Young masterrr!」
「Kyaaaaaaa! *Squealing*」
「Congratulations on your successful magic beast subjugation!」
The closer we got to the center of the city, the louder the crowd's cheers became.
The fact that me, the feudal lord's son, Qualdense Wilk had removed the threat of the magic beast that was approaching the city had already become widely known.
Now, since the management of fields is part of a feudal lord's task, there seems to be still room for criticism like "It's because the lord's management of the field is lacking that a magic beast came out. He should be thinking of measures to prevent that from happening. This time the beast was subjugated so everything's great, but what would happen next time if the magic beast gets into the city?"
In reality, no citizens would dare to say that to their lord, but it makes sense that they would have those thoughts.
However, since the appearance of a mature magic beast is treated as a type of natural calamity since ancient times, being able to stop one is considered to be lucky to an extent.
And from the citizens' way of thinking, rather than focusing on the fact that a magic beast had come out of the field, their heads would prioritize thoughts like "The nobles defeated the magic beast! Woohoo! They are so strong! They are amazing! Nyuneri will be safe now!".
That's why the citizens are cheering for me and welcoming me with open arms.
There are so many citizens in the city square. It reminded me of a crowded train from Japan in my past life.
「Why are there so many people gathered here?」
「This morning, the dismantling of the magic beast had been completed and the magic stone was brought here. Since it's being disclosed to the public as well, everyone gathered here to take a look at it. The magic stone of a mature magic beast is something that's very rare」
One of my escorts who is walking next to me followed up on my idle complaint.
「Ohh? I want to take a look at that later」
「It's on display along with the magic stone that came from the mature magic beast that Lady Cassia defeated in the city of Evermill. It's understandable that the citizens would be so excited」
My grandmother Cassia had already passed away by the time I was born, but she was still really popular in the people's hearts.
She's a lineal descendant of the Qualdense family, the feudal lord of two generations ago, she strengthened the influence of our family, she has achievements of subjugating mature magic beasts, and the "Fifth Region Princess" play is about her. There are many reasons for why she is popular.
「The former lord will also be pleased. If he finds out that Lady Cassia's grandson has defeated a mature magic beast…I feel like he would rush back on a horse to Nyuneri all by himself」
「I think so too」
To my surprise, my grandfather was the one who married into the Qualdense family.
Since my father was still young when grandmother passed away, my grandfather became the head of the family temporarily as grandmother's spouse. He had quickly let my father inherit the family when my father became a proper noble and now he participates in wars for the family.
If grandfather who has forever loved grandmother finds out about this incident, I feel like he'll come back here just to praise me.
Since the citizens filling up the plaza were all looking at me as I rode through on a horse, I lightly waved my hand at the crowd.
Then thundering cheers rang out and the heat of the plaza rose at once. It feels great.
「Since they're throwing a festival like this, shall we bring some alcohol here later in my name?」
To a feudal lord, being popular with the citizens isn't that important, but it's normal for people to want to be liked rather than disliked.
After I consult my father, let's try to send some gofers out.
When I brought Lupetta to the military base after going through the crowd, many soldiers with black shields on their backs were waiting there. It seems like they will be the expedition force into the field this time.
I let the captain of that unit know clearly to not let anyone put their hands on her and entrusted Lupetta to him.
Since Lupetta is cooperating with us willingly as a guest, the soldiers are carrying her stuff for her.
The awkward look she had on her face with her hands emptied out was kind of cute.
Their destination is deep in the field, so they probably won't be back anytime soon.
I handed her the charm that was recharged with my magic power and saw her off.