The next day.
[It's about Princess Kalnera.]
I woke up in the bed to Marl clinging to me.
Marl seemed to be still half asleep, but otherwise appeared to be listening
carefully.
[From what I heard from Marl, she wanted something that "belonged to
Marl", or something like that, right?]
[Hmmm… I think so. Moreover, isn't it also because Taichi-san is a Hero?]
Marl said so while rubbing her sleepy eyes. Looking at this blank face after
waking up made me want to stroke her head.
There's no need to hold back, so I stroked it. She's so pretty.
[In other words, it's because I have a huge billboard saying Marl's
fiancee and Hero attached to my head. That's why I'm thinking that
once I become her very own fiancee , she'd get tired of it all at once.]
[Hmm… there's certainly a possibility of that. She's indeed the kind of girl
who'd say that she's tired of the accessories that she forcibly took from
someone else and throws them away after three days. But, what would you
do if that wasn't the case?]
Marl nodded at my words but provided me with a counterpoint.
Yeah, true. It's as she said.
[Ah…yes, at that time I had no choice but to put up with a lot of things.
But, she's the type who will burn more and more if she can't get it, and
she'll never give up, right? I thought that even if I refused there, it would
only flare up further and have the opposite effect.]
[It's a bitter pill…but if you refused, I can't deny the possibility that she'd
be more persistent and forceful.]
Marl smiled wryly after hearing my words.
Yup, that Princess was definitely that kind of type.
[By the way, Taichi-san?]
[Yes?]
[I thought you'd figure yourself lucky since Kalnera was offering herself to
you?]
[At that time, just a little.]
I had no intention of doing that right now. I don't.
[Are you sure? You know that Kalnera has big breasts though.]
[Yeah, they're big and all. But, it's still not as good as Marl's]
Marl pinched my side. It hurts, please stop punching the customer.
As a man, I had to admit that those boobs were nice.
[Honestly, I'm sorry. Truthfully speaking, I wasn't calm at all.]
[…Haa. It can't be helped, I'll forgive you. To put up with Kalnera after
being fed orc energy potions, it's quite a praiseworthy effort.]
Saying that, Marl stopped attacking me.
It sure was amazing, wasn't it? I felt like I'd witnessed the mysteries of the
human body.
[Since it's Taichi-san, I thought you were going to actually talk me out so
that we could live together, only to feign giving up, right?]
Was she an esper?
[Taichi-san, how long do you think we've lived together for me to not
realize your tendencies? If you made a mistake and got into something, it's
always that kind of thing, isn't it?]
[Guh, that kind of thing.]
[I won't let you say that there weren't any. What would you say to people
who go out of their way to buy a former assassin criminal slave who had
been aiming for their life and keep her by their side?]
I had no way to object to that.
[Well, things did indeed go well with Fram. But, it's too naive. So naive like
the kid I saw along the way the other day. Taichi-san, this is what the other
side is trying to use.]
I was reprimanded by Marl. This might be the first time Marl had denied
something upfront.
But I had my own reasons. Even though I wasn't calm at that time, I didn't
accept the engagement just thinking about satisfying my lust.
[I thought it would be useful to have connections with the Karendil Royal
family. It seems that the forces that tried to assassinate us were properly
dealt with, and now we are building a good cooperative relationship with
each other through Zondark.]
[That's still too naive. If you think like that, you'll be dragged into the
Karendil Kingdom. Once the engagement is formalized, first they'll make
you an honorary knight, and once she's officially become your concubine,
they'll give you a barony and an appropriate territory. I'm sure it's going to
be like that.]
I can't refute that.
[First of all, you are too generous with Kalnera's matter. Trying to force you
to deprive her of her chastity with sleeping pills and aphrodisiacs?]
[I mean, well, it's not something life-threatening, so I suppose it's alright to
let it slide.]
[Taichi-san, what if it was done on me instead?]
[I'd kill the bastards.]
[Then, do you understand how I feel right now?]
[I'm really sorry.]
I sincerely apologized.
Certainly, even if it's just an attempt, I'd be devastated if I was in Marl's
shoes.
[Well, Taichi-san is such a sweetheart… I also took advantage of that at first
too. He's just too good and kind of a guy.]
Marl let out a deep sigh and tapped me in the forehead.
Then, she wrapped both of her hands around my cheeks, keeping my face
straight, and gave me a compelling smile.
[It can't be helped, I'll take it over from here. Taichi-san, please leave
everything to me, okay?]
[Ah, yes. Um, what are you planning to do, Marl-san?]
[Do you need to ask?]
[Ah, no. I'm fine, yes]
Seeing the smile on Marl's face, I couldn't say anything.
==========
[Then, I'm off ]
Marle, dressed in dress armor, smiled and waved as she got into the carriage
prepared by Jack-san.
I saw her off and let out a sigh. No one could stop the current Marl,
including myself.
[Not even Taichi-sama can win against angered Marl-sama.]
Maybel casually pointed it out to me.
Damn. Now even the maids looked down on me. Such was my fate. But, I
had no objections, mind you.
[Taichi-sama, Taichi-sama, do you want a massage? A good massage will
sweep bad memories away]
[Maybel, you just want to step on me, don't you?]
Maybel averted her gaze at my words. Hey, at least make an attempt to deny
that.
Fram, who was standing by, also had a suspicious atmosphere around her.
What were you going to do with the weak me, you guys?
[I'm going out.]
So, I decided to run away.
When Marl returns, I'll sincerely apologize. Let's do that.
[Haaaaaaa…]
I sat down on the park bench in the inner wall area and let out a sigh.
After the talk with Marl that night, I'd been having this terrible sense of
self-loathing.
Why didn't I just question the Princess when I knew full well that the tea
had sleeping pills in it?
Even if I pretended to be caught, if I woke up when I'm put in handcuffs
and questioned her… Don't regret my foolishness now.
It was clear that this situation was caused by complacency. It's a reward for
wanting to become a little stronger and richer. Die.
As I sat on the bench thinking about such things, several pigeon-like birds
fluttered down and started hovering in front of me.
So there were pigeons in Eriard too.
[Piyopiyo] [Piyopiyo]
When I heard the cries, I almost felt overwhelmed.
It's a different world, of course the cries would be different. Right.
I took out some bread crumbs from my inventory and spread them around.
Oh, look at how they pout while chirping piyopiyo.
But, would Marl be alright on her own?
I don't think there's any need to worry because the destination was
Zondark's mansion and the Royal Castle, but I'm worried nonetheless.
Marl's level was already in the realm of a veteran adventurer. But, in my
eyes she's still that frail girl.
Would she be alright? She'll be fine. There's no way something bad could
happen to that Marl.
What we should think about now is how to deal with the Kingdom of
Karendil in the future.
Depending on what kind of result Marl gets this time, I felt like I needed to
think a little more about how to interact with them.
Firstly, how much could I trust them?
At the very least, I think I could trust Zondark as long as our cooperation
provides mutual benefits.
Zondark's loyalty without a doubt was with the Karendil Kingdom, so as
long as I could provide a benefit for him, he'd eliminate political forces that
might harm me.
I know that the Karendil Kingdom was not a monolith. The first contact
was in the worst possible way, but if you hated one of them, you didn't need
to be in the spirit of hating the entire family.
Moreover, I'd told them during the hero reveal that the grudge of the past
had been washed away.
The rest was about the uproar this time.
Zondark must have been aware of this incident with Princess Kalnera.
Regardless of whether Princess Kalnera's plan came to fruition or not, his
goal of having me agree to a nominal engagement had been met.
I guess they decided that there would be no problem if Princess Kalnera
came over while I was away from home and made me a fait accompli.
Of course they knew what happened with Fram, so they understood my
personality as well.
He must have thought that if I had a physical relationship, it would be easily
one-sided, and even if it wasn't, I wouldn't treat Princess Kalnera wickedly.
[Man, I've been licked.]
The most painful part was that I knew it's true.
Yesterday, when I persuaded Marl to agree, Zondark must've seen it like I
was willingly moving to a checkmate.
And I'm sure Marl was cracking it all down into pieces by now.
Even if the case of Princess Kalnera fell apart, I could still remain useful to
the Karendil Kingdom.
My reputation in the military seemed to be rising now. At least there would
be no problems trusting them until the Great Flooding is over.
Well, even if that's not the case, it's been made public that Marl and I were
together, so there shouldn't be any problem.
There was no merit for the Karendil Kingdom.
From now on, I should be careful only about excessive reconciliation.
That's what this case was about.
What's left was a remote operation against me and Marl. This case also
served as this.
This time Zondark may use some excuses like the favors I owed him.
In fact, I provided weapons to the Kingdom of Karendil via Zondark, and
had them pass them on to other countries. In a sense, the only return to them
was a supply of weapons.
However, it took money, connections, and time to move people.
[Hmmm…]
If I ignored his pleas of loyalty and humanity, I felt like I'd lose something
important as a person.
So, I stopped thinking.
[Let's make use of this blunder as a learning experience. I need to apologize
to Marl. Yeah, that's the only way.]
When things go wrong, it's no use trying to get them back.
At times like this, a change of pace will probably serve me well.
Now then, what would be good for a change of pace? I've learned a lot
about sexual relations, so I'm better off with other things.
Should I go to the Adventurer's Guild and receive even a simple request?
Or should I shed some sweat helping with the construction of the Fourth
Wall?
I didn't feel like doing either.
Let's go shopping instead, buy some presents for Marl.
It's not easy to get a present to cheer her up, but I think it's an effective
way.
Thus, I wandered around looking for presents for Marl.
========
[So, why are you here?]
[Well, I've looked at a lot of things, but I think jewelry is something
different.]
[Then, why did you come to the armor shop…]
I was talking to Peron-san at the Peron's armor shop. Since she's a married
woman, she's safe in various ways.
By the way, Ritz-san was looking at me with a look of resentment from the
counter. I had no intention of taking her away from you, so calm down, you
lolicon.
[Were you thinking of something rude just now?]
[It's just your imagination, Ma'am. By the way, Marl had been looking at
shields eagerly for a long time, what kind of shield do you think would be
good?]
Peron-san groaned at my question.
[Marl-chan's style is to make use of her speed, isn't she? Then, why not a
small shield?]
[Hmm, that's right, but should I choose a type with a handle or a type that is
strapped to the arm with a belt…and also the size.]
I recalled that Marl hadn't given up on dual wielding, so it would be better
to have a type that was strapped to the arm without a handle
Bend it so that it didn't hinder the movement of her wrist… Wasn't this
almost a large pair of gauntlets?
[Oh, I think I imagined it wrong.]
I felt tired and couldn't get my energy up.
Can't do anything right when I'm this negative. Should I just see how Marl
was doing?
No no, Marl's hard work might go to waste if I got in her way.
[This person that could be called a Hero has no ambition. Did you have a
fight with Marl-chan?]
[It's alright if it can be called a fight. It's one-sided, and I'm doing my best,
so I can't stand it.]
[Didn't Marl-chan forgive you? Then don't look so grim and be proud!]
[I was thinking of buying a present to change my mood.]
The mood kept dropping.
I'm starting to think that it would be better if I just waved a mallet at the
workshop.
Maybel and Fram would probably leave me alone if I'm busy swinging the
mallet in the workshop.
[Is Taichi-sama here!?]
When I was thinking about that, Bang! The door to Peron's Armor Shop
opened and a small figure jumped in.
That nearly made my heart jump. It's just Maybel.
[Ma, Marl-sama is! It's serious! T, to the mansion! Hurry up!]
The moment I understood Maybel's words, I picked Maybel up and rushed
out of the Peron's Armor Shop.
I think I heard Peron-san's angry voice behind me, but I didn't have time to
worry about it.
Using strengthening magic, I jumped up onto the top of the building and
jumped from roof to roof, hurrying to the gate of the third wall.
[Uh!? H, Hero-dono!?]
[It's an emergency! Let me get through!]
Saying that to the flustered guards, I broke through the gate and headed
straight for the mansion.
There's nothing unusual about the mansion itself.
Maybel, who I carried in my arm, was pale faced. It may be that my
movement had made her nauseous.
I put down Maybel in the front entrance and rushed into the mansion.
[Fram! Where is Marl!?]
[Stuck in the alchemy workshop.]
Feeling a little uncomfortable with the rather calm Fram, I entered the
alchemy workshop via the blacksmith workshop.
Marl was there, flipping through alchemy recipes with an impatient
expression.
There didn't seem to be any external injuries.
[Marl! Are you alright!?]
[I, I'm safe, but I'm not safe! I screwed up!]
Marl's gaze, as she flipped through the recipe book, was moving without
hesitation, conveyed a tense atmosphere.
[What's wrong!? What happened!]
[The talk with Marquis Zondark went well, but I screwed up with Kalnera!
I- I never thought something like that would happen…]
Having finally found the recipe she was looking for, Marl began to rifle
through ingredients in a hurry.
Thereupon, my body trembled.
….. riel…..ah!
A voice could be heard from somewhere far away.
A voice approached from the open blacksmith workshop and the door of the
alchemy workshop.
[Gyaa!? It's here!? Taichi-san! Please stop it!]
[I, I don't really get it, but alright!]
The sound of footsteps was approaching
A familiar voice could be heard arguing with Fram.
Eh, what is going on here?
[Fufu, ufufufufu, here? Mariel-sama is here, right?]
The one who entered the blacksmith workshop was Princess Kalnera.
Her face was red and her breathing rough. She seemed to be somewhat
drunk.
I think I knew this symptom.
[Ara, if it isn't the bad insect attached to Mariel-sama. Is there Mariel-sama
in the back? Back off!]
Princess Kalnera's eyes were fixed and her breathing was rough.
Frankly, I'm scared.
[O, oy, Marl! What's going on!]
[I was just thinking of giving Kalnera a severe punishment! I was just trying
to make her realize how I felt! I didn't think the effect was still there!]
[Ufu, ufufufufu, Mariel-sama, more…!]
[Hiiii! I'm making a neutralizer right now! Taichi-san, please stop Kalnera!]
Marl was on the verge of panicking.
I caught Kalnera as she tried to break into the alchemy workshop.
I roughly guessed what was going on. I'm sorry, forgive me. It's for Marl.
[Hiii!]
I circulated a moderate amount of magic and used it to launch a magic
strike to put Kalnera unconscious.
Thinking about the cause, it seemed counterproductive, but it can't be
helped since this was the only way to incapacitate someone without
inflicting trauma.
[What are you doing…]
[F, for the time being, let's neutralize the effect of the energy potion, then
return her back to the Royal Castle…]
===========
[Hmm… Oh? What am I…?]
[Princess had a good night's sleep]
[Did I? I think I had a horrible nightmare…]
[It's just a dream. Better just forget it, Nera-sama.]