Chapter 453: Talc Holiday 1
Each of the prostitutes left Carlos-san’ mansion with a business smile (and some with a let’s go on a real date without work motion). The breakfast consisted mostly of leftovers from yesterday’s feast and Carlos-san was disappointed that he could not serve raw vegetables to his guests, but that was about it.
“I’m surprised that you can hold all those people in your arms and come to breakfast without a care in the world……”
“Do you know your face, Nancy-san?”
“Well, right. We’ve lived a long time. I’ve been in the neighborhood long enough to know each other. Especially……oops, I guess it’s bad business to reveal the age of the women who use their bodies as tools of trade”
“I’ve only heard that Leslie-dono is about the same age as Hilda”
“Cosmos is as open and unassuming as ever……well, she and a few others, you know. Every girl is a natural lover, as expected of you, I thought you had a day off today”
“I’ve even got dragons at my place. You can train your physical strength”
“Is that so……dragons are useful in that sense, too”
“……I approached them saying, 「I don’t care about fighting, let me fuck you」”
I confess with a slight look away. Nancy laughed.
“If it’s just guts, you’re no better than Carlos”
“……I wonder if Carlos-san is that fearless”
“You don’t see it, do you? But there have been many times when I have fought off assassins with only an empty-handed bluff. Some even believe that they’re actually stronger than me”
“So much”
It’s always been that way. ……I’m sure it means that Dianne and Hilda are always by my side and all I see is a family-oriented face. Dianne’s various deal negotiations are said to take at least until tomorrow.
“I also wonder if it’s alright for us to be playing around”
Sharon looked apologetic, but Dianne laughed and fluttered her hands.
“It’s our hometown to begin with. Even when I’m working, I naturally get to renew old friendships. Think of it as me having a good time. And it’s not at all a scene where you foreigners come into my work. I, or at most that guy if Becker is around, is the only one who can handle the current work. I hope you don’t mind and enjoy my hometown. If others have even the slightest pleasant memory of this town, that is something I am most proud of”
“Haa……”
Sharon looked a little unconvinced, but in reality, Sharon and the other Gauntlet Knights were just personnel assigned as guides and escorts within Renfangas, and they weren’t suited for practical work at all, nor were they expected to. Or rather, I’d be in trouble if they messed with the processing of our military documents.
“I think me and Anzeros can help a little”
“I’m glad you feel that way, but this is a process that not many 100-man commanders do……and the paperwork itself is quicker if you leave it to the clerks at the military base here. The most troublesome part is that I have to go through the counterparts”
“For that, Dianne-chan will have to do it herself, or ask her older brother and her sister-in-law to take care of it”
Either way, isn’t there a turn for us who aren’t locals and have no connections? Aurora might be of some help, but……Aurora is not yet familiar with office work, considering her career.
“Anyway, don’t worry about it. If you’re so inclined, I’ll indulge you a little after we leave Talc”
Diane sent us on our way. As for what to do, it seems that no plans have been decided yet.
“Ho. Today, too, we will go sightseeing as our legs take us”
“Would you like to go to the north city today? No, yesterday we were in the west city, but according to Mira-san and others, the north seems to be the dark elf district, with many nice old shops. It’s about the extent of it, but across the street to the south, it seems that a three-horned tricorn and a single-horned monocorn ogre have their territory and are glaring at each other”
“I’ve hardly ever seen tricorn ogres”
“Is that so, Tetes-chan?”
“Because there’s hardly any in the Gauntlet Knights or in the national army”
“……I haven’t seen any in Afilm either. Maybe there are no tricorns there because of their race”
“Nn, at the last year-end spirit festival, Julio-san carved a statue of the legendary grandfather tricorn here”
“Legendary? Is there some kind of great man here?”
“N, I overheard that he was an invincible chivalrous man in the old days. I heard that there was another legendary swordsman in the desert. They talked about their strength almost like a fang bird versus a flame lion”
“……What’s with the fang bird and the flame lion?”
“Ah, don’t you know? Do you know? In the Southern Great Plains, there are two types of legendary magic beasts”
“Legendary magic beasts……? Are they monsters or something?”
“It’s not like monsters or anything like that. What I mean, in a way they’re like spirits or something like that? They’re something that no one knows if they exist or not”
“Ah……I sort of get it”
The point is that 「Legend」 is the contextual point, not 「Magic beast」.
“The fang bird, by the way, is a bird that looks like a wolf and has a wingspan of about 10 meters. A flame lion is a lion with a flaming mane that lives in a crater. One roar is enough to set the trees on fire and start a forest fire”
“They’d be a nuisance to have around, both of them……”
Well, it looks like Laila could control it all by herself. A wingspan of 10 meters and the ability to ignite are poor weapons against a dragon.
“One of them. I might want to take a look at it”
“Maybe you shouldn’t”
“Eh. But I’m a human, so if I go and see it by myself, it wouldn’t be a problem. If everyone rushes in, it’s all elves, so it’s likely to cause trouble”
“Isn’t it too much to take it so seriously? And now that it’s become a legend as an ogre……”
“Ah, it sure was withered. The atmosphere was as expected”
“Ogres age quickly”
The destination meeting continues with the gauntlet group in the center. In the midst of all this, I noticed Neia, who was standing silently outside the circle and I quietly approached her.
“What’s the matter? Not in the mood for sightseeing?”
“No……I’m not going against the flow of things, but, you know……”
“?”
“Because I know that if I say something because I am not familiar with common sense, it will be off the mark”
“……Is that so?”
“Besides, this is a town where there is a lot of blood and……I’ve seen a few fights. I know it’s not the kind of place for me to mess around, but I almost did, and I remember when Anzeros stopped me before……”
Neia scratches her cheek and laughs in annoyance.
‘It’s not good. I……have to really don’t intend to do anything”
“I don’t think you have to be that disciplined…or rather, I think it’s good to have enough sense of justice to stop a fight”
“……Is that right?”
“At that time, you had a feeling that you could never forgive someone who was overwhelmed and violent when people’s principles collided. Anzeros said that was one of the freedoms”
Well, people die from those things. It’s not light and it’s not something you can just call freedom.
“But it’s always better to talk about it than to beat each other up over feelings. It’s not to punish an innocent person, but if you just want to stop something that is unreasonable……well, that depends on the case. I don’t think we should deny everything”
“……It’s difficult, isn’t it? I……what am I supposed to think of myself?”
Hero. That alone was enough. That was all that was needed to make sense of it all. That was Neia’s life until now. Now, however, the reality of 「Not so」 looms, and she is in a place where 「Not so」 is not the case. Perhaps she has lost the confidence to take on various challenges and has atrophied because there are too many things that cannot be measured by her own values. Maybe that’s why I’m drifting away. ……There is no need to force instill an alternative set of values. It’s okay if things change slowly. I think it’s unhealthy to be so passive about everything.
“Who……ne. Can’t we just call it 『Neia’s meddling in the air』?”
“…………”
“I think everyone acts that way based on what they have. You can’t say something unless you’re in a better position than the other person. First of all, you have to confront the other person and then, whether it is good or bad, you have to deal with the other person from time to time and if you are wrong, you have to apologize”
“……Yes, that’s right. ……I may be terribly timid. I don’t even think I can change anything with just one of those things called me……”
“No, that’s just how it is. If your shoes are broken, you are seriously worried about how you are going to walk. People can even walk barefoot”
I patted Neia’s head with her hat on. I still think she’s a little dangerous.
“Alright, we’re going to be together all day. Let’s walk together, thinking about all the things we need to think about”
“Yes”
Neia gives me a soft, shy smile with just her mouth under her hat. Luna and Naris grabbed my arms.
“Andy. ……You’re with me, too”
“Please keep in touch with me just to make up for yesterday”
“No, did I work unfairly enough to make amends for Naris……”
“T, Think for yourself and make your own decisions”
It’s terrible. What am I supposed to do when someone says that to me? ……Even though it’s well, dating a lot of girls, I guess it’s to face this kind of thing incessantly…….