Chapter 717: What has not changed and what has changed
Since it’s not good to go out in the same clothes when Naris says they smell, I first go to the bath at the Celesta mansion to wash off the sweat and juices. And while I’m there, I get my clothes washed. As for the question of who will wash my clothes……there was a brief argument between Maia, Emma, Leda and Leyla, and while they were arguing over who was right, Dianne quickly washed them and even used a drying spell.
“I’m sorry, I left them to dry”
“Don’t look so apologetic over something like that. Wearing your husband’s underwear is a wife’s natural duty”
Dianne says this matter-of-factly, but there are many different species in Celesta, and of course there are families where the women are stronger, so I don’t think it’s a very versatile value. It’s understandable, though, because in Trot there is a traditional tendency to be a little chauvinistic. And while they argue, the five dragons who have been taken away from their duties all hang their heads in disappointment. Well, Corti is looking a little withdrawn.
“Why are you all so obsessed with washing men’s underwear……”
Emma and Maia point their fingers at her.
“You’re lacking in the spirit of service. Are you still a slave!?”
“The role of a dragon is to do whatever pleases Andy-sama. Whether it’s sex or washing clothes”
“……Eeeh……”
I can’t help but agree with the vague 「Eeh」 that Corti just uttered. What’s with 「Are you still a slave?」. Naris, who was watching from a little distance away, muttered.
“When the spirit of service goes too far, it’s just perversion”
Yeah. And I’m refreshed, so you guys should get rid of the smell too. Or rather, why am I the only one dressed in sexy clothes when we’re having a bath? If the Masturbation Brothers were here, there’d be a riot.
And while we were doing that, it got dark, so we left the majority of the dragons behind and went out to eat dinner. The reason I left them behind was because there were some people at Rennesto who might know Shario and the others, so there was a possibility that a commotion might break out. Since they don’t know much about the outside human world, it’s not impossible that trouble might break out over something small. The only one who went out from the dragons was Maia, and the others were Dianne, Neia, Beatrice, Naris and Almeida, and me. It’s mostly girls, but everyone except me is an Ace Knight or higher, so I don’t think we’ll be in any danger.
“Yay! Free food, free food~♪”
Naris is as bubbly as ever. In a good way, I think elves don’t change that easily.
“You must have received a good salary”
“I did, but unlike Almeida-san, I have debts. The money that comes into my hands is my own, but it’s not mine already. 『Eating someone else’s food』 is the best way to get rid of the psychological burden of having to work hard to earn money”
“……I think I need to explain a little about the spirit of a knight to you”
“No, no, no. I’m not going to become a hardcore knight like you, Almeida-san, so I don’t need that kind of thing! My ultimate career plan is to become an adventurer!”
Naris escapes from Almeida’s disapproving gaze, using me as a shield. Or rather, don’t touch me so much. You’ve been acting like nothing happened for a month, but you were lonely, weren’t you?
“You can eat with our money, but first, let’s see how Tetes and Sharon are doing. Tell me in detail what’s going on”
When Dianne-san prompted them, Naris and Almeida exchanged glances.
“Emm……I guess we should start with Tetes”
“Apparently she’s said she wants to retire……but that’s just what I heard from Grand Knight Annette”
“And apparently she argued with Grand Knight Buster, who was reluctant to agree and then she said she was already pregnant”
“Eh?”
My heart jumps. Eh? Eh?
“She’s pregnant……is she!?”
“I don’t know. I’m just passing on what I heard”
“It wouldn’t be surprising if she was, but she’s Tetes……”
Almeida sighs. I’m well aware that Tetes is the type of person who will bluff when the moment calls for it. Considering the timing of when she brought it up, it’s entirely possible that she was bluffing, but it’s also true that Tetes is the most fertile of the species, and she also routinely receives impregnation from me. Well, but……up until the Kalwin incident just the other day, she’d been using contraceptive magic to avoid getting pregnant carelessly. It’s too quick to get pregnant. But I’m pretty sure she can undo it herself. Thinking about it, there’s also the possibility that she secretly undid it herself earlier and had premarital sex……because it’s Tetes, after all.
“Well, it’s Tetes……”
“It’s Tetes……”
Me and Dianne also nod to each other with a subtle expression. In every sense, it’s possible that it’s both true and false. She really is a troublesome girl.
“So, the rumor is that Grand Knight Buster got so worked up that he locked her up in his mansion. We haven’t seen her since the first few days”
“It’s a family matter. I don’t want to poke my nose into it and ask questions……”
I guess so. ……No, is that so? Almeida, you’ve been wearing that collar so openly, and you’re still keeping your distance from Tetes? No, but I can understand that you don’t want to get involved too quickly. After all, he’s Lord Buster. If you offend him by being careless, you never know what kind of interesting magic he’ll use on you. I guess he just left you alone until we came along.
“Let’s go to this restaurant. This time, we only need one table. I don’t think they’ll refuse”
Dianne urged us to go to the first restaurant we saw.
As before, I thought they might be reluctant to let a group of women drink at their restaurant, but the effect of Naris and Almeida’s gauntlets was immediate. Even if they were drunk, they had the strength to twist the arms of any man and promised to pay well. Well, it was Dianne who was paying.
“Yes, yes, if you’re not going to eat, move! The people from the Gauntlet want to sit down! I’ll put it on your tab, so go away!”
The landlady quickly got rid of the impatient drunkard, and we didn’t have to wait long before we got to sit down. ……The last time we came here, we had a hard time getting anywhere. Well, we were in a pretty awkward situation, with a bunch of former drug addicts who didn’t understand a word.
“For now, the recommended course, full! Seven servings!”
Naris raises her finger to place an order. She is the most experienced with Rennesto among the group, so she is a reliable person to rely on.
“Seven servings? That’s a bit much for a girl, but is that okay?”
The landlady looks doubtful as she quickly clears the table. While it’s understandable that Naris and Almeida are gluttonous with their extraordinary athletic ability, she must be worried about the other members of the party. Maia, Beatrice, Neia and Dianne. Dianne has a certain air of a warrior about her, but the other three certainly don’t look like they eat more than men. I do eat a lot. Me? I’m a soldier, so I eat more than most people. One serving for a normal young man in town is not enough. I burn a lot of calories at night. That said, I’m far from being a brawny, muscular guy, so I’m probably going to look relatively puny in this town, where all the soldiers are so buff.
“Hmph. We’re all big-eating fighters. Keep ordering more, okay?”
Naris makes a smug face with her chin tucked between her thumbs. The wolf crest shining on the back of her gauntlet tells the hostess that she is not just overconfident, and she looks around at the women again with a strange expression before going into the kitchen.
“Let me tell you something good, 10-man captain Smithson. At the Valerie Tavern in Rennesto, the recommended course is the only option. The menu has a lot of different dishes on it, but this place is far from the food production areas. The ingredients available vary from day to day. If you suddenly specify a dish you want to eat, the ingredients may not be available, so you’ll have to start by borrowing them from the neighboring shops, and by the time you get them, you’ll have drunk yourself silly. That’s why the safest thing to do is to order the recommended course, which the restaurant has on hand and is easy to serve. The best way for a drunk person to do that is to guess what the restaurant has in stock from what they’ve served you so far, and then order more of that”
“I see, that’s very reasonable……”
“Anyway, let’s toast to our safe reunion. Landlady, wine, wine, the most expensive one!”
“You’re being a bit too forward, aren’t you?”
“Landlady, since this guy isn’t paying, please start with something a little more affordable”
Almeida suppress Naris outburst. Dianne, who is smiling wryly and resting her chin on the table, is probably not going to get upset over a drink or two, since she will probably be paid a lot of money by Celesta for her work in dealing with the aftermath of Kalwin.
“And what about Sharon? Are you guys not going to touch that either?”
“Ah”
“Knight Chief Sharon……umm”
The party mood of Naris and Almeida drops slightly. What? Is there a problem with that side too? I suppose there is. But it’s not a double pregnancy, is it? Well, it’s fine if they’re pregnant.
“That side is troublesome, you could say. Apparently, when Knight Chief Sharon said she wanted to retire in earnest, Grand Knight Felios collapsed, spewing blood from his eyes, nose, and ears like a plague”
It had even gotten worse from the coughing up of blood. Or rather, just how severe can the symptoms be from psychological shock for that hard-boiled elf?
“What are you going to do about that?”
“At one point, it seems that half of the doctors in Rennesto gathered to treat him. Then, it seems that Knight Chief Sharon was calmed down and dissuaded by Commander Berga, but……Chief Sharon’s resolve seems to be firm, and it’s also said that it’s at an impasse”
In response to the fatherly actions of Sir Buster, isn’t the way Sharon is being held back by Felios like she’s being held hostage a little bit effeminate? ……No, if my own daughter was going to become someone’s slave, I’d probably just have to crawl around vomiting blood and try to stop her. If she grows up with Polka in the future, she’ll definitely grow up stronger than me, and not just Peter, but even Elenia. As we were talking about this, the first dish was brought over. The hospitality dishes of the Lake Valley region are judged by the number of small plates they use. The more plates there are, the more time and effort has gone into them, and that is said to show the extent of the hospitality……or so I was told by Sir Buster one day. First up was a starter of dried fruit that had been soaked in water and then prepared. It wasn’t enough to be a snack with beer, but it was just right to go with wine. Just as I was about to take it, the waitress tripped over something and fell towards me.
“TTo!”
The plate was knocked over and the appetizer scattered all over the table. However, the waitress caught it with her outstretched hand and just barely managed to stop it from crashing into the table or chairs.
“S, Sorry……!”
The waitress was very apologetic.
“Ah, no, if you get hurt in front of me, I won’t be able to eat. Are you okay?”
“Yes, really……”
“……Oh? Something……”
The waitress’s face looks familiar……I thought and stared at her, when a man who was drinking at a distance suddenly came over and pulled the waitress back, holding her in one hand as if to take her back, and hid her from my gaze.
“Hey you! If you’re having trouble with women, go to a brothel! I won’t let you lay a hand on Merie-san!”
“Herman-kun, please stop! This person saved me”
The sister hurriedly intervenes to stop the man’s anger. ……Herman?
“Herman?”
Beatrice, who had been sitting down, muttered, and the young man with short hair and a large build looked at Beatrice with a doubtful expression.
“What’s wrong, is it something to do with my name……eh?”
“…………”
“I seem to recognize you……eh? Emm……War God Dianne? Neia Grance?”
Herman looks around the table and finally notices something when he sees the faces of Dianne and Neia. He didn’t recognize Beatrice at first glance. Yeah, she’s become almost unrecognizable compared to how she was back then. But even though we’ve met before, I’m not that impressed? I’m sorry.