「Fuaaaaah…」
Next Morning. I woke up to the light of the sun shining through the window. Hmmm, what a nice morning
Next to me is Erinabelle sleeping naked. What a cute sleeping face. Although the sheets are messed up.
I got out of bed and checked the magic stones in the cloth bag again. Inside were 15 stones in various sizes. No wonder it’s heavy.
「I wonder how many I’ll take back?」
『I’d say three if our past examples were to go by』
Cui’s already awake and it flew over my head. My head has become Cui’s permanent residence.
「Hmmm…」
「Oh, did I wake you up? Morning, Erinabelle」
「Good Morn…」
She looks at me with still-sleepy eyes. By the way, I’m naked and holding a cloth bag.
Even if I put on clothes, I’ll be naked when I return to Japan anyway.
「I know it’s early but I’m going off now. I can’t afford to stay away for too long」
「Hmm. When’s next?」
「I don’t think it’ll take a month. Thanks for the magic stones」
I moved to Erinabelle’s side and patted her head. Then, we gave ourselves a light kiss.
「Next time I come over, I’ll prepare even more toys for you!」
「N-No more toys please」
「Really? Well, you can use this as you want while I’m away」
Knowing Erinabelle, she would masturbate with that vibrator.
「Okay. See you later, Erinabelle!」
「Yeah」
If we don’t conclude this, I will stay here for a long. Honestly, I wanted to fuck her again this morning, but let’s keep the fun for next time.
Besides, Filmeria, I want to fuck her too.
I returned to Japan with such thoughts in mind.
■
Hughfrey・Remarsus In the Kainzbern Empire, he’s a lower noble who became a thirteenth-ranked citizen.
Those below the tenth are just a hair above the commoners, if not the same. The senior nobles don’t see much difference between them and commoners.
On the other hand, they’re also characterized by their closeness to the commoners. Hughfrey has been assigned as Erinabelle’s subordinate and has been there for long.
「It’s another work day today…」
He was nervous when he was first assigned to Erinabelle.
After all, the other party is a third rank, one of the generals. The fortress breaker, Erinabelle’s nickname shows no elegance.
Erinabelle was proud and self-confident, like a senior noble. But, she’s fair in job evaluation, and she doesn’t hate talking to even lower-ranking nobles.
She looks cute, and so she’s not a bad superior officer. She often introduces herself and praises those under her.
But Erinabelle’s busy with other things. That means she can’t come to the guard’s office every day.
And since she doesn’t talk to commoners, knights like Hughfrey respond to the merchants and deal with the security at the Eastern part of the capital.
Around noon, he talks with the merchant in the reception room about ordering arms and food.
「Then. That’s about it for now」
「Thank you」
「But, the food’s getting expensive」
「The capital still has it better. In rural areas, the gap is starting to open between the cheap and expensive stuff」
A long-lasting civil war naturally leads to the decline of national power.
Materials, labor, and lives continue to be exhausted. The spread of war leads to a decline in security, making it easier for bandits and foreign powers to invade.
The enemy isn’t just Yugdovan, leading the rebel forces. It’s unknown when the neighboring countries will intervene giving some vague reason like “saving a certain noble related by blood”
In fact, some kingdoms invaded saying so.
Unless the political situation stabilizes, the military intervention will further worsen the security around the empire. The negative loop continues.
「Until recently, some merchants bought food at a low price and sold it to other places at a high price」
「What about now?」
「Well. You don’t know when the bandits may attack, or if the rebels find you and take all of it」
「That’s rough…」
Kainzbern empire has the largest land control over the continent, and the industries and development for food self-sufficiency are high.
However, the nobles in territories were divided between Aranx and Yugdovan, and the number of territories with large-scale fields began to create a price differential for the food.
「Can you keep those wholesale prices for a while? Our kitchen isn’t doing well these days. If you raise the price too much, the accountants will be too noisy」
「I don’t want to raise it either, you know? But, you’re right. I want to keep this good relationship with the security. If you could provide us some useful information for our merchants, we’ll keep the price the same next time」
「Information? I don’t think we have anything useful to you, but still…」
Hughfrey’s also an imperial knight, but there’s a limit. He doesn’t know any information the top has, and he doesn’t know the maps of each region replaced during the Civil War.
He thought that he couldn’t provide any useful information to the merchant but the merchant whispered.
「Actually, I’ve heard some rumors」
「What?」
「It’s about the rebel general, Alchrom the Armor Breaker! I heard that he kidnapped a noblewoman in the capital」
「…Oh…」
Hughfrey knew about it naturally. Rather, he was with Erinabelle, running around the city in search of Alchrom.
「From what I heard, it was Erinabelle-sama’s servant who rescued the noble lady! It’s amazing, a servant against that Alchrom. You’ve seen him, don’t you? Tell us what kind of a person he is」
Hughfrey realized the Merchant’s objective, wondering if it already has spread among the merchants.
They wanted information from the start. And they’re baiting him to feed them information about that servant.
「You sure love your gossip.」
「To us Merchants, information is our life. Whether it’s useful or not depends on the situation. There seems to be a talk about Erinabelle-sama’s servant in the castle」
「Is that so?」
「Yes. After all, Erinabelle-sama never picked her servant, so it’s a first. Also, it’s a 15th rank citizen, maybe it’s also a rise of a commoner. You don’t even need to be a merchant, everyone who knows Erinabelle-sama is curious」
Hughfrey gains a deeper understanding of the background of the merchant while in conversation.
Perhaps he’s friends with the nobles in and out of the castle. Looking at Erinabelle’s servant got them curious about who and where that came from.
The merchant has entered and left the Eastern capital, which is under Erinabelle’s jurisdiction.
If they gain information about that servant… Then, they can also create a bigger presence for the noble at the castle.
(Information about Touya… What should I do?)
Hughfry knew that speculations were flowing at the sudden appearance of Erinabelle’s servant. One of them is that the man is just a male prostitute.
Hughfrey didn’t believe that rumor. He knows Erinabelle’s personality, and so he doesn’t think she’ll pick a commoner partner.
And Touya’s skills were certainly enough to serve as Erinabelle’s servant.
He can keep up with them in mock battles and has enough strength to train directly under Erinabelle. He’s still grasping his way with the sword, but his athletic ability is strong enough.
(Well, I’ll tell the story of Touya to this merchant. But should I say that Erinabelle has been impressed by his abilities and took him as her servant?)
It’s not good for mental health to have rumors surrounding their superior, saying that she ran into a common man and picked him to serve her.
What he tells the merchant will spread to the nobles, mainly those in the castle.
Thinking about it, Hughfrey grinned.
「That servant. He was strong enough to fight against us bare-handed, you know?」
「Ohh? Details please」
「Sure. He’s definitely the man who faced Alchrom. I’m impressed that Erinabelle-sama found such a strong man. Anyway, when we met, I couldn’t measure his strength at all. Thinking about it now, when we first met, he was taken in as a suspect. But, it was actually to hire him」
Hughfrey tells the story and the merchant leans in.
「In short, Erinabelle-sama… She saw his skills and hired him as her servant?」
「What else is there?」
「N-No…」
「That’s the first man Erinabelle-sama personally picked, do you think he’s an ordinary man? Just so you know, he was able to hold his ground in a mock battle against Eriabelle-sama」
「What?!」
Thinking about it now, Touya’s strength is amazing. He’s got no mana, but where does he get that inexhaustible strength?
Although it was sloppy, he was able to respond to Erinabelle’s movements.
「So the servant’s name is Touya. He’s a weird man with a white bird on his head. That man will eventually be called a Hero. That’s what I think」