‘Are you alright, Yuuji-nii? Your face is pale, you know?’
“Yuuji-nii, you took time to wear cool clothes, so you have to look dignified!”
Yuuji, dressed in neat clothes, was trembling in nervousness.
They arrived at the city, and on the same day Yuuji and Alice received the clothes that were tailored a year ago.
The next day, Yuuji boarded the horse carriage that Kevin was making use of.
In order to meet the lord of this territory, Yuuji and co headed to the feudal lord’s residence.
Riding on the carriage were Yuuji, Alice, Riese, Kotarou and Kevin. As Riese’s escort, adventurers guildmaster Salomon was riding with them as well.
Kevin’s two exclusive escorts were also riding along with them, as coachman and escort.
Yuuji could not hide his nervousness as he would meet the feudal lord for the first time.
Perhaps substituting as a tranquilizer, Yuuji put Kotarou on his lap and hugged her tightly. Neither acting violently nor running away, Kotarou silently let Yuuji do as he liked. She was a kind woman. She was a dog though.
“Mr Yuuji, it’s encouragement in the pioneering and gratitude towards the protection to the elf. You are worrying too much”
“Mr Kevin, even if you say that…”
“Well I do understand your worries, lord Yuuji. Meeting a noble is unthinkable after all. Well, it’s experience, experience. And besides, the feudal lord is a good person, you know? He’s a little lively though”
Who showed understanding to Yuuji’s nervousness was the top of the adventurers guild, Salomon. Having climbed up from a commoner to first rank adventurer, Salomon too had been nervous before hearing that he would be meeting a noble like Yuuji.
That Salomon was continuously following Yuuji and the others as Riese’s escort. Salomon had a fierce look where a scar remained from the tip of his mouth to his cheek, but Riese was close to him without being scared of him in particular. There are humans with unusual faces, don’t they, she said in words that only Yuuji understood however.
□ □ ■ ■ □ ■ ■ □ □
Having arrived at the feudal lord’s, the group was led to the parlor by guidance of the lady attendant. As usual, Kotarou was staying at the gatekeepers station. Perhaps she had gone around; a great number of beastkin guards moved towards the station. Kotarou was completely treated as an idol. Or she was treated as an idol according to the origin of the word.
The group sat with Yuuji at the center, and waited.
The two exclusive escorts were standing behind Kevin and Salomon behind Riese. It appears that Salomon was sitting in their conversation with the feudal lord with his position as an escort and not as a guildmaster.
“So- soon, isn’t it…”
Yuuji looked restless and unsettled. He already had his third cup of tea that he received from the lady attendant, no, genuine maid. By no means did he enjoy the maid cafe mood. It seems he could not help but become thirsty from the nervousness.
It was not just Yuuji who was restless.
Ever since arriving in the city, Riese looked around restlessly with shining eyes. For the elven Riese it was the first human city that she had seen. Everything that she was looking at seemed unusual to her. Even now she moved her line of sight to the clothes that the lady attendant was wearing, the numerous furnishings placed in the parlor and the tea poured in the cup, one after another.
And then. Footsteps could be heard heading towards Yuuji and the others.
A noisy sound, impossible for a noble’s house.
With a clank, the door to the parlor opened without knocking.
“Thank you for waiting, my guests! Oooh, so you are lord Yuuji!
A tall man entered the room. Not only did he exceed two meters, his body, clad in armor of muscles, was enormous horizontally as well. Incidentally his voice was also loud. The sound of footsteps back then must be from him.
“Ser Fabian, I request at the very least a noble behavior in your territory”
“He is right, dear. Look, Mr Yuuji and the others are surprised too aren’t they?”
Who ignored the dumbfounded Yuuji and entered afterwards was the Premie city magistrate and the feudal lord’s wife.
“Ooh, sorry, sorry! As you know, I have been living long in the chivalric order! I’ve forgotten noble etiquette”
“Gahaha” the man laughed with his mouth wide open. He was lively.
For some reason, the feudal lord sent a passionate gaze to such tall man. It was contrastive to the magistrate who stared at him with cold eyes.
“It is nice to meet you. I am called Kevin, president of Premie city’s Kevin company. Today I have brought you pioneer leader Yuuji and his group”
“Ooh, how courteous! Kevin company, I’ve heard the rumors! If I remember correctly, you are selling the novel preserved food or something… What do you think? Won’t you wholesale it to the chivalric order? Hm?”
“Ser Fabian, at least please finish your greetings beforehand. Next, today is not a business discussion”
“Ooh, that’s right, that’s right! Fabian Pasteur, the feudal lord governing this territory! Well, usually I am striving as a knight in the royal capital and leave everything about the territory to my wife and the magistrate though!”
Yuuji was still dumbfounded from the tall man’s entrance after his state of nervousness.
Hearing the feudal lord’s self-introduction, Yuuji finally came to his senses.
“Houjou village head and pioneer leader Yuuji. Pleased to meet you”
‘Please to meet you! I’m Riese. I’m already a splendid twelve year old lady! But still… What is that? Do human ladies have to have big breasts?’
Continuing Yuuji’s self-introduction, Riese greeted the feudal lord, his wife and the magistrate.
Yuuji didn’t interpret anything except for her greetings. It seems Yuuji has become able to read the mood. But Yuuji did not correct Riese’s misunderstanding. On the contrary, he ended up stealthily nodding in approval. To the huge breast supremacist Yuuji, a lady has to have large breasts.
Fortunately, today the feudal lord’s wife was in a robust halterneck dress that covered her chest armor. Perhaps because her husband the feudal lord was here, or she had no intention to use her seductive techniques. The attractive ravine was concealed by a heavy cloud.
“Ooh, so you are pioneer leader Yuuji after all! And this one would be the elf miss Riese! Hm? Salomon? What are you doing?”
“Milord… Today I am here as the elf’s escort”
“Ooh, is that so, is that so! Salomon, if there is anyone who would try to do something bad to miss Riese, then off with their heads! I give you permission for that!”
“Lord Salomon, I actually do not mind that, but I would like you to hand them over to the guards alive if possible. Ser Fabian, please take a seat first”
While following up to the feudal lord’s words with a practised manner, the magistrate tried to bring the situation to a close.
The feudal lord’s wife, who usually displayed a capable face as the feudal lord’s representative, appears to become meek when in front of her husband. What was she charmed with? She was watching over the hearty movements of the feudal lord smilingly.
In any case, thus began Yuuji and the feudal lord’s first meeting.
“Lord Yuuji, first my thanks. I’m grateful of your protection of the elf during the winter. It’s trifling, but let me give you a reward afterwards”
“Tha- thank you very much”
The first words of the feudal lord as he took a seat were words of gratitude.
Perhaps having thought that there would be no problem if it was conversing with him, Kevin sent Yuuji a signal, letting him first have a personal conversation. They had decided on the hand signs beforehand.
“And then lady Alice. I have heard you are the survivor from Un Foret village which was attacked by bandits. I apologize as the lord governing this land”
A complete change from his lively state until now, the feudal lord lowered his head to Alice who was a commoner. Alice nodded suddenly while amazed.
“I will promise you that we will definitely eradicate the bandit group who laid waste to this land, no matter how many years it will take. I swear it by my halberd”
Ah, that wasn’t a sword, Yuuji pointed out to the feudal lord in his mind. Not saying it must be proof of his growth.
“Lady Riese, are you inconvenienced in the pioneer land? If you have any wishes, then we will prepare it. We can protect you in this building until we make contact at the royal capital, but in that case you would not be able to go outside the premises… Good grief, it is embarrassing despite being our city”
‘The pioneer land would be better for me! I have Yuuji-nii and Alice-chan and Kotarou too’
Hearing the feudal lord’s words through Yuuji, Riese showed a smile and wished for the pioneer land. Her answer made Yuuji reflexively smile broadly.
“Hum, I see. So the new pioneer land is that comfortable…”
“Dear, you can’t. You have plenty of work after all”
“… I haven’t said anything yet, have I?”
“Ufufu, I anticipated your thoughts”
The feudal lord’s wife reprimanded her husband with coquettish eyes.
A man, noble, knighted, rich in physique, hearty and reasonable, and married with a beautiful huge breasted woman with sex appeal. A normie.
“Lord Yuuji, it would seem that the pioneer is doing well. I am delighted as the feudal lord. I would like you to work hard from here on as well. If I recall, we have sent you some aid in road construction haven’t we?”
“That is correct, Ser Fabian. We have received the proposal of preserved food from lord Kevin, president of Kevin company. In order to keep it secret, he is planning on letting them be manufactured in the pioneer land. That being said, it is out of the question if he cannot transport the goods, so we have decided to aid them in road construction” “Hum. Lord Yuuji, Lord Kevin. This is a remote region and is still poor. Please do your best by any means. To be frank, I would have liked to have lord Yuuji and lady Alice in the chivalric order and lord Kevin run a shop in the royal capital though…”
“Dear, that won’t do. No matter how much your life is centered in the royal capital, the feudal lord of this land is you. Headhunting is unacceptable”
“Ser Fabian, please give up. It is as your wife says”
“Milord, I am very happy with your feelings, but neither I nor Yuuji intend to leave this land”
Yuuji nodded to Kevin’s every word. However much he raised in rank and physical abilities, Yuuji had been a shut-in NEET for ten years. It did not seem like he even thought about wanting to enter the chivalric order, working hard in training from morning to evening and become a macho like the feudal lord.
“Dear, how about you leave the chivalric order to your successor soon? If you do so, then you will always be in this city with me…”
Her cheeks dyed red, the feudal lord’s wife approached him on this occasion. Are they acting lovey-dovey?
“You two, leave that conversation for later in your alone time”
With the composed magistrate’s words, the feudal lord couple straightened their posture. It appears each of them have high ability, but they were the type of couple where things would go wrong if the two were together.
“Ye- yes, sorry. Now, lord Yuuji. Since your supporter lord Kevin, I would like to talk about the pioneer land. What, there’s no need to put on your guard. It is the basics to aid if there is something good concerning our territory, just like the road construction before. You see, it has been a while since pioneering was successful”
Clearing his throat unnaturally, the feudal lord returned to the conversation.
One of the main questions at hand, the conversation concerning the protection of the elf was over. It seemed that the encouragement towards the pioneer group was over as well, but it seems that now would be the main question.