Chapter 220: 205

『It's wonderful to be alive!』

「………It's wonderful to be alive」

Yukikaze's seminar was continuing even on our way home.

『Work is the meaning of life!』

「Work is the meaning………Huh?」

『Work is life, and the duty of the people!』

「That's kinda red, you know?」

『Death to those who do not work!』

「That's absurd」

『Work is the way to garner happiness!』

「And now it's black」[1]

『In order to transform you into a proper human being, Yukikaze thought it would be quicker to first strip you of your personality and your way of thinking』

「Hey, are you on my side or not?!」

That sounds like malignant brainwashing to me.

『Yukikaze is on your side. But justice is a matter of perspective. There are times when what appears to be evil “may” be the right thing to do』

「”May”, you say」

Maybe it's an effect of her restriction being lifted, but she's strangely loose in her approach.

Or perhaps it's a rebound from being so serious previously.

『Oh, there's something Yukikaze forgot to ask you, team member Souya』

「What is it?」

It would be bad if others saw, so we were making slow progress through the back alleys.

We would be arriving home soon.

『What does happiness mean to you, team member Souya? Please provide specific examples』

「………………………………Happiness?」

After a long thoughtful silence, I asked her back in spite of myself.

『Happiness, indeed. In concrete terms』

「Umm, to have a full stomach?」

『Are you from the post-war era or something?』

I never thought I'd get retorted by Yukikaze.

「No no no, when I was living on my own, I could barely afford food, so that’s not exactly wrong」

『If so, are you at the pinnacle of happiness right now?』

「When you put it that way, it doesn't seem so……」

『When one wish comes true, there's always another and another. People's desires are insatiable. So, what's the next happiness for you?』

「The next thing after food………?」

I have no problems with food, clothing, and shelter in my current life, so there's nothing I'm particularly unsatisfied with. Besides,

『For example, reproductive activities, indeed』

「Obufuuu」

I choked at her utterly unvarnished words.

『Despite acting like you have a death wish, your sexual appetite is as big as the best of them. The things you've done in the bath with not just Rana-sama, but Sister-sama, and even Maria-sama―――――』

「Yukikazeeeee! In Maria's case, it was just an accident beyond my control. I'm not into lolis!」

『Speaking of lolis, if you ask Yukikaze, Rana-sama is also a loli』

「What kind of loli has boobs like that!」

Besides, Rana is older than me.

『Yukikaze is so not sure, indeed』

She sounded as if she was utterly fed-up with it all.

「Well, you know, it's embarrassing to say it myself, but just being with the people on this side may be happiness to me」

『Mainly the women, right?』

「………………」

No comment.

『Yukikaze will be frank. Team member Souya, you should settle down and have children with the women here. There's a rumor that any idiot becomes a better person after starting a family. Or rather, if that person doesn't become a proper human even after starting a family, then he's a shitty human being who should be forsaken』

「Oh, yeah. Well, I guess」

Whenever I'm with Rana, I turn the Makina System offline.

That time with Lanseal too, I was out of Makina's sight.

They couldn't have seen anything.

It's obvious if you think about it for a second, but there's no way a shallow person like me would not do something when pressed by a woman. For Yukikaze to not understand this, she's still got a long way to go.

『So, how many children would you like to have?』

「Hey, that's sexual harassment, you know?」

『Yukikaze is a female personality. From a woman who has a certain level of likability, sexual harassment of a man is not a crime, but a service』

「That's not true!」

She's totally lost all common sense.

『So, how many would you like to have?』

It was a hassle, so I just answered suitably.

「………One boy and one girl」

『That's so typical though~. You should at least aim to build a soccer team』

「As if. How am I going to raise so many?」

『A child can grow up even without a parent. Unworthy as Yukikaze am, Yukikaze will assist in providing education for the gifted to the children』

「There's no way I would leave it to the current you. I'd rather trust Makina」

『………………That was a terrible insult. Yukikaze is suing, indeed』

「As I thought, you think Makina's an idiot, don't you?」

『Leaving that aside, what will you name them?』

「Name? They're not even born yet, so why……」

『It’s important to make such plans as early as possible, indeed. Imagining and envisioning the future is the first step to happiness』

What she's saying sounds reasonable, but it smells really fishy.

Ignoring her or trying to brush the topic aside is too much trouble, so I'll just come up with a name at random.

「Then………」

A drop of water hit the tip of my nose.

I looked up at the sky and saw the sun shining brightly while clouds that looked like cotton candy drifted by.

In the midst of such clear weather, a sun shower was falling. It felt a little chilly because of the wind.

「Shigure(drizzling rain/autumn shower)?」

I blurted out something that just came to me.

『Is that a male name? Or is it a female name?』

「I think it works either way」

『I see, that sounds good.【Shigure】has been registered as a potential name. Now for the next one』

「I can't come up with name after name that easily, you know? Besides, I don’t have any plans to――――――」

『You don’t?』

「………………No comment」

Did she realize and was only keeping quiet about it?

『Then, Yukikaze will take the liberty of listing some potential names, indeed. You want to stick to lucky ships, right?』

「No, there's no need to limit them to lucky ships, and to begin with, I'm more unlucky than lucky――――――」

『Hibiki, Kunashiri, Hiryu, Hosho, Junyo, Aoba, Haruna』

「Was Haruna a lucky ship? I'm not that familiar with it」

I vaguely know about Hibiki, but I'm not familiar with the rest.

Was Haruna an aircraft carrier?

『Though she was bombed and sunk, she can still be considered lucky as she remained on Japanese soil. As opposed to sinking to the bottom of the sea, indeed』

「But Haruna, huh? Haruna sounds kinda cute to me. And Kunashiri too. If you write Kunashiri in katakana, it has the same feel to it as the names of the alternate world」

Without realizing, I was getting into it for some reason.

『Roger, 【Shigure】,【Haruna】,and【Kunashiri】will be set as the preferred names in that order』

「Is it okay to decide on them in this way, I wonder? To begin with, the mother's opinion……」

『That's a problem for another time, indeed. Next, for Lanseal-sama………………』

An electronic beep went off.

『Yukikaze is very sorry. Yukikaze got so caught up in setting names that Yukikaze turned off the sensors』

「No, I let my guard down too」

Yukikaze and I had been taken completely by surprise.

A small-sized, dog-eared beastkin emerged from around the corner of the alleyway.

「Souya-dono, the king has sent for you. I ask that you do not resist」

It was the captain of the guard.

And behind him was a bunch of guards. There were fifteen that I could see, but when I searched for presences, I found twice as many lurking out of sight.

「Haa………I'll go with you」

All I have with me are Khius' sword, which I had wrapped in cloth, and the Deep Emperor Bone spear.

It's not impossible to fight with these, but it may be pointless to resist. However, I'm a little worried that waiting until I see what the baldy is up to might turn out to be a bad move.

『Team member Souya, Makina took it upon herself to――――』

What is it? I thought, but I immediately understood what Yukikaze's report was about.

I heard the sound and felt the presence of someone approaching rapidly.

It was coming from above.

Silver billowed across my sight. There was a metallic clank. Landing beside me was Lanseal, who had on the same suit of knight armor I had seen her wear quite some time ago.

But she didn't have the helmet on. Perhaps she had been in a rush when putting it on, but she was still wearing her maid's outfit underneath.

And the weapon she carried was a rectangular steel slab with a handle attached――――――which was Agathion.

With regards to the repair of the magic sword, Makina decided that she should make the sword battle-ready even as it soaked in the restorative solution, so she added more armor and extra functions until its weight finally exceeded the limit of what I could carry.

Believing that it would revive one day, I had left it in storage, but I never imagined that Lanseal would bring it out.

「You lot still want something from this man?!」

Agathion was smashed into the cobbles of the alleyway.

There was a thunderous boom, and a great blast of wind.

Wait, did she rush here over the rooftops while hauling all that weight? That's incredible.

「Lanseal, calm down and listen to me」

「Grrrrrr」

The captain of the guard tried to calm her down, but Lanseal growled menacingly like a beast in return. She was quite intimidating. Everyone except the captain of the guard looked shaken.

I also felt a tingling in my head, but some part of me was impressed with how much she resembled her mother.

「Lanseal, calm down」

I tried to placate her as well, but……

「Souya! Shall we kill them?! We're killing them, right?!」

「Just calm the heck down, please」

……disturbing words were all I got.

Even though she has known these people for far longer than I have……

「Errrr」

To start, I stepped between Lanseal and the captain of the guard.

「What does the bal―――――King Lemuria want with me?」

When I asked the captain of the guard……

「That's a secret, but I suspect……」

……the captain of the guard whispered into my ear.

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（The thing is, the members of Ringusunova have suddenly disappeared, all without a word to their attendants, servants, or even family. Since there was no sign of their property being taken, the king suspects that it might have been your work, Souya-dono）

（You’re kidding）

I've had my hands full with Khius lately. I haven't had the time to deal with old people with withered hearts.

（Nothing is going to get done out here. If you would, let's clear this up at the castle）

（The castle, huh……）

To be honest, I don't want to go back there again. It already feels like an enemy's castle to me.

「I understand. Souya, let's storm the castle」

「No no no, we're just going to talk, got it?」

Lanseal, who had been listening in, was totally in the mood for "that". That made me calm down. Nonetheless, the memory of being tortured by the magistrate was still fresh in my mind.

However, as much as it pains me, since Lanseal is here, I can employ Melm's plan.

I think that's also why she came in such a hurry.

That's why………right?

She's not going to just overthrow the baldy right now, right?

「Captain of the guard, we'll go. But it's alright if we keep our weapons, right? It's probably impossible to wrest the sword out of Lanseal's hands right now」

「………………It can't be helped」

The captain of the guard reluctantly agreed

As for Lanseal……

「If you try to take it from me, I'll string all of you up and assault the castle」

……that was how she was.

And so,

With the guards surrounding us, we headed towards the castle through the back alleys in one big group.

「Souya, I'm sorry. I ran out without hanging the laundry out to dry」

「Makina is probably taking care of it」

It appears that she had come in a rush after all.

Lanseal raised her voice yet again.

「Ah! I left the pot on the fire when I left!」

「I'm sure someone will extinguish it for you」

For her to make such a huge mistake in housework, she must have really been in a hurry.

「………I’ve done it now」

「There's more?」

As I listened half-heartedly to the mistakes Lanseal had made in her work, we arrived at the castle.

I had wondered where I would be taken, but it turned out to be the kitchen.

This was something that couldn't be made public after all.

「It's been a long time! Father!」

「What are you doing dressed like that?」

Lanseal greeted him in a loud voice. King Lemuria, who was seated in a cheap chair, frowned at her attitude and attire.

「It's sudden, but I have something to report. I have―――――」

「Alright, Lanseal. Consider the timing, okay?」

I stopped her sudden confession.

I'm probably the only person who can stop this rampaging girl right now.

「Souya, I have a question for you」

「Yes, please go ahead」

King Lemuria glared at me.

The captain of the guard stood behind the king. The rest of the guards had been dismissed the moment we entered the castle. Perhaps it was because the captain of the guard was present, but I was surprised that he wasn't more guarded against me.

「The sudden disappearance of the Ringusunova. Was that your doing?」

「No, I have nothing to do with that」

「Do you have any proof?」

「What proof do you have that I had anything to do with it then?」

「You're the most recent one to get into a fight with them, so it's obvious that you'd be suspected, isn't it? Not that they're the most reputable bunch to begin with」

That's true, but to think you'd suspect me before anyone else……

「Whatever happened to the Ringusunova, I had nothing to do with it. Here's the proof」

I pulled off the cloth to reveal Khius' sword.

「What’s that?」

Quite naturally, the king didn't get it.

「This is the sword of the representative hero, Khius Logret Londahl. I've been very busy recently trying to defeat him. I hadn’t had the time to deal with a bunch of old folks」

「What?」

With a surprised look on his face, the king stared at the sword.

「It looks like an ordinary sword to me, but is there something special about it?」

Lanseal was drawn to the sword.

The captain of the guard also drew closer to it.

「The material of this blade contains a small amount of Rmir steel and malignant silver. The blacksmithing techniques used to forge this sword are Elysium's, but they're from a long time ago. I can see the marks left behind by many battles. The number of people who have been killed with this sword is probably in the thousands to tens of thousands. I see……if you say that this is a hero's sword, I can believe it」

「Let me see it too」

The captain of the guard took Khius' sword from me and handed it to the king.

「I recognize this sword. It belonged to that giant of a man I met at the "A Respite From Adventuring" store. So he was the hero, huh?」

「That’s right」

I guess he hadn't realized after all. But the fact that he had left an impression on him means that there must have been something about him that bothered him.

「Souya, why didn't you say anything about that to me?」

「King Lemuria, why would I need to tell you that?」

There’s no reason to disclose my innermost secrets to someone I don't trust.

It's as simple as that.

「Souya, this is my country. In principle, I allow adventurers to be free, but only to the extent that it doesn't harm the country's interests. That's also why a problematic organization of old men like Ringusunova was overlooked」

「I see」

I'm not really interested.

The king returned Khius' sword to the captain of the guard and pulled out a document, which he proceeded to read out loud.

「Adventurer Souya, by order of the king of Lemuria himself, you are hereby banished from this country. You are charged with the murder of a hero of an allied country. I'll grant you three days to leave. All of your property will be confiscated, save for 200 gold coins. Souya, I'm saddened by this as well. I had thought that you were a little more astute and wiser than this」

I don’t believe this.

「Father………」

「Lanseal, I believe you've had your fun. It's time for you to resume your role as the king's daughter」

Seriously, I don’t believe this.

Everything is turning out just as Melm predicted.

Which means that, next is to……

「Father, I have something to report」

With a determined look, Lanseal spoke to her father.

「In my belly is Souya's child」

『Huh?』

The captain of the guard and the king went in unison.

With a clang, Khius' sword fell from the captain of the guard's hands.

With a thud, King Lemuria fell off his seat.

Uwaaaaa, I wailed internally as I held my head in my hands.

It's not for sure yet, but because of Regure's case[2], I can't completely dismiss it.

「Father, it’s perfectly normal for a king to get rid of people he’s suspicious of. But to do so to one of your own would be inhumane. Do you want to ruin the reputation you've built up over time in your latter years?

Just so you know, if Souya is banished from the country, I will follow after him. Also, please take a look at this」

Lanseal pulled out a dagger. It was a dagger with a dragon carved on its bone handle.

That's Ashtalia's coat of arms. Did she borrow it from Regure? This isn't part of the plan.

「My elder brother is in the new Vindoobunikuru army, isn't he? I've heard that he's been playing an active part there. As it happens, I'm friends with someone who's in a leadership position in that army. I wonder…… What would happen if something happened to Souya, who has a closer relationship with her than I do?

What will my brother do, I wonder? Will he rise up to redress the wrongs of his father, or will he be scorned as the son of a foolish king? Do you know, Father, that what the Myriad Kings consider as the greatest atrocity is the slaying of one’s own kin?」

The king, the captain of the guard, and I were all speechless.

A cruel smile appeared on Lanseal's face.

Melm's plan is that if I could become a part of Lemuria's family, the king, who cares about his public image, would not be able to take any drastic measures against me.

Despite that, using her own brother to threaten her father……what a scary woman she is.

I was doing something very similar not that long ago though.

「Souya! You have ties to the Myriad Kings?!」

The king tried to intimidate me……

「Father! Something like that doesn't matter right now! What are you going to do?! I want a clear answer!」

……but he got shouted at by Lanseal.

「Urghhhh」

King Lemuria looked in anguish. The captain of the guard, who was supposed to be protecting him, had despondently fallen to the ground facing the other way for some reason.

By the way, I'm also having a terrible headache thinking about what's to come.

How am I going to explain this to Rana?

Not just my head, my chest hurts too.

I have to explain this to Ea, Misuranika-sama, and Gladvain-sama. Will it end with just me getting beaten to a pulp? I'd rather they just kill me.

Oh, that's right.

It's all Melm's fault. It's not my fault! ………………No, it's my fault after all.

How did things turn out this way?

「Debra」

「Yes, Your Majesty?」

In a cold sweat, King Lemuria called out to the captain of the guard.

「I'm going to rest. For the time being, take care of everything」

「Eh? Your Majesty?」

Turning his forlorn back to us, the king lumbered out of the kitchen.

The rest of us were silent for a while.

「I'll go pressure him some more」

「Please don't!」

It would be troubling if he died, so I stopped Lanseal.

After that, King Lemuria was bedridden for three days.

Around noon of the fourth day, I received a document rescinding my banishment. To go through the extra effort of rescinding the order to make me feel indebted to him was truly very typical of King Lemuria.

And so, I was finally able to get back to adventuring.

These past few days had been far too taxing for me to call them a respite.

[1] The red before this is in reference to a certain “little red book” while the black is a reference to “black companies”.

[2] It’s so long ago, so this is a “just in case”. Back in volume 3, Regure stated that beastkins are able to tell when they’re pregnant right away and as we can see, she was right about being pregnant. So this is what Souya is talking about, he can’t dismiss it that easily if Lanseal says she is even if there’s no proof.

The author was making fun of their own tendency to go action, respite, action, respite at the end there, weren’t they? By that order, this volume should have been a respite volume, but it’s really been the furthest thing from it, don’t you agree? Though I suppose it still counts as a respite/break from adventuring.

In case you forgot, a lucky ship is a ship that has returned unscathed or with minor damage after a real battle. I’ll just give brief explanations of the names/ships that got chosen.

Shigure(時雨) was a destroyer, and one heck of a lucky ship, coming out of many fierce battles unscathed, including one battle in which she was hit by a torpedo only for it to not explode. She was finally sunk by a submarine while on an escort mission.

Haruna(榛名) was a battleship from WW1 that got refitted and used in WW2. She did a lot of bombardments and wasn’t involved in a whole lot of naval battles, but did survive several battles where she was hit by bombs, so she’s somewhat lucky, though since the damage wasn’t light, she technically can’t be called a lucky ship. She was finally sunk at her moorings at Kure Naval Base after taking 8 bombs in a single air raid.

Kunashiri(国後) was a multipurpose escort ship. These kinds of ships were used mainly for patrolling, minesweeping, and escort missions, and as far as I can tell, she wasn’t involved in any naval battle, so I’m not really sure if she qualifies as a lucky ship… She was abandoned after running aground.

Well, after all that explanation, this is a huge death flag, isn’t it? When a character names their unborn child or something similar, 99% of the time, they die soon after…

Well, you’ve probably forgotten by now, but this volume started with Souya running into trouble while trying to clear the dungeon. Looks like he’s finally able to get back to trying to figure out the mystery behind that floor. How will that go? Stay tuned!

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