"What does it mean to give up those Posehayes...?"
The Dwarf King's voice trembles. It is so. They killed his wife, they tried to kill his daughter, and they even tried to destroy his country. As a king I cannot forgive them.
"No, I found a way to use them. I don't know if it will work.
First, let's hear what you have to say.
The Poseidonians are all probably guilty of death if things continue as they are.
No, I don't think so. The ringleaders will be severely punished, but those who were not part of the plan will be given a lighter sentence.
"I think you'd better not do that. Their sense of family is ironclad. If you take any more of their lives, they will surely recognize the Duchy of Niza and the Dwarf King as enemies. The king will then be in constant fear for his life.
"Mmmm..."
"If the Poseidonians agree to my demands, so be it. If they do not, then I will leave everything to the Dwarf King. Will you allow me to speak with them once?"
"...Well, only the Marquis de Berthaume would do anything to the detriment of our country. Very well. Have a good talk with the Poseidonians.
"Thank you very much. By the way, what is the king's request?
"No, I'm talking about that Meirias, the wife of the Lord Barsam."
Me and May look at each other.
"What about my wife?"
"Would it be possible for us to take care of Mister Meilius for a while in the Principality?"
What do you mean?
He is saying that he will take May into custody. The usual answer is no. May is gone. May, the woman who let me spend those erotic, no, intense nights with her, will be gone. Her soft, marshmallow-like tits will be gone. There is no way I can forgive her.
"Lord Meilius, you are an excellent apothecary. We Dwarves have taken advantage of our long life and have not taken much care of ourselves. We cannot be sure that there will be an epidemic like this one. For this reason we Dwarves must learn new defensive measures. And we need the help of Lord Meirias.
Indeed, there are almost no apothecaries in the principality. If something is wrong with the body, it has been healed by recovery magic or else by spirit and perseverance. However, diseases that cannot be cured by magic may spread like this. In order to cope with such a situation, we should make use of May's knowledge. This is an offer I cannot refuse.
What are you going to do, Mei?
"I don't mind, but the master..."
"Hmmm, yes..."
In the end, after much negotiation, Mei went to the principality every day using her transference technique (actually, my transference warding) to teach the dwarves her knowledge of medicine. She also agreed to the Dwarven King's wish by setting various conditions: she must return to the Empire in the evening and have dinner with her family, she must have two days off a week, she must take the Obon and New Year vacations, she must be granted paid vacations, and so on.
"I have always wanted to come to the Principality of Niza, and I am glad to think that I can go there every day."
"Hoh? What kind of weapons and armor do you like, that you are so interested in our country?"
No, my late father was a dwarf. I used to help him with his blacksmithing since I was a child. I thought that if I could come to the principality, I could learn many skills from the dwarves. My king, may I look into the smithy of the dwarves in your spare time?"
"Of course, that's fine. What is your father's name?
Yes, my name is Shimaya.
"Shimaya...did you happen to see a large scar on your left arm?"
How did you know that?
"...I see, Shimaya is dead. He was a good blacksmith. Now he's dead.
"What was the relationship between the Dwarf King and his wife's father?"
I am his apprentice.
"Apprentice?"
The Dwarf King, in other words, is the blacksmith who reigns at the top of the Dwarf clan, the best blacksmiths in the world. Naturally, his skill is unparalleled among the Dwarves. The king has surrounded himself with apprentices, and instead of assigning them to guard him and take care of his chores, he has passed on his skills to them and trained them. May's father is said to have been one of the best among his apprentices.
He was a man who cared for his apprentices. When I put one of his disciples in charge of my work, Shimaya suggested his favorite apprentice. When I turned him down, we had a little argument and got into a fight. Shimaya's wound is from when I cut him.
It's a complete child's quarrel. What is a grown man doing?
"I see, Mister Meilius is the daughter of Shimaya. Then I'm sure she has acquired considerable blacksmithing skills. If you have a chance, please take a look at her various workshops. And you will learn many skills. You can do it.
The king does not know. That Mei already possesses godlike blacksmithing skills. Later, the skills of the dwarves would be quickly mastered by May, and all the dwarves would bow down to May, who would create new skills one after another in ways they could never have imagined. This is a story for another time in the not too distant future.
A few days later, I find myself in the great hall in the basement of the palace. To meet the imprisoned Poseidonians.
"Yo. You've lost a lot of weight since I last saw you. Stupid bunnies."
Life has been tough for these guys since they were captured by the palace. They all look tired and listless.
"...What do you want from us? If you're going to kill me, kill me fast!"
A young Posehai glares at me with murderous intent in his eyes.
"What's your name?"
"...Chi-wan."
"Zhuang, you seem to be a young man with a good bone in your body, but you are definitely an idiot. You should understand your situation. The next time you try to kill me, I will kill all of you Poseidonians.
"..."
He turns away from me, faces the ground and shivers.
"Well, black rabbits. You'll all be destroyed soon enough. I don't know if you'll die or not. I came here today to see you for one reason. I'm here because I have an idea that's good for me and good for you. Accept my offer and you will all live. Or the Dwarf King will judge you. I will let you decide the fate of your clan. That's the way it is."
All the Poseidonians are staring at me. I ignore them and start talking.
"I have a proposal for you, a proposal that will make you the best in the world. Wasn't it your family's longing to be the best in the world? I'm going to make it happen. I'll just create the environment, but it's up to you whether you want to do it or not.
"You can't make us the best in the world..."
Chi-Wan mutters.
"You can do it if you try hard enough. You all apparently have skills in restorative magic and apothecary, don't you? Then there's the blacksmith. Do some of them have the art of illusion? Well, that's okay. It means we can put those skills to use."
"We were defeated by the dwarves. Now you want us to challenge the dwarves once again?
"Are you an idiot? You can't win if you play in the dwarf ring. You have to play on a different field.
"What do you mean?"
"You should all be doctors."
"Doctor...?"
"Use your skills to help as many people as possible who are suffering from illnesses."
"You'll be the best in the world at..."
"You can be, that's what I'm talking about. Are you guys happy with yourselves now?"
"..."
"If you can't give me an immediate answer, then you're not happy, right? Of course, you're in jail and living a terrible life, aren't you?"
It's all because of you. You know what? Happiness is effort x luck. You are terribly unlucky. Zero. Zero multiplied by whatever. Do you understand?"
All of them are wrinkling their brows and pulling back slightly. Is that okay? I'm ready for that, too. You're welcome to slip up.
"You guys have put in a lot of effort. But you have no luck. Do you know how to get lucky? You don't know. Luck is. You get lucky by helping people. You get lucky when people appreciate you. You've done things for yourselves. You don't give a shit about people. That's why you're unhappy. If you have luck, your reputation will rise soon. So become doctors. Save the lives of humans, beasts, and Poseidonians... and they will thank you. Then we'll live longer and you'll be the best in the world. What do you think? Not a bad deal, right?"
They're all in raptures. Not a sound.
"Well, you can't just ask me to make a decision out of the blue. I'll give you a day. You figure it out. And yes... Zhi Wan, you report to me tomorrow at the same time. I'll let the guards know you're here.
With these words, I left the room.
"Oh, are they locked up in different prisons? Then we might not be able to discuss it. Oh well. They'll figure something out."
A slight uneasiness crossed my mind, but I decided to assume that everything would be all right.
The next day, Chi-wan appeared in front of me, and without trying to hide his frustration, he came to tell me that he accepted my proposal. I did not dare ask him how the Poseidonians had discussed the matter.
I inform the Dwarf King of Posehay's decision. The king looked at me with a blatant disapproval, but when I told him that all of them would be criminal slaves and that I would be their master, he managed to agree.
After that, a slaver from the Principality of Niza was summoned and all the Posehai were given slave magic. It took quite a long time because there were nearly 40 of them, and it was late at night when it was over.
I returned to my room in the palace, dizzy, to find May there.
"I've told the master that you will be late at the palace in the capital," she said.
"Oh, yeah. Thank you. Is everyone already in bed?
"Yes, Rico-sama said he would rest first. And he brought the master a midnight snack."
I looked and found a basket with a nightly meal in it.
"This is a lot for one person. Is Mei here yet, too?
"No, I..."
"If you haven't done so already, help me. I can't eat this all by myself. It'd be a shame to leave it behind.
"...yes. Okay, then."
For someone who was so reserved, Mei ate quite a lot. She seemed to be very hungry.
"May, do you want to take a bath?"
"...Hi."
May was very cute as she answered with a bright red face.
We washed our bodies and got into the bathtub together. The bathtub was spacious, as one would expect from a royal palace. The bathtub is also spacious, as the royal family has a large bathtub for their attendants and retainers to help them in the bath.
"It's still a wonder, though..."
"Yeah? What's wrong?"
"I had no idea that even the Poseidonians would be added to their ranks..."
"You don't like May?"
"No. They were certainly enemies of my parents, but now I am rather grateful to them.
"Grateful?"
"Yes. My parents were killed and I was reduced to slavery. But it was because of them that I found my master. It is because of the Poseidonians that I am able to live such happy days. Of course, I am sad about the death of my parents.... But now I am grateful to them.
"Mei, you're great.
"I'm totally fine. I can still do my best, don't worry.
"...Well, I'll take your word for it and have you work hard after you get out of the bath."
"Eh? Oh, pfft. Master... I'm in awe. Leave it to me."
The beautiful full moon was shining beautifully on the palace.