April 15, 2031
Five days have passed since departing from Elhagan, and tomorrow we will arrive at the Duchy of Cerence. During this journey I sent fast horses to the Dukes of Cerence and the Dukes of Regan.
I wrote to Duke Cerence to let him know the expected arrival date and time, and I wrote to Duke Regan to report on the completion of the quest in the Holy Kingdom of Diaroda, and to request that Dominique and Sophia be treated as leave of absence.
If the leave of absence is allowed, it will be an advantage for me and the Bryant family. That means there might be a possibility that my comrades will be on Lina's side. (TN: she is Marth sister in case u forget)
Of course, the condition is that the Pope calms down and Lina also enrolls in Lister Imperial School.
When we arrived at the inn, we took a bath as usual and then had dinner. While in the Holy Kingdom of Diadora, our meals were akin to funeral repasts, but now the usual liveliness has returned.
Perhaps we are pushing ourselves a little. It could be to forget the loneliness of not having our two important companions here.
"Hey, Baron? Haven't you been alone with Minerva at night lately? What are you two doing together? Maybe...already?"
Misha started making fun of Baron.
"That's right, Minerva can now be tied up in various ways. Currently, we are researching which binding method is the quickest, as it varies depending on the shape of the subject.”
he replied boldly. Baron... you've become stronger. Then Alice
“Baron-senpai also has the same hobbies as Dominique huh? Are all men like that?”
Alice reveals Dominique's secret. Baron looks happy with these words.
"As expected of my rival! I see! Dominique has noticed how good this is too!"
Ah, has Baron already completely stepped in that direction? Clarisse was quite taken aback by these words,
"Hey, Marth really doesn't have any hobbies like that, right? I don't like it, but if you insist, I'll accompany you... but if so, I'll be the one being tied up, okay?"
She asked me quietly for confirmation. Since when did I say something stupid like that? Perhaps this is what makes our [Reimei] unique?.
However, there was someone who remained silent.
It's Ellie. Ellie usually doesn't talk much, but today she seemed even less lively than usual. Maybe she doesn't want to go to the Duchy of Cerence.
“Are you okay, Ellie? Are you worried about going to the Duchy of Cerence?”
When I asked Ellie, who was on my left,
"Yeah... I don't have... good memories..."
Ellie spoke weakly. When she was at Lister Imperial School, she had said she would gladly go, but when she actually came, maybe it's still hard for her...
"Do you not want to meet Duke Cerence? If you don't want to, there is no need to force yourself to go. What do you think, Ellie?"
Then Ellie said something unexpected.
"My uncle... Duke Cerence... I want to meet him... but... my feelings... can't keep up..."
Huh? You want to meet the Duke Cerence? Even though he was the one who drove out Barnes, Ellie's father? Maybe Ellie is thinking something?
“Could it be that you want to meet him to get revenge?"
I asked with trepidation
"It's not like that... but..."
Ellie trailed off, unable to find the words and looked down. Maybe she can't sort out her feelings. It would be cruel to ask Ellie any more.
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The atmosphere around me became a little gloomy. Surely everyone must have been listening to the conversation between me and Ellie. Misha was watching our conversation from the opposite seat.
“Marth is bullying Ellie.”
Clarisse joined in and said,
"Let's go back to the room for punishment."
She struck a nostalgic pose, causing laughter among those around us.
I'm sure everyone else doesn't know the original story, but they probably found Clarisse's behavior funny contrary to her character.
Isn't it a really good party? After eating, we returned to our room. The current room assignments haven't changed from before.
I, Clarisse, Ellie, Karen, Misha, and Alice have one room with [Reimei], and Baron and Minerva have one room with [Genesis].
Today, Ellie and Alice are going to sleep next to me. Ellie immediately fell asleep, burying her face in my neck as usual. After Ellie went to bed, Alice blushed and asked me.
“Ellie-senpai is a beastman, right? I thought that beastmen have ears and a tail, but Ellie-senpai doesn’t have those, right? Do Golden Lions don't have ears and tails?"
She asked me. Come to think of it, I was thinking the same thing when I lifted Ellie's curse. I thought maybe the tail was hidden under her underwear...
“I thought the same thing about the ears, but I had never checked the tail, so I wasn’t sure, but does she not have a tail?”
"Yes. The other day when we took a bath together, I couldn’t help but admire Ellie-senpai's style. I feel like she's not that different from us humans..."
It's true that Ellie's good style can be seen even through her clothes. And even now, I can feel the beauty of her figure with my left arm.
"I don't think you need to worry too much. Ellie is Ellie."
After saying that, I hugged Alice with my right arm, depleted my MP as usual, and then went to sleep.
April 16, 2031 9:00
When entering the Duchy of Cerence, I was stopped by a bear beastman soldier at the checkpoint.
“Are you Ellie-sama's party?"
I felt like he had a bit of a bad attitude, but he gave Ellie an honorific title. thought it might be better for Ellie to speak rather than me, considering Ellie's behavior yesterday, I had no choice but to deal with it here.
"That's right. I've already informed Duke Cerence. May we pass?"
When I said that, the soldier
"Wait. You guys will be kept under surveillance. The supervisor will check all of your luggage. I'll bring the supervisor right now, so please wait."
We came because Duke Cerence asked me to come, but they were acting as a watchdog... Karen, who had heard these words, was surprised.
"Hey, that guy is so rude! Marth! Let's just go home! Let's make a formal complaint from Freswald and Regan!"
When Karen gets angry so that the soldiers can hear, the soldiers
"W-wait! That won't be necessary! Just wait!"
He said in a fluster, and Karen was about to express her anger again when Ellie got off the wagon and said,
"No need... for surveillance... If surveillance is necessary, we'll go back. Decide now."
She spoke to the bear beastman with a blank expression. Then the bear beastman
"This is... Ellie-sama. Surveillance may not sound good, but it is to protect Ellie-sama and the others. Please."
He bowed to Ellie. Please...Ellie turned to me with a troubled look on her face.
"Understand. Then, let's wait."
When I replied to the soldier, he hurriedly ran to the checkpoint station.
"Karen, I'm sorry. But there seems to be a reason. I'll just follow you for a while."
When I said that, Karen seemed to understand after hearing the conversation. As soon as I finished talking to Karen, three men...or rather, two men and one man appeared in front of us from the police station.
One is the bear beastman soldier from earlier. The other person is Brad, the eldest son of Duke Cerence. The last one...When Clarisse saw him, her face turned pale and she hid in the wagon.
That's right... was it Kuro... san?
"Hey! It's been a while! Marth! I missed you!"
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Brad pats me on the back with stupid force. And when Brad looks at Ellie
"Ellie... you've become really beautiful."
He complimented Ellie's appearance while blushing. Without saying a word, Ellie hugged my left arm and Brad said,
"Well, that's fine until I win against Marth. Beastmen are all about power. But next time, I'll win!"
Brad said as he pats me on the back again, and I replied,
"I told you before that I didn't want to see Brad anymore, right?"
"Well, for now, Kuro and I will act as your guides. We can talk while we walk."
When Brad said that, Brad and Kuro... walked quickly in front of the carriage and passed through the checkpoint.
I get the impression that the Duchy of Cerence is, at best, a lush land, and at worst, an underdeveloped land. Ellie and I walk behind Brad and Kuro, while the others are inside the horse-drawn wagon.
As we proceeded a little further, Clarisse seemed to have made up her mind and came down from the wagon.
"Kuro...Kuro-san!? I'm sorry about the freshman tournament! I went too far! I'm reflecting on it! I regret it!""
She bowed her head to Kuro and apologized.
"...You don't have to worry about it anymore. We were the ones who set it up. She's gone, but she hasn't turned into a woman either. It's not Kuroko, it's Kuro."
When he told Clarisse, she felt relieved and returned to the wagon.
“Now that I think about it, weren’t Brad and the others going to check our luggage?”
I asked Brad
"Ah...my father and I don't doubt you. But those who don't know you are very wary. Just recently, we received information that a child was abducted by a black-haired man with a uniform with golden embroidery. It seems it was the skinny black-haired guy I mentioned before."
Come to think of it, he did mention something like that... So, I guess that's why they need surveillance to prove our innocence...
"I see, that's unfortunate."
I said it and Brad said
"Hey, don't sleep alone, okay? If you're worried, bring Ellie to my room."
Brad said while laughing, and Ellie, who was walking next to me, said,
"...I'm devoted to Mars..."
She held my hand tightly. As we were walking and talking, the city came into view. I thought we was going to take a meal break in this town, but Brad just passed by, he said.
"Aren't we taking a break?"
i asked Brad
"Yeah. We won't do it in this town. Marth, Ellie, you two go back to the carriage. It'll be a long detour, but we won't even go into the town."
He said something to us in a serious tone.
"Ellie, there might be something wrong. Please ride with Clarisse and the others. I'll ride with Baron and Minerva's carriage."
Ellie and I return to the carriage, and Brad and Kuro pull the carriage. While I was searching around, about 10 beastmen came out of the city and came to Brad, who was trying to take a detour.
“Brad-sama! Hand over those people to us!”
When the beastmen approach Brad, Brad said
"I understand how you feel, but I can't do that. Because these guys have nothing to do with it. Besides, it's my father's quest. Are you guys planning to smear mud on my father's face?"
Brad tries to convince the residents, but
"There's no way it's completely unrelated! Those people are humans! We have to make sure that our terror is imprinted on their bodies! I'm sure Victory-sama will understand!"
As Brad said, it was a good thing we were inside the carriage.
"Understood. Those who are dissatisfied should come to the capital in three days! We'll settle it there! Got it!"
The beastmen seemed dissatisfied with Brad's words, but they nodded and returned to the city. In the end, we stayed in the carriage until we arrived at the next town. I never imagined we would be so heavily guarded.
If we don't seriously find out who is wearing this S-class uniform, things could get serious...
TN : if you found something wrong just let me know
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