BXBX NOVEL Volume 1, 14
Volume 1, Chapter 14
Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes
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「We pretty much ain’t got nothin’ more to do in terms of healing.」
Whether it be from medical interview or Mio’s palpations, the results gave Hiroshi the confidence to declare Elena’s state. After a week of healing in the hot springs, Hiroshi and the others had returned, immediately finishing Elena’s examination.
「Right. Which means I no longer have any purpose in staying here.」
「Right.」
Elena murmured dejectedly, and Mio nodded with a similar expression. Though they had been there only for a short time, she had grown quite fond of the soft-spoken girl.
「Well, I think it’s up to Lay to decide.」
「Even so, I doubt that he could postpone things very much. Besides, since he instructed us to finish up the bathing and come back, that means that everything is ready for Aearis and I.」
「True…」
Hiroshi agreed with what Elena had said. Elena coming back meant that Aearis would also be returning to the palace.
「So how far should we tag along with y’all?」
「Not really sure myself. I think you would at least be meeting with Father……」
Elena made a disturbed face as she said that. Hiroshi and Mio had sour expressions. There was the simple fact that they weren’t familiar with etiquette, so that would be a drag, but more troublesome than that:
「From everything I’ve heard, there doesn’t seem to be any assurance that we’ll come out in one piece.」
「Yeah, I unfortunately can’t deny that.」
Mio’s comment and Elena’s reply demonstrated just how troublesome their situation was.
「If Father, Layotte, and the High Priest did their parts well, then at least on the surface, there shouldn’t be anyone who condemns you as criminals.」
「However, even if you ‘n Elle don’t bring up any issues, we don’t know that there aren’t other ways to fabricate cases against us……」
「Though it’s true that the monarchy allows plenty of special privileges, nobles can’t just go around and fabricate crimes and felonies. The administration of justice here isn’t that rotten. To add further, as long as there is no clear sign of having affronted or slandered someone, you can’t be convicted of lese majeste or defamation. I at least guarantee that.」
「On the flipside, if they come up with compelling evidence, we could be made criminals at any moment.」
「Yeah, cause it feels like that sorta bunch would at least perfect that. Besides, if they’re liable to even practically make up defamation accusations, that in itself is scary.」
Clearly getting that Hiroshi and Mio did not trust the imperial court nor the government, Elena found herself sighing, unable to argue.
「It’s quite vexing to be utterly powerless in this regard, despite all that you’ve done for me…」
The fact that she roped these generous, life-saving people into a totally unrelated political war, unable to do anything to be of use to them…To Elena, who was possessed by a strong sense of duty, this reality was harsh in many ways.
「Well, either way, we’re probably totally on the mastermind’s radar, so it’s not like we have any option other than to give it our all and jump into the fight.」
As Elena was lamenting at her own powerlessness, Haruna had just returned with some tea, giving her words of console. Incidentally, this was at about the same time that Hiroshi was discussing defamation.
「Mark’s probably already been there since savin’ Elle.」
「If anything, it would be weird for him not to be marked, right?」
Even assuming their identity had been known fairly recently, it wouldn’t be odd if their very existence was detected from when they had struck down the piaranocks. The only reason why their opponent had not acted was probably because it was unclear as to whether Aearis was alive or dead, and they had feared bringing unnecessary trouble upon themselves.
In actuality, just like the case this time, it was possible to deduce that their opponent had laid traps in the event that they were saved by unbelievably good luck. The skink lizard’s tail had told them as much. The only potential flaw in their planning was that they hadn’t envisioned Hiroshi and Haruna being high-class enough to break through all the traps they had encountered.
「Anyhoo, the biggest problem right now…」
「Sensei, this would be fatal in your case.」
「Heck, I don’t even want Hiroshi to go to any public parties. It would suck if something similar were to happen to the time when we saved Elle-chan.」
「There’s that too… But even before all that gynophobia business, stuff like personal connections, bargaining… I can’t do nothin’ in regards to those things.」
On top of his helpless fear of women, Hiroshi was also no good at interpersonal relationships. Even if he were to engage with only males, being forced to bear the brunt of negotiations, he wouldn’t know what kinds of promises he’d be forced to make.
「That’s where I think Tatsuya and I will have to do our best. Makoto-san states her opinion all the time, so it doesn’t seem like she’d be suited for the kind of situation where you need to put on airs, and then with Mio-chan, before we even address her personality or the way she speaks, her age just isn’t going to cut it.」
「I’d probably just be treated like an extra. So I expect a lot from Haru’s beauty and Tatsu’s handsome aura.」
「Although it’s not like I have confidence in that field……」
Judging solely from physical characteristics, it was true that Haruna had a seriously attractive body to males, but to the astonishment of many, she had no further skill in that area. There was of course the fact that she dressed modestly, but the overlying cause was probably that she was inclined to talk about food. She ate as much as the average person, but that was exactly why she had an uncanny passion for cuisine.
On top of that, Haruna never based any of her actions off of how she thought men might view her. Of course, since she did have a firm sense of shame for her gender, she wouldn’t do anything reckless either, but since she had no intention of being popular with males, she did nothing that would be seen by most females as flirting, or appealing to men. This was probably one of the main reasons why Layotte felt that she was lacking in the femininity department.
「Actually, I think it would be better for you to try and hang around young ladies who are upright in all they do. After all, anyone who gets bewitched by the glamor of a girl and her outfits will just get in the way in this situation.」
「Umm, is it me, or is someone demanding something ridiculously difficult from me?」
「It wouldn’t be difficult for someone like you.」
Haruna found herself smiling wryly at Elena and her stamp of approval.
「Well, we can leave the negotiating to Tatsuya-san, right?」
「In a sense, Tatsu is pretty specialized in that area.」
Tatsuya, who had worked in the engineering business in Japan, knew all about how to ease his clients’ unreasonable requests into the realm of possibility. It was all in a day’s work for him to push back at unreasonable demands with his own unreasonable demands, so in the case this time, it was the perfect chance to show just how much of a wiz he was with knowledge.
And then there was Mio, who should normally be trying the hardest out of all them. Appearance-wise, age-wise, and even personality-wise, she didn’t even have what it takes to socialize with a tanuki. She was more like a thief that specialized in treasure hunting, possibly an even more obvious target than Hiroshi.
「At any rate, it’s dependent on our next agenda, so there isn’t any point deciding all the particulars right now.」
「Yup. Just gotta wing it.」
As they were discussing those things, a bell rang, signalling the presence of two visitors they knew very well.
「And we got another “speak of the devil” moment here.」
「So for now, I guess we can’t just be all nonchalant like we’ve always been…」
「If anything, we’ve been TOO nonchalant till now.」
A wry smile escaped Hiroshi and Haruna’s faces at Mio’s interjection. Needless to say, they knew full well.
「Well, the whole case is at its climax. May as well put some backbone into finishin’ it.」
「Backbone!」
Reaffirming their resolve, they all headed down into the reception room. The biggest story thus far in Farlane began to accelerate toward the end faster and faster, little by little.
「Owowowow!」
Haruna’s screaming could be heard from the guest fitting room in Wulls Castle.
「My ribs! MY RIBS!!」
「It is befitting of a lady to be prudent. Please, do show some restraint.」
「D-Don’t be ridiculous!」
Her shoulders kicked, the corset was squeezed over her hips to the point where her ribs were groaning in protest. Haruna strained to revolt as her breath grew fainter and fainter. Makoto had already given up the prospect of complaining, with faraway eyes that looked like dead fish. Meanwhile, Mio was looking at them like it wasn’t her problem. After all:
「This child-size corset is quite easy to get into……」
This was because Mio had things easy with the soft children’s corset.
As Mio didn’t even have enough muscle in her body to be considered healthy, she didn’t have much of a waist to be constricted by the normal corset. The thickness of her hips was under the height requirement, and her height hadn’t even reached that of an average child, so there was never any chance of any adult corsets fitting her. Looking at her overall appearance, although she had indeed left the toddler stage, even a Japanese person could not deny how bad her growth was. It would be a lot more effective to fill her with padding to create protrusions, rather than constrict her in a corset.
Makoto was the same in the protrusion department, or lack thereof. Though she had a fairly well-shaped waist, it was a bit thicker than the ideal shape, and even wearing splendid clothes, it still looked like she could use some padding despite her body’s constriction. Now, when it came to Haruna, her physical appearance and body type would always be ideal, so the sight of someone like her with all of her assets being forcibly stuffed into this was just disastrous.
Furthermore, this shouldn’t even have to be said, but Haruna and Makoto had waists far thinner than the majority of waists in the world. In Haruna’s case, for example, even without a corset around her, her thin waist was in the perfect, precarious balance where it was one step away from being sickening to look at, had it grown any thicker. Honestly, they didn’t have to go to all this trouble to bind her naturally beautiful silhouette, but perhaps it was best to just accept it as the difference between common sense and aesthetic sense.
「T-This is just temporary sewing. Was there really a, need to bind it so tight……?」
「This is precisely because it is temporary.」
Haruna was about ready to become teary eyed at this unapproachable clothing expert. Maybe not for Hiroshi, but in her case, it was rare for Haruna to be trapped in this sort of predicament. However, neither of them exactly had enough willpower left to convey their feelings about this. After all:
「We already get this strained in the hip area, and now there’s this freakin’ false bottom……」
「I really should have gotten yours, Haru……」
She said this because in order to make her dress line as exaggerated as possible, they had shoved a staggering amount of padding into her chest area. The term “exaggeration” was truly acceptable for how far they went.
Still, Mio was in a much better position, with there still being some wiggle room in her shoulder area or flank area. With Makoto and her dress open at the breast, she hadn’t even been given an option in the first place. After all, there was not enough flesh to cover her shoulder and flank areas, so she couldn’t fool anyone.
「All things considered, you have such remarkable proportions, yet you find the need to resist exposing yourself…」
「…Got a problem with that?」
「No, I was simply thinking that you truly understand the proper way to present yourself.」
「Wha?」
Haruna’s eyes became dots in response to this strange area of appreciation. She hadn’t exactly reduced her skin exposure because she was fixated on “properly presenting” herself. She just didn’t feel like going out of her way to appeal to some lechers that she didn’t even know, and then risk putting unnecessary pressure on Hiroshi, but it seemed that the dressers had a different interpretation.
「A recent trend amongst the more well-developed ladies is to skirt the edge of decency in the display of skin.」
「And a vocal portion of the gentlemen have lionized such behavior, so that unfortunately served to make some of these ladies become bolder and bolder as they repeated this process…」
「Going instead so far as to hide one’s assets can indeed be amorous. I was waiting for someone to finally make a bold statement such as that, so when you asked for these specifications, I was especially pleased, Haruna-sama.」
「And so we wish to raise our overall power here and teach both the ladies and gentlemen the beauty of hiding things. Clean, refined; the kind of allure that causes anyone with ill intent to hesitate. They must understand just how much more fierce the eros is that comes from all these things.」
The three of them drew back with all their might as they experienced the zealous feelings of duty exhibited from the dressers. That being said, since Haruna was at the brunt of all this, she couldn’t just openly sympathize.
「And you two. You look like this doesn’t concern you, but rest assured, there is something we’d like to request you do.」
「Wha?」
「S-Such as?」
「We don’t have enough time on this occasion, so we shall be seeing you off shortly, but as both of your materials are exceedingly good, you had best exaggerate each of your alluring points to the max.」
A rather dangerous look in her eyes, the leader of the dressers had a suspicious smile on her face as she asserted this. Honestly, it was scary.
「In your case, Makoto-sama, there is no material greater than this for proving that a slender, healthy body does not always have to be well-endowed to be appealing. Please do see to it that you carry yourself with the dignity of both body and soul to become a star of hope for all the ladies who were not blessed with a protrusion like Haruna-sama.」
「No thank you! I don’t wanna be a star of freaking hope!」
「With Mio-sama’s prematurity, her charm comes from her thin, dangerously delicate frame, and this opportunity won’t arrive again. Which is why we had the bold thought of utilizing it to its full potential. For those debutante ladies who are recklessly attempting to overreach themselves, we wanted to show them at least once just how powerful a weapon this temporary charm is.」
「B-But, that totally sounds like it would draw the attention of perverts or men with unique taste and I really don’t like the sound of that……」
Elegantly dodging Makoto and Mio’s clear displeasure, the dressers began basting the clothing for tomorrow’s dining and evening party. It seemed that they truly were running out of time. The evening party clothing that was arguably the best chance to show their talent, and other than the order to lay off on the exposure, they had roughly finished sewing decidedly orthodox dresses. At most, Haruna’s dress had slightly less overall volume than the average ones.
「Any minimal adjustments will be made tomorrow for when you change. So we will go ahead and end things for today.」
「It’s finally over…」
「My ribs, my ribs…」
Upon realizing that they were free to go, Makoto and Haruna released voices of relief and resentment. Having finally been released from the corset and feeling comfortable again, they came across an important issue.
「Oh, right.」
「What is it?」
「After we change into the clothing tomorrow, would we even have any free time to enchant it?」
「You would have more than ample time to prepare such things before the evening party, but I do not know how much time the enchantment requires, so I cannot say much in that regard.」
「Is that right…」
The dressers came to realize what Haruna was concerned about, bowing their heads in apology. In actuality, thinking of their strange position, they would probably like to lay one or two enchantments if it meant more reassurance. But as it was outside of their expertise, they didn’t know whether or not there would be enough time. After all, even for enchantments that didn’t have amazing effects, the amount of time required to bestow them was longer than you would expect.
First checking how much time they had left, they decided to ask Hiroshi if he could do anything about it, and had the dressers withdraw. Honestly, by just having fabric and patterned paper, it was conceivable that it would be faster to have Hiroshi sew them at high speed, but unfortunately, things wouldn’t be that simple this time around.
「Haru.」
「What?」
「If worst comes to worst, I’ll make simple enchantments.」
「Please do.」
After the female dressers had headed off, Mio made that suggestion. It was a simple enchantment that didn’t last long, but it would still last for around the entirety of the party. The only issues would be surprise attacks and status conditions. Even for secretly bringing along healing potions, there was a limit to how much they could bring, so they made it their priority to at least prevent the especially troublesome types in advance. At worst, as long as they could prevent instant death at least once and nullify Confusion, Poison, and Bind, they could at least avoid the danger of being helplessly stepped all over.
「This certainly ended up being a drag, though.」
「I’m sure that these are all things that we had to deal with in order to move forward, but how should I say this… I feel like we’re quite lacking in preparation.」
「I think so too, but if we accept that we can’t make perfect preparations, isn’t this pretty good?」
While quickly putting their clothes back on, Makoto and Haruna grumbled about this and that. Finally releasing a sigh once they were back in their familiar clothing, they headed to the room where they had planned to meet up, going outside without asking for any guidance.
「So which room were we going to use again?」
「Don’t ask me that.」
「Wait a moment, as I’m still trying to remember.」
The hallway they were walking through was meager in its physical characteristics, and the female group ended up flustered in many ways as they began to lose track of their current location. Since they had never actually been through there before, Haruna’s memorization ability wouldn’t be all that helpful. Eventually, thanks to Haruna remembering the route, though strangely enough still nearly wandering, they made it to the room while still managing to not run into any major difficulties.
「Is it me, or does Hiroshi look kinda worn out?」
「Well, I guess you can say a lot of stuff happened.」
「You didn’t run into any women, did you?」
「Well, uhh, how should I put this…」
The girls thought of all the possible reasons as to why Tatsuya was tilting his head, finding difficulty to say what was on his mind. After thinking about it briefly…
「Was there some issue regarding the clothing?」
「…Y’all are gonna know when tomorrow hits anyway, so I’ll be upfront: I can’t find nothin’ that looks good on me.」
The room filled with silence at Hiroshi as he spoke in a quite disheartened tone.
「No, it’s not like nothing looked good on you.」
「I know this is true all the time, but when I buy multiple expensive articles of clothin’ and I still look lame in them? That’s just depressin’…」
「I-Is it really that bad…?」
As Haruna said that, she envisioned having him change into various clothing, both from the other world and this world. After “dressing him up” like a doll numerous times, she came to the conclusion that…
「…At the very least, at the current moment, it’s gonna be difficult. That’s all I know.」
「Y’know, I’d be a lot more pleased if ya just said I look lame in whatever I wear…」
「No, not that, uhh… how should I phrase this?」
From the two months she had known him, Haruna had realized that the real issue when it came to Hiroshi was not so much appearance or physique as it was his atmosphere. Hiroshi’s face had rather rich, Japanese-esque eyes, and so was his face. He wasn’t beautiful per say, but neither was he unattractive. She wouldn’t object to seeing him in the kind of casual-wear fashion magazines with some periodical change. But also on the flipside, Haruna could also see him looking quite decent in well-tailored, high-quality brand Western clothing.
So then, what was the issue?
「In your case, Hiroshi-kun, I think that you would need some fairly precise clothing, but…」
「But?」
「At our kind of age, you’d have to become quite used to wearing such clothing, or else it just wouldn’t cut it… is what I think I’m trying to say.」
「I get it. From what you said, I can come to terms with my uncertainty from earlier.」
It was quite true that for Hiroshi, even if on the inside he were an accomplished craftsman, there was no such aura coming from the outside. Though it was true that he had trained straightforwardly, he was only really skilled in-game, and it wasn’t as if he had actually had real life experience. Also, this power was essentially just something he was borrowing, so it was understandable that there wasn’t any sort of impressive atmosphere that accompanied his skill. Adding to that, perhaps because something that had happened in the past, he didn’t give off the open-hearted vibe typical of youth his age, and anything outside his field of expertise would leave him with a complete lack of confidence and a negative thought process, so at the current point in time, Hiroshi was not the kind of person who could just put on an order-made suit and wear it with finesse.
On the topic of dignity, there was also the aspect of living enough years to achieve results amidst the difficulties of society. Just like how doing exceedingly well in sports, becoming a sudden hit in the entertainment industry, or being born with enough money to where wearing exquisite clothing was the norm was not by any means “normal”, there were not many people of the ages of 17 or 18 who could dress stylishly in expensive clothing brands.
On the flipside, even if he were to try and wear casual clothing loosely like others from his age range, rather than look stylish, Hiroshi would look more sloppy and unclean, so even if he tried to go the opposite route, he would just look lame and uncool. Normally, clothing looks good on people once they’ve accumulated enough experience and confidence in that area. This mismatch was probably connected to why Hiroshi just looked lame in anything he wore.
If there was anything that he looked okay in, it was mainly in a jersey or work outfit. Wearing a work outfit wouldn’t necessarily make his “lame” appearance a bad thing. Such outfits would never even be evaluated in fashion terms anyway, and it wasn’t unusual for veteran craftsmen to look lame upon first glance, but because of that, it somehow made them cool in a sense. Hiroshi probably wouldn’t be made fun of either if he were to try for that angle. Although it wouldn’t exactly resolve this particular occasion…
「Anyhow, since there definitely will be something traumatic waiting for him, we’d best negotiate with His Highness or His Lordship to where Hiroshi doesn’t participate in evening parties, or at the very least pulls out as soon as possible.」
「Right. I certainly shan’t deal with Hiro being made into a mockery by these worthless people over this worthless affair.」
「After all, there are people anywhere who’ll belittle someone’s right to live just by looking at their outward appearance or atmosphere.」
”Especially when they get to my age,” muttered Haruna softly. She hadn’t specifically heard what had happened to him, but it was reasonable to say that she had a good grasp on his trauma. Even when Makoto was about to ask whether or not the world was actually that way, she had sensed something from Hiroshi’s gloomy expression and stopped herself. Females truly had a firm grasp on many things.
Makoto found herself feeling nothing but admiration for how often he was able to keep his composure when interacting with females. While she was sure that parameter revisions were in effect since coming here, he still made sure to keep his distance from other females. Not just herself, Mio, and Aearis- even in relation to Haruna, who he was the closest to, he probably didn’t have complete trust with in all the essential areas, and yet here he was, living in close proximity with them with a bit of caution. At the end of the day, much like Haruna but in a different sense, Hiroshi was quite developed as a person.
That being said, this situation before them was probably a miracle in itself, existing only because Haruna had been the person to first live alongside Hiroshi. Normally, there would be no foreseeable end to Hiroshi’s complaints in this situation, and yet Haruna saw his mannerisms for what they were and laughed it off, interacting with him as per usual, other than taking care to leave some space between them. How many females could do that sort of thing? At least in her’s or Mio’s case, they probably would have been assured failure in less than three days if it had not been for Haruna’s cushioning. With the other group of girls, Elena and Aearis seemed like they had a bit more of a knack for it, but that was because of their positioning in society. When it came to actually living together, there was no guarantee that the people tagging along with them wouldn’t make some sort of mistake, so in the end it just came down to whether everything collapsed earlier or later.
「Anyhow, we’d best start by figuring out how to get through this unavoidable upcoming scene.」
「Tomorrow is the only day that we can’t do anything about.」
「Right…Well, as long as we come in there fully prepared ’n duke it out, one day ain’t nothin’ special.」
Certainly, no matter what they tried, it would be difficult to run away from the audience with nobility, the luncheon meeting afterward, and the evening party. It wasn’t like there would be any women trying to find fault with him at the audience with nobility, and only the royalty would be attending the luncheon meeting. As long as they paid attention only to Katrina’s speech and conduct, they could probably work something out with the first two. Therefore, the issue lay with the evening party.
「No matter how short we try to cut it, leaving aside the time for greetings and such, we probably have to deal with 30 minutes.」
「We need to know who would follow up during that time…」
「If it were me, it would probably just make things worse. If Haruna or Mio were by his side, I think it’d be a bit better.」
「Yeah. In this case, based on capacity to deal with things, Haruna should be next to him. And this is good for you too, right Haruna? You wouldn’t want any half assed flirty guy approaching you.」
「There’s also the old man as a possibility.」
They all began steadily laying out the best strategies for the upcoming situation. At length, they settled at the conclusion that Hiroshi, Haruna, and Mio should stick together at all times.
「With all that out of the way, have you guys heard what we’re supposed to do later today?」
With advance arrangements coming to a halt, Makoto brought up the rest of the day’s plans.
「I haven’t, but aren’t we just supposed to not cause any trouble and stay here?」
「Right… In the first place, castles ain’t the kinds of places where ya can just carelessly wander around without a guide if yer an outsider, ’n if ya even so much as wander into the wrong place, I don’t even wanna know what would happen.」
「And it’s that lord we’re talking about. He wasn’t the kind of person who would leave us out of the loop after all the talking was over, right?」
Everyone nodded at what Tatsuya had said. This was very possible. In general, Layotte would not explain to them about this event other than what was the minimum necessary for them to know about. Judging from what had happened up till now, he would make use of the ad-lib ability of Hiroshi and the others and only discuss what had been leaked to the outside. Sometimes, ignorance was one’s greatest defense mechanism.
「Well, it ain’t like we’re gonna be waitin’ for long with no news, so whenever we have free time we can play parliament or concentration or…」
As Hiroshi trailed off, there was a knock at the door.
「Yes, come in.」
「Sorry to disturb you.」
Speaking of the man in question, Layotte was the one who had showed up. Julius was standing behind him as per usual. Hiroshi and Mio thought they heard three sets of footsteps, but from what they saw, there were only two people there.
「Sorry to keep you waiting.」
「Don’t even worry ‘bout it. We just finished talkin’.」
「But this will be a burden on all of you.」
「Even if this is in private, ya don’t hafta bow like that, crown prince.」
「But both kings and crown princes must bow when they have to. Especially as you have saved two of our family members.」
All of a sudden, they heard a third voice from somewhere.
「So Lay going out of his way yesterday to bring back the Stealth Mantle…」
「Yeah, that’s exactly it.」
A middle-aged man with a dignified appearance and sturdy-looking body appeared before them. You did not have to even look at the shape of his face or the color of his hair to immediately know that this man was Layotte’s father, the unmistakable King of Farlane.
「I believe this is our first time meeting. I am the King of Farlane as well as the father of Layotte, Elena, and Aearis: Regnas.」
All Japanese people present did not even know how to react at such an unexpectedly casual appearance of King Regnas, dumbfounded.
「Umm, Your Majesty…、what errand might you have in such a place as this…?」
Tatsuya fearfully asked this unexpected visitor.
「Please, do not feel the need to be stiff. All I wanted to do was convey my thanks as a parent.」
「Were you not going to do that at the royal reception tomorrow?」
「Do you really think that my true sincerity could be conveyed by taking such a high stance in such a high position?」
「Well, I ain’t the king here, so sure you could do that…」
The Japanese people fretted about whether they should ask if Regnas was really okay in the head after the things he had said in response to Tatsuya’s doubts.
「Anyhow, we shall not worry about rank in private situations such as these, so as long as you at the very least be courteous as a human being, there is nothing wrong with going about as you always do.」
「You might say that, but…」
「Hiroshi-dono, was it? Are you not always referring to my son as Lay? Then there is no need to become formal when the king of said country is around either.」
「Well, what you’re saying makes sense, but…」
That was very true. He was already doing things like casually referring to a prince as “Lay”, so by this point it was a little silly to not give the king similar treatment.
「Although if I’m being entirely honest, I feel quite sorry for dragging a benefactor such as yourself into these troublesome matters…」
「Well, we’ve been long ready for this as soon as we picked up Elle. I don’t see a reason for you to worry ’bout it…」
「Still, even so, as both a king and as a parent, it gives me extremely bitter regret to have you forcibly participating in an event that is the bane of your existence.」
Hearing the king of a country apologize to him in such a dignified manner, Hiroshi found himself panicking.
「Quite honestly, I do believe it to be worthless, but it is customary to reward regular people who have accomplished great deeds with an audience with the king, a luncheon meeting, and an evening party. Although again, I do not in the slightest view this as the correct way to reward you.」
「I have also been particularly doubtful about this “evening party” as of late. It sounds like it was established only to make a laughingstock of ordinary people who have made their way up.」
In relation to the country’s top class, this was a rather harsh evaluation. It was pretty clear from this just how they viewed high society.
「Umm, so is that everything you came for?」
If she let this continue, there would probably be many more negative complaints. Haruna decided to slip in and shoot him a question.
「No, do not worry. The main topic is something else.」
「I seek to inform you all of what to take heed of at the evening party.」
The king and prince had come all the way here to convey precautions. This didn’t make the situation sound very good.
「Firstly, Tatsuya-dono and Hiroshi-dono should generally avoid conversing with any females whenever those on our side are not present.」
「Think of it as them getting pregnant just by you talking to them. Tatsuya, you in particular must take care.」
Being told something so ridiculous, Tatsuya was at a loss for words. Hiroshi’s face became deathly pale as he understood what he was trying to say.
「I-It’s THAT serious?」
Haruna, just like Hiroshi, had immediately understood what was meant by that, confirming this with a drawn-back face.
「Indeed. I cannot count the number of times that Layotte has been confronted about recognizing the danger of impregnating women by airborne infection.」
「Yeah, they took advantage of the fact that I can’t refuse conversation and just did whatever they wanted.」
「And yer just leavin’ it be?」
「Why would I do something like that?」
Layotte smiled fiercely as he said that in a dangerous tone. Hiroshi seriously questioned why he would tell such a lie that could easily be investigated.
「By the way, it goes without saying that Older Brother and Mark also have had similar experiences. Not as much as I, of course.」
「It isn’t even as if the princes have had all that much sexual education. How society’s standards have fallen.」
Everyone found themselves aghast at the comments from the two royals. There wasn’t even a way to comment on how low the level and disposition of high society was in this world. The current generation of royalty had a strong blood connection, and undoubtedly it would have been difficult to expand their rights and interests without entering into Layotte’s or Aearis’s factions, but seriously? People should honestly use their heads more.
「For the time being, let me try and take Hiroshi out of the venue whenever the opportunity presents itself.」
「I will also leave Ernest and Julius by your side, so please hold out for one hour from commencement.」
「Aye aye.」
「Afterwards, we shall say that I tasked Hiroshi-dono with various things so that he stays away from the evening party as much as possible.」
「Be as that may, even with Father and I, Big Sister and Aearis, and Big Brother and Mark asking him to do various tasks, I still do not think that he will be able to be absent for the entirety of the evening party. My apologies, but please do ready yourself for such an event.」
「Yup, I know.」
In all honesty, even in the case of the royalty, they did not really want to send Hiroshi out to the evening party. If he actually had the amount of inter-human relation skills that Tatsuya or Haruna did, then that would have been fine, but perhaps because of his gynophobia, Hiroshi would often behave in a manner that could be considered rude when meeting someone (especially a female) for the first time. There were quite a few people who wouldn’t be able to tell what was rude or what wasn’t, so that in itself wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but on the flipside, there were quite a few ambitious houses that were seeking to bring down the authority of the royal family. They could easily see Hiroshi’s demeanor as problematic and seek to execute him. That was the troubling state of circumstances.
In actuality, with the people who would say those sorts of things and Hiroshi put on the scale, Hiroshi was overwhelmingly more important, but even for those who understood that, they would not dare to oppose the current royal family, who had no issues other than Katrina. In the first place, by just saying that he could make a Class Four Potion, that was enough to surpass the worth of more than half the nobles, but just how many of them were aware of this?
「Come to think of it, what ever happened to all that involvement with that lizard’s tail from when we infiltrated the temple?」
「Unfortunately, we failed at securing the perpetrator. No matter how skilled we may be, I do not think it is possible to do anything when they explode themselves.」
「What about the boss?」
「No dice in that regard either. The only reason we were able to pinpoint the bard as the perpetrator was because they had a lack of facial features, making it difficult to remember who they were if you were to avert your eyes from them for even an instant. As long as the person in question was having tea with Big Sister Katrina and Mark until the event died down, even if we were to confront them about being connected to this, we would be brushed aside.」
Albeit expected, it seemed that it was indeed the tail of a lizard. Although it was canceled by Hiroshi, using and discarding a human who could easily use Greater Magic as a tail, their opponent might truly be someone who was well-versed in combat.
「So how far does Ellie’s relation with them go?」
「We have already incarcerated one who is thought to be the perpetrator. However, it does seem like it will be a bit difficult to trace their background from there.」
「And why’s that?」
「It’s simple. It seems that half of the perpetrators didn’t even know that they had been dealing with poisonous substances. And we have searched for the people who had handed them the poison, but once again, it seems like the people in question either don’t know that they were carrying the poison themselves, or they’ve vanished without a trace. Honestly, we are at a loss as to how we should deal with the majority.」
After hearing Layotte’s report, all who were present found themselves groaning at the difficulty of the situation at hand.
「So even if we swapped people around, that wouldn’t count as a preventive measure?」
Haruna pinpointed the most troublesome issue from what she could affirm from the report. If they had made it seem like he was doing work as usual, it had to be enough to quell suspicion, or else it was futile.
「That is essentially the idea. Well, thanks to Hiroshi, we were able to narrow things down to tea leaves and mealtime, so it’s probably way better than before. At worst, he could pretend to eat the food and have you people secretly make something.」
「You’re fine with that, despite being royalty…?」
「Yeah, even I think that’s going a bit too far…」
Makoto held her head at how roundabout Layotte was being. Meanwhile, Haruna just said what came to mind at those strange words. By this point, they no longer felt the sort of apprehension or prudence that was accompanied by royalty. Well, in the first place, they no longer had such things around Layotte in private situations like these anyway.
「Sure, but if that’s the case, don’t we have a more simple thang?」
「Simple?」
「Yeah, how ’bout this?」
Hiroshi said, and out of his belongings came…
「Instant ramen!?」
「It’s the freaking cup variety!」
「Hey, Hiroshi-kun. First a miso maker, now this? How exactly are you…?」
「You even have the package perfectly replicated. That’s Sensei for you…」
Indeed, it was a famous brand of instant ramen. Just as Mio had commented, he had carefully and perfectly replicated everything up to the package. As for the variety, there were only two types of cup ramen and two types of bag ramen, but it was true that these were perfect for secretly eating later.
「And when’d you even complete these?」
「Steadily while Haruna was workin’ at the stand. Like the egg pockets or the taste of the soup, it was purty difficult replicatin’ all that.」
「I know this always happens, but why are you always fine with expending your effort in these sorts of areas…」
By this point, Makoto could only feel powerless at just how screwed up Hiroshi’s priorities were. Still, despite making such a comment, she did not let go of the cup ramen in her hand.
「And what might this be?」
「Other than this miso ramen, the others are noodles that can usually be eaten within one to three minutes after pourin’ boiling water.」
「Oh? And they’re tasty?」
「They aren’t exactly the best examples of super tasty food, but they’re great for those who like them, I guess? Everything here, I personally like for the most part.」
「Haruna-san, I didn’t know ya ate instant ramen ’n the other things too. Figured yer family was super particular over the food they ate, bein’ super celebs ’n all, so I didn’t think ya’d even pay attention to these.」
Haruna wryly smiled at what Hiroshi had said. True, her mother was a world-renowned million-hit singer, and her father was a popular actor, so there was no denying that they were extreme celebrities. Also, even in relation to the daily meals, her great-grandfather from her father’s side of the family was someone who had worked as a head chef at a first-rate Tokyo traditional Japanese restaurant, so it was also true that her father was super obsessed with the kind of food they ate. Even for her mother, perhaps because she ate such good meals, she was super good at cooking to the point where even Haruna and her younger sister knew how to cook meals. However, it wasn’t like their parents would be dedicated to the point where they left food for both girls every time they were gone. Whenever it was just too much to cook, they would do things like put vegetables into bag ramen or even just eat cup ramen.
「Well, in terms of nutritional balance, it isn’t something too good for your body, so it’s also true that we never ate it all that frequently.」
「Hm. You say that it isn’t good for your body, but it seems like everyone else doesn’t pay it any mind. What’s that about?」
「I guess it just shows that the worse something is for you, the more enjoyable?」
Haruna wryly smiled as she answered Layotte’s query, gazing at the three people discussing this with such fervence. In actuality, it was difficult to recommend it to anyone in terms of nutritional balance, but neither was it so bad that it caused illness. In the first place, the person who invented instant ramen would always eat a meal of ramen per day until they died at a ripe age of 96, so no one could exactly say that it was fatal to one’s health.
「Okay, so we still haven’t eaten lunch. Wanna try it out?」
「We’re able to?」
「Well yeah. Ya just pour hot water into the cup ones, and all ya need for the non-miso ramen bags are a don ’n hot water.」
「A don, you say?」
「This is what it looks like.」
The king closely gazed at the donburi that Hiroshi pulled out of his belongings. There was nearly no food that was made in Farlane that was piled into bowls like these. Incidentally, Layotte had already eaten soba in a workshop, so he knew about donburi.
「So all we need to do is procure some hot water?」
「Heck, I can even get ya some right now.」
As always, their conversation had totally shifted to eating. While wryly smiling at that fact, Haruna, who was the most composed out of anyone, made a comment.
「It’s all well and good to test out food, but are we all done with the briefing?」
「Ah, right. Somethin’ I wanted to confirm with ya.」
「Confirm?」
「Before the luncheon and evenin’ party, would it be possible to bring in and drink potions?」
Layotte made a quizzical face at the word “potion”. Meanwhile, as if sensing what he was trying to say, the king was contemplating something for a bit.
「Could you be more specific as to what you mean?」
「A few panaceas as a precaution to poison. If we mix it in a bit, it’d clear away practically all poison within six hour’s time. And well, from the ingredients we got on hand, we can only go up to Level 4 in terms of healin’.」
「…Could you maybe make some for us as well?」
「Yup, as long as ya lend us the tools and location it should be a piece of cake.」
「Very well. We will arrange all of this shortly after.」
「Thankie much.」
Having finished addressing the first set of concerns, Hiroshi gave his thanks as he took out a pot and water. He then proceeded to discuss the next set of concerns while boiling the water.
「The other set of concerns are in regards to troublesome things the gals might hafta do. There any dancin’ or the like?」
「We have used Elena’s bodily condition as a pretext for not actually dancing. However, it is also true that we cannot say for sure that there will not be any dancing whatsoever.」
「Kay. Also, this is sorta a similar issue, but can Haruna ’n the others really fight with just special skills even while wearing dresses?」
Having pointed that out, the others made startled faces, identifying various problems.
「The corsets don’t quite feel up to it.」
「And the length of the hems might prove troublesome. I am totally sure that I would trip on them during a scuffle.」
「And it definitely isn’t possible to draw a bow with a dress.」
All the answers that came back to him were quite harsh.
「If that’s the case, leaving tomorrow outta the equation, after that we’d probably leave the undergarments to Mio and the dressmaking to me.」
「Right. I’m sure that there won’t be any sort of development today or tomorrow that involves getting into any scuffles, but those preparations of yours will be pivotal. That being said, is it even possible to make dresses that are that mobile?」
「Well, if we take away some aspects then dresses can change quite a bit. And in a worst-case scenario we can trick ’em with some enchantments.」
「Enchantments really are all-powerful, aren’t they?」
「Nah, there’s also quite a bit they can’t accomplish.」
Compared with the enchantments on weapons, there were quite the variety of enchantments to put on clothing, armor, and the like. Nearly all of them seemed to not amount to much in terms of digits, but in actuality, they were even more important than pure defense. Especially with things like metal armor conductivity preservation and inward temperature regulation, they were treated more like memes in the game, but in reality, they were indispensable to wear. Decrease Movement Hindrance was essential for full-bodied armor, long-hemmed clothing, or things like highly decorated clothing. With it, there was a huge difference in terms of penalties, and the higher up you got, you could eventually even swim in water with full-plated armor. These things weren’t seen as very important in-game, but there were also cool enchantments for purposes like protecting the chest area for bow users that they were making full use of after coming here.
In the game, every time any usable enchantments increased, he would always feel exasperated with the creators (after all, you couldn’t even use the majority of them), but now that the game became reality, he found himself wanting to instead thank the creators for how much they prepared for this game. Everything was so calculated. Of course, there were also things mixed in like electrical wave reception. It made him want to ask what kind of roguelike game item information this was. That was just how many unidentifiable enchantments were mixed in.
「Well, let’s go with that for the dresses then. I’m countin’ on ya for the fabric ’n thread.」
「Let us arrange some at once. Is there anything else?」
「Not outta the top of my head. Oh, right.」
「What is it?」
「When we eat delicacies like this, will Elle pout if we don’t call her?」
Layotte wryly smiled at Hiroshi’s query, using some sort of tool to communicate with her. Aearis didn’t take much time to arrive to the room after being called.
「So what sort of delicacy might I be obliged to eat today!?」
「Wow, yer excited as always.」
Nobody could hold in their laughter at how Aearis was acting. Albeit a bit sullen at how they were treating her, Aearis could not avert her eyes from the mysterious meal that Hiroshi and Haruna had prepared for her.
「It would really be best to put in some vegetables, you know…」
「Well, how ’bout we go orthodox today?」
Deciding to start with sampling everything, they prepared small bowls enough for everyone, with two cup varieties per person and pioneer bird bagged ramen with raw egg dropped into the egg holder and three cups of hot water poured in. Bagged miso ramen was more delicious when stewed, rather than just pouring in hot water.
「Wow, this is, uhh…」
「Yeah, I can’t… I can’t resist…」
Tatsuya and Makoto found themselves unable to perservere as they watched him cook. Even Mio was fidgeting in some way.
「For now, just go ahead and distribute it however you want, okay?」
Haruna said, putting some of the pioneer bird ramen into her own small bowl as an example. Makoto had already begun stirring around the soy sauce flavored cup ramen, dragging out the amount she wanted and putting it into her small bowl. Tatsuya was apparently going for the seafood variety.
「Incidentally, why don’t we have any curry noodles?」
「That’s cuz I put all the spice we had on that there curry bread.」
Hiroshi said, happily slurping the pioneer bird ramen and letting out a sigh. As for the royal family in question…
「To think that you can produce such a flavor with such simplistic cooking methods…」
「Hiroshi, I implore you to spread this recipe. This food could be revolutionary to armies or adventurers.」
「A simple, but delicious flavor.」
This was one of the most cheapest, bottom-of-the-barrel food that Japan had to offer, and their eyes were lighting right up.
「I dunno how much I can do in a day, so for now I’ll just prepare some sorta specialized bag like these ’n share it ’n make just enough to go ’round…」
Aearis’s eyes sparkled as she nodded at Hiroshi’s proposal. Japan’s prized instant ramen food had now taken the royal family of Farlane captive.