Yesterday was a terrible day.
We were attacked by bandits on the mountain pass along the main road leading to the Old Kingdom of Portland. Just when we thought we had escaped, we were hit by a violent thunderstorm.
Meanwhile, I managed to rescue Shera, the last surviving royal of the Old Kingdom of Sazania, who had been hiding with the bandits. Later, seeking shelter and a place to stay for the night at a mansion, I spent a passionate, intense night with Yvonne, a widow.
However, there was something I remembered after we departed by carriage.
I had ejaculated inside Yvonne, but due to the fatigue from the day, I forgot to cast “Washing Magic.” Yvonne, of course, has a possibility of becoming pregnant. Well, if Yvonne were to get pregnant and give birth, I’m sure she would raise the child with great care.
“Lord Hal, Shera has awakened.”
At Elise’s request, while I was holding the reins of the horses on the driver’s seat of the two-horse carriage heading towards her homeland, the Old Kingdom of Portland, I was having my solo self-reflection from yesterday. Then, the small window connecting the passenger compartment and the driver’s seat was opened, and Liliana reported that Shera had awakened.
I stopped the carriage in an open space by the roadside, secured it with wheel chocks, and then opened the passenger compartment door to check on Shera’s condition.
“Please… please. D-don’t do anything terrible to me. Please don’t.”
Shera, huddled in a corner of the passenger compartment, was begging for forgiveness in a hushed whisper. Shera, a half-beastkin with the blood of the Fox Beastkin, has distinctive fox ears and a tail, but her ears were drooping and her tail was hidden between her legs. If she were to lie on her back and expose her belly defenselessly, it would resemble a dog’s submissive posture. In other words, Shera, who had awakened from the coma induced by “Resurrection Magic,” seemed to be obedient to us. Still, her attitude was vastly different from when she was called “Sister Shera” as a guest of the bandits.
Meanwhile, Elise and Freya, who wanted to touch Shera’s fox ears and tail after she woke up, were being held in a bear hug by Swan Hilda and Liliana to prevent them from rushing her.
“Eek! I-I beg you, forgive me, forgive me~!!”
As I approached Shera, she flinched and trembled even more.
“Has she been like this since she woke up?”
“Well, as you can see… she’s like a captured fox cub.”
Kirika sighed and explained the situation.
“Shera, it’s okay. There are about two perverts here, but they won’t do anything terrible, probably…”
“Eek! No, no~!!”
As I approached Shera again, she shrank back further in fear. When I reached out and stroked her head, she calmed down a little.
“R-really, really… are you okay!?”
“Lord Hal, that’s unfair. I want to touch her too!”
“Me too!!”
As I continued to gently stroke Shera’s head, she calmed down a bit more.
Meanwhile, Elise and Freya, who hadn’t touched her since Shera woke up, were complaining.
Although it was so different from her first impression that I was taken aback, she gradually got used to us when we treated her like a small animal to be appeased. It took considerable effort, like taming a wild creature, but now she is calm and Elise and Freya are looking after her.
“Indeed, living fluff is irresistible.”
“Truly, the feel is the best!!”
“…”
Shera, being doted on by Elise and Freya, was silent for now. However, from what I could tell, her current personality was her true self, and her dramatic change when she “beastified” was likely due to the release of her suppressed ego.
In the end, the awakened Shera was, for the time being, treated as shared property of “Princess Harem,” or rather, a pet. The formal incorporation of Liliana and Shera into “Princess Harem,” who had newly joined on this journey, was planned to take place after returning to the Base Mansion and reuniting with the remaining members and Alicia.
From then on, without any problems, the two-horse carriage carrying us ran swiftly along the road and arrived at Pescia, the initially planned lodging town. However, as the prior information indicated, it was deserted, and the inn we had counted on had closed down, meaning we would have to camp out if we arrived as planned. It turned out to be the right decision to seek lodging at Yvonne’s mansion.
Pescia was a disappointing town with nothing of note and a severely limited selection of supplies, so we passed through without stopping. After proceeding for a while, we reached the border of the Old Kingdom of Sazania and the Old Kingdom of Portland. However, at the old border checkpoint, Espana soldiers were stationed, checking the identities of travelers and their belongings.
This situation was not good at all.
However, if we didn’t pass here, it would be a significant detour to the Old Kingdom of Portland’s territory.
“Elise, this is bad…”
“It will be fine, Lord Hal. We can handle it the same way we did with Clarina.”
Upon confirming with Elise, just like when we were invited to Baron Hartia’s mansion, I attached the “First-Class Quasi-Noble” insignia to the left chest of my coat and joined the queue of carriages. After waiting for about 30 minutes, it was our turn.
“Next, come forward. You seem to be adventurers. Who is your representative?”
“I am Hal Raymond, the representative of the adventurer party ‘Princess Harem’.”
“…I see. Very well. I will inspect the interior of the passenger compartment.”
The Espana soldier who attended to me approached the carriage with an arrogant demeanor.
“Hey, you fool, stop! He’s a ‘First-Class Quasi-Noble’!”
As the Espana soldier was about to approach the carriage, a fellow soldier hurriedly stopped him.
“What are you talking about? He’s just a young adventurer!”
“What… are you saying that even to a Viscount? That’s how a ‘First-Class Quasi-Noble’ is!!”
“What are you saying… Y-Your Excellency and a Viscount are on the same level?! M-my apologies. Please proceed.”
Before my eyes, a comedic exchange between two Espana soldiers ensued, and we were able to pass the checkpoint without any inspection.
Still, the “First-Class Quasi-Noble” insignia is remarkably effective. I should express my gratitude to Emperor Henry and Princess Elizabeth for bestowing the insignia upon me.
“We’ve finally entered the Old Kingdom of Portland, but… it’s really rural.”
“Lord Hal, it is indeed rural, but… couldn’t you have phrased that a little differently?”
My impression upon stepping into the territory of the Old Kingdom of Portland was simple, and Elise gave a wry smile upon hearing my words. Small villages and streams flowed along the roadside, with long, narrow terraced fields and mountain forests, maintaining a rural atmosphere. Elise’s itinerary stated five days to Portland Castle Ruins. I thought it was a long time for such a small country, but it turned out to be due to the many winding mountain roads that limited our daily travel distance. We managed to avoid sleeping outdoors by seeking lodging at the homes of village chiefs in the villages along the road.
The Southern Nations were warm year-round, with a vast breadbasket due to fertile soil. However, the Old Kingdom of Portland, Elise’s homeland, was a small country established in the mountains. I can’t help but think it’s in a disadvantageous location, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. This impression remained unchanged even as we approached the capital, near the Old Portland Castle Ruins.
“Elise, is that stone building on that small hill Portland Castle?”
“Yes… that’s correct.”
Portland Castle was built on top of a small hill, and its scale was no larger than the castle of a provincial lord in the Espana Imperial Kingdom. We disembarked from the carriage and gazed at Portland Castle, visible far in the distance.
“Lord Hal, I’m a bit hungry. How about we take a break at that teahouse?”
Swan Hilda, unusually, complained of hunger. Come to think of it, it was almost lunchtime, and I was hungry too. Looking around, all the members of “Princess Harem” except Elise were looking at me with expectant eyes. Shera, who had been like a frightened fox cub right after waking up on the way here, was now wagging her tail vigorously behind Liliana.
“I’m hungry too, so I agree with Swan Hilda’s suggestion… Elise, do you oppose it?”
“No, it’s not that… but… there’s an acquaintance here…”
Elise, who would normally be the first to jump at the suggestion, was acting suspiciously, seeming to be wary of encountering an acquaintance. In the end, Elise relented, and we decided to take a break at a teahouse by the roadside.
“Auntie, excuse us. Could we have some tea and these sweets for all of us?”
“Sure~. Just sit at any seat you like.”
After a while, the teahouse proprietress brought us steaming tea and plates of steamed buns and skewered dumplings.
“Sorry for the wait. Please, enjoy yourselves.”
As she turned to go inside, she spotted Elise, who was sitting behind me as if hiding, and stopped, staring blankly.
“Eh, Princess Elise… Wait, you’re a fake too!! Your hair color was so similar, I was startled. Of all the fakes I’ve seen, you’re the most alike!”
“Do you know Princess Elise, Auntie? And that there are people impersonating a princess of a fallen royal family…”
I immediately probed the teahouse proprietress.
“This teahouse was Princess Elise’s favorite… Whenever Princess Elise slipped out of the castle, she would always come here to eat sweets.”
The proprietress seemed to be reminiscing about Elise with a distant look.
“Could you tell us about that time?”
Freya, thinking that Elise’s dark history might be exposed, lifted the arm of her disguise glasses with a “click” and asked the question. Elise seemed to be glaring at Freya, but her intimidating presence was lacking behind her Valkyrie mask, and Freya ignored her coolly.
“Princess Elise would eat at least 10 plates here… However, soon after, the royal guards would come to pick her up, or rather, escort her back to the King, so she would eat in a hurry.”
“So, why did you think that girl was a fake Princess Elise?”
This time, Liliana asked a sharp question that got to the heart of the matter.
“Please keep this between us, okay?”
“Of c-of course.”
“The real Princess Elise had a full figure… she was plump. That girl’s silver hair is just like Princess Elise’s, but her stomach is flat and her waist is slender…”
We struggled to hold back our laughter at the proprietress’s criteria for determining Elise’s authenticity. The proprietress was chatty and told us many things. The Portland Royal Family seemed to be greatly loved by the people. The invasion by the Kingdom of Sazania had led to the extermination of the royal family, and Princess Elise was the only one whose corpse was not found. After the Kingdom of Sazania was destroyed by the Espana Imperial Kingdom, several groups emerged under the banner of reviving the Kingdom of Portland, but at the head of each was a fake Princess Elise. Furthermore, because Portland Castle was made of stone, it outwardly looked largely unchanged, but the interior had been completely plundered and set on fire, so it had burned down. Deep hatred for the plunderers, who were associated with the Old Kingdom of Sazania, overflowed from the proprietress’s face, and Shera, the former princess of the Old Kingdom of Sazania who was at the very back, trembled as she grew smaller. Meanwhile, Freya, who had obtained Elise’s dark history, looked at Elise and slightly curled the corners of her mouth upwards.
After eating our fill of sweets, we decided to head directly to the Old Portland Castle Ruins.
Thank you for reading.
Episode 18-6, Portland Castle Ruins, was pre-scheduled for posting at 0:00 AM on July 7th.
