On August 30, 2020, typographical errors were corrected.
“Please take off your mask and show your face to Otoha-san here.”
→ “…show your face…”
My party, the “Princess Harem,” led by myself, Hal Harem Von Raymond, arrived at Yappei Inn Town in the Former Yangas Kingdom Territory.
We had completed our business in the Former Yangas Kingdom Territory and were now en route to our final destination for the Second Expedition Trip, the Former Wahl Imperial Kingdom Territory.
The journey itself had been smooth sailing until two days ago. Yesterday, however, we were pursued by the “Slave Harem Party” we encountered at a wealthy farmer’s mansion where we had stayed.
That party was an Adventurer Party called the “Crimson Holy Spear.” Their Party Leader, Notter Midgar, a man who was like a walking reproductive organ, demanded Astarotte as a slave because he had seen her bare face.
He incessantly pressed me, saying, “Sell the beautiful slave girl, Astarotte-chan, Hal-boy!”
By the way, Notter was accompanied by three beautiful women who were too good for him. They were Level 2 Slaves owned by Notter. It seemed he overworked them in combat and as partners at night, yet they were devoted to Notter. It was likely that when he purchased them from a Slave Trader, he had bound them with “mind magic” to fall in love with him. Honestly, I was taken aback when they cheerfully performed a masturbation show at Notter’s command.
As we left, Liliana looked sad, mentioning she knew one of the female slaves. The woman had fallen so far from her former self, when she was a Noblewoman, and had become a Sex Slave, to the point where it was unbelievable she had ever been a knight. Similarly, Dietlinde showed anger that a daughter with noble Elf blood, even if only half, had degenerated into a lustful female genitalia slave. Incidentally, Elise was also unusually indignant, saying it was unbelievable that a valuable magic user had been reduced to a female toilet. It was rare for Elise to get angry about anything other than food. Generally, the Party Members of the “Princess Harem” seemed to have branded Notter as an “Enemy of Maidens.” It was a natural consequence, I suppose.
Mai had knocked Notter unconscious with a hand chop and left him and the three beautiful women tied up, but they caught up to us on the road to Yappei Inn Town. I was able to enter through the nobleman’s gate thanks to a letter I received from Count Kol, and once again dealt with Notter. Alicia could have handled it, but if a Viscountess were to be staying in such a remote inn town, it would surely cause quite a stir. I didn’t want to attract any more attention than necessary.
However, we are a large Adventurer Party, traveling in two double-horse carriages. With such a conspicuous group, it was only a matter of time before Notter found us. On top of that, inconveniently, the sun was setting, so we urgently needed to find lodging for the night.
“Hal-sama, what do you think of that inn? My intuition… it’s telling me something!”
“It’s an inn with an unusual structure. I think that might be the architectural style of the Eastern Nations.”
“Really!? We’ll surely be able to eat some rare delicacies. Let’s definitely go to that inn, Hal-sama!”
“Elise, you’re so consistent…”
We were currently searching for an inn, and Elise, who was obsessed with food, was sitting next to me. Elise, who believed “even a rotten sea bream is still a sea bream,” is also the Vice-Leader of the “Princess Harem,” so it wouldn’t hurt to have her help. Moreover, her hobby is to devour local specialties whenever we visit new places, so she has a sharp sense in this regard. This time, trying it out might be interesting. Perhaps it might even bring us good fortune from the “Shrine Maiden Princess.”
In any case, among the stone buildings in the inn district, this inn was the only one made of adobe walls and tiled wooden roofs. This architectural style closely resembled the illustrations I saw in documents about the Eastern Nations that Cardinal Lester showed me in my previous life. Furthermore, the sign hanging under the eaves bore the suggestive inn name, “Saint Holiday.” It is said that Yappei Inn Town has been a famous hot spring resort since ancient times. We decided to stay at the long-established inn called “Saint Holiday.” The history of this inn is said to originate from the hot springs where the battle-weary Saint Tachibana healed her fatigue. It’s likely Notter will find us, but we too want to relax our travel weariness in the historic hot springs.
“Welcome, traveling adventurers! Thank you very much for visiting ‘Saint Holiday’ today. In this inn, you can enjoy Kaiseki cuisine from the Kasai Kingdom and bathe in the historic hot springs associated with Saint Tachibana. Furthermore, these hot springs are open to both sexes, but as you have a large party, we will reserve them for you if you specify a bathing time.”
At the inn’s reception, a glamorous and alluring young proprietress attended to us. Her mature and voluptuous body was beautifully covered by her clothing, but her fragrant aroma was so potent it stimulated my crotch; she was truly a good woman. She was a typical beauty from the Eastern Nations, with black hair and black eyes, which is unusual in this area. Her colorful attire, I believe, might be a furisode, worn by unmarried women of the Kasai Kingdom on special occasions. The pattern on the young proprietress’s furisode, perhaps reflecting her national identity, featured lovely lilies in full bloom.
“I am Hal Harem Von Raymond, Party Leader of the Adventurer Party ‘Princess Harem.’ Please forgive my forwardness, but may I ask if you are from the Eastern Nations? If you don’t mind, could you also tell me your name?”
I introduced myself honorably to the beautiful young proprietress and then, out of curiosity, inquired about her origins and name. My mother, Shakura, is also from the Eastern Nations, which piqued my interest.
“I apologize for not introducing myself sooner. I am Otoha Tachibana, managing this inn with my own hands. While I have some Western Nations blood in me, my appearance is strongly influenced by my Eastern Nations heritage.”
“Tachibana!? Cou-could it be… you’re related to Saint Tachibana!?”
I glanced at the oil painting on the wall in front of me, which seemed to be a motif of Saint Tachibana. The painted Saint Tachibana had flowing black hair and wore a shrine maiden outfit, similar to the cosplay Kirika had made before. She also wore a sword at her waist. No, it was probably a self-defense sword, as the blade was short. I personally had never heard of Saint Tachibana; I wondered what kind of person she was. On the nameplate of the frame holding the oil painting, it read “Saint Tachibanahime,” but I couldn’t read it. Still, Saint Tachibana apparently was a beautiful girl who exuded a simple yet dignified charm. And somehow, she had an aura that reminded me of Mai! I thought it was probably just because their hair color was similar…
“Yes, I am said to be her descendant. Speaking of which, are you and the two women over there also from the Eastern Nations? It’s very rare to have so many people connected to the Eastern Nations, sometimes called ‘rare beings’.”
“Otoha-san, you also have mixed blood from the Western Nations. My mother and Kirika here are from the Eastern Nations. As for Mai, she is almost certainly a pure-blooded Eastern Nations person.”
“That girl… she has such lustrous black hair. Perhaps she has noble blood in her veins!?”
As I was explaining briefly, Otoha-san, with a shocked expression, stared intently at Mai. Otoha-san’s eyes showed seriousness, her gaze fixed.
“Mai!?”
“In my assessment, it might be the bloodline of a Queen. Such lustrous green-black hair is rarely seen even among the people of the Kasai Kingdom.”
Otoha-san pointed out that Mai was related to the royal family of the Kasai Kingdom. However, her judgment was based solely on the quality of her black hair, so the credibility was almost nil. Still, as Mai’s origins were unknown, I decided to ask with the desperation of a drowning man grasping at a straw.
“Is… is that so? Kirika, Mai, could you come over here?”
“What is it, Hal-sama?”
“Mm… coming.”
Kirika and Mai lowered their hoods, revealing their hair, but they still wore the masks modeled after Valkyries.
“Could you take off your masks for a moment and show your faces to Otoha-san here?”
“Easily done.”
“Mm.”
“My, my, what adorable beautiful girls!”
Otoha-san seemed to have taken a liking to Kirika and Mai, who had revealed their true faces.
“That nameplate says ‘Saint Tachibanahime-no-Mikoto.’ It’s unusual to see the writing of the Kasai Kingdom here… It is a rare occurrence. But Saint Tachibana is so cool! It stirs my cosplay spirit!”
Mai looked at Kirika with envy in her eyes, as Kirika had deciphered the difficult characters. Meanwhile, Kirika seemed interested in the shrine maiden attire Saint Tachibana was wearing.
“Kirika, you could read these difficult characters.”
“Of course. I learned them from Mother.”
“Oh… is that so?”
Kirika was able to read the nameplate, which I couldn’t. My mother Shakura and Mai moved to the Western Nations when they were young, so they couldn’t read this script. On the other hand, Kirika’s mother traveled around various countries as a Shirabyoshi, and while on her journey, she caught the eye of the Holy King of the Kamiyar Holy Nation, so she was likely able to teach the script to her daughter, Kirika.
Thank you for reading.
Episode 40-5, “Saint Tachibana and Being Lost ②,” has been scheduled for release at 0:00 on February 15th.
