“W-Whyyyy! I don’t need this! I don’t need a daughter like me!”
Lara_Berze’s “First Night Ritual” had concluded without incident. As we prepared to leave the “Weathercock” inn in Ribidoon and depart for the next town in our two carriages, a major problem surfaced.
Swan Hilda let out a sorrowful war cry.
Currently, our party consisted of fifteen core members: myself, Alicia, Elise, Mai, Swan Hilda, Ly, Kirika, Tirna, Edele, Freya, Dietlinde, Liliana, Shera, and Eria. Adding Sharon, who was a quasi-party member, along with Lara_Berze, Lili_Berze, and Lulu_Berze who had become humans, and Ain and Zwei who were still in the process of transforming, plus the Holy Spirit Serena, we had grown into a large group of twenty-two people.
This number did not include Sophie and Ilisha, who were currently under the care of Rulus Wolf.
Under these circumstances, we only had two horse-drawn carriage for our Second Expedition Trip. Each carriage was designed for eight people, but with space for two on the driver’s seat, they could theoretically accommodate up to twenty people.
Even though Holy Spirit Serena, who took up little space, was included, it effectively meant we had twenty-one people needing seats. This, in turn, meant… one person would be left out.
Our initial plan was for Sharon to finish her mission soon and return to St. Agnes Abbey, after which she would be replaced by Swan Hilda upon her return from her forced training journey. However… my plan had crumbled pathetically.
I had summoned Sharon to guide us to a secret modification base for “Killing Dolls,” which the “Assassin’s Guild” had secretly built before being dismantled by the Hero Party led by Albert Sandia, the current Oracle Hero. That secret base was located in the Old Imperial Capital Ashurai, within the former Wahl Imperial Kingdom’s territory, which was our final destination. Therefore, we couldn’t send Sharon back to St. Agnes Abbey at this time.
On the other hand, while we were overjoyed by Swan Hilda’s return after she saved us from peril… I had completely forgotten that the carriage seats were already full. We were physically short one seat, and finding a solution was proving difficult.
Moreover, we couldn’t simply kick someone else out. Ain and Zwei, in particular, had a high possibility of being promoted to Party Members of the “Princess Harem” in the future. They had been blessed by the gods and bestowed powerful skills and graces. Ain was currently learning magic and household chores under Elise and Tirna. Zwei, on the other hand, was taking her time, but she had insisted on a visit to a blacksmith’s shop during our journey. She wanted to repair weapons and armor that had been damaged or dulled during the all-out battle against the lower demons led by the high-ranking demon, Manmon.
As for the former demon group, Astarotte was essential for identifying the true identities of the demons in hiding. Furthermore, we had already secured a promise from Zwei to craft weapons for us.
In contrast, for the three sisters, Lara_Berze, Lili_Berze, and Lulu_Berze, who had become mere beautiful girls, our hope was to find a suitable guardian for them so they could find happiness as humans. However, we had no intention of entrusting them to anyone untrustworthy.
When the three sisters underwent their Class Change, if they had become their energy-efficient child forms, they could have sat on my lap as I drove. However, in reality, they had transformed into young women of marriageable age, making it physically and ethically impossible. A child form would likely be seen as endearing by passing travelers, but their current appearance was far too inappropriate.
Furthermore, the three sisters had requested that I perform the “First Night Ritual” for them. Currently, only Lara_Berze had completed the ritual and become an adult woman; Lili_Berze and Lulu_Berze were still waiting their turn. They seemed vaguely aware that I was called “Lucky Penis” by the gods. That was precisely why they wished for the “First Night Ritual” from me. Sharon likely felt the same way. This meant that any girl embraced by me had a high chance of achieving good fortune. It would likely take some more time to find guardians for the three sisters.
To summarize the situation, there were originally supposed to be four empty seats during our Second Expedition Trip. We had planned to seat Swan Hilda, Sophie, and Ilisha in those four seats, so there should have been one seat to spare. However, we couldn’t abandon the three delicate and vulnerable sisters on the roadside, nor could we send Sharon, who had a mission, back to St. Agnes Abbey.
Ultimately, the most viable idea at present was for Ain or Zwei to revert to their shapeless Mimic Slime form and return to their standby locations before being summoned. However, both of them refused, tears welling up in their eyes. Moreover, given how they were currently cherished by the “Princess Harem” members, led by Alicia, we hesitated to force them.
It was precisely because of this chaotic situation that Swan Hilda could not accept the reality that the seats were filled during her forced training journey, and the mental shock she experienced was significant.
“Why isn’t there a seat for me! I’m a senior member of the “Princess Harem”… Why! Why is this happening!!”
*Pat, pat, pat, pat*
“Now, now, Swan Hilda, don’t cry.”
“Ede, Ede, waaaaaahhhh!”
Swan Hilda, who had no seat, fell into a state of stunned despair. Seeing this, Edele approached to comfort her, and Swan Hilda clung to her chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Edele, who was her cousin, embraced Swan Hilda and began stroking her head, exuding a maternal kindness. Edele clearly doted on Swan Hilda. Gradually, Swan Hilda began to calm down.
However, the seat shortage remained a problem…
“Lord Hal, what should we do about our future route? We have a little idea.”
“Please listen to our opinions.”
While I was agonizing over Swan Hilda’s seat situation, Elise, the副長 (sub-leader) of the “Princess Harem,” and Ly approached me. Strangely, both Elise and Ly had furrowed brows, as if in agony. It was a very unusual combination and expression. I couldn’t help but wonder if this meant another problem had arisen.
“Wait a moment, both of you. First, securing Swan Hilda’s seat is our top priority, but I’m struggling to find any good ideas.”
“Lord Hal, I have an excellent idea.” Elise turned to me with a dark smile. It was, or rather, undoubtedly a terrible suggestion.
“Swan Hilda is the only divine being among our party members. As a Valkyrie of lesser divinity, she is an object of reverence. Therefore, we must honor the sacred and noble Swan Hilda.”
“What are you trying to say, Elise?”
“So, Lord Hal… until a seat becomes available, we should have Swan Hilda take temporary refuge on the roof of the carriage. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a divine being seated on our carriage?”
“You…!”
As expected, Elise’s suggestion was terrible. However, since I was at a dead end, was this an opportunity? It was Elise’s fault…
“Hey, Swan Hilda. This is a bit of a long shot, but would you mind sitting on the roof of the carriage until a seat opens up?”
“Hal… you’ve given me my final order…” Slumping, Swan Hilda leaped onto the roof of the carriage with Sky-soaring, but then promptly threw herself on her face and fell asleep. Poor Swan Hilda, it looked like she would need some pampering when we reached our inn.
“So, what was the business you two had, Elise and Ly?”
“Well, Lord Hal. We wanted to discuss the route to the Old Imperial Capital Ashurai, the final destination of our Second Expedition Trip.”
“I have the same request as Elise, Lord Hal.”
“I thought we would reach Ashurai without any problems if we just followed the main road we’ve been using? There’s no need to change our route now, is there?”
“Yes, the main road to Imperial Capital Ashurai is a direct route. However, the journey itself is problematic. We will pass through Karamiya, which is the largest city along the way… and that’s a major issue!”
“Ly’s explanation is rather uninformative.”
“Th-that’s…” As I tried to confirm Ly’s true meaning, she blushed deeply and faltered.
“Lord Hal, the truth is, there’s someone we’d rather not meet in Karamiya, the largest city along the way. Ly feels the same way.”
So, in the end, Elise and Ly are reluctant because there’s someone they don’t want to encounter in Karamiya. I thought of Myale’s words. Come to think of it, their faces turned pale halfway through Myale’s explanation. I believe… the names of the people introduced were… Was it the former Marquis Bottox, who was Myale’s supporter, and his subordinate, the capable sorceress, Vicomtesse Yagutska?
“Is that someone you don’t want to meet the former Marquis and the Vicomtesse who supported Myale? But Myale said she really wanted us to meet them!”
“That is true… but I cannot explain why!”
“I invoke my right to remain silent.”
However, Ly stated she couldn’t explain why, blushing deeply and averting her gaze, while Elise declared her invocation of the right to silence. Such stubbornness was unusual. Should I try to accommodate them with consideration?
“Lord Hal, the former Marquis Bottox is a capable individual, but he has a certain bad habit… It would be difficult for Ly to explain it. I am also aware of the habit in question… but I will invoke my right to remain silent.”
“I am also aware of the former Marquis Bottox’s conduct in Wahl Imperial Kingdom’s social circles… but it would be embarrassing to explain.”
As I felt at a loss for words with Ly and Elise, Liliana and Tirna approached and agreed with Ly’s opinion. Still, what kind of problematic person is the former Marquis Bottox? However, it turned out there was some connection between Ly and Elise and the former Marquis Bottox. But what connection could there be with Elise, the Third Princess of the Kingdom of Portland, which is far away in the Southern Nations? Perhaps she visited the Wahl Imperial Kingdom as a goodwill ambassador? Or perhaps the opposite is also possible…
“Is the person Elise doesn’t want to meet also the former Marquis Bottox?”
“Um… I have never met anyone called the former Marquis Bottox. As the heir to the throne, I was busy with my daily duties, so I have never made a goodwill visit to the Wahl Imperial Kingdom…”
“Then who is it you don’t want to meet?”
“In my case, it’s Vicomtesse Yagutska.”
“I see… So Elise doesn’t want to meet the Vicomtesse, and like Ly, she doesn’t want to explain why…”
“I apologize, but I can’t stop trembling whenever I hear that name. Please understand.” Elise, who was usually so imperious and gluttonous, was genuinely terrified. Who on earth is Vicomtesse Yagutska?
Conversely, Ly and the others tilted their heads.
“I see… Then, it can’t be helped. We’ll ignore Myale’s information for now. What about our future route?”
“Well, Lord Hal. After leaving Ribidoon, we can leave the secondary road at the three-way intersection, pass through Mistyra village, and take a detour to reach Imperial Capital Ashurai without entering Karamiya. The delay due to the detour would be about three days.”
“A delay of that magnitude should be acceptable. Let’s take the detour around Karamiya then!”
” ” ” “Yes, Lord Hal!” ” ” ”
Elise, Ly, Tirna, and Liliana joyfully agreed to my decision.
“W-wait a minute, Father Hal. You said Karamiya was a larger city than Ribidoon, but does Mistyra village have a blacksmith’s shop?”
“Hmm, I wonder? Does anyone know?”
“Yes, I know. Mistyra was a small village in a remote mountainous area, but I believe there were blacksmiths who repaired farming tools…”
“Thank you for telling me, Tirna. Zwei, this is the situation.”
“So, there’s no proper smithy where a true swordsmith works? Father Hal, could you please stop by the blacksmith’s shop in Ribidoon? I need to repair many things…”
“O-Okay.”
I had intended to leave Ribidoon immediately… but maintenance of weapons and armor is also important. We decided to stop by a swordsmith’s forge in Ribidoon and have Zwei handle various repairs.
“Guhuhuhu. I saw something good ♪”
As the conversation ended and we were about to get into the carriage and head to the swordsmith’s shop, Holy Spirit Serena appeared on my right shoulder and sat down.
“Serena, is something wrong?”
“I was with Myale just a moment ago. And as she declared, Baron Highlandola has begun a grueling diet. The screams of that ugly, fat pig baron and the whistling of the whip were quite pleasant.”
“Is… that so…”
The battle against the demons only ended yesterday, and she’s already starting a diet… Myale is truly something.
“And, did Lady Roserith wake up safely?”
“Yes, she woke up safely. And Roserith seems to have lost her memory from just before her beheading. Perhaps she subconsciously sealed away those painful and embarrassing memories.”
“I see. Then I suppose she will grow up healthily under Myale’s protection from now on.”
“Yes. Still, the pig baron’s pathetic state was quite amusing ♪”
While it was good that the Myale-related matters were resolved, Holy Spirit Serena seemed to have found Baron Highlandola’s harsh diet extremely amusing. And this time, we really departed from our inn, the Weathercock, and headed to the proper blacksmith’s shop requested by Zwei.
Thank you for reading.
Episode 50-9, Sacred Forge is [Women Not Allowed] But ①, has been scheduled for posting at 0:00 on July 9th.
[Announcement]
On July 4th, Reiwa 1, we achieved 15 million PV.
We are grateful to all our readers for this achievement.
To commemorate this, we are considering inserting a short story after Episode 50.
The general content will be about party members being caught up in the sudden dimensional transference of a possibly unwell Holy Spirit Serena, and their encounters in another world (e.g., [Narou World], another [Nocturn World], a grotesque [Midnight World], or a BL or yuri [Moonlight World], etc.).
We are currently considering the following two options and will be writing in one of them.
Please let us know if you have any other ideas you’d like to read.
① Shera, who is transported to another [Nocturn World], defeats a big-breasted Demon Lord.
② Diedelinde, who is transported to a yuri [Moonlight World], subjugates a small-breasted High Elf.
If we were to have another project of this type, we are considering unique access reaching 2 million (currently 1,867,270 on July 5th), total evaluation reaching 25,000 pt (currently 23,581 pt), or reaching within the top 100 overall rankings (currently 128th).
At present, we plan to write based on option ① or ②, but we would like to incorporate your opinions and requests if you have any. Please send them in.
The deadline for responses will be July 15th, Reiwa 1.
