Chapter 154: A Change of Plans?!
When I regained consciousness in the morning, I realized I was being restrained by something.
Startled, I looked over to see Yuri, still asleep, hugging me tightly.
It was what’s commonly known as a Daishuki Hold.
What bliss.
Her legs were wrapped around me too, so we were in complete, close contact.
We’d slept in the same futon several times before, but I’d always avoided initiating such closeness, fearing I wouldn’t be able to remain a gentleman.
And yet, here she was, her beautiful face pressed against my chest as if seeking comfort.
Her yukata was in disarray, the collar gaping open.
No, that part was still okay.
Well, not okay, but okay.
The problem was that this petite girl had her face nestled against my chest.
No, let’s be precise about things.
It was pressing. Our hips…
There’s no way I can endure this!!
Just as my eyes snapped wide open, a tiny holographic image of Mei appeared before me.
“Hey, Mei-san? …No matter what, now’s not the time for you to show up, is it?”
This is a lovers’ bedroom, you know?
What are you doing? I can’t believe this, I questioned her, my distrust evident.
“…No, it is precisely because it is now that I have appeared.
Please consider this further. It is early morning, and moreover, you are in the state guesthouse of another country.
If you make any noise here, people will come. Are you truly alright with that?”
“Ugh… Th-thank you for your counsel.”
Mei’s words brought me back to my senses, and I relaxed.
As if sensing my intention, Mei, who was about the size of my palm, gave a single bow and vanished.
It’s true, I wouldn’t want our first time to be like that, and more importantly, it would hurt Yuri.
However, there was a certain fellow who seemed determined to rise to the occasion, regardless of such concerns.
My own defiant son.
Hey, idiot, stop it! Not now!
Mei told you it’s impossible, didn’t you get it?
Hoo, hoo… I focused, trying to shift my consciousness to something else, but it was still no use.
He was full of vigor.
Good grief. Youth can truly be a double-edged sword at times…
“Ngh… R-Rui?”
Perhaps because of the noise from my conversation with Mei, Yuri finally woke up.
My Son was still quite vigorously pressed against her.
However, I hadn’t given up on hiding it yet.
We had been in close contact even before she woke up.
In other words, nothing had changed since Yuri had awakened.
It’s fine. She won’t notice.
I told myself it was fine and replied.
“O-Oh. Good morning, Yuri…?”
“Hk?! ~~~~!!!”
Yuri abruptly released the Daishuki Hold, covered her chest, rolled over, and turned her back to me.
Sh-she noticed~~!!
“No, it’s not what you think! It’s, uh, that. This is a natural thing. Yes, it’s Mother Nature!”
“I-I know! B-But it’s embarrassing, so don’t look!”
Good. So she understood.
I had braced myself for a cold stare, but Yuri, being the angel she is, seemed to understand.
She quickly straightened her disheveled yukata and turned to face me.
Neither of us wanted to let go of the warmth of the futon, so we faced each other with it still covering our laps.
“Um, today is the sightseeing tour, right?”
“Yes. They said they would send a guide for us.”
“Shall we get changed then?” I said, picking up the folded clothes that had been set out and moving to the adjacent room.
Yesterday, I’d fallen asleep before even entering, but two sets of futons had been laid out here.
Perhaps if I hadn’t gone to sleep immediately after my bath, I might have received an explanation like, ‘Please use whichever you prefer.’ Thinking such thoughts, I changed and waited for Yuri’s voice.
We had lived together on the ship for over half a year, so I simply waited without asking.
I was already used to Yuri-chan changing next to me.
Well, her yukata姿 was so refreshing that it did make me a bit too conscious of her, though…
“Rui, I’m ready now.”
“Alright.”
Soon after, a servant-san appeared, brought us breakfast, and we ate.
As soon as we finished, the dishes were cleared away, and just as we took a breather, we were addressed again.
“I have been tasked by Her Majesty to guide our guests. I am Miyori of the Kamijo family. May I have your leave to enter?”
“Ah, yes. Please come in.”
The person who entered was, yet again, a woman. Her apparent age was around her mid-forties.
For some reason, she entered scowling and looking down on us. Because of that, she reeked of the aura of a malicious old woman.
Miyori-san sat in seiza on a cushion and, for some reason, glared at us.
“Guests, I know this is rude, but while your host maintains a formal posture, what is the meaning of you sitting cross-legged? You impudent, lowly man!”
Ah, so she didn’t like me sitting cross-legged.
But she sure has a foul mouth…
“My apologies,” I said, also sitting in seiza to face her.
“Don’t get any wrong ideas.
I do not acknowledge you lot as the progenitors. A mere branch family shouldn’t get so uppity.
And you, if you are his master, then discipline this mongrel properly.”
“…Rui, please leave this to me.”
Oh my, she seems to be under quite a misunderstanding.
I’m just a mercenary hired by the Kyoto Faction from Belfast…
Did Oichi-san perhaps choose not to tell them out of consideration?
But, I see.
So this is what it’s like within Yamato. That’s why Fujimiya-san seemed so unconfident about bridging the gap with Belfast.
That aside, Yuri-chan is incredibly angry.
“You stated earlier that you are acting on the Queen’s orders, did you not?
If you are an envoy of the Queen, then your actions are the actions of this country. Are you aware that by acting this way, you are essentially proclaiming that Yamato is a vile nation that treats its guests with such disrespect?”
“What did you say…?
I don’t know why you’re defending such an ugly man, but don’t get carried away, little girl.”
Huh?
Calling me ugly is pretty harsh, isn’t it?
Just as I was about to voice my protest, I saw that she was already in a pitiful state under Yuri-chan’s intimidation.
Yuri, an expressionless smile on her face, was manipulating her Magical Power to exert pressure on the woman’s mind and body. Normally, altered Magical Power becomes visible, but her ability to keep it invisible was perfect.
No one but me, who used magic to see Magical Power, would likely understand what was happening.
It created a frightening picture: a young girl continuously smiling at someone who was clearly suffering.
“M-Maybe that’s enough?”
“Yes? What are you referring to, Rui?”
Ooh, apparently it’s not enough yet.
I could see her gradually increasing the pressure, as if trying to determine the woman’s limit.
“Wh-What… did you… do…”
“Yes? Is there something you wish to be taught?
However, with such an attitude, I cannot possibly teach you anything.
Let’s see. If you sincerely apologize to my master, Rui, I wouldn’t mind instructing you on that something you don’t understand.
Well, first you’d have to tell me what it is you don’t understand, of course.”
“Don’t be ridi—”
Oh, ooh… She’s starting to drool, and her eyes are about to roll back…
“Alright, that’s enough. Yuri, we didn’t come here to fight.”
I declared, forcibly dispersing Yuri’s Magical Power.
“…I know that,” she pouted.
“Yes, yes. Thanks.”
While patting the head of Yuri, who had turned away with a ‘hmph,’ I looked at the woman, whose face was now a complete mess.
Her eyes had rolled back, she was drooling, and she had lost consciousness.
As she lay there unconscious, urine audibly trickled out, creating a stain.
The servant-sans who witnessed this turned a pitiful shade of pale.
“Hmm… You there, could you report everything that just happened accurately to the Queen or Uta-san?
And add that since retribution has been made, we should consider this whole incident null and void.”
“Y-Y-Yes! R-Right away!”
As she hastily tried to stand, she slipped, so I caught her. “It’s okay. I’ll make sure you guys aren’t blamed,” I said, taking her hand and helping her stand firmly.
And so, we left the wretched-looking old woman there and departed.
“I was expecting to be treated politely, but trouble really does seem to be lying around everywhere, doesn’t it?”
The townscape was lined with wooden buildings, the roads unpaved.
Looking around at such a scene, I strolled out of the mansion with Yuri.
“To be honest, the Queen who sent that rude person is the root cause. This should have been much easier.”
“Ah, right? Now that I think about it, that personnel choice does seem to have some ulterior motive behind it.”
From the way she spoke, the Queen is at least pro-Kyoto Faction.
Was she hoping to gauge our strength and make us more docile?
But, well… if this was as I imagined, sending that person was too much of a bad move.
“She’s probably the type who doesn’t show her true self to her superiors.”
“Even so, this is diplomacy, so they should choose their people more carefully… Wait, come to think of it, has this country ever even engaged in diplomacy?”
“Ah, now that you mention it, they’re isolated because of the Empire, aren’t they? They’ve been at war constantly.”
As we walked and talked like this, I found that despite being in a foreign country, it wasn’t very interesting.
Everywhere I looked, men were being treated like slaves, a sight that made me frown.
“It’s an immature civilization…”
“Yeah. So, no matter who’s on top, things don’t change much until civilization develops, huh?”
“That wasn’t the case in Belfast, was it?”
“Ah, when you think about it like that, the humanity of the founder might be really important.
Huh… Come to think of it, was Yamato’s founder a local?”
“It was a country formed by local collaborators who sided with the Japanese government, wasn’t it?”
I see. So, in a way, they’re the only truly native people here, huh?
Still, there’s not much to see.
The roads are wide and the buildings are large. But they’re shabby and empty.
I’m surprised they managed to survive like this…
Ah, but the Empire’s target has always been Belfast, right?
When I dueled Ignat, he mentioned something about the previous emperor’s dearest wish.
He also said the Empire only gained its strength in the last ten years.
Well, even so, it must have been a tightrope walk for them.
However… this means I’ve now walked through the entire country…
Is this all there is to it?
Grandpa, Marquis Urbain, and Count Connor must have been pretty exceptional civil officials.
There’s rarely any mistake in the personnel they arrange.
They would never make such terrible personnel choices, not even by mistake.
I thought world politics involved more high-level maneuvering where not even the slightest opening was permissible. But if it’s only at this level, maybe I can manage.
I’m a little relieved.
It seems even I can protect Belfast.
Well, if it were just a matter of military might, it’d be easy, but doing that would leave debts for the future.
“Rui, are you lost in thought?”
“Yeah. I was just thinking about how blessed we are with our retainers.”
“…Indeed. I’ve thought so from the start, but imagining if everyone was like those people sends shivers down my spine.”
Well, surely it wouldn’t come to that.
Even as I thought that, seeing a woman on the street kicking a man who was looking down made me consider that it wasn’t entirely impossible.
“My Master, something troublesome has occurred.”
And with that, Mei, frowning uncharacteristically, suddenly appeared.
“Huh!? Wait. For Mei to make a face like that… Don’t tell me something happened with Ver-san!?”
“No. Vavel of the Ancient Race is currently strolling through the Imperial Capital, but there are no particular problems.”
Oh, ooh. That’s good.
But what’s this troublesome situation then?
“Yes. King Nagira threw one of his irregular tantrums this morning and demanded that the schedule for the Yamato raid be moved up.
Not only that, he also ordered a high-output bombardment beforehand to raise their sense of crisis and to do it on a grand scale.”
Apparently, he started saying there’s no point in collecting data unless Yamato is allowed to prepare to its fullest, and for that reason, he plans to carry out an indiscriminate bombardment.
“If that’s the case, let’s head over to Oichi-san’s place for now.”
“Yes. The organizations opposing the capital in this country enjoy discrediting people, so please be aware that if you act against the country’s directives, there’s a high probability it will lead to trouble.”
Hmm?
You did state quite clearly at the very beginning that “something troublesome has occurred,” didn’t you…
If Mei tells me the location, I can easily defend against the bombardment, and defeating the Divine Soldiers will go according to plan.
In that case… are you implying that I’m going to act against directives?
“It’s your imagination.”
“Hey, I haven’t said anything yet!?”
“I love that about you, Rui.”
“No, I’m telling you, I haven’t done anything yet, nor have I even thought about it!”
More importantly, I urged them to hurry, but Mei stopped us, saying, “Please wait!”
When I asked what was wrong, she said, “First, please enter a private room in the shop up ahead.”
I didn’t know the reason, but if Mei said so, I moved quickly, entered a private room in a teahouse, and for the time being, ordered tea and dango.
“Rui, this isn’t the time to be eating dango…”
“Well, we can’t just use a teahouse’s private room and not order anything, can we?”
“Ah, that’s right. Nothing has happened yet, has it?”
So, what should we do? I asked, peering at Mei’s face, only to be told, “Please don’t stare at me so intently.”
I thought she was joking, but her expression was tense. I don’t get it.
“Hey, Mei-san, what’s wrong with you today?”
Usually, she supports us so things proceed efficiently.
So I think there’s a reason we came in here, but…
“Yurisia-sama, please hold Master. Right now.”
“Eh, y-yes…”
Yuri knelt and hugged me from behind. While this was a welcome development for me, I didn’t understand why.
“No, I mean, what’s going on—”
Just as I was about to ask again, the room’s window shattered from an explosion, sending fragments flying.
I instantly froze space and repelled the flying glass.
“—!? Yuri, let’s go!”
“Yurisia-sama, please stay as you are.”
“Eh? Um, what do you mean, Mei-san? Even if this is for Rui’s sake, please give us at least a brief explanation.”
When I looked at Mei, she nodded, so I stopped trying to stand up and used my Magical Power to levitate all the broken glass shards and discard them outside.
“Vavel of the Ancient Race showed strong interest in the Divine Soldiers conducting the bombardment, so I changed the plan and guided him here. The reason I had you hold him is because he is currently flying this way. He should arrive in a few seconds…”
Hearing those words from Mei, Yuri tightened her embrace as if to say she would absolutely not let go.