Chapter 528 – Life in the Capital, AlfredMy name is Alfred.
Alfred Machio.
One of the sons of the village chief of Big Tree Village.
Since I am the firstborn, our mothers are always telling me that I"ll follow my father"s footsteps and become village chief in the future.
That"s why I"m studying and working hard.
But honestly, I thought it was impossible.
Why?
I don"t think I can do what my father can do.
For example, plow a vast field in a day, make something amazing, defeat a grappler bear in one blow, throw a spear to destroy a castle in a very distant place, or calm the angry mother Loo.
I don"t think I can do those.
The only things I can do are take care of animals and mediate the quarrels between kuros.
However, unlike father, I"m a bit inferior.
I think the only thing I can win against my father is….fishing.
I"m definitely better than father in fishing.
However, it would be impossible for me to become the village chief just because of that.
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Father told me that there"s no need for me to force myself to follow his footsteps and become a village chief.
At first, I thought he had given up on me but I was wrong.
There are different kinds of jobs in this world.
That means I can look for what I"m good at and choose it myself.
I"m still ten years old.
It seems like it"s still too early to determine if I"ll be the next village chief.
However, if I still want to become a village chief after seeing various jobs and thinking over it, father said that he"ll support me.
Also, he said that I don"t even need to imitate him to become a village chief.
If there are a hundred people in the world, it seems like the way to become a village chief is just as much.
I gained a lot of courage.
I don"t know if I"ll become a village chief but I"ll do my best.
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And now, we"re going to attend the school in the demon king"s kingdom.
Father said that he wants the children of the village to learn by seeing places other than the village.
I think it"s a good opportunity for me to see various types of jobs.
Going there with me are Ur-anee, little sister Tiselle, clay doll Earth, Village Four"s Asa, who was managing the teleportation gate at the hot spring area until a while ago, and the impure dragon Metora.
Ur-ane and Tiselle will go to school like me to study.
Earth, Asa, and Metora are supposed to take care of our daily lives…but Metora is the only one attending to us.
Metora is taking care of our daily lives alone.
I thought she"s having a hard time so I tried doing several things alone but I gave up because Metora looks lonely.
I can wear my clothes by myself now though.
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There"s no major problem in our school life.
Gol-anii….No, Gol-sensei.
It was because everything was already prepared by Gol-sensei"s group for us in advance.
In particular, I get along with the students who are taking the cla.s.s of Gol-sensei"s group.
Maa, at the welcome party on our first day, I brought out all the thirty stollen cakes I brought to school.
I originally wanted to enjoy them little by little so it"s a shame.
I"ll just tell father to send more.
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Ur-anee has no problem too.
She"s enjoying her leisure school life with her new friends.
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Tiselle seems a bit dissatisfied.
It looks like she"s interested in the faction struggle at school.
However, the group we belong to now, the group that takes Gol-sensei group"s cla.s.s, is the biggest faction in school. We don"t have to deal with the faction struggle since we"re already in the biggest faction as soon as we were admitted.
Moreover, our faction is at the upper end.
And that is what dissatisfies her.
Does she really want to join the faction battle that much?
For now, the number two force got involved with Ur-anee but no duel happened.
It seems like there are things they need to prepare first before proceeding with a duel.
Tiselle got even more frustrated because she never got her turn. However, she"s been in a good mood lately.
It looks like she became acquainted with a merchant.
That person is not someone who goes to school but since Tiselle is happy, I guess it"s okay.
-0-
Today is also a peaceful day.
Or so I thought since a problem occurred.
The number two force found a helper to help them with the duel.
Tiselle is…not here.
My little sister"s luck can"t be this bad.
No, I"m the one who"s out of luck.
Hnn?
Ah….the number two force"s helper was thinking of challenging Ur-anee to a one on one battle.
Ur-anee, don"t look at me with sparkling eyes.
It"s useless.
No, it was us who they challenged.
I have to negotiate properly.
Yeah, I won"t just accept the things as they are.
I know.
Yes yes, I"m expecting this negotiation to be troublesome.
「I would like to make some adjustments to make the duel fair!」
That"s what I said.
The other party replied saying that"s what they want.
Great.
That means no one will die in this duel.
For the time being, I"ll chain up Ur-anee.
Ur-anee can use swords in both hands but her right hand is her dominant hand.
So, I chained up her right hand.
She"ll be holding a sword with her left hand.
Ah, let us not use swords.
Let"s use wooden sticks instead of swords in this duel.
I think it is also necessary to put some weights on her feet.
Because of that, I put her feet together and tie them to a rock.
Is this enough?
When I was staring at Ur-anee who I chained up, Uncle Glatts was already beside me.
「She can still move.」
If this is not enough, how are we going to seal her movement?
Can we still do anything else?
「Rather than weakening Ursa, let"s move to strengthening her opponent.」
Uncle Glatts gave them equipments used by the army.
Now, he"s heavily armed.
Can he still move?
Ah, you will strengthen him with magic.
I see.
While I was praising his brilliant plan, Uncle Glatts came to me with a troubled expression.
「That man. He still can"t fully control his body after being strengthened by magic. It will take time before he"ll get used to it. Can you delay the duel for about half a year?」
「But they were the ones who challenged us…..」
「I see. However, if you can….can you only use half of your power?」
When Uncle Glatts and I were troubled, Uncle Beezel came.
「That shouldn"t be a problem.」
Uncle Beezel took the wooden stick from Ur-anee and gave her a straw.
「If you attack the opponent using anything other than that straw, it will be your loss.」
I see.
With that, she won"t be able to attack using her hair or clothes.
As expected of Uncle Beezel.
With this, everything"s ready.
Now, let"s start the duel.
When I was thinking that, the opponent cried and collapsed.
What happened?
No, even if you talk about pride….this is troublesome.
We have to do all of this to prevent your death.
Eh?
Ur-anee can still do so?
For example….sticking that straw in your nostril?
I think she won"t use it to your eyes though.
That"s what I want to believe.
Ah, if I blindfolded Ur-anee, can we still continue the duel?
-0-
In the end, the duel was washed out.
Good.
However, Ur-anee"s mood worsened because she wanted to fight.
Also, my reputation took a hit because I tied up Ur-anee.
It was a hard hit.
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At a later date.
It turns out the number two force made that commotion for a reason.
They wanted to eat stollen.
Because of that, I no longer waited for father to send it to me. We made it all together.
The taste was not good but it was fun.
After that, the biggest faction absorbed the second largest faction.
The school is peaceful.