The Next Kingdom 1 After putting Big Lorry at home, we carried our luggage and returned to the previous transfer point. The royal capital of Courson Kingdom, Sakuon can be seen from a distance now.
The last time we transferred to Earth, we still have a considerable distance to the previous royal capital even though we can see it from a distance as the risk of witnessing Big Lorry will increase if we get too close to the city.
However, If we switch to walking from that distance in case if Big Lorry could be seen by someone, there would be an unexpected distance and it would be hard to reach the city as we had already experienced something like that last time. However, it"s also dangerous to get too close that much.
Yup, this was where I have to use my excellent judgement.
Sabine: “Nee-sama~ are we there yet…?”
Mitsuha: “I-it"s a bit more…”
……I made a mistake on my judgement.
I and Sabine-chan were exhausted.
The only one who is still fine is the wild child and the real little girl, Colette-chan.
And that Colette chan asked in wonder while looking at us who have become completely exhausted.
Colette: “Mitsuha, Wouldn"t it be okay to just transfer to a place where you can see that there"s no people around after putting Big Lorry?”
Mitsuha & Sabine: “”Ah……””
I have explained to Sabine-chan and Colette-chan that there was no burden or anything for me to use transfer and that I only said it"s a 『heavy burden』 due to political considerations. Otherwise, the two of them won"t allow me to use transfer without any reservation. I also explained about the details of what I can done and of course, about how I can always transfer to a place that I have visited once or some place where I could see with my eyes as well and about how I used to do so frequently to avoid oncoming carriages with Big Lorry.
Sabine: “Nee-sama, explain!”
Mitsuha: “…Sorry, I didn"t think about that…”
Yesterday, after suffering from Kuro-chan (something like “Guruguru shaa!”) , we finished bathing together and slept soundly at home.
(TL Note: I can only found out that it"s an old anime called “Cyborg Kuro-chan” and there"s a “Guruguru nyaa” in the opening. FUNsensei probably wants to say “Moving here and there”.) And today, we will finally arrive at our second destination, that is the royal capital of Courson Kingdom, Sakuon.
No, we had seen the royal capital days ago but we transferred to Earth soon after that. Hence, we have just arrived today. I"m feeling a little sense of discomfort from this, but let"s not mind the small things!
We had been separated a long distance with the main unit, but because we had spent a bit of time on Earth, they should have caught up to us for a considerable distance.
Or rather, not good, I have to contact them soon!
Mitsuha: “Change of schedule, we need to return to my territory immediately!”
Sabine & Colette: “”Eeeeeehh?””
This time, when we returned to the territory, we were found out by Richan who is a 4-year-old-, no, if I"m not mistaken, she has turned 5 years old now, right?
Ria: “W, w-w-w-welcome back!”
Richan gave a proper welcome greeting after being fl.u.s.tered for a bit and went to inform everyone in a hurry. Yup, how cute~….
We went to my office while the tea was being prepared in great haste. I then changed the radio frequency to the ones in the royal palace and pushed the PTT (Push-to-Talk) switch.
Mitsuha: “Checkmate King One, Checkmate King One, This is White Rook, over.”
Then, the person who is in charge with the communication device at the royal palace went to call the king in a hurry.
The king finally came and I reported about our arrival at Courson Kingdom"s royal capital and asked him to inform the main party as well.
Though, I even have to confirm their arrival plan as well for tomorrow.
After that, I let Sabine-chan talked to the king for a bit. Yeah, although she"s strong, Sabine-chan is still a 10-year-old girl.
Sabine: “Father, I"ve built an intimate relationship with Princess Remia, so I have earned 10 points to our agreement, yes?
By using that, I"ll refuse everyone, such as 『School friends』 or 『Playmates』 who I have mentioned before, okay? Because I have no interest at all with a Duke"s stupid son, a Marquis" selfish daughter, and such!”
……T-that"s scary, oi!
After that, Sabine-chan and Colette-chan had a gathering with everyone in 『Yamano Household Maid Corps』 while we were having our tea and sweets. ……Though, they were just playing together, you see.
In the meantime, I discussed with Anton-san the butler, Willem-san and Miriam-san to check the situation of my territory and instructed some orders for certain cases.
If we eat our lunch somewhat slow this time, we have to go back to the other side again as we have to decide our lodging first. We perhaps can"t choose the inn easily just like last time, so we need to get a good lodging before it"s too late as there"s a possibility that it might be full-booked.
Above all, safety comes first.
Mitsuha: “Alright, time to go back.”
Colette: “…yes……”
Sabine: “Ye~s!”
Colette-chan seems to be a bit reluctant, while Sabine-chan acted nonchalantly. Last time was the first 『playing with a normal friend』 experience for Sabine-chan, but it seems that she acted like this is perhaps because she now knows that she can 『see them again』 or because she feels safe because they are already friends with her….
Well, we still have to come back tomorrow to check the situation of the main unit, though.
Because it"s troublesome to transfer Big Lorry to the outskirts just to contact them every time, so I will inevitably contact from here when we are in any town.
Yup, the number of times I come here will likely increase….
Although it doesn"t matter if I transfer in front of all the servants, I still don"t want to waste my time to surprise them. Hence, we transferred back after returning to my room.
Besides, my room must be locked from the inside, and I have to set the crime prevention system as well because it"s absolutely forbidden for anyone to enter other than Sabine-chan or Colette-chan when they are together with me.
Mitsuha: “Okay then, let"s go. Transfer!”
Gatekeeper: “…only three children? Could you come here for a moment?”
Aah, again? We have to do this again…?
After that, the three of us received some lectures from the gatekeeper once again….
Mitsuha: “Alright, we finally arrived at the second kingdom!”
I shouted vigorously.
Yes, not Sabine-chan nor Colette-chan, but it was me.
And, the people around us were smiling, or rather, looking at us with a warm gaze.
Shut up! You don"t need to say anything!
At any rate, we, the lord and its retainers who endured the questioning and lecturing for about half an hour from the gatekeeper have safely enter the royal capital, Sakuon.
……Well, to be specific, Sabine-chan is the 『Lord』, I"m the 『Retainer』, and Colette-chan is the 『Retainer"s retainer』.
Anyway, it"s a new kingdom and a new royal capital! Let"s look for an inn right away.
Mitsuha: “Do you have a triple room?”
It"s a luxury inn in the center of the city facing the main street just like usual.
As one would expect, there"s no such thing as shady customers coming in and out, or not being cleaned and maintained even as a joke because this is the royal capital"s representative store, that is to say, the face of their kingdom.
Then, a smiling front young man in his early 20s came and greeted us.
Frontman: “Yes, we do have it. Do you a guardian with you?”
Yeah yeah, unlike the first place we"ve been to in the previous kingdom, he responded properly and not treating us as kids.
As expected, an employee of a high-cla.s.s inn should be like this, right?
Well, we didn"t try to go to any inn besides this place yet, so we came up with a bit of plan.
Yes, by wearing a dress that can be clearly seen as an upper-cla.s.s lady"s outfit. They should now be able to think that we are n.o.bles or daughters of a big merchant.
……At least for Sabine-chan who has a 『High-cla.s.s n.o.ble aura』 around her, that is.
Sabine-chan, you have that kind of special skill, huh….?
Me and Colette-chan? No matter how good our clothes are, we can not hide the commoner aura that is exuding from our whole body, yup.
I didn"t say anything about being a princess or delegation from another kingdom as I don"t like to say needless things, to be treated specially, or to be targeted and interrogated for information.
Mitsuha: “They will arrive later and meet up in this city. I will not make a reservation for them as we haven"t decide whether we will stay in the same inn or not, but they will probably stay here if there is a room available.”
Yes, I won"t make an uncertain promise, giving money to people nor being a guarantor for loan as that is my family"s motto.
The reason why I won"t lend money is because long ago, my ancestor who was running a lumbering industry and having a good business, thoughtlessly lent his money to the people. Hence, it seems that a complaint came from a branch manager of a certain bank, saying, 『That"s our job so don"t get in our way!』.
Therefore, a non-aggression pact was signed at that time, reading, 『Our household won"t lend money to the people and banks won"t sell woods as well』.
No, I"m not sure if it"s true or if it"s a mere fiction to bind the descendants.
And, of course, even a fool knows about the guarantor thing.
Well, in any case, we have secured our lodging safely.
And it seems that there"s a bath as well in each room as that kind of facility would only be available in a high-cla.s.s inn.
But, just because there"s a bathtub, it seems that the employees will still have to carry the hot water and put it in themselves even though it seems to have a water pipe for drainage.
Therefore, it"s strictly prohibited to spill the hot water from the bathtub.
Of course, there is neither a shower nor reheating bathwater.
……Let"s just go to my house for a bath….
Chapter 109 >