Chapter 4
Chapter 3 Episode 4Editor: SniperIRL
7th day, 8th month, the year 2812. Western Continent Calendar: (Towards the peninsula 4)
"Geez, did we really have to welcome him like that?"
While drinking black tea, Earl Salzberg spat out dissatisfied words. And his wife was sitting in front of him while listening to him
The figure of the person who had welcomed Ryouma full of smiles has gone, replaced with a dissatisfied expression.
His face now shows the arrogance and contempt for commoners.
"Let"s see... He did embrace the maid, for now, do you want to hear the result?"
Hearing she said that with a smile on her face, the Earl scowled at her in irritation.
"I don"t need it! I laid my eyes first on that girl you know that right? Yet, why did you give her over to that upstart!
It was natural for the Earl to get upset, after all the maid girl he aimed at was given to someone else.
"Isn"t it fine? There are a lot of other maids you have here... Besides, you will just get bored of her after one month, no?"
"This and that are different matters! Even if I get bored and throw her away, I can"t stand giving my things to someone else! Furthermore, she"s a girl that I"ve not yet laid my hands on, you know that? Geez, and she was that pretty!"
Even if the Earl expresses his wrath, nothing can be done now.
Yuria feels disgusted but does not show it on her face.
(*Sigh*... I wonder why this man’s habits are so terrible. ... He can get as many prost.i.tutes or slaves as he wants, but he always seeks out innocent girls that have little to no experience... Besides, he will undoubtedly sell them to the slave trader after embracing them in bed once or twice...)
She looked at her husband who only likes virgin girls with cold eyes.
However, she tried her best to hide her true emotions.
In order for her to keep living, she needs Earl Salzberg.
After the Earl complained for a while longer, his mind seems to have calmed down.
He took a deep breath and relaxed his body deep into the sofa.
"Well, whatever... I have no interest in a used woman that has been touched by commoners... However, why did you tell him about the mine? Won"t that create suspicions instead?"
His eyes that had been previously clouded by l.u.s.t turned sharp.
Although he is the worst type of human, in regards to being a ruler and commander he was someone excellent.
If he was not like that then he wouldn’t be able to maintain the territory and Zalda Kindom would have succeeded in invading the country.
"I guess that might be the impression the other party would get... But, the other party had no intentions of believing our story to begin with... If he felt interested with the salt, he will definitely check it himself. If that is the case then there"s no meaning hiding it, no? To be honest, he might actually stop checking it instead."
"Fuh... I wonder if he thinks that far? Besides, how did you know that? He was just a former mercenary who has some little achievement during the civil war you know? How is he going to investigate where the salt came from? Isn"t he someone that is only good at fighting?”
From Earl Salzberg’s viewpoint, Ryouma looks like your ordinary good guy.
Listening to his wife advice, The Earl welcomed him with the highest hospitality, but inside, he was actually looking down at Ryouma.
(Just from looking at his body build I can see that he is a good fighter... But that face, I can"t see any trace of intellect from it...)
The Earl can only see Ryouma as someone calm and good-natured, the Earl couldn’t detect any aura that indicated intellectual capabilities from him.
For the Earl, good-natured man represents the weakness of one"s heart, while being calm is an equivalent of having no ambitions.
Based on Ryouma’s appearance, Earl Salzberg concluded that Ryouma was only good at fighting in battles.
"Certainly he does not look like a resourceful man. But, I don"t think that is true... Absolutely."
"Hmph... The rumors might say that, but what is your proof? I think he was just someone who curried some favor into Elena Steiner though?"
Maybe he felt dissatisfied towards his wife’s opinion, but the Earl clicked his tongue while talking about his own opinion...
"I don"t think that Elena-sama would do something like that though..."
"Fuh... Well, forget about that... So? About that girl whom you told to accompany him, she did manage to get some information right?"
Answering the question his wife shook her head. Seeing that, the Earl feels irritated.
"There"s no way he"s going to talk about something so suddenly... Last night, he seems to have only embraced her... Next time, I will tell him to take the girl with him. Well, hearing from the report, that girl seems to not mind being his possession, thus I don"t think she"s going to refuse."
From the maid that Ryouma embraced, Yuria had received a report of what they both talked about last night.
(Well he sounds like someone who"s kind toward women... And most men would usually open their mouth after sharing a cup and bed with women.)
She thought of that while looking at her husband sarcastically.
"Geez, to think that I have to shows such behavior toward an upstart... It"s really troublesome... And this all is because of that foolish princess huh?"
"It is not foolish Princess, but a foolish Queen. She has been crowned as the new queen of the Rozeria Kingdom just the other day after all."
It seems like the image of Lupis being a foolish queen has been confirmed.
It was a word that would cause them to lose their life, but for the couple, that was their common view regarding her.
"To give him the Wortenia Peninsula... It would only cause us more troubles!"
"Well, you can complain as much as you want... Right now, we have to watch that man, making sure he"s not going to do anything unnecessary..."
The Earl"s wife gives him advice while ignoring the Earl"s complaint.
Apparently, in this household, the one who holds the real power is the wife.
"I guess you"re right... At worst..."
"Have you calmed down now? In any case, the monsters within the peninsula will be happy that he is coming there..."
The Earl shows a cold smile after hearing his Wife"s words.
"Young master! You seemed to be having fun last night..."
The middle-aged man sitting on the coach spoke up.
Following after the way Bolts addressed Ryouma, the bunch from the [Red Lion] have started calling him young master.
After being involved with" the civil war together, they all have become good friends with each other.
"Hnn? How did you know that Mike?"
They are currently heading back towards the Inn from the Earl"s mansion. Since they have a lot of time, they rode the carriage slowly.
And as soon as they left the mansion, Mike starts talking with Ryouma.
"Oh, I just so happened to hear about it when I talked with the workers at the mansion!"
"Did Bolts order you to do that?"
"Yes... I was told to get as much information from the workers at the mansion as possible."
Mike answered Ryouma"s question while stroking his beard.
"As expected of Bolts... He"s fast..."
"True... Well, Nee-san is strong when it comes to battle, but she"s weak when it comes to backdoor scheming... With that being the case master Bolts has to cover for her in that regard..."
Among Lione"s [Red Lion] mercenary group, Mike is ranked right in the middle.
He was a dexterous person who can do almost any work.
This time, he was given the work of Ryouma"s escort.
"Honestly, I never thought that we would stay at the Earl"s house just like that..."
"Well... Thanks to that I felt creeped out by how they welcomed me..."
"Me as well... Though they did not send me some woman. The alcohol and food are not something that is usually served to the servants... And the bedroom was really great too."
"You too huh?"
"Indeed, To be honest... I also feel creeped out by it."
Hearing Mike’s words Ryouma nodded his head lightly and closes his eyes.
Both of them felt the same thing when they stayed at the Earl"s mansion.
"I wonder, why did they go that far?"
After being silent for a while, Ryouma throw some questions toward Mike.
"Well, I don"t have a smart head like young master or master Bolts after all..."
With those words as the beginning, Mike begins to speak about how he felt.
"I feel like they might want something from young master, or they want the young master to leave the city as fast as possible..."
"I want you to go out, but I don"t want us to be hostile to each other huh? ... I guess that"s possible."
There"s also the possibility that Lupis pulled some strings behind the scene.
For Lupis, she can"t rest easy unless Ryouma has arrived at the peninsula after all.
It is easy to understand if she asked Earl Salzberg to let Ryouma enter Wortenia peninsula without any hindrance.
(Either way, what option do I have in response to all of this? ... I guess it"s useless to think about this now. I need some information first. I should wait until Bolts and Genou presented their report first...)
"And to even provide such hospitality toward me a servant, that means..."
"There"s something under the table huh..."
"Indeed..."
Mike agrees with Ryouma while nodded his head.
"By the way Mike! You didn"t tell Laura and her sister about what had happened last night right?"
Ryouma switched the topic. At that time, since he doesn"t know the intentions of the Earl, he has to do what he needs to do. But right now, the most important thing is to stop Mike blabbing his mouth.
Hearing Ryouma"s question, Mike shows a stiff smile.
"Well, let"s see... When I told them that young master is having fun last night... Uwaaah, those ladies immediately went into a fit of anger you know?"
Because of how underdeveloped this world civilization, s.e.xual activities are one of the few forms of entertainment that exist.
Of course, as a mercenary Ryouma also had experience going into the red light district.
(TLN: There you have it, Ryouma is not a virgin when he embrace the maid)
"Oi! Tell me the truth! I don"t know why, but somehow I know that they are definitely going to kill me, you know?!"
Hearing Mike joking answer, Ryouma instinctively raise his voice.
"Well, isn"t that obvious? Besides, the young master should have noticed those young ladies feeling right?"
Mike spoke those words as if he was an elder speaking with his son.
"W-Well, yeah..." Ryouma respond to him with a short answer.
There"s no need to tell Mike in detail. Ryouma fully understands the sisters feelings.
"If that is the case, young master should understand, no? Those young ladies also want to be embraced by young master. That is those two’s deepest desire."
After Ryouma was summoned into this world, he saved the two sisters. It"s been over 8 months since then.
The three of them have acted together all the time. It is no surprise such emotions were born between them.
Ryouma himself was also aware that they are both women.
"I know that, but..."
"Did you feel bothered that one day you might leave them when you got back to your original world?"
Regarding his circ.u.mstance, Ryouma had already explained them to the [Red Lion] mercenaries.
It was because they had questioned him regarding Genou’s question if he was someone from "hinomoto"
"Well... Yeah, that too... I think I might lack determination too..."
It was unusual for Ryouma to be vague with his words.
He understands that he can"t go back to his original world, and his mind also understands that he will have to remain in this world. But, his heart can"t accept it yet. He still unable to forget the friends and family he left in j.a.pan.
Although one can say that Ryouma is someone who"s merciless, he is a human being too. It was natural for him to feel troubled with such feelings.
(To embrace those two... I need to be prepared... To stay in this world, together...)
If it was women who work in the nightlife business, then he does not have to feel bothered. Since money settled that.
But in case of the Marfisto sisters, they show affection toward Ryouma without expecting anything from him.
To embrace such women...
There"s no way Ryouma would be able to return to his original world alone and leave them behind.
"Well... As the young master knight, I will say this... Since young master has accepted the territory, doesn’t that mean young master already decided what to do?"
"Well, since I"ve involved everyone... I can"t really go back to my original world now..."
This was fate. If Ryouma left this world and went back to his original world, what"s going to happen to Lione and the others?
(If there"s a way for me to get back... I...)
He already has the answer. As well as Ryouma"s resolution...
"Well, as young master’s knight I will also keep what happened last night a secret... But in exchange, buy me some drinks next time, deal?"
Mike said that while laughing.
"Fine, you can drink as much as you want!"
Mike changed the subject because he was being considerate toward Ryouma.
And Ryouma who knew that responded in kind.
(Everything is up to me huh?...)