Chapter 30
“I was being far too optimistic.”
Akion decided to admit it honestly.
He had been on such a roll lately that his confidence that “anything is possible!!” had run wild.
“We’ll be postponing the bathhouse’s completion date. I’m truly sorry to everyone participating in the construction─.”
Because of that, he decided to delay completion until the steel supply stabilized.
“Hwaaaah!! We can finally rest!!”
“I was starting to forget what my daughter looked like, but finally!!”
“Huh?”
The workers being ground down alongside the workshop craftsmen cheered, but…
“Why… are they happy?”
“Young Master. If you work two shifts around the clock all week, even gentle Goldie gets angry.”
The brutal work schedule Akion had devised was even harsher than expected for medieval people who were used to working twelve-hour days.
Even with carriages, they were handling heavy materials such as aggregate, so everyone was bound to be aching by the end of the day.
“It’s easier than farming, isn’t it…?”
“Goldie. Put about five sacks of gravel on the back of the person holed up in that office, who doesn’t know how hard things are on-site.”
“Yes, Tower Master!”
“Kyaaa─!!!”
Of course Akion knew how difficult it was. He had paid them generously for that very reason.
So what happened?
“No… work?”
“It’s definitely, definitely my day off… but the sweet daily wage is gone?”
“My reason is telling me to be happy, but my body and soul want to go back to the construction site…!”
It was unbearably hard, but the generous daily wages had turned everyone into prospective workaholics whose minds hated work while their bodies were honest about it.
From Akion’s perspective, there was nothing strange about it.
In his previous life, he had done this every day without any extra pay.
That was why his completion dates had been so fast.
- Clang!
“Gek.”
“Put that one away. At this rate, everyone besides that fellow will collapse too.”
“Goldie was thinking the same thing. Now~ time to go night-night, Young Master~”
Of course, the people here possessed a small amount of mana and were stronger because of it.
And Akion himself was also able to endure it because he benefited from that trait.
Thanks to this, no one had died from overwork yet.
“Sleep well, my apprentice~ In the workshop inside the Magic Tower~”
“Hwaagh?! No transferring to another lab─!!!”
“Oh dear, the brainwashing failed.”
Neither they nor Akion could use magic. Anyway.
* * *
Thus Akion became a young man forced to take time off.
“I need to inspect the site every day….”
“Your father is already directing things well. Just follow me!”
“Young Master needs to rest a little!”
Unable to withstand the Tower Master and Goldie’s harsh torment, he was dragged out to Ridasid’s upscale district.
“What’s there to see….”
“Young Master. Do you remember how many times you broke your promise to play with us?”
“……”
“Akion, answer without looking away. Now.”
Of course, Akion had clearly broken the promises he had made to the two of them, whether they involved work or research.
Part of the reason he let himself be dragged out was because he felt sorry about that.
“I have a lot to apologize for. I’ll devote my day to Goldie and the Tower Master.”
“Whoa! Does that mean a promise with Goldie?!”
“Hehe…. After breaking your promise with a dragon so many times, I shall forgive you this once.”
- Swish, swish!
The two of them wagged their tails happily.
Goldie was one thing, but even that noble dragon wagged her tail wildly when she was excited.
“Pfft.”
“What’s wrong, Young Master?”
“Are you ill?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Since the owners of those tails hadn’t noticed anything,
Akion decided to keep the secret for their sake.
*
“But, Tower Master, where did your horns go? And why are your ears round?”
“Everyone who sees me notices my identity and greets me first, you know? I find it more comfortable this way.”
Thus began his date with the two of them.
The Tower Master used magic to disguise her horns and ears, transforming herself into an incredibly beautiful human woman…
“Goldie. I’m fine, so you go first─.”
“Baaaaaang~!!!!”
Goldie suddenly dragged Akion and the Tower Master away at high speed,
- Crash!!
“Oh my! What kind of tyranny is this!”
“All the cream puffs belong to Goldie!!”
She rushed into Montblanche’s Ridasid branch and began sweeping up every cream puff in sight.
Goldie really did love these pastries, but such an outrageously rude act made everyone frown.
“Ah, that woman! She’s Goldie Heritage, a servant working at the Enersis mansion!”
“The man following behind her is… huh?”
Naturally, the noblewomen who had come to visit were furious.
Montblanche’s cream puffs were available only in limited quantities, after all.
So, just before everyone voiced their perfectly justified complaints…
“Young Master Akion?!”
“Ah, ah!! I remember now! That vicious dog who serves Young Master Akion!!”
“Ahem. That’s right! Goldie is that vicious dog, Goldie Heritage!”
Akion.
At the mere mention of his name, the entire atmosphere softened.
“Oh my! I never would’ve expected that! Here, have some of this too.”
“Th-thank you~!!”
Every noblewoman inside Montblanche instantly turned into a kindhearted auntie.
“What on earth is happening?”
Why did everyone become so nice just because they were dealing with Akion’s servant?
Akion wanted to know.
“Why, they’re the women whose everyday lives were revolutionized thanks to you.”
According to the Tower Master’s explanation, they were ladies who had received enormous benefits from his magic tools.
Judging by what the noblewomen who approached them had to say,
“Hoho, thanks to that ceiling fan, we spent last summer sooo cool!”
“And what about the heated mat? My child was weak, but thanks to the mat Young Master sent, they made it through winter healthy.”
“And thanks to using incandescent bulbs as ceiling lights, every distinguished guest who visited envied us, saying it was as bright as day at night! Hohoho!”
They had enjoyed all kinds of benefits from the magic tools made in Akion’s workshop.
Exactly as Akion had intended.
Now that the noblewomen had suddenly surrounded him and were praising him,
- Shrivel….
“Oh my, are you perhaps embarrassed?”
“How adorable~!”
Akion had been a loner in the corner of a mansion for over twenty years in total, counting both his past and present lives.
It was all far too embarrassing for him.
Beside him,
“Hehe, please don’t tease Akion too much.”
“Oh. Who are yo─ Ngh…!”
the Tower Master began supporting him.
For good measure, she also pinched his side to tell Akion to play along.
“My, you’re truly beautiful. May I ask which family’s young lady you are?”
“I’m merely a daughter of a lowly family, too embarrassed to reveal my name.”
And at this point, the noblewomen’s calculations began.
Too embarrassed to reveal her name?
A lowly family? Was she a descendant of some treasonous criminal family?
“What could possibly be lowly about you…!”
“Shh, shh!”
But judging by Young Master Akion’s reaction, that didn’t seem to be the case at all….
And when they saw the two of them bickering?
“That’s it, isn’t it?”
“It is, it is. Oh-ho-ho!”
“They’re in the best years of their lives!”
Clearly, a young lady from a noble family had fallen for Young Master Akion,
and run away from home in secret to live with him without her family knowing!
“Isn’t that right, Miss Goldie?”
“Hmm, hmm?”
Still, just in case, the noblewomen asked Goldie again.
Goldie’s cheeks were puffed out like a hamster’s, stuffed full of cream puffs.
She hurriedly chewed and swallowed everything before putting a period to the noblewomen’s conversation.
“Shh.”
“Oh my! Oh my!!”
“Right? Right?! I knew my guess was correct!”
Troublemaking mode: ON.
Goldie had learned only bad things from Akion’s side.
Of course, he had never taught her any of it. Anyway.
Thanks to Goldie, the noblewomen misunderstood the Tower Master in a favorable direction and divided gifts among her with delighted laughter.
“Our family mainly engages in weaving. We also have an outstanding tailor, so please visit us sometime~!”
“We have a gold mine, and thus a talented goldsmith. Perhaps… you know what I mean? Oh-ho-ho!”
“Hmm. Thank you.”
They were hoping both to get a foot in the door in case Akion and the Tower Master hit it off and to forge a connection with her.
The Tower Master accepted all of it and watched as the noblewomen fled with smiles on their faces…
“……Huh?!”
Only then did the Tower Master realize how she and Akion must have looked to them.
“What? What’s wrong? Your face is really red.”
“N-no, it’s nothing! Ahem, Goldie. You’re done here, right? Let’s leave quickly.”
“I want to eat more using Young Master as an excuse─ Hweeeeng! I’m sorry, I’m sorryyy! I won’t do it againnn─!!”
She hurriedly retrieved everything with the storage magic engraved in her cleavage,
and the Tower Master quickly led the two of them outside.
‘Did I look that young? No, no, that’s not it!’
In fact, the Tower Master had recently begun questioning her relationship with Akion.
The purpose of her seduction technique had been to enchant Akion and take him in as her disciple.
If that happened, he would reveal all his knowledge for the advancement of magic, and blah blah─.
- Clap, clap!
“Whoa?! Why did you slap my cheek all of a sudden?”
“A-are you all right? Does your cheek hurt? Should Goldie blow on it?”
In truth, that goal had become somewhat diluted by now.
The Tower Master recalled what she had been like when she first tried to seduce Akion.
“I-I’m fine. I was simply beset by distracting thoughts….”
“I don’t know what you’re worried about… but it doesn’t hurt, right?”
She had thought she felt exhilarated by the sight of a young, somewhat handsome man being swayed by her voluptuous figure and preparing to submit to her….
- Tap.
“You don’t have a fever?”
“Young Master. Could a dragon possibly fall ill?”
“That’s true, but it’s still worrying when you suddenly act like this.”
Even now, and even ordinarily.
This occasional delicate consideration of his was, how should she put it…
- Thump! Thump!
It made something hidden deep inside the Tower Master’s heart pound like crazy.
“Phew. Don’t worry. It’s nothing.”
“Well… Goldie or I will listen if you want to talk, so tell us anytime.”
Whatever it was, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
To put it another way,
“Pfft, you’re going to listen to a dragon’s troubles, you human who won’t even live a hundred years?”
“Is your mind invincible just because you’re a dragon?”
“Ahaha…! You’re not entirely wrong, so I shall forgive you this time.”
The Tower Master was happy in this moment.
Because Akion was by her side.
That much was certain, so the Tower Master was happier than usual that day.
*
And so, as the sun slowly began to set,
“Why did you buy so much….”
“Young Master’s clothes, Young Master’s clothes, Young Master’s clothes, my clothes, and Tower Master’s clothes!”
“Why are there so many clothes for me when this is your and the Tower Master’s day? Am I your doll?”
“Watching from the side, I thought that might really be the case. Hehe.”
After happily finishing their shopping, Akion and the others were slowly making their way back to the mansion.
- Clink, clink.
“Hmm?”
A fully armed force was walking toward the mansion ahead of them.
“That is….”
Akion hurriedly searched through his memories of this life.
The emblem engraved on their armor was the Enersis crest.
There was no way such a large force had suddenly vanished from Enersis….
“Oh, Akion!”
Exactly two years ago.
By imperial decree, the Crown Prince had personally led the northeastern monster-subjugation army as its commander-in-chief.
Someone from Enersis had been required to participate, and the only person who could do so at the time was…….
“You magic-illiterate bastard. What blessing did you receive to have two women hanging off your arms?”
“Big Brother Juan?”
Juan Enersis.
The first son born to Delphord Enersis and Countess Lucretia.
Two years ago, he had been the leading candidate to succeed Delphord.
He was also an active representative who frequently went out on Delphord’s behalf….
- Tap, tap.
“So you’ve finally become a man, have you?”
He was a golden sun who made a pass at every woman.
Though, since the Enersis family had silver hair, he was technically a silver sun. Anyway.
“Are you just returning from the capital?”
He appeared to have just returned from the battlefield, wearing light armor and a cloak.
Blood was splattered here and there, making him look quite intimidating, but then…
“Hey.”
- Thud.
The hand that had been tapping Akion’s chest grew rough.
“Answer me, worm.”
“……”
Whereas Hermione Enersis had directly tormented Akion in the past,
Juan Enersis had tormented him with power and words.
He was the one who had ordered the family’s servants to harass and discriminate against Akion.
“So, who’s the young lady beside you?”
To Juan, Akion was still the incompetent younger brother he had known two years ago.
“Ah, you don’t have to answer. I’ll ask her myself. Beautiful young lady, if you don’t mind, your name─.”
- Tap.
And to him, the sight of his younger brother resisting was something that could never happen.
“……”
But the hand that crossed between him and the Tower Master and lightly pushed Juan aside…
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Don’t touch her.”
That was Akion’s hand.
Juan’s smile twisted.
“Akion.”
“Yes.”
“Are you putting on airs because there’s a woman watching?”
“What does that have to do with anything? I told you not to touch this lady, Brother.”
“Haa… Akion. My little brother, who’s become a little worthy of pride.”
Juan didn’t know the details of what had happened over the past two years.
There had been far too many monsters, and he hadn’t even been able to maintain proper contact with his family.
He had received only one letter before returning.
He had received Hermione’s letter about the commotion surrounding something called science,
so he knew that Akion had caused a stir in Enersis, but…
“You. If I become head of the family, can you handle the consequences of what you’ve done?”
“If you become head… Haa, Juan. Step back while I’m asking nicely.”
“Haha… You’re even dropping the honorifics.”
Since Akion had passed the fame on to Delphord, Juan didn’t know the details.
In other words, he had no idea how formidable Akion had become.
- Tap!
“I don’t know which family’s young lady she is, but it seems she’s fallen head over heels for you, judging by that innocent look─.”
In that situation, Juan did what he always did and abused his background.
Trusting in the Enersis name alone, he tried to commit an utterly shameless act.
“Then I bet she hasn’t even experienced a kiss.”
“You fucking bastard, don’t tell me─!”
Even if she was a noble young lady, if she was clinging to Akion, she was a viscount’s daughter at best.
There was no way she could be a young lady of the great ducal family.
That was common sense to Juan, and he acted on that assumption.
“I’ll be much better than a man like this.”
“Let go of her, you mad bastard!!”
His biological father, Delphord, would scold him again, but Juan was an outstanding earth mage.
Besides, after returning from the monster-subjugation expedition, he wasn’t someone they could casually cast aside.
Whether Akion’s fist came flying or not, Juan tried to steal the beautiful young lady’s kiss.
In payment,
- BANG BANG!!
Juan collapsed as the Tower Master’s punch caved in his face and part of his lower body.
- Crumple… Gush!
- Tremble, tremble…!
“Haa. I wash my hands of this. He brought this disaster on himself.”
His sharp eyes, nose, mouth, and even his more sensitive regions had been driven inward.
Fortunately, Juan’s body was still trembling, so he was still alive.
He was alive, at least.
- Bzzzt!
“Akion.”
“Y-Yes?”
The Tower Master dropped her disguise.
Then she looked at Akion with an expression of being… very moved.
“I never knew you thought of me that way….”
Her cheeks and ears were slightly red.
And her gaze sparkled as though she had fallen in love….
“Yes… Well, aren’t you my Tower Master? The person I trust most.”
“Haa, haaah…!”
Akion had unconsciously given the tactful answer.
That one phrase made the Tower Master heat up instantly.
“Your Tower Master, is that so…. The one you can trust and entrust everything to most, hehehe…!”
The Tower Master’s cheeks flushed despite her age.
She kneaded them with both hands, unsure what to do.
“S-so that was the Tower Master of Ridasid who disappeared twenty years ago?!”
“W-what should we do? We need to evacuate Young Master Juan quickly….”
“How should I know? Shut up if you don’t want to die…!!”
The soldiers who had fought alongside Juan for two years were just as flustered.
As always, they had followed Juan to mock the youngest young master,
but who could have known that a dragon would stand squarely in defense of Akion!!
Still, they knew one thing.
“Um, we should take Brother to a treatment center, right?”
“Hehe. Kind Akion. You’re taking care of even that scoundrel because he’s family…. Very well, I shall permit it for your sake.”
“That’s what she says, everyone. You’ve just returned from the expedition, so I know you’re tired… but could you help a little?”
“Of course, Young Master Akion!!!”
To survive, they had to follow Young Master Akion’s orders for now!!
Some of them hurriedly carried the unconscious Juan to the Ridasis Parish treatment center,
while the rest carefully began transporting the luggage Akion and the others had been carrying back to the mansion.
—
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