Amaranthus's Tears

A man named Akira, who came here from Japan just as I did, and his family.

We are staying at the castle together, but the women accompanying Akira are enjoying a leisurely stay in the castle's guest rooms.

They can use the luxurious baths as much as they like, and people even wash and massage them. They are being pampered in every possible way.

Meanwhile, Primula is in the middle of business negotiations with the royals.

I have no idea how much she will earn by using the pearls from my Shangri-La—which are treasures in this world—along with shampoo and conditioner as bargaining chips.

She never misses a business opportunity—as you'd expect from a master merchant.

We had some trouble with the royal family, but the deal was finalized and the crisis had passed.

I will leave the royal capital with the princess and queen. We will return to the lakeshore where we had all been living and establish a new domain—the Hamada Domain.

In other words, I will become Margrave Hamada, its ruler.

Because there are procedures to take care of at the castle, our stay has been extended by about another week.

I did receive the land, but as you know, there is absolutely nothing there. What will become of the new domain is completely unknown—everything is still undecided.

The prospects are as uncertain as they could be, but even if I accomplish nothing and they take away the domain and title, it will not cause me any trouble.

I will simply return to my old life.

Lilith and Amaranthus had also begun preparing to leave the castle, but there was nothing I could help with there.

I left everything to them and decided to return to everyone else.

"Hey, I'm back."

"Oh, Kenichi! Did everything go all right?"

Akira raised a hand from where he was sitting in a chair.

"How'd it go, boss?" "Nyaa?"

Myaree and Nyamena came running over.

"Hmm, where should I start? For now, it looks like we'll be staying here for another week or so."

"I don't mind. Sensei and the others can keep using the rooms in the castle, right?"

Akira tipped his chair back and swayed as he balanced on it.

"Probably."

"I don't mind either—" "Neither do we, nya."

"And... sorry. The princess and queen will be coming along with us."

"..."

"I feel bad for not consulting you..."

"What? I knew that would happen, nya." "I figured it would."

The beastfolk looked exasperated, but apparently everyone had already predicted what I would do.

"Mmph!"

"Don't look so unhappy, Anemone. In exchange, I got permission to copy every book in the castle library."

"Huh? Really?!"

"Yeah. We've got a week, so let's put all those books into the tablets."

"Yay!"

There were still plenty of interesting-looking books in that library. Let's scan and copy every one of them.

"But bringing along even an enemy you've won over is just like you, boss." "Yeah, nya."

"Well, I definitely wouldn't bring her if we were still enemies, but she seems to regret what she did. She says she'll do whatever I tell her, too."

"Whoa, whoa—are you sure about taking the queen along? And what about the king?"

"It's fine, Akira. The royals threw up their hands and dumped everything on me."

I explained to him what I had discussed with the members of the Round Table Conference. Naturally, I left out anything confidential.

"So, to the exalted people in the castle, the queen was a thorn in their side?"

"Something like that. They seemed to use her recent bizarre behavior as an excuse to purge her while they had the chance."

"When you put it that way, I almost feel sorry for the queen..."

"Right? Besides, the royal family was getting pretty desperate because she couldn't have children."

It was not that she could not have children; she had refused completely, so that was only natural.

I told Akira that the queen had also meddled in choosing the king's concubines and had been a constant nuisance.

"Ah, so the plan is to kick out the troublesome queen, bring in a whole bunch of concubines, and produce a load of brats?"

"They need plenty of male heirs to serve as figureheads, and plenty of daughters to use as pawns in political marriages."

The queen had effectively run the kingdom's public affairs, while the Round Table Conference controlled it from the shadows. It was not hard to imagine why they found a queen who refused to do as they wished an obstacle.

"Good grief... Well, I don't mind. This means we can take it easy for a while, right?"

"Probably."

That was not all. There was something else I had to tell them.

"Also... I'm going to become a noble."

"What?! Boss, you're really becoming a noble after all?" "Fnyaa!"

"Kenichi, what title are you getting? Something like baron?"

Akira seemed curious about my title.

"No, Margrave Hamada."

"Margrave? Now that's aiming high."

"The territory I received is ridiculously huge, after all. Hahaha."

I explained the vast, uninhabited territory I had received to him. Akira seemed dumbfounded, though.

"Boss, how important is a margrave?" "I haven't heard much about that, nya."

"Somewhere between a count and a marquis."

"What?! You're suddenly becoming someone that important?" "Fnyaa! That's amazing, nya!"

Akira showed an interest in my family name.

"So Hamada is Kenichi's surname?"

"Well, yes—but you'd probably be allowed to have a family name too, Akira. I could even authorize one for you myself. I think I have that much authority now."

"Nah, I don't need one. My name alone has never caused me any trouble."

"Yeah, same here. I never had any trouble either."

While we were at it, I asked Akira about his surname. Apparently it was Kazami—a rare surname, though I think there may have been a celebrity with that name...

I was talking with Akira, but the beastfolk who had been listening looked strange.

"What's wrong, you two?"

"Boss... if you're becoming a noble, what about us?" "Nya..."

"Don't worry! There's no way I'd fire such beautiful, adorable, hardworking beastfolk, right?"

"Really?"

I called them over and pulled them close.

"Besides, I pet you every day and brush you every day, making your coats this shiny. There's no way I'd throw you away now, right?"

Their fur gleamed and shimmered like velvet, glossy and rippling.

If other beastfolk were around, they would be unable to take their eyes off the beauty of their coats.

"Well, that's true..." "Nyaa."

"And there's more! I have to survey this unexplored territory and make a map. I'll need people who can fight for that. I absolutely need you two."

"Then count me in! Leave it to me!" "I'll help too, nya!"

Anemone, who had been silently listening, shouted as well.

"Me too! I'm going adventuring with Kenichi!"

"Nyaa."

Bell had somehow come over to my feet and was rubbing its black fur against me.

"Good girl, good girl. Mom will come too."

"I see... So that's why you're becoming a margrave..."

I leaned in and whispered to Akira.

"That's right. Of course, taking in the queen was part of the conditions for becoming a margrave too."

"I see... Kenichi, you've got your hands full. I'd turn it down even with those conditions."

"Well, I'm already committed, and I've become this so-called Holy Knight too."

After that, I explained the situation to Primula when she came to collect merchandise to sell to the royals.

"...Sigh. I was afraid this might happen."

Primula let out a huge sigh. She looked thoroughly exasperated.

"Sorry, Primula. I'll explain it to your father later too."

"No, I believe Father will be delighted. Ordinary people never get the chance to become part of a noble family. And a margrave, no less?"

"Exactly."

"It is an honor far beyond anything our family deserves, Lord Hamada."

"Don't be sarcastic, Primula."

I pulled her close and stroked her head.

"...I thought this would happen. Even if I wanted to keep you to myself—you always go far beyond anything I can imagine. Sigh..."

"I do feel bad."

"No, I brought this on myself. It was all because I showed my greedy side and tried to expand the business a little by telling the viscount about you... Sigh..."

When I gave the products to Primula, who sighed again, Akira was watching.

"I see—pearls, huh?"

"Yeah. They're not easy to obtain in this world."

"I figured. They probably don't have pearl-farming technology."

Large pearls are easy to make through cultivation. You simply make the resin core inserted inside them larger.

If I sold them in that form because bigger was better, someone might call it fraud if they looked inside.

Besides, if the pearl layer is too thin, it will not develop that distinctive beauty. The thickness of the nacre is what brings out its beauty.

"I'll leave pricing the pearls to you. They can be expensive, but not beyond what royalty and nobles can afford."

"The royals seem to want to use the pearls as a trump card to strengthen their influence over the nobles."

Akira held up one of the pearls he had borrowed from me.

"So it's 'Join the royal family and get your hands on these treasure-like pearls!'"

"I could sell them to you at a special friends' price, Akira. What do you think? For Reiran-san?"

"She'd definitely be happy, but... I just bought her platinum the other day..."

"That Kenichi—what is this 'platinum'?"

"This. What they call platinum here."

I bought a 1/10-ounce platinum coin from Shangri-La—it cost 50,000 yen.

"My! Is this the legendary platinum I've heard about?"

As one would expect from such a capable mother-and-daughter merchant team, they apparently knew about platinum too.

"Apparently. They say it glows when you pour magic into it, but I wonder if even I can do it."

According to Akira, aluminum could also be used as a catalyst for the power of the blessing, so perhaps it worked in a similar way to magic?

I tried channeling Natural Heal into the coin, and—it began to glow faintly.

"My! How marvelous! It's wonderful! Kenichi, may I sell this too?"

"Huh? Honestly, you'll sell absolutely anything. Well, sure."

It was a difficult decision, but Primula's mood had improved, so I decided it was fine.

To her, a big business deal mattered more than her husband acquiring a new woman—or perhaps I should say she had given up because I kept doing outrageous things.

Besides, if I became a noble, the benefits to the Marlowe Trading Company would be enormous. Setting aside her feelings as a wife, there was no better opportunity for her as a merchant.

It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I gave her a one-ounce platinum coin and a one-fifth-ounce coin turned into a pendant.

Holding them, Primula happily hurried back to the castle.

How much would she earn from the pearls and platinum? I could not even imagine.

"Kenichi, having so many people to deal with must be tough. Hahaha, good luck. And just so you know, if someone stabs you in the back, I won't help you."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Time passed, and evening arrived. We began preparing dinner. My family had instant curry—

Akira and I decided to eat grilled offal again.

We had a huge supply of dragon intestines, after all. We also had a tremendous advantage when it came to eating all this offal: the power of the blessing.

No matter how much we ate or how much purine we consumed, we would never get gout. Hooray for another world!

"Akira, let's try wyvern intestines today."

"Sure! How was the wyvern meat?"

"The meat was tastier than lesser dragon meat."

"Seriously?! Then this should be worth looking forward to!"

As the two middle-aged men eagerly prepared the grilled offal, Lilith and Amaranthus appeared.

They were not accompanied by knights or any other guards. Did that mean the royals no longer had any use for them and did not care what happened to them?

I could not see any knights, but I thought I caught glimpses of the maids.

"Kenichi, it is time to eat."

"Lilith, wouldn't it be better to eat the castle's food while you're still there? The chef will be heartbroken."

"We are no longer people of the castle, so we must accustom ourselves to the food of the outside world."

Amaranthus said the same, but wouldn't offal be a little much for a beginner?

"But, Amaranthus, this is what we're eating, you know."

I lifted the huge, pale, gelatinous tube I had been washing.

"What is that?! A worm?!"

"No, it's a wyvern intestine."

"Oh! We are eating wyvern intestines today? Lesser dragon intestine was very delicious."

"...Lilith, you ate something like that...?"

"Mother, it was so delicious it seemed beyond anything in this world."

"..."

Amaranthus stared at the mass of intestines in my hand, sweating nervously.

"Haha, you don't have to force yourself. You don't need to eat such lowly food. You're eating curry, that spiced dish, over there, so you can have that instead."

"No! As the Holy Knight's slave, if I am told to drink muddy water, I must drink it, and if I am told to eat mud, I must eat it!"

"Oh, right. Stop that slave contract. You don't need it anymore."

"No! Aaaaaah!"

Amaranthus, having disobeyed my order, began rolling around on the ground.

"Oh, come on! I revoke the order! Revoke it!"

"Haaah, haaah..."

Amaranthus was on all fours on the ground, panting heavily.

"What are you doing...? You're covered in mud. You'll need some clothes..."

I searched Shangri-La for women's clothing. To be honest, I know very little about fashion.

Even apart from that, the fasteners run the opposite way in this world, which limits the selection somewhat.

From among them, I bought a short-sleeved white blouse and navy wide-leg pants with a ribbon at the waist.

The listing also called them gaucho pants, though I did not know their official name.

They looked like a long skirt at first glance, but they were pants split between the legs.

They would be perfect for the active Amaranthus. What size should I get? She was tall.

She was about as tall as I was, so she must have been around 175 centimeters—would a women's large be right?

I decided to try buying them.

"Click."

I handed the clothes that dropped down to Amaranthus.

"What is this...?"

"A change of clothes. Change in that house over there. Tell me if the size doesn't fit."

When she ran into the house with the clothes, Lilith was staring intently at me.

"What?"

"Do I not get any?"

"I think that white dress suits you..."

"Surely I cannot keep wearing such a fine dress now, can I?"

"Well, when you put it that way, I suppose not..."

Don't make me choose your clothes. I know perfectly well that I have no fashion sense.

If Lilith could see the Shangri-La screen, it would be better to have her choose for herself.

I could not have her choose something too bizarre by the standards of fashion in my original world, either.

In this world, showing one's legs is strictly forbidden, but mages are allowed to show their legs through slits.

It did not make much sense to me, but those were the customs, so there was nothing to be done.

For Lilith, I chose a white blouse with a flared collar and a dark navy long dress.

The dress had a large ribbon attached slightly diagonally at the waist.

"Here! How about something like this? If there's anything specific you want, I can find something as close as possible."

"This will do! I shall go change at once!"

"Sure thing."

Carrying the clothes, Lilith ran into the house as well.

When I happened to look over, Anemone was staring intently at me. I would have to placate her later...

For now, I cut up the intestines in front of me. As before, I used a fugu slicing knife to cut them thinly and arranged them on plates.

"Kenichi, don't you have another knife? I'll help. I want to eat soon."

"Then help me out."

I bought another fugu slicing knife from Shangri-La and handed it to him.

Akira was quite good at cooking too, and skilled with a knife.

While we were cutting the intestines, Amaranthus and Lilith returned.

Both were beautiful and well-proportioned, so anything suited them.

Amaranthus fidgeted a little and made a childlike expression.

"Wow, you look like a model..."

Akira put a hand to his chin and murmured as he looked at them.

"Why don't you dress Reiran-san in various outfits too?"

"Hahaha, I do. Sensei gets embarrassed and won't wear them outside, though."

Akira seemed to enjoy playing dress-up with Reiran-san.

"How do I look?"

Lilith put both hands on her hips and struck a proud pose.

"It suits you. You're cute, so anything suits you."

"Heehee..."

Lilith looked pleased with herself, but perhaps it was a little childish. I thought a somewhat more mature outfit might have been better.

Amaranthus, by contrast, seemed a little bewildered by the clothes she had never seen before.

"I thought this was a skirt, but it is trousers."

"That's right. They're easy to move in, and perfect for an active woman like you, Amaranthus."

"Hmm..."

She suddenly threw a sharp high kick and froze in place on one leg.

She did not twitch at all, as though someone had driven a stake into the ground.

"So even if I do this, no one can see my crotch?"

"Exactly—but that's amazing."

"Kenichi—when she attacked you in the audience chamber, I couldn't even see her move. She really is a martial arts master."

Akira whispered in my ear.

"That's right. She has an Item Box too, so wouldn't it be better to have a terrifying woman like that on our side rather than make an enemy of her?"

"I can't argue with that."

As we talked and cooked, the princess peered over at us.

"You men are quite good at cooking."

"Your Highness, aren't all the cooks and head chefs men too?"

"That is true. But, Akira, you may call me Lilith."

"You may call me Amaranthus too—or Amara."

Akira spread both hands in exasperation, still holding the knife.

Since they were the ones saying it, I supposed it was fine.

We finished cutting the intestines and arranged them on plates, so I set up a burner and grilled them. The griddle for yakiniku that we had used before was getting another turn.

I took small plates from my Item Box and brought out grilled-offal sauce.

"Is this a magic burner?"

Amaranthus peered at the blue flame of the gas burner.

"Pretty much. Here, let's cook."

As soon as I placed the meat on the griddle, thick white smoke billowed up.

"What tremendous smoke! But the smell is so appetizing—it appeals to one's instincts."

"Here, it's ready."

"Ugh..."

Amaranthus froze at the sight of the chunks of meat piled on the plate in front of her. She was hungry after preparing to move, and the smell must have been tempting.

She wanted to eat it but could not. She kept glancing at Lilith, who had started eating first.

"This... is delicious! It is delicious!"

The princess cried out after spearing a piece of grilled offal with a fork and putting it in her mouth.

"Oh! This is tastier than lesser dragon. It has a nice flavor that goes up through your nose, and it seems packed with umami."

Akira shouted too after eating some offal.

"Seriously? Let's see... Munch, munch... This really is!"

"Ahh! This calls for a drink!"

Akira took beer from his Item Box and began drinking.

Amaranthus had been watching him, but apparently she could not hold back any longer.

Just like Lilith, she speared a piece of meat with a fork and finally put it in her mouth—

"M-mmm! Delicious! This is delicious! What incredible flavor! To think I was shut away in the castle, never knowing food this good... Ahh, I cannot stop salivating!"

"I'm glad it suits your tastes."

Amaranthus was delighted by the taste of the meat, but she was staring intently at Akira's beer.

"Do you want some? It's a drink like ale, though."

"Wasn't ale beer too?"

When Akira set the can on the table, he turned toward us.

"What do you call ordinary beer again?"

"A lager, maybe?"

"Oh, lager beer. What's the difference again?"

"Whether it ferments on top or on the bottom... Wasn't it something like that?"

"Now that you mention it, I think I read about that in a manga about alcohol..."

I poured some beer I had bought from Shangri-La into a mug for her, and she put it to her lips.

"Gulp, gulp... Ahh! This ale is truly delicious! It goes unbelievably well with this meat!"

She drank with tremendous gusto. It was almost too manly. If only the king and queen's roles had been reversed.

"Kenichi, Mother is a bottomless pit."

"Huh? Really? Then just this one glass."

"Ugh... How cruel..."

"That depends on how much work Amaranthus does."

"Nyaa!"

Bell came over too, so I gave it a large piece after grilling it.

It held it down with its front paws, tore it apart, and ate it happily.

As I watched Bell, Akira pointed behind me with his chopsticks.

"I can't wait any longer, nya." "Boss, let us have some too..."

"Whoa! That's why you shouldn't sneak up on me while hiding your presence."

I took out a magic burner for the beastfolk from my Item Box and set up a griddle too.

All that remained were plates and grilled-offal sauce.

"Here, cut the meat yourselves and eat. Anemone, do you want some too?"

"Yeah."

"Yaaay!" "Unyaa!"

Could they possibly still want more after eating curry? They made a huge fuss as they ate the meat.

"Ahh! It's delicious! So delicious I'm going to die!" "Hnyaa!"

What drama queens. I gave Nyamena some beer.

"Ahh! Ale is so good!"

It was not ale, though.

"But you two, if you eat this every day, you'll definitely get sick, so don't overdo it. Apparently we're fine because of the blessing, but..."

"Don't worry, boss. I can tell this is the kind of deliciousness that's bad for you."

"Nyaa! Kenichi always says that delicious food is bad for you."

"Delicious!"

Anemone was eating the offal happily too, but wasn't she eating too much?

We all gorged ourselves and filled our stomachs, but everything ended up greasy and covered in oil.

We all gathered in one place, and Anemone cleaned us with magic.

"Clean!"

We were instantly spotless in a sparkling blue light.

Even Shangri-La had nothing that could imitate this. Another world's victory.

"Oh, right, Lilith, Amaranthus—what are you doing tonight? If you're staying here, you can use my house, but..."

Before I had even finished speaking, Amaranthus threw her arms around me.

"Holy Knight-sama, please show me mercy..."

"What?! Wait until we've left the castle."

"Well, well, Casanova! Stealing the enemy's wife in their own stronghold—impressive."

Akira chimed in, cupping both hands around his mouth.

"That's right—you're still married, aren't you?"

"No—I have already been cast out of the royal family, so I am now a commoner—or rather, the Holy Knight's slave."

"Man, that was fast! How much do they hate you?"

"I must have been a great nuisance to them. Hmph!"

She had a point.

She was no longer a member of the royal family, but apparently they had given her a week to prepare.

They presumably wanted her to pack her belongings during that time.

"So, Holy Knight-sama, please use your throbbing member to stir me up inside..."

"Don't say things like that in front of the children."

Even when I tried to pull her away, Amaranthus would not let go. Her strength was on a completely different level. Where did so much power come from in that slender body?

If I told her to let go, she would probably refuse and start rolling around again... What a troublesome woman.

She had thrown everything away. Someone with nothing left to lose was invincible.

While Lilith and Anemone glared at me, I set up a small tent in a corner of the castle wall.

Akira teased me, but I ignored him and slipped inside with her.

In the cramped darkness, I wanted to see her skin, so I took an LED light from my Item Box.

"Is that a magical light?"

"Something like that."

Amaranthus's naked body was illuminated by the blue light.

She looked embarrassed, but her body was taut, with no excess fat, and her abdominal muscles were beautifully defined.

She looked like a plaster-cast torso for an art class.

Could someone of royal blood really be like this? I imagined aristocrats and royals as soft and flabby from never exercising, but she was completely different from my image.

Contrary to what I was thinking, when Amaranthus embraced me, tears spilled over the beauty mark beneath her eye.

"At last, I can become one with the Holy Knight-sama..."

How long had this woman, who had abandoned everything, yearned for an old man like me?

My feelings were very complicated.