Merchant Primula

Leaving the royal capital, our army of beautiful women began its grand migration in a microbus and an SUV.

We couldn't make it to Astrantia in a single day, so we ended up camping just short of Akimenes.

I took a house and a large tent out of my Item Box and set them up. For the rest, I bought and assembled another large tent.

With so many people, anything we did was over in no time.

So it really is "the more troops, the better," huh, bro—that's the truth, maybe.

Tables were lined up in the space we'd made by cutting the grass beside the road, and everyone ate together.

We split into teams, each making and eating its own food.

At our table, we had Primula's soup, Anemone's bread, and fried lesser dragon served with tartar sauce.

Dragon meat had a flavor similar to chicken, so it went well in karaage too.

For Bell, I gave her pieces with the batter removed, along with some canned cat food.

"Hoh! So dragon is delicious even when fried!"

With Lilith here, the fried chicken was disappearing at an incredible rate.

"Indeed, it is—a delicacy one cannot eat at the castle. And this sauce goes with it perfectly."

Amaranthus seemed to eat more than an ordinary woman too, perhaps because she practiced martial arts.

"Why, this is incredible! Just as Lilith-sama and Amaranthus-sama said—it is delicious! Incredibly delicious!"

"I'm glad it suits your taste, Julius. Once Sanbak-san arrives, he'll probably be able to make the same dishes even when I'm not around."

"I look forward to it."

"The fried lesser dragon is delicious too."

Primula's soup really had become the taste of home, but once Sanbak-san arrived, would he take over cooking?

Primula would have to oversee management of the domain, and the Marlowe Trading Company would probably expand into the royal capital as well.

Would she even have time to cook while flying all over the kingdom?

A woman with what it took to become the greatest merchant in this kingdom—or even on the entire continent—was never going to remain confined to a tiny frontier domain.

"Ah, delicious."

Nyamena stuffed her face with fried chicken while drinking, stretching as though she had finally escaped the castle's stifling atmosphere.

Myaaree seemed to feel the same.

"It's delicious, nya! I finally escaped that stuffy castle, nya!"

"Sorry for dragging you into all this."

"Boss, we agreed you wouldn't say that." "Nyaa!"

"I can finally go adventuring with Kenichi too!"

Before we got to Anemone's so-called adventuring, though, we had to conduct surveys and undertake public works.

"What's this? It's so delicious!"

Popo, the bard, had frozen in place from the delight of eating the fried chicken.

Perhaps she wanted to turn her excitement into a song, because she started singing right there.

At this rate, your share will keep getting smaller, you know?

"You are quite bold yourself, aren't you? Infiltrating a noble's family and singing among them."

Amaranthus laughed as she watched Popo.

"You have so many women around you, and they're all smiling. I thought you couldn't possibly be a bad person... I'm terribly sorry!"

"Well, you are right. Not only am I not a bad person, but I'm troubled by being too good-natured."

Primula, sitting across from me, nodded at Lilith's words.

"Lilith, if I hadn't helped any of them, most of the women here wouldn't be here, you know?"

"That is true, but surely you cannot go on increasing their number forever?"

"I'll keep it within reasonable limits, so don't worry."

"I wonder about that..."

Lilith continued devouring fried chicken anxiously.

Next to us, Akira had started making okonomiyaki and takoyaki, so I brought some fried chicken over to him.

"Akira—would you trade me some takoyaki for fried chicken? I haven't had it in a while."

"Sure! I've got as much mayonnaise as you want too, so take some."

The mayonnaise, of course, was something he had produced.

I still hesitated whenever I saw him produce mayonnaise, but it tasted like ordinary mayonnaise. Freshly made, too, with a wonderfully fresh flavor.

It was no wonder he grumbled, "What kind of cheat ability is this, anyway?!"

I got ten takoyaki. I picked one up to try.

They were crisp outside and gooey inside, with the octopus adding a pleasant chewy bite.

The sauce and mayonnaise went perfectly with them. Akira, however, handled them with practiced ease.

Had he worked part-time at a takoyaki stand?

"Here, one each."

"What is this round thing?!"

"It's made by mixing wheat flour with water and cooking it into round balls."

Three hands reached for the plate on the table at the same time. The beastfolk were naturally quick, but Lilith's hand was fast too.

Amaranthus wore a sour expression at that extraordinary speed.

"How uncouth, reaching for food before everyone else."

"What are you saying, Mother? Once one leaves the castle, it is a world where the weak are preyed upon by the strong. If one does not eat when food is available, one cannot survive."

She really had a point, but...

"As long as I'm here, I don't think I'll let my family go hungry."

"That is true, but the food will be gone before then—fwooo!"

Lilith stuffed a takoyaki into her mouth and suddenly cried out.

"What is it?! What happened?"

"Delicious! This is delicious! What is this chewy thing inside?"

"That's hard to explain..."

I took a sketchbook from my Item Box and drew a picture of an octopus.

"Is that a monster?"

"Let's see... Eugh! Boss, isn't that a tentacle?!" "Fnyah!"

Myaaree and Nyamena's fur stood on end when they saw my drawing.

"I asked Akira too, but no. It isn't poisonous."

The rest of the family enjoyed the takoyaki too. Even in my old world, okonomiyaki and takoyaki had been popular with foreigners.

"What about you, Popo? Did you like it?"

"Yes. This is the first time I've ever eaten such delicious food. I think eating in town is going to become painful."

"Nyaa! Everyone says that after eating the food here, nya!"

"She's right. Once you've eaten this, you lose the desire to pay money for bad food."

Nyamena always said things like that too.

I had chosen the number of takoyaki without thinking much, and made a small mistake.

There were nine people at the table, leaving one takoyaki over.

Nyamena snatched it away at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

Lilith had reached for it too, but there was no way she could beat a beastperson going all out.

"Sorry, Princess. Here, it's survival of the fittest."

"Gnnngh..."

Having left the castle and ceased to be a princess, she could no longer get away with acting spoiled.

Well, she was still high-ranking as the principal wife of a margrave, but...

She couldn't exactly say, "I'm of higher status, so give it to me!" in a petty family squabble.

Troubled, Lilith looked over at me.

"Kenichi..."

"All right, all right. Everyone else wants more too, right?"

Apparently, everyone wanted more. I had no choice; I'd have to make some myself.

I bought the same chopped octopus I had bought for Akira.

Making takoyaki required a takoyaki griddle. I searched for one on Shangri-La.

"This should do it..."

A cassette-gas takoyaki griddle cost 6,800 yen. It could make twenty-four at once, so I bought two.

Since I would be making a lot, I would probably need a batter dispenser like the pros used—the kind that released the batter below when you squeezed the handle.

Right, I would need takoyaki picks too.

I lit the gas, oiled the griddle, then put cake flour, eggs, and dashi into the batter dispenser and mixed them together.

It was much runnier than pancake batter.

Once the griddle was hot, I squeezed the handle of the dispenser and let the batter flow in.

"Anemone, put one of those squishy pieces into each one."

"Got it."

"I'll help too."

Primula helped put in the octopus as well. With forty-eight pieces to add, it took some time.

"So this squishy thing is the tentacle from earlier?"

"Yeah, though it doesn't taste like much by itself."

Hearing that, Lilith popped a piece of octopus into her mouth.

"Eek!" "Nyaa?!"

The beastfolk were startled by Lilith's action. Was she simply obsessed with food, fearless, or just far too bold?

Next, I dumped in a generous amount of the tenkasu I'd bought from Shangri-La.

Once they were cooked, I was supposed to flip them with takoyaki picks, but I hadn't done this very often.

While I fumbled, Akira came rushing over.

"No, no, that's not how you do it! I'll take over."

With blindingly swift skill, he flipped the takoyaki one after another.

"Oh! It is like the technique of a master!"

Lilith stared wide-eyed at Akira's skill.

"A cassette-style takoyaki griddle, huh? Sell me that batter dispenser too."

"Sure. Handy, isn't it? Is that griddle of yours custom-made? How much did it cost?"

"Let's see... Five Imperial gold coins, so... 500,000 yen."

"Half a million? Well, it is a one-of-a-kind item."

"I gave them insanely detailed specifications, like requiring all the balls to be the same size."

"Of course. Takoyaki can't be uneven."

While we were talking, they finished cooking.

"Did you work part-time at a takoyaki place?"

"Yeah, in Osaka. Hahaha."

I knew it.

Once the takoyaki was ready, the whole family swarmed around it.

I had Akira produce some mayonnaise as well, and took sauce out of my Item Box.

"Careful, it's hot... Delicious!"

"Anemone, you eat a lot too."

"Because everything you cook is delicious, Kenichi! And if I don't eat, I won't grow!"

Apparently, Anemone thought that once she grew up, I would make a move on her.

Well, that was true, but I treated her like a daughter.

Lilith silently stuffed takoyaki into her mouth.

She ate a lot too. Where did all that food go in that small, slender body?

"Lilith, did you eat that much even in front of guests at the castle?"

"Of course not. I ate sparingly in front of guests, then stuffed myself in private."

"Come to think of it, Luclia was a big eater too."

The Luclia Amaranthus mentioned was Lilith's biological mother.

In all, Akira made ninety-six takoyaki.

He was practically a professional. No—he really was a professional, since he'd done it for work.

"Julius, how was the food? This is what our meals are usually like."

"It was exceedingly delicious. Not luxurious, but truly delicious."

"We don't really do fancy food at home. We can leave that sort of cuisine for Sanbak-san to handle for guests."

"Indeed."

I went over to check on the maids.

"Mairen, you can eat with us too, you know?"

"No, I couldn't possibly. I am already taking advantage of your generous kindness merely by being allowed to eat at the same time as you."

"Is that so? Well, if that's what the maids want, I won't say anything..."

"Yes. A maid is someone who always serves her master and stays by his side like a shadow."

"I expect I'll put you through a lot from now on, but I'm counting on you."

"What are you saying?! A noble is only a true noble after working his maids to the bone, taking them to bed, and tormenting them!"

"Ehhh?!"

The other maids reacted to Mairen's words with horror.

She was probably an excellent head maid, but she seemed a little off in this regard.

Mairen's glasses flashed.

"You are all so naive. If you receive the master's mercy and bear his children, you and your daughters will be secure for life, you know?"

The maids' expressions changed when they heard that.

"When you put it that way..." "Master seems so kind... Maybe just a little..." "Yeah, yeah."

Well, I had no intention of doing anything like that, nor did I intend to dismiss the maids once they grew old.

I searched Shangri-La for a book. It was a book about patchwork.

"Linaria, what do you think of this book? It's from a foreign country, but it's mostly diagrams, so I think you'll understand it."

Linaria was the maid who had served as the castle library's librarian.

"How cute!" "Wow!" "It's a book about making bags and containers out of scraps of cloth!"

"I'll lend it to you."

"Thank you—but I'm bad at sewing..."

"Oh, Linaria. Isn't this a wonderful opportunity, since it was given to you by Master?"

Linaria looked troubled by Mairen's words when one of the maids raised her hand.

"I'll teach you. For a fee."

"You're charging her?"

At my words, the maids all looked as though that was obvious.

I would leave the maids to handle matters among themselves, but the book seemed to be a hit.

When I returned from the maids, my family was staring fixedly at me.

"I'm not going to make a move on the maids."

"When you sleep with Mairen, call me too, will you?"

"Again with that..."

"A noble isn't a true noble until he takes a maid to bed and gets her pregnant."

Apparently Lilith thought that way too. Her way of thinking was completely different from that of a commoner.

Our noisy communal meal was over, so we cleared away the tables and everything else.

We would use them again in the morning, so we stacked them beside the tents and had Reiran-san cast a barrier over them.

That would make them difficult to steal.

"Popo, play some music for everyone."

"Understood! Leave it to me!"

She began dancing while playing music on her lute.

She was remarkably dexterous.

Leaving the rest to everyone else, I took a Pr○do out of my Item Box.

"Where are you going, nya?" "Boss!"

"I'm going to sleep with Primula tonight. Primula, come here."

"...Yes!"

Primula looked bewildered for a moment, then immediately threw her arms around me.

"That's not fair..."

Anemone looked displeased, but—

"You sleep with me every night, don't you, Anemone?"

"But you never do anything with me..."

"That's why I said—when you're a little older."

"Pfft."

No matter how much she puffed out her cheeks, no meant no.

"Haha, good luck, Kenichi!"

Akira waved from his chair, but of course I fully intended to do my best.

We had already decided on the sleeping arrangements, but the beastfolk had been left without a place.

Apparently, now that former royalty had joined us, they could no longer sleep casually with me.

Lilith and Amaranthus didn't seem to mind, but the beastfolk seemed unable to relax.

I brought out a small hut for the beastfolk.

It was the hut Nyamena had originally used.

I got into the vehicle and turned on the headlights. A dazzling light unknown to this world cut through the darkness.

With Primula aboard the iron summoned beast from another world, we set off through the darkness.

The vehicle jolted and rattled, but after driving for five minutes, we were two or three kilometers from the campsite.

No one was around anymore, and even the sharp-eared beastfolk probably couldn't listen in.

I stopped the vehicle, folded down the rear seats, and placed a sheet of plywood from my Item Box on top of them.

Once the seats were flat, I laid down an air mattress to complete the bed.

I closed the rear hatch and called Primula inside.

She was still embarrassed, but this world was different from my old one, where naked women were everywhere.

Even in everyday life, women wore long skirts and did not expose their bare legs.

She wasn't wearing underwear, so technically I could have simply lifted her skirt and gone ahead, but...

I undressed the embarrassed Primula, leaving her naked. The room light was on, but she still seemed ashamed.

We had bathed together and all, but this felt different.

"Are you embarrassed?"

"...Yes, because..."

"It's just the two of us, so you don't need to be embarrassed."

"We haven't even bathed."

"Even if you're dirty, Primula, you're beautiful, so it's fine."

"But still..."

Primula's pale, gleaming naked body looked beautiful in the room light. She was no less beautiful than the two royal women I'd already slept with.

I turned off the light, and we embraced in the darkness.

------◇◇◇------

After a while spent in bliss, we lay together on the air mattress.

"Primula, I'm sorry. So many people have joined us..."

"I want to say, 'Then apologize properly'—but I told you at the castle too: this is all my own fault."

She let out a deep sigh.

She had revealed my abilities in an attempt to enlist the nobles' power to eliminate the corrupt merchants interfering with her business.

"I should have known this would happen..."

Word of me reached the royal capital in no time, and the royal family summoned me—that was how all this began.

"Before I knew it, even members of the royal family had gotten involved!"

Primula sat up and glared at me.

"No, I'm really sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. Even though other women have taken you from me, I can't stop getting excited about this enormous business opportunity. I'm a truly despicable woman."

"That's not true. Isn't that just how merchants are?"

"Even though other women have taken you from me, you don't think anything of a woman who can calmly devote herself to business?!"

I didn't know what to say to that...

"Hmm... I don't think Primula is someone who could end up as a merchant in a small town. I think you'll become a major merchant whose name echoes across the continent."

"I'm excited because that dream of mine finally seems like it could become reality."

"Then that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"It isn't! How could it be all right when other women have taken you from me?!"

"Then will you quit being a merchant?"

"Nooo!"

Primula collapsed facedown on the air mattress, still naked, and buried her face.

Of course. She loved business more than her three daily meals, and if there was something to sell, she would sell practically anything. I couldn't imagine her giving up business.

"Putting it all together... you can't forgive yourself for seeming to neglect me in favor of business?"

"That's right! Waaah!"

"I don't think you need to take it so seriously."

"Of course it's serious!"

"Hey, calm down."

There was nothing I could do for the crying Primula. I wanted her to pursue her dream of becoming a merchant too.

As I tried to comfort Primula, I heard something scratching at the vehicle door.

"Hmm? Who is it?!"

"Nyaa."

"Oh, Bell. Did you follow us all the way out here?"

With a Forest Cat's sense of smell, tracking us two or three kilometers must have been child's play.

When I opened the rear door, black fur slipped inside, and the long, supple body rubbed against my bare skin.

"There, there."

"Nyaa."

As I stroked Bell, who was purring, Primula shouted.

"You came here just to laugh at me!"

"What?! Mother, you wouldn't do that, would you?"

"..."

Seeing Bell's reaction, Primula began crying again.

"Mother, help me calm Primula down."

"..."

Bell turned her head away—seriously?

I guess I'd have to do it myself.

I forced Bell outside and pulled Primula close.

Bell looked displeased at being forced out, but what else could I do?

"Sorry, but wait outside for me, okay?"

"..."

Bell always answered me, so her silence meant she was extremely displeased.

She was lashing her tail around roughly.

I kept soothing the naked Primula on the air mattress.

And the conclusion we reached was—

"Primula, you still want to become the greatest merchant on the continent, right?"

"I've made up my mind. We have to support your frontier domain, and I can't fight, so as I said before, I'll focus on supporting you behind the scenes, with each of us doing what we're best suited for."

"Thank you. Honestly, I'd be in trouble if you quit being a merchant."

"I don't think I could do anything other than be a merchant either... But when I imagine you doing things like that with other women, my stomach knots..."

"I suppose it's normal for nobles to have a principal wife, secondary wives, and lovers..."

"..."

"I understand why you're angry."

"It's all right. As I said earlier, I was the one at fault for making your powers known to the nobles, even though you wanted to live quietly."

She continued glaring at me, despite saying that.

She was an intelligent woman. Even if her mind understood, perhaps reason and emotion were separate things.

We slept in the vehicle together and welcomed morning.

In the white morning mist, I drove back to everyone. The maids were awake and beginning to set up the tables.

Primula joined them and began preparing the soup. It was the usual scene.

"Hmph!"

The issue with Primula was settled, but Anemone, who was baking bread, was in a bad mood.

Bell, who had returned with us, was also in a bad mood.

"Oh, all right..."

I bought a Ch○ru from Shangri-La.

"Bell, want some Ch○ru? Ch○ru?"

Hearing me, she leaped to my feet and began licking the end of the opened tube.

As I stroked Bell's fur, Lilith, who hadn't joined in preparing breakfast, came over.

"Kenichi, when will it be my turn?"

"Uh, a little later."

"Do you really intend to do it or not?!"

"What about me?!"

Anemone joined in.

"Anemone, it'll be much later for you."

"Hmph."

"What about me?"

"Hmm, eventually."

"What do you mean, 'eventually'?!"

"Probably once the frontier domain is stable."

"I fail to see how that reason explains why you are neglecting me in favor of sleeping with the others."

"Uh..."

That was hard to argue with.

Anemone was obviously young, and her body was small.

I had a clear reason, but using her age as an excuse to reject Lilith's demands was a little difficult.

In this world, marrying and having children at fifteen was perfectly normal.

Annerose-san, who was traveling with Akira, had given birth at fifteen.

It would be impossible to keep postponing my relationship with Lilith. It would hurt her pride too.

"All right. Let's say we'll do it once we reach the lake."

"Truly?"

"Yeah."

"Then what about me?!"

"Anemone, when you're a little older."

"Pff!"

"Come on, I'll pat your head."

I stroked Anemone's soft black hair.

"Fwaaaah..."

Seeing that, Lilith hugged me.

"Me too!"

"Hey, hey, first thing in the morning?"

Reluctantly, I stroked Lilith's golden hair too, but hers was softer and fluffier.

"Fwaaaah..."

"Me too!"

Suddenly, I was squeezed from behind with tremendous force.

"Ow, hey, Amaranthus!"

To break free of her brute strength, I reached back and stroked her from her waist down over her butt.

"Eek!"

Amaranthus let out a scream, her knees suddenly buckled, and she toppled over backward.

The Kadan royals really did have a lot of people with special abilities.

There seemed to be a good reason the royals of this world were able to remain royals.

The maids, who had witnessed this, began whispering.

"Hey, hey, Master's thing looks incredible." "Want to try it?" "What?!"

Akira reacted to the maids' giggling.

"Are you girls interested in that? This old man can use the same trick, you know?"

Akira sidled toward the maids in full dirty-old-man mode, but a black shadow approached from behind him.

"Oh, Akira. It seems you've built up quite a bit."

"Sensei, it was only a joke."

"I'm the one who taught you the joys of womanhood, so you have an obligation to satisfy me, you know?"

"Heh heh, s-sorry."

My family reacted to Reiran-san's words too.

"Then I suppose that includes me too, right?"

Primula wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Primula, you did it last night."

"Boss, it's about time you took care of me too." "Me too, nya!"

"Nyaa."

"You're saying 'nyaa' too, Bell? That's impossible for you."

Anyway, it was time for breakfast. How had things ended up like this?