Chapter 138
Our homeland in this other world—the land of Saraai—had been named Sakura.
This place would therefore be Sakura, Hamada Margraviate. According to Lilith, it would be pronounced Sa-kura in the local reading.
To symbolize that, we bought cherry-tree seedlings from Shangri-La and planted them.
Whether the cherry trees that bloom in Japan, a country with four seasons, would bloom in this warm country was uncertain, but perhaps we could crossbreed them with a local plant resembling a cherry tree and create a new species.
If that were possible, we might even be able to create cherry trees that bloomed in every season.
In that case, the image of cherry trees being synonymous with spring would disappear.
Besides, this country had no four seasons, so it did not have spring in the first place.
While everyone was eating cherries and making American-cherry jam, Primula arrived on a bicycle.
She usually came riding in Akira's vehicle, but since he was over here, she had probably come on her own.
A new bodyguard, a Siamese-patterned beastwoman named Nyaresa, was following behind her.
With beastfolk leg strength good enough to run alongside vehicles, guarding Primula while she rode a bicycle would be easy for her.
I was surprised to see Primula arrive by bicycle, but there was also a black carriage following behind her.
It was a small, one-horse carriage, probably meant for two people. It was an unusual type with the driver sitting on the roof and holding long reins.
"Primula—you've learned to ride that draisine. More importantly, what's going on? Is it urgent?"
"Yes—well, the people behind me would like to meet you, Kenichi..."
"The people behind you?"
Anyone who owned a carriage for personal use had to be a wealthy merchant or a noble—but
There was no way Primula would bring a business rival here. In that case—
Just as I expected, a middle-aged man and woman stepped out of the small carriage.
The man was somewhat short and wore a blue outfit with gold-thread embroidery. He was clearly a noble at a glance.
The woman was taller and wore a green dress with a plunging neckline, but she had to be over fifty.
Her age was noticeable, but she had a dignified bearing and an excellent figure. She must have been remarkably beautiful when she was young.
As I looked at the woman, someone else's appearance seemed to overlap with hers in my mind... Huh?
"Nyamena, go get Julius for me."
"Sure thing~"
I had no idea who they were, but I would greet them for now.
"Welcome to my territory."
I had no idea what their rank was, but they could not be higher than a margrave.
A noble of such high rank could not wander around without guards such as a knight corps.
I addressed them anyway, but the response was muted—and the baroness quickly replied.
"It is insolent for a lowly servant like you to address a noble."
Her blunt remark caught me completely off guard.
It was probably because I was still wearing my usual work clothes.
"Huh? No, no, I'm Hamada Margrave."
"Baroness Schefflera Compacta! This is definitely Kenichi Hamada, the Hamada Margrave!"
Primula hurriedly stepped between us.
"I beg your pardon. I am Raichi Meira Schefflera Compacta—and this is my husband, Baron Schefflera Compacta."
Her husband bowed his head. He was completely under his wife's thumb.
"And what brings you to our territory, Baroness?"
"I heard that our daughter was here."
"Your daughter...?"
At that moment, Kanan came running over in gray track clothes.
"Father! Mother! Why are you in a place like this?!"
Calling it a place like this was a little harsh.
"Oh my! Kanan! Is this where you were?! When I went to the viscount's residence, they told me, completely out of the blue, that you had divorced him!"
It seemed Kanan really had not contacted her family at all.
"That's right! I became the margrave's secondary wife!"
No, no, she wasn't a secondary wife yet. Though after what we had done, would she become one?
"A margraviate or not, this is nothing but a forest with nothing here! And look at those clothes! Have you become a slave or something?"
"These are work clothes for farming! Mother, you are being far too rude to the Margrave-sama!"
"Quite so, Lady Kanan."
Lilith came over.
"Baroness, let me introduce you. This is my principal wife, Lilith."
"I am Lilith Lara Hamada. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Lilith... Lilith..."
The baroness froze. She seemed to recognize Lilith's face.
"Could it be—you... Your Highness the Princess?!"
The baroness seemed to have realized Lilith's true identity.
Lower-ranking nobles apparently only went to the royal castle once every year or two, but they desperately tried to make the royal family remember their faces.
"I have renounced my place in the royal family and am now the Margrave-sama's principal wife."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The baron and baroness dropped to their knees. Their attitude was completely different from how they had treated me.
"Baroness, your conduct a moment ago was lacking in the etiquette expected of a noble..."
"We beg your forgiveness!"
"What is all this commotion...?"
Amaranthus arrived with Julius, holding a parasol and hiding her mouth behind a folding fan.
"Amaranthus—these are—"
"I know who they are. Baron Schefflera Compacta, is it not?"
"You know him? Um, Baron, this is... How should I introduce her? As the administrative officer?"
I could hardly introduce her as my slave. I really wished she would stop being one already.
Ignoring my concerns, Amaranthus gave a brief reply.
"It is a pleasure to meet you."
"This is Amaranthus, the administrative officer of my territory."
"Amaranthus?!"
The baroness wore an expression of shock when she heard me. Apparently, she recognized the queen as well.
"Could you possibly be... Her Majesty the Queen...?"
The baroness tried to stand, but she collapsed on the spot, perhaps from shock-induced anemia.
"Mother!"
Kanan hurried over to her mother.
"Oh dear, this is bad. I'll pull a room out of my Item Box, so move her there."
"Understood."
Since they were nobles, I could not have the beastfolk carry her.
That would have been fine if they did not care about such things, but these people seemed very particular about status.
They were certainly proper nobles.
I took out a container house I had bought from Shangri-La and placed a bed inside it.
I also put in a chest and some drinks.
"Kanan, Baron, lay the baroness down in there."
The baron was extremely bewildered by the iron room he had never seen before.
"Margrave-sama, despite all the discourtesy we have shown you, thank you for providing such care for my wife."
The baron bowed to me. Without his troublesome wife around, he seemed like an ordinary person.
"Please don't worry about it. Talk things over with your daughter for a while."
I took three folding chairs out and placed them inside the container house.
"Understood."
"Kanan, should I join you while you talk things over with your parents?"
"No, I will talk with my parents first."
Kanan had forced her way here, after all. She would have to begin by explaining that.
Though I had gone and done it too...
After leaving the container house, I thanked Primula for her help.
"Sorry about this, Primula."
"It's all right. Dealing with nobles is part of my job, after all."
"Still, you learned to ride a bicycle—er, a draisine remarkably quickly."
"I practiced!"
She clenched both fists and pumped herself up with a spirited little "Hmph!"
The beastwoman Nyaresa was riding the bicycle Primula had arrived on—and she was incredibly good at it!
She was even performing trick-riding maneuvers. As expected, beastfolk were bundles of athletic ability.
They could probably handle any sport without difficulty.
Except sports that required thinking.
"Hey, Kenichi. What happened?"
Akira came over from the residential area.
"Kanan's parents barged in."
"Hahaha. Good luck."
Akira laughed, but Kanan was an uninvited wife, after all.
While I was worrying about that, the beastfolk came over and pointed at Nyaresa's bicycle.
"Boss! Get us some of those too! You can take the money out of our earnings!" "Nyaa!"
"Huh? You beastfolk are fast enough on foot. You don't need draisines, do you?"
According to them, they wanted to try riding in ways like tricks rather than simply going faster.
So I bought BMX bikes from Shangri-La for that purpose.
The pedals were directly connected to the rear wheel, without the freewheeling one-way clutch that spun uselessly on ordinary bicycles.
They also had pegs on the front and rear axles for resting one's feet.
They cost ¥80,000. Naturally, they were impossibly advanced technology in this world, and no one could manufacture them even for ten times that price.
I bought two bikes and deducted the cost from the money I was holding for them.
"Click."
Two BMX bikes dropped down with a clatter.
"Here you go. But are you sure you can handle them?"
"If Nyaresa can ride one, there's no way I can't!" "Probably, nya!"
They struggled with the unfamiliar bicycles at first—but soon they were riding them with ease.
They performed wheelies, spun around in circles, and even did jackknives effortlessly.
"Woohoo! This thing is fun!" "Unyaa!"
Even though the gears were supposed to be fixed in low gear, they reached a considerable speed. The speed at which their legs turned was on an entirely different level.
I wondered how fast they could go if I put them on an ordinary road bike.
I was curious, but the roads in this other world were unmaintained, so riding anything but a mountain bike or BMX was impossible.
I was once again impressed by the beastfolk's athletic ability, but the area around the container house had become somewhat noisy.
"Hey, you lot, people are sleeping in that iron box. Go play somewhere a little farther away."
"Sure thing~" "Nyaa!"
Once the beastfolk had left, I asked Julius about remarriage among nobles.
"What usually happens to the wife of a divorced noble?"
"Unless there are exceptional circumstances, nobles normally do not divorce. Widowhood is another matter, of course..."
"What happens in that case?"
"If she comes from a good family, someone will take her in, but usually she will marry someone of considerably lower rank..."
Even after being widowed, would she be nothing more than a pawn in a political marriage?
"That makes her sound like a burden."
"Even when it comes to bearing an heir, younger women are preferred..."
He spoke as though he had something stuck between his back teeth.
Well... even so, a woman as beautiful as the baroness would probably find a prospective husband quickly—but Julius shook his head.
"In that case, she might marry a merchant or someone similar..."
"That is entirely possible."
Lilith seemed dissatisfied with Kanan's actions.
"Good grief. Lady Kanan was far too reckless. She rushed here on impulse without even contacting her family..."
"What about you and Amaranthus, then? You suddenly abandoned the royal family and came all the way to this remote place."
"Ugh... That is..."
"Lilith at least has the pretext of getting married, but Amaranthus was a former queen and is now a slave. Doesn't that make even less sense?"
"Do not ask me about that!"
Amaranthus was listening beside us, but she pretended not to hear.
While the four of us—Lilith, Amaranthus, Julius, and I—were talking, the baroness burst out of the container house and grabbed my hand.
"Then may I entrust my daughter to you, Margrave-sama?"
"Huh? Well, I don't mind, but you changed your tune awfully quickly."
"If two members of the royal family are here, then this must be a territory established with royal support, must it not?"
"Well, that hasn't actually been decided yet."
"There could be no better remarriage for her than becoming the secondary wife of the lord of such a territory."
What a remarkably cash-minded mother. Still, if Kanan became my secondary wife, she might become related to the royal family as well, so I could hardly blame her.
"Kenichi~!"
Kanan came running out of the container house and threw her arms around me.
"Hold on a second."
"I have my father's and mother's permission. Now I can officially become your secondary wife—"
"Didn't you say you didn't want that?"
"But we've already done it."
She wrapped her legs around me with a dreamy look on her face.
"Ah... I've never wanted to bear someone's children this badly before..."
"Didn't you feel that way about the viscount?"
"I think I told you before, but there can be no love in a political marriage."
Kanan turned her face aside, though Julius had said that some noble couples were close.
"Then why were you so angry when the viscount replaced his principal wife?"
"Of course I was! I have my pride as a woman! If only I had met you ten years earlier, Kenichi..."
As Kanan murmured regretfully about an impossible change to history, a voice came from behind us.
It was Amaranthus, who had been silently listening to our conversation.
"That applies to me as well, Kanan. If it had been ten years earlier, I would be the Holy Knight-sama's principal wife."
"Wouldn't that be cruel to the king, who cared for you so deeply?"
"Hmph. If he had confronted me head-on, even knowing I might cut him down, he might have won my heart! Instead, he kept resorting to underhanded tricks."
Amaranthus was hiding her face behind her fan, but her eyes were frightening.
It seemed the king had had a chance, but he had approached her in the wrong way.
"It is not too late! Let us regain our sweet time together!"
Kanan brought her face close to mine.
"Stop it. It's the middle of the day."
When I pushed her face away, Lilith stepped between us.
"Lady Kanan! I, the principal wife, come first, you know!"
"Lilith-sama, even if you say that, whether we can or cannot is in the hands of the gods."
"Nooo!"
Anemone had somehow arrived and joined us in stepping between them.
"All right, all right! You two, separate!"
Primula came over.
"Um, Kenichi, shouldn't we show the baron and baroness some hospitality...?"
"I think our food would satisfy even the two members of the royal family, but if they eat dinner here, they'll have to spend the night..."
There was no mansion or guest room here. I explained the situation to the baron and baroness.
"Margrave-sama, if you would lend us that iron room, there will be no problem at all."
The baroness was completely different from when we had first met. Now that the hierarchy was clear, this must have been the proper noble response.
"Will that really do?"
"Yes. When traveling to the royal capital, it is quite normal for us to sleep outdoors with the carriage."
Bringing many attendants and transporting prefabricated tents would require a very high-ranking noble.
For a baron with no territory of his own, sleeping outdoors was unavoidable.
"In that case... What should we make for dinner?"
"Curry." "Curry."
The two former royals wanted curry as well.
"Curry!"
Anemone wanted curry too.
"Boss, are we having curry for dinner?" "Nyaa!"
Hearing the word curry, the beastfolk came over too.
Julius and Akira were smiling as well, so curry it was.
"Then curry it is."
"Yaaay!"
"I guess curry really is justice even in another world."
Akira muttered as he looked at everyone.
"That's right. It's the most popular thing we have."
Amid the excited family, one beastwoman wore a puzzled expression.
It was Nyaresa, Primula's bodyguard.
"What is this curry?"
"It's a dish made with spices. It's incredibly delicious." "That's right, nya."
"Lord-sama, may I eat something so luxurious too?"
"Of course. Primula relies on you, after all."
Since Primula was here, I asked about her plans for the day.
"Primula, are you staying here today?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll leave the soup to you."
"Understood."
"You don't have to push yourself, you know?"
"I am not pushing myself."
I took a table and the necessary utensils out of my Item Box and arranged them.
Once the mansion was finished, the maids would probably handle preparations like this.
The maids were setting up folding tables a short distance away.
They were ones I had bought for them from Shangri-La.
"Once Sanbak-san arrives, I suppose we'll leave meal preparation to his attendant cooks."
"What? I want to eat Kenichi's cooking."
Anemone said that, but as our numbers grew, I could not prepare everything myself.
From her perspective, the time when it had been just the two of us must have been the best.
Still, she was only a child. I thought she would understand once she grew a little older...
I could not say that to her face, though.
"Anemone, bake the bread for us."
"Okay!"
Everyone peeled vegetables while I grilled dragon meat.
All of it came together in a huge pot that Primula stirred.
Once everything was ready, I added the curry roux, that great crystallization of civilization created by Japan.
The smell of curry spread everywhere.
The maids had curry too.
Soup was a standard dish in this world, made almost every day. Adding curry roux to it instantly turned it into curry.
Simple, straightforward, and delicious. That was the truth of curry.
"This is amazing! What is it?! This is a spice dish?!"
The Siamese-patterned beastwoman cried out after tasting the curry.
The beastfolk were seated at a separate table a short distance away.
"Ha ha, good, isn't it? If you eat food like this every day, Nyaresa won't be able to live without the Boss."
Nyamena wore a smug expression, but Myaaree gave her an exasperated retort.
"This is why tiger girls are idiots, nya."
"Why?!"
"If we add more beastwomen, it will only reduce our share, nya."
"Urk!"
Once everyone was seated at the long table, Primula served curry to them all.
The baron and baroness were nervous about the suspicious dish they had never seen before, but then they saw the former royals eating it enthusiastically.
They scooped up curry with their spoons and brought it to their mouths.
"What an extraordinary spice dish!"
"Indeed. I have never tasted such a magnificent dish."
The baron and baroness sat across from me, eating curry and praising it enthusiastically.
"This curry is delicious every time I eat it."
Their daughter Kanan was eating curry with us too, still wearing her track clothes.
No matter what her parents said, she apparently had no intention of changing.
"Even the castle never had food this wonderful."
"Quite so."
The baron and baroness listened with interest to the two former royals' discussion of curry.
As I listened to them, something black wrapped itself around my feet.
"Nyaa."
"What is it, Mother? Have you gotten over your bad mood?"
I stroked Bell, and since she began purring, I gave her a can of cat food.
"What?! The Forest Cat-sama?!"
Nyaresa cried out in astonishment.
Bell heard her and headed over. When Nyaresa saw the Forest Cat in front of her, she dropped to her knees and began worshiping her.
"Come to think of it, Myaaree and Nyamena, why don't you call Bell-sama?"
"Our tribe didn't, nya."
"Neither did ours."
"Does it differ from tribe to tribe?"
Apparently, that was not the only reason.
"Besides... the Forest Cat told us we didn't have to use an honorific..."
"Our tribe was told the same thing when we met her in the Dalia Forest, nya."
"Huh? Really?"
There seemed to be some mysterious means of communication between the beastfolk and the Forest Cat.
Even when I asked them, they could only say it was something they vaguely understood, and they could not explain it clearly.
Bell understood quite a lot of what I said as well, so I had thought she was highly intelligent. This seemed to confirm it.
I was a little surprised.
We finished eating, so it was time to prepare the beds.
The baron and baroness were going to stay in the container house, but what would Akira do?
"What are you going to do, Akira?"
"Kenichi, are there any more of those container houses?"
"Sure."
I took another iron box out of my Item Box near the beastfolk's houses.
A container house fell from the air and struck the ground with a rumble.
Inside, I put a bed, chest, lamp, and chair... That should do it.
Akira had items in his own Item Box as well, so he could use those.
"Akira, is this good enough?"
"Whoa! It's perfect! Perfect!"
Once our meal together was over, darkness had fallen around us.
I offered the baron and baroness a bath, but they were understandably reluctant to get naked outdoors.
When I thought about it that way, were we the abnormal ones?
Night fell, and silence enveloped the area.
I was in the tree house with Lilith.
For some reason, Mairen was in front of me, down on all fours and sprawled across the floor.
Her maid uniform's skirt had been pulled up, leaving her large rear exposed as she swayed it from side to side.
"Ahhh! Master, please forgive me!"
"Hold on, Lilith. She said, 'Please forgive me,' but I can forgive her, can't I?"
"No, Kenichi. We must punish her properly."
"What? But she hasn't done anything that needs punishing..."
"That does not matter! We must do it! Otherwise, these women will deliberately start slacking off so that they can receive real punishment, you know?"
I decided to check with Mairen as well.
"Really, Mairen?"
"That is not true, Master!"
"These people are liars. You may doubt me if you wish, but their work will begin to fall behind tomorrow."
"What?!"
Lilith did not look as though she was lying. Besides, there was no reason to make up a lie like this.
With no other choice, I did as Lilith said and punished Mairen, shamelessly letting my middle-aged-man side show.
"This is it?! Is this what you wanted?!"
"Eeeek! Master, please forgive me!"
It was some utterly incomprehensible noble custom—or perhaps a hobby.
Since we had the opportunity, I also dressed Lilith in a white frilly dress I had bought from Shangri-La.
It was the same kind of cosplay outfit Kanan had worn before, but the skirt was incredibly short and nearly exposed her crotch.
"Wait just a moment! What is this outfit?!"
"Oh, you're so cute. Anything suits you because you're so adorable."
"But this will reveal everything!"
Her long, white legs emerged from the frilly skirt that came dangerously close to her crotch, displaying devastating destructive power.
Would she become even more voluptuous after a few more years? It was truly magnificent.
My thoughts were those of an old man, but I was an old man, so it could not be helped.
Lilith desperately tried to cover her crotch. She was not usually so shy, but—
She seemed embarrassed by this sort of outfit.
"It's cute because it almost shows everything."
"Uuugh..."
The three of us played like that all night—and then morning came.
After breakfast, the baron and baroness returned to Astrantia.
As for Mairen, whom I had punished the day before—she went about her work with a more radiant expression than usual.
Apparently, that was how things worked.