Entertaining the Princess

Finally, we made it to the royal capital and even managed to enter the castle, but the spoiled princess came barging in on us.

I couldn't imagine what she found so enjoyable about it—but perhaps it was unavoidable given her status; she seemed starved for anything interesting or entertaining.

Once we finished setting up the house, we brought out Nyamena's shed.

When I brought out Myaree's bed as well, the two beastfolk immediately began setting everything up.

They were always arguing with each other, but here they were completely on foreign ground. At times like this, members of the same race stuck together.

They say that even tribes at odds will immediately unite if a crisis arises that outweighs their differences.

Next was the toilet. I had no idea how long this protracted affair would last.

I dug a hole with Yu○bo, then set the toilet over it.

"Yu○bo, summon!"

I sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. When I moved over and began digging the hole, the princess climbed into the seat.

Along with a flowerlike fragrance, golden hair shimmered before my eyes, and when I touched her skin, the warmth of the princess's body came through.

"What in the world is this?!"

"Wait, Your Highness! It's dangerous!"

Getting close to operating heavy machinery was extremely dangerous.

"So this is the iron summoned beast from the report!"

The princess's guards hurried over, but they were too scared of the roaring Yu○bo to approach it.

The steel bucket scooped deep into the earth. I could fill it in when we left, so I decided to dig the hole a little deeper.

"I see! So you finished the construction work in Eupatorium territory with this iron magic beast."

"Please, Your Highness. Could you get down?"

"What, already?"

"Yes..."

I tried to get down, but the princess wrapped her arms around my neck and wouldn't let go.

"Your Highness, please stop playing around."

Since she wouldn't let go, I had no choice but to carry her down from the heavy machinery in my arms, literally like a princess—but naturally, I was surrounded by her guards.

"You bastard! How dare you touch Her Highness so casually! What insolence!"

When the knight reached for his shining golden sword, I took a large polycarbonate shield out of my Item Box.

The next moment, the knight's sword bounced off the transparent shield. Damn it, he really had drawn it.

When I took a crossbow from my Item Box, the blond knight leaped backward to put some distance between us.

Still, he was leagues beyond the pathetic knight I had seen in Astrantia.

As expected of the princess's guards, it seemed that capable fighters had been selected.

"Mmm!"

Blue light gathered before Anemone's chest, and the overflowing radiance dyed the surroundings blue.

"Whoa, whoa, Anemone! Wait, wait!"

"Fireball!"

Before the magical flame could reach the knight, the female knight stepped between them.

"Protection!"

An invisible shield blocked the magic Anemone had cast, and the flames dispersed. This was probably an inferior version of High Protection.

For simple defense, Protection was sufficient. I'd look for a grimoire of it next time.

"Whoa!"

"Mmm!"

Anemone began loading her next shot.

"Hey, Anemone! Stop it!"

"Both of you! Sheathe your swords!"

The knight sheathed his sword, so Anemone seemed to stop herself from firing another spell as well.

"Were you a mage at such a young age? What is your name?"

The princess seemed interested in Anemone.

"Anemone..."

"Anemone, is it? I am Lilith. You may call me by my name."

"Your Highness, Anemone is the archmage of my adventurer family."

"What? An archmage? What other magic can she use?"

"...Explosion and Heal, among others..."

Anemone answered that way, but she had apparently hidden High Protection. It was apparently a high-level spell that few people could use.

"What? Explosion? Ha-ha-ha! Did you hear that, Row? If their first shot had been Explosion instead of Fireball, you two would have been promoted two ranks—posthumously!"

The princess smiled spitefully and continued.

"Still, if this had been a real battle, it would mean you failed to protect me."

"Tch..."

The kneeling knight wore an intensely frustrated expression.

"All guards except Row, withdraw! Row! You shall remain here and show your foolish face as the incompetent who failed to protect me!"

"...As Your Highness commands."

The two knights trudged off and disappeared into the rear. Personally, I would have preferred the female knight to stay rather than the blond one.

"Your Highness, I apologize for the disturbance. We are about to prepare a meal, but..."

"What, you won't serve me a meal?"

"...You intend to dine together with commoners?"

"I have no objection."

The knight who had lost to us said nothing more. He had completely become a puppet, doing nothing but follow the princess's orders and carry out his guard duties.

Now, what should I cook? When I asked Anemone, all I heard was "Curry!"

Primula seemed to agree with curry too. The two beastfolk and Bell had disappeared before I knew it.

Where had they gone? I had a bad feeling about them wandering around too much...

Setting that aside, curry was well received wherever I served it, and surely no member of the royal family had ever eaten it.

In that case, it was probably best to bet on curry, which reigned supreme even in another world.

I had Anemone and Primula help me prepare the curry.

I chopped and fried a huge amount of onions. I fried the meat and vegetables as well. For now, I planned to make a waterless curry by adding a large quantity of vegetables.

I used to make it occasionally in my original world too, and it had always been delicious.

Then I brought out rice and cooked it too. Since I could store it in my Item Box while it was still freshly cooked, I made a large amount.

While we prepared the curry, the princess peered in with interest. Perhaps she had never seen commoners cooking firsthand.

Then Bell emerged from behind something with prey in her mouth. It was a blue bird about the size of a pigeon, with a striped crest extending from its head.

"Whoa! Bell, did you bring us some prey already? Wait, this isn't one of the birds they keep in the castle, is it?"

I checked with the princess just in case, but apparently it was an ordinary wild bird that had made its home in the castle gardens.

Since we were having curry today, I put the bird in my Item Box. I opened three cans of cat food for Bell.

When Bell began eating the cat food, Myaree and Nyamena returned too, but each of them was holding the same kind of bird.

"How did you catch those without even having bows?"

I had left their weapons in my Item Box. There was no way I could let them wander around inside the castle carrying weapons.

"A snare." "That's right, nya."

They say beastfolk are taught how to make traps when they are children. Even if children cannot handle weapons, they can catch prey if they know how to make traps.

They really were a race specialized for survival.

"Do you two always catch prey and live this way?"

"That is correct. We normally live in the forest, so we never have trouble finding prey."

"What? In the forest...? What about monsters?"

"Of course there are monsters. We hunt those as well and turn them into food."

"Hmm..."

The princess seemed impressed.

"Would you like to see one?"

"What?"

I took out the male Cave Spider that had been sitting in my Item Box all this time.

A huge spider covered in white carapace and hair appeared before the princess.

"Whoa! Wh-what is this?!"

"Your Highness, this is a Cave Spider."

The knight named Row, the only one left, seemed to know the name of the prey.

"So this is one! I've never seen one in person before. Aren't they supposed to be used to make armor and such?"

"That is correct."

"Very well! Kenichi! The royal family will purchase this spider."

"You are serious?"

"Indeed!"

"Actually, this one is male, and I also have an even larger female, but..."

"What did you say?!"

But it was almost time to eat, so I decided not to bring out the female. It would ruin everyone's appetite.

We decided to settle the spider's fate later, and the curry was ready.

"What a wonderful smell! Is this a soup made from spices?"

"That is correct."

"And those white grains?"

"They are cooked grains. I was planning to prepare bread for Your Highness, but..."

"I would like to try the white stuff too."

"As you wish."

Now, using ordinary plates to serve royalty might not be appropriate. I searched Shangri-La for expensive plates.

I found plates made by Ro○yal C○penhagen, a brand even I knew.

The rims were decorated with gold patterns, and plants were painted in the center.

One plate cost—get this—400,000 yen. In this world, it would probably be worth four or five million yen, or more than twenty-five gold coins.

I chose spoons from the same maker as well. They were gold, with elaborately patterned ceramic handles—200,000 yen each.

"Hmm, what a magnificent plate and spoon..."

"They are quite exceptional, aren't they?"

As I spoke, I piled rice onto a Ro○yal C○penhagen plate and poured curry over it.

Well, whether it was Ro○yal C○penhagen, Ma○sen, or made by Rosanjin, tableware was meaningless if you didn't use it.

Once everything was ready and we sat at the table, Myaree and Nyamena were already eating cross-legged on the ground.

Apparently, they didn't have the nerve to sit at the same table as royalty. I offered to bring out another table, but they said they didn't need one.

"Boss, just being able to say we ate the same food as royalty will give us something to brag about for the rest of our lives. Ha-ha." "That's right, nya."

Since they didn't seem to care, we began eating too.

The princess scooped up some curry and offered it to the knight who had come up beside her from behind. It was probably a taste test for poison.

But the knight's face twisted in terror at the brown sludge he had never seen before.

Talk about overreacting—could he really do his job as the princess's shield if something like this shook him?

"Ugh... Here goes—mm, delicious?"

"I see."

Hearing that, the princess put a spoonful of curry into her mouth as well.

"Munch, munch... Wh-what is this?! Delicious! It looks a little questionable, but once it's in your mouth, the aroma of the spices is incredibly appetizing!"

"It is made by skillfully combining more than ten different spices to create this flavor."

"This is wonderful—and delicious too! Do commoners always eat food like this?"

"No, this is food from my homeland... In the cities of this country, the Spice Guild holds considerable sway and drives up prices, so it is difficult for commoners to eat this kind of food at present."

"Hmm... I have heard something like that before, but..."

"The beastfolk over there love spiced food, but even though they want to eat it, they cannot."

"I see... And will you not teach me the combination of spices?"

"I did not create it, so the combination is kept secret. However—perhaps the royal palace chefs could reproduce it."

I bought a red can of S○B curry powder from Shangri-La and held it out to the princess.

I opened the metal lid with a spoon and showed her the contents. Naturally, it was filled with golden curry powder.

"Oh! That sounds interesting! They are always boasting that there is no dish they cannot make. This could make for an amusing spectacle."

The princess wore a dark smile as she shoveled curry into her mouth. She really must have been starved for entertainment...

But she seemed to like the curry. She was gobbling it down enthusiastically. Anemone was eating curry as though competing with her, but then—

"Another helping!"

"Huh?!"

"Is that not allowed?"

"Of course it is. I would never dream of refusing you."

I piled rice and curry onto another expensive plate.

In the end, the princess had two refills. Where did she put it all in that slender body?

"Whew... This is truly delicious! I am satisfied..."

The princess sat in a slightly slouched position and gazed up at the sky, which was already beginning to turn red.

"If the royal palace chefs can reproduce it well, it might become a specialty of the castle."

"Exactly! Kenichi, I also like this plate and spoon. I shall purchase them."

"What? You truly wish to buy them?"

"You said you were a merchant, did you not? They are for sale, are they not?"

"Of course."

I quietly asked Primula, who was sitting beside me, how much to charge.

"I was thinking twenty gold coins for the plate and about ten for the spoon..."

"Twenty gold coins for the plate is fine—the spoon could fetch twenty."

I see... Apparently, this world had no spoons made in such a style, combining gold and ceramics.

"In that case, Your Highness, I will sell you the plates and spoons for twenty gold coins each. How many would you like?"

"That is quite reasonable. In that case—I shall purchase ten of each, including these."

The princess pointed to the plate and spoon she was using.

Let's see—that was 400 gold coins, or 80 million yen... As expected of the royal family, they could casually make a purchase like that. Their wealth was on a different level.

"Someone, come here!"

At the princess's call, maids wearing white-frilled, navy one-piece uniforms appeared from nowhere.

Hmm, as expected of maids working in the royal palace, they were all beautiful. They must have been waiting out of sight, ready to answer whenever they were called.

I suppose some of them went on to become the favorites of kings and nobles and eventually their mistresses.

I loaded the gold coins I had acquired in the viscount's territory into Shangri-La, then bought ten Ro○yal C○penhagen plates and ten gold spoons.

But if I kept loading Shangri-La with gold coins like this and selling goods to royalty and nobles, gold coins would disappear from the market...

The maids carried the plates and spoons that had appeared on the table to the serving room.

"Also, take this spice powder to the head chef. Tell him to make the same dish by my order."

"Yes, Princess."

A maid wearing glasses and a little older-looking than the others carried away the red can of curry powder.

Her black hair was tied at the back of her head, revealing the nape of her neck. Hmm, alluring... Very nice.

But Anemone and Primula's gazes stabbed into me as I watched the maid.

"I see... You really are a merchant after all. That Item Box of yours must contain all sorts of exceptional goods."

"That is correct, but neither my family nor my wife knows what is inside."

"With all due respect, Your Highness, what my master says is true."

"You are not dealing in prohibited goods, I hope?"

The princess gave me a sharp look, but—

"It is a trade secret, so I cannot answer, and there is no way for anyone else to verify it."

"Hmm... I heard that living things cannot be put into an Item Box."

"That is correct."

"Then kidnapping people and the like would be impossible, would it not?"

The princess had started saying some dangerous things.

"Well, it would normally be impossible, but there is a loophole."

"A loophole?"

Her eyes gleamed.

"If someone were put into a state of suspended animation by magic or drugs, I think they could be put in an Item Box. I've never tried it, though..."

"Hmm... So that means I could mix drugs into my food and abduct me, yes? But after abducting me, how would you get out of this castle?"

"You could simply get over these castle walls."

I pointed to the tall castle wall near our house.

"What? How would you get over something this tall? With magic?"

I took the princess to the wall and brought scaffolding out of my Item Box.

"Scaffolding, summon!"

The princess cried out in surprise at the jungle gym of iron pipes that suddenly appeared before us.

"What in the world is this?!"

"Scaffolding made of iron pipes. Here, take my hand."

She took my hand and climbed the scaffolding stairs, reaching the top of the wall.

Then I immediately stored the scaffolding, but somehow Anemone and Bell had climbed up too.

"This way, pursuers can't climb up after us, and if I bring out scaffolding on the other side, we can climb down."

"This is incredible!"

The view from atop the wall was quite something. A moat encircled the castle below us.

And the streets of the royal capital, dyed red by the setting sun, stretched far into the distance.

It would be beautiful at night if there were electric lights, but all they probably had here were kerosene lamps.

But since this was the royal capital, perhaps they had the magical lamps I had heard about before.

"You bastard! What are you planning to do with Her Highness?!"

Below the wall, the knight whose charge had been carried away was shouting.

"Ha-ha-ha! Row! If I am carried away like this, your head will be separated from your body for being the useless man who failed to protect the princess!"

"Damn..."

"Perhaps you should not torment him quite so much."

"That man is the embodiment of elitist thinking. It would do him good to lose to a commoner once in a while and learn a painful lesson."

I couldn't tell whether she was simply selfish or actually thinking of her subordinate. She was a difficult person to figure out.

"But if we climb down from here, there is a moat. What will we do about that?"

"There is a boat in my Item Box, so we can use it."

"Good heavens! You really have everything in there... So what will you do after abducting me? Strip me naked and enjoy yourself?"

"Well... My Item Box contains all sorts of magic tools for tormenting women, so perhaps I could use those..."

"Oh? And you would try to break my spirit?"

"However, Your Highness seems rather resilient, so I would take several months and wear you down slowly..."

"If that happened, I could never return to the castle. Would I leave the castle and become the plaything of filthy men?"

But this setup sounded familiar from somewhere...

"The Viscountess of Eupatorium said something exactly like that. Is there some original story behind this sort of material?"

"Ugh..."

"Ah, I see—those thin books circulating around town. It is not very admirable to read such things at your age."

"What are you talking about? In a few years, I will marry and bear children. If anything, I am late."

What?! Really? A political marriage, then. The lives of royalty and nobles really were difficult.

"Even royalty and nobility, who look so glamorous from the outside, must have it difficult."

"The glamour is only on the outside! Inside, it is worse than a sewer!"

But Anemone interrupted my conversation with the princess.

"You two are standing way too close!"

She wedged herself between us and forcibly pulled us apart, then grabbed my arm.

"What do you mean, at such a good moment? Is Anemone not Kenichi's daughter?"

"She is, but I rescued her from bandits and took her in, so we are not related by blood."

"I see."

"In five years, I'm going to have Kenichi's babies!"

"That's fine, but Anemone—once you have children, you won't be able to be an adventurer anymore, will you?"

"Oh! Ohhh..."

I suppose being a merchant with children wouldn't be a problem, but having children while working as an adventurer would be dangerous.

It would be like going to a battlefield carrying a child.

"Did you teach her magic as well?"

"No, my magic is Unique magic, so I cannot teach it to anyone. That is why I bought her grimoires and books about magic."

"Oh... Giving grimoires to a child you did not even know is not something many people could do."

"That is how exceptional her talent for magic is."

"Hmm, indeed..."

As I talked with the princess, it grew dark, so I brought out the scaffolding and climbed down.

Once inside the house, I brought out pajamas for the princess.

I searched Shangri-La for expensive nightwear just in case, but couldn't find anything like that.

I prepared a white, frilled one-piece like the ones Anemone and Primula wore.

"Oh! I am supposed to sleep in this? I have never stayed anywhere like this before!"

"Your Highness, are you truly certain about this?"

"I am royalty, after all. I am confident in my ability to judge people. Besides..."

The princess pointed to Bell, who was curled up in the corner of the room.

"I hear a Forest Cat will never take to a wicked person."

I suppose that was one way of looking at it...

The excited princess still had a touch of childish innocence, but there was no way I could sleep in the same bed as an unmarried royal.

I left Primula in charge and went outside—where I found the guard knight sitting alone.

"Are you on guard here? It gets cold at night. Use this."

I took two blankets out of my Item Box. Since he hadn't eaten, I gave him curry and bread as well.

But the knight turned his face away.

"I will not accept charity!"

"Fine... Eat it if you change your mind."

I lit a fire on the ground and took a sleeping bag out of my Item Box, slipping only my legs inside.

Then Nyamena and Myaree came out of the neighboring shed.

"You're sleeping outside too, Boss?"

"Of course I can't sleep in the same room as an unmarried royal. I'd definitely lose my head."

"No argument there, nya."

Nyamena said she wanted a drink, so I poured her a little.

I poured some for the knight too, and—he drank it.

"Hmm! What is this liquor...?"

The knight had been grumbling, but he began eating the curry and bread too.

He really wasn't very honest about his feelings.