by Hiro Ainana
I was overwhelmed with sympathy for the white tiger princess as she trembled before the fervor of the crowd.
> Skill Acquired: “White Tigerfolk Language”
For now, I raised it to level 3 so that I could understand her and activated it.
…Hmm? Something strange is happening on my radar.
I opened my map and checked on the details.
Other beastfolk were gathering near the auction house, especially tigerfolk.
Since some of them were youths of the same species as the white tiger princess, they might be a rescue team.
A few others had infiltrated the hall besides the group of white tigerfolk men I saw at the entrance, too. There was even a squirrelfolk girl crawling along a beam near the ceiling of the stage.
As I watched, she almost lost her footing and fell, so I used Magic Hand to subtly push her back up.
For the moment, I seemed to be the only person who’d noticed, but someone else could look up and spot her at any moment.
The bidding war for the white tiger princess was heating up, already reaching twenty-nine gold coins.
Both bidders were humanfolk. One seemed to be a noble of the old capital, but the other was a noble from a place I’d never heard of, the Makiwa Kingdom. He was wearing a flashy red cloak.
The former wore an expression of pure greed, but the latter’s eyes were frighteningly bloodshot. It was as if he had some kind of grudge.
“Lady Menea, do you know of the Makiwa Kingdom?”
“Y-yes, I do. It’s a relatively large kingdom in the east. I believe the king passed away recently and was succeeded by the crown prince. It used to be a kingdom that was quite kind to beastfolk, but I’ve heard things have changed since the new king took over.”
Princess Menea chose her words carefully, but I surmised that this probably meant the kingdom was now harsh toward beastfolk.
“And do you know anything about this white tiger princess’s homeland?”
“Our kingdom has never had diplomatic relations with the White Tiger Kingdom, so I’m not clear on the details, but…”
According to the princess, the Red Lion Kingdom in the east, the Scalefolk Emirate in the north, and the White Tiger Kingdom in the south were the three major demi-human powers on the eastern end of the continent until the Gray Ratfolk Emirate appeared.
Each of these nations was very different. The haughty red lionfolk treated humans and beastfolk as equally inferior; the scalefolk formed a federation consisting of primarily the greenscale tribe, as well as Liza’s orangescale tribe and other tribes; and the white tigerfolk ruled benevolently over the other beastfolk in their kingdom.
“White tigerfolk are said to be stern but courageous, making them very dangerous enemies. However, they are also known for being very honorable. If you make friends with them once, they will treat you like a blood relative forever, and if they owe you a debt, they are sure to repay you in kind.”
Hmm. So was there a war between the White Tiger Kingdom and the Makiwa Kingdom or something?
At any rate… No matter what was going on behind the scenes, I couldn’t stomach the thought of any adults laying a hand on this small child.
If I had to, I would bid on her myself and give her to the rescue team, but it didn’t look like that was going to be necessary.
I sensed magic taking place next to the stage, so I looked up.
There was a young man producing what looked like black spheres. He seemed to be using them to put out the lights in this room.
“Fire!” A shout came from the exit as white smoke billowed throughout.
Once everyone was in a panic, the rescue team leaped in from the ventilation ducts to save the white tiger princess.
Leading the way was a white tigerfolk swordsman with a broadsword in his hands.
Through the smoke and darkness, I saw a silhouette stand in his way.
“I knew you’d show up, Gargaolon!”
“Hmph! Is your grudge so strong that you would bother to show up here yourself, Marquis?”
The Makiwa Kingdom noble and the white tiger swordsman seemed to have some kind of history. I had to adjust to the tigerfolk man’s hard-to-understand Shigan language.
The nobleman’s retinue pulled swords out of an Item Box and charged at the group of white tigerfolk swordsmen.
This was a pretty serious situation, but since it was happening on a stage and all, it sort of felt like I was just watching an action-packed play.
I might be getting a little too used to the savageness of this world.
“
Geh—spare me the gore, please.
I take back what I said before. Clearly, my Japanese sensitivity is still alive and well.
“Aah! Sir Satou!”
Princess Menea clung to me with a cry.
Her escort knight was standing guard in front of the nobles’ seats, but neither the white tigerfolk nor the Makiwa people seemed to have any intention of getting us involved.
“Your Highness, it’s too dangerous here.”
“S-Sir Satou, we should flee, too.”
Ignoring the escort knight’s urging, Princess Menea kept pressing against me.
“Wait a moment, please. I hear footsteps on the stairs. If we go that way now, we might get caught between the reinforcements from outside and the fighting in here.”
Even as I spoke, the guards charged in from the stairs.
Trying to assist the rescue team, I covertly used Magic Hand to roll obstacles at the feet of the guards.
Then, flames rose out of the darkness.
The Makiwa Kingdom nobleman was holding a staff with a large ruby-like jewel, which was emitting the flames.
“Oh no! That’s a Crimson Cane… A cursed staff that attracts fire monsters…”
Princess Menea explained this next to me in a whisper, but there was something else I had to do before responding.
“This is the end of the line, Gargaolon.”
“Tch! He’s going to use that here?!”
The noble’s staff glowed red, and the torchlight-size flames grew to the size of a campfire.
He was about to use a huge flame attack right here in the basement.
…What an idiot.
I used Magic Hand to grab a heavy-looking vase and smash it against the pyromaniac noble’s head, knocking him unconscious.
His level was decently high, so I doubted that would kill him.
“Whoever did that, I thank you!”
The white tigerfolk man shouted into the crowd and went back to taking out the noble’s followers.
Once the staff fell from his hands, its flame weakened and finally went out. His bright-red cloak was on fire, but a young boy who seemed to be his page was hurriedly stomping it out, so he should be fine.
Once he’d defeated the last attacker, the swordsman knelt in front of the white tiger princess.
“
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“““
With the swordsman in the lead carrying the princess, the group of beastfolk fled, knocking over the guards as they ran.
Following them on my map, I saw that they were able to escape the district and make it safely down the river.
Once the pyro noble recovered, he gulped down a potion to heal his wounds and chased after them with his retinue in tow.
He seemed to have a serious obsession with the white tiger princess.
Later, after some more commotion, I was ab
le to pay for and pick up the items I’d won.
On the way home in the carriage, I saw a few mon hunters being carried to a temple on wooden boards. They must have gotten caught up in the fight over the princess.
The dark auction was a little violent, but it was certainly pretty interesting. I hoped I would have a chance to come here alone sometime during my stay.
“Oh man! Japanese food!”
“Tofu, miso soup, and even natto!”
Yui and Aoi were overjoyed at the spread of typical Japanese food.
The day after the auction, I invited Princess Menea and the kids over for a farewell party for Miss Karina, who was heading to the royal capital.
The king was in the old capital, even if it was just a body double, so I thought getting an audience here would be good enough. However, it was considered important for a lord’s proxy to go to the royal capital to report, so Miss Karina had no choice but to do so.
She was taking a large aircraft from the old capital to the royal capital, so there was probably no need to worry about her safety.
Incidentally, Arisa had stumbled on the natto when she was looking for coffee beans.
“How nice, Sir Satou! I can’t believe you knew that we were departing on the same aircraft as Mistress Karina the day after tomorrow!”
Princess Menea looked delighted.
I couldn’t bring myself to admit that I hadn’t actually known that, so I just smiled back at her.
“All right, all right, that’s enough~.”
“Mm. Too close.”
Princess Menea drew closer to me as she rejoiced, but the iron-wall duo of Arisa and Mia blocked her immediately.
Generally, that would be pretty rude behavior, but since one was a former princess and the other an elf, even Princess Menea had a hard time saying anything to scold them.
“Sir Pendragon, you’re really going to have Her Highness Princess Menea sit at the same table as those beastfolk?”
“Yes, Lady Menea has given her permission.”
I politely dismissed the complaints of Miss Karina’s younger brother, Orion.
If Princess Menea had refused, I would have set up separate seats for the invited guests, but she had happily consented, so we could all eat together.
Her compliance was very helpful, since Miss Karina had insisted that she wanted Tama, Pochi, and Liza to join us.
The three of them had set up camp in front of a mountain of steaks, eagerly awaiting the start of the feast.
“Thank you all for gathering today for Lady Karina and Princess Menea’s farewell party.”
I got things started with the kind of introduction you might hear at a company party.
I’d decided on a buffet-style party in the garden so everyone could enjoy eating and chatting without formalities.
We were planning to leave the public city ourselves in six days, once we received the other scrolls I’d ordered, but Marquis Lloyd and Count Hohen had promised to throw us our own farewell party then.
“This kobumaki is delicious.”
“Right? Our master’s cooking is the real deal!”
“Are you guys old farts or what? The chicken and potatoes are way better!”
Aoi and Arisa were enjoying the traditional Japanese dishes, while Yui seemed to prefer the fried food and meat skewers.
“Oh, that’s junk food. But if that’s what you like, we have chips and soda water over there, too.”
“For real?!”
“R-really?”
Yui and Aoi got teary-eyed at the taste of the potato chips and the sweet soda water.
They must have been remembering their old homes.
“This is the last hamburg steak I’ll have for who knows how long…”
As Karina finished the last of the giant heap of hamburg steaks, she let out a contented sigh.
“Karina, come with uuus?”
“Tama’s right, ma’am! Let your maid person go to the royal capital so you can travel with us and master, ma’am!”
“…Could I really?”
Miss Karina turned to me with hope sparkling in her eyes, but unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.
I had to make sure she carried out her duties as an important noble.
If Orion were an adult, she probably could have made him go instead, but it would be considered improper to send a minor as a proxy.
When Pina the maid and I shook our heads, Miss Karina slumped with disappointment.
Just then, one of the housemaids appeared with a fresh plate of hamburg steaks.
“Ah, another chance! Are you still at full power, Tama and Pochi?”
“Aye-aye, siiir.”
“Pochi is always at full power, ma’am.”
Those would be pretty cool lines if they didn’t basically mean “we’re going to binge eat.”
I’d better give them some stomach medicine later.
Miss Karina’s two escort maids were also working on dishes as they looked after their charge. This was their farewell party, too, after all.
“The tofu steak is delicious as well, I report.”
“Mm. Yummy.”
Mia had started promoting the tofu hamburg steak to the others.
Nana, her latest target, seemed to enjoy it.
“Is everything good so far?”
“Yes, this ankake sauce is quite delicious.”
“Amazing as always, master.”
Lulu and Liza showed me their dishes as they sang the food’s praises.
I didn’t want everyone to get sick of deep-fried whale, so I made a thick sweet-and-sour sauce called ankake to accompany it this time.
“Sir Pendragon, may I have a moment?”
“Yes, of course. If you’d prefer to speak alone, we can convene over there.”
Orion looked rather serious, so I invited him to the gazebo.
“Sir Pendragon, I want to know what your real intentions are.”
“…My intentions?”
Huh? Did he think I was planning to take over the territory or something?
“That’s right. Given your valor and achievements, it’s clear that you’re aiming for the seat of viceroy. A few gossipy friends of mine were saying that you might be aiming for an even higher position, sir, but I saw for myself that you had no such plans when you undertook that baptism.”
Orion fell silent and stared me right in the eyes.
I probably should have told him sooner that there was some sauce on his face.
It was definitely making it hard to take him seriously.
“However, if you intend to use Karina as a means of becoming a viceroy, I cannot allow that.”
So he was a siscon after all.
Generally, political marriages were pretty standard among nobles here. Marrying for love like in modern Japan could never be more than a dream for them.
Magistrate Nina had informed me back at my induction ceremony in the Muno Barony that marriage was nothing more than a means of deepening ties between noble houses.
“Lady Karina is quite important to you, isn’t she, Lord Orion?”
“Of course. Who wouldn’t consider their family important?”
What an impressive declaration.
“I promise you—you have no need to worry. I have no such ambitions for power. The baron and Magistrate Nina did bring up the possibility of my marriage to Lady Karina, but I have already refused.”
“What?! What is there not to like about Karina?!”
Pick a story and stick with it, please.
“It’s not that, of course. It would simply be unfair for a lowly new noble like me to be paired with someone from such noble lineage as Lady Karina.”
“R-right, that’s certainly true.”
“So please rest assured that I will never attempt to woo Lady Karina.”
“I see now. My father must be pleased to have such an honest vassal as you, Sir Pendragon.”
“That’s very kind of you to say.”
Finally, I seemed
to have cleared up Orion’s suspicions.
The next day was spent preparing for Miss Karina’s journey, and in a flash the day of her departure arrived.
“Karinaaa?”
“I’ll miss you, sir.”
“Oh, you two…”
Tama and Pochi squeezed Karina tightly.
I hadn’t realized just how close this trio was. I guess they were on a similar wavelength.
Tama and Pochi started flailing around as they got squished between Karina’s enormous breasts, so I tapped her on the shoulder to suggest that she release them.
“Here, I made you a list of conversation starters. You don’t want to end up a spinster, do you?”
“A…what?”
Miss Karina blinked in confusion as she accepted Arisa’s social crib notes.
“I bequeath this stuffed animal to you, I declare.”
“Mm. Wind chimes.”
“Thank you, my friends.”
Nana’s and Mia’s gifts were very cute.
“Here, these are from Miss Liza and me. They’re pastries, so you can have a snack on the journey.”
“Oh my, pastries with nuts? I shall treasure them.”
“N-no, you should eat them before they go bad…”
It was a rare comeback from Lulu to Miss Karina’s airheadedness.
After watching this scene with a smile, I walked over to Yui and Aoi, who were waiting for the ship.
“Here, these are for you two.”
“Oh man, potato chips! And is this flask full of soda? Dude!”
“Come on, Yui, thank him properly. We’re very grateful, Sir Satou.”
Along with the sweets, I gave them each an omamori-style charm.
There was a single gold coin tucked away in each one, just in case Yui and Aoi ever got lost or anything.
“What are these?”
“I heard that the Japanese have good luck charms called omamori, so I attempted to make them for you.”
“Thank you very much. It’s wonderful.”
Aoi put the charm carefully into his pocket.
“Oh yeah? That seems kinda fishy…but I’ll take it. Thanks.”
Yui, too, accepted her charm and put it in her pouch.
Though we were saying good-bye for now, I resolved to see how they were doing when we went sightseeing in the royal capital.
Yes, Princess Menea was their guardian, but I wanted to look out for the closest thing I had to kin here.
