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470 – 「That’s not it!」

 

The day after the mechanic sisters soothed my mental fatigue, we decided to head to Elma’s family home, the Viscount Willrose House estate.

「Have a safe trip, Master.」

「Sorry to leave you behind again.」

「Please don’t worry about it. A mechanical intelligence lifeform like me isn’t very welcome in the Imperial Capital anyway.」

In response to my apology, Mei shook her head and answered like that. Since Neve still couldn’t walk out of the medical pod, someone with medical knowledge needed to stay by her side. That left the suitable candidates to either be Dr. Shouko or Mei. One of the reasons we were going to visit Viscount Willrose House was so the crew could meet the people of the Willrose family, so it was better for Dr. Shouko to come along, which naturally made Mei the one to stay behind.

「Besides, you will compensate me later today, right Master?」

「Ah, yes.」

It seems that when we return to the Black Lotus today, I’ll be pampering Mei… no, it’s more like Mei will be pampering me.

「Come on, if you’re ready, let’s go. Mei, take care of things while we’re gone.」

「See you later!」

「Yes, Elma-sama. Mimi-sama. Everyone, have a safe trip.」

Mei saw us off with a bow, and we headed to the Viscount Willrose House estate in the Imperial Capital.

☆★☆

「Scoundrel targeting the Young Lady! Prepare yourself!」
「I will claim the position of Serena’s partner! Prepare yourself!」
「You fake noble, how dare you! Prepare yourself!」

「I thought we would be attacked by people spouting that kind of nonsense, but surprisingly, nothing like that has happened.」

「I doubt anyone would dare to act so recklessly against you now, Hiro-dono.」

Elma’s father, Viscount Eldmoore Willrose, responded with a wry smile. Next to him, Elma’s brother, Ernst, sipped his tea with a stern expression.

After safely arriving at the Viscount Willrose House estate, we quickly completed our introductions and split into male and female groups for a friendly exchange—though my side doesn’t look so friendly.

「What do you mean by ‘now’?」

「Your deeds have spread among the nobles. They say you mercilessly decapitated the stupid heir of Earl Ixamal House with his own sword, and with that single sword, you wreaked havoc against dozens of fully armed private soldiers. Only a fool would pick a fight with a man who, once angered, wouldn’t hesitate to behead the heir of a noble house.」

「Uh… wasn’t that supposed to be classified information?」

「It’s likely that the information was intentionally leaked by someone on the inquiry committee.」

「That person, huh…」

A smiling, handsome face flashed through my mind. It was likely the work of Serena’s father, Laurenz, but I can’t fathom his intentions.

「In essence, he wants to spread the word that he has such a fierce pawn under his control. It is also a warning: ‘Do you understand the consequences of meddling with my pawn?’ Marquis Holz House is a prestigious martial family with immense influence, strong connections with multiple military manufacturers, and great power in terms of authority, military might, and financial resources. They’re one of the top powerhouses in the empire. If anyone dares to provoke them recklessly…」

At this point, Eldmoore shrugged his shoulders. I had vaguely considered Marquis Holz House’s power to be formidable just because they are a marquis house, but hearing this directly from Father-in-law, a real court noble, makes it clear just how dangerous they truly are.

「Viscount Willrose House is part of the Marquis Ettingen faction… well, Marquis Ettingen and Marquis Holz aren’t exactly on bad terms, so it should be fine…」

Despite his words, Eldmoore rubbed his stomach. Uhm, sorry about that, really.

「By the way, who is this Marquis Ettingen ?」

「In short, he’s the leader of the faction of nobles located in the Imperial Capital that supports the Imperial Family. Marquis Holz House, on the other hand, is a land-based noble family with vast territories but also leans towards supporting the Imperial Family. Hence, the relationship between the two houses isn’t bad.」

Ernst answered my question. Despite his stern expression, he kindly explains things to me, he really is Elma’s brother, huh? At their core, they are kind and considerate, always looking out for others.

「But still… you can’t keep it in your pants, can you?」

「That’s not it!」

I tried to explain myself to Ernst, who was giving me a side-eye.

「We Elves wouldn’t be able to endure that… we’re not that vigorous.」

「That’s not it. I mean, if you look at the facts, it does seem that way, but it’s not. Please listen to me.」

Even Eldmoore chimed in, so I desperately tried to defend myself.

「Even if you say you didn’t intend for this to happen, how many women are you involved with? Just over there, there are six. And there’s also the maidroid, right? Aren’t there others as well?」

「…No, there aren’t. At least for now.」

I might end up having that kind of relationship with Neve in the future, but Linda might change of opinion. As for others… there aren’t any, right? Huh? Tinia? No, Tinia is definitely not an option. Unlike Linda, she has no reason to come out into space.

「Your eyes are darting around.」

「It’s not like that. Please listen.」

I desperately tried to defend myself. I told them it was inevitable. I explained that since the entire crew, except for me, are women, it wasn’t feasible to add male crew members now. That would only create trouble.

「Given that it’s all water under the bridge now, I won’t say much… but you do understand what would happen if you neglect my daughter, don’t you?」

「There’s no way I could do that, I would never neglect her.」

If I did, I’d likely have my neck snapped, and besides, Elma is an irreplaceable partner for me. Elma might end abandoning me after she gets fed up with me, but the opposite isn’t possible. She can probably live without me, but I would be completely lost without her.

「Good. As for the formal engagement ceremony, it involves the three families, so we’ll handle the discussions on our end. We’ll inform you once the details are decided, so be prepared.」

「So there really is such a thing.」

「Of course there is… did you think you could just casually marry three noble daughters without any formalities?」

「I’m quite ignorant and not well-versed in the Empire’s general customs.」

「Mercenaries… This is one of the reasons why they are no good…」

Ernst let out a deep sigh, looking genuinely exasperated. Well, I don’t know anything about these kinds of things, what can I do about it? I suspected there would be some kind of formal procedure, but I don’t know the specifics.

「That aside, it looks like they’re having fun over there.」

「Milfi and Elfin are both quite talkative…」

When I looked over to the women’s side, they seemed to be having a great time, enjoying a tea party and chatting away.

「Shall we also engage in some light conversation? Brother-in-law, why don’t you start a topic?」

「Don’t call me brother-in-law… Well, I suppose I will become your brother-in-law. In the end, that’s what it is. SIGH…」

「That’s a huge sigh.」

「And whose fault do you think that is… well, never mind. So, tell me about how you met Marquis Holz’s daughter. From the very beginning.」

「From the beginning? That’s going to be a long story…」

Even as I said that, memories of meeting Serena in the Termaine Star System came flooding back. Now that I think about it, she was actually the first one that I met.

「The first time we met was in an interrogation room at the Termaine Star System’s port authority.」

Both Eldmoore and Ernst listened intently, clearly intrigued. I began recounting the long story of how I met Serena and everything that had happened since. It’s definitely going to be a lengthy tale.