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Chapter 282

Chapter 282: I too wanted to hug, sing, and dance, but there was nothing but middle-aged men when I was around!

Day 68 – Nighttime, Souvenir Store Orphanage Branch.

It took longer than expected to get in touch with Omui-sama, but we finally completed all of the discussions and arrangements. We also were able to confirm the situation. The Capital is fine now.

The Capital was peacefully liberated, with no citizen blood being spilled nor anyone having to starve. Everything went just as Haruka-kun desired.

The citizens have already gathered outside. In cheerful celebration they are singing and dancing, drunk on free alcohol and the feeling of freedom. The heavy and oppressive atmosphere of the Capital had fully transformed into one of joy and festivity. Rather than gloomy, the true form of the capital was that of a city full of cheerful people happily embracing each other.

All because it ended without a fight. Since there was no bloodshed or upheaval, they can smile sincerely.

The idea was to have the aunties open (break through) the gates by commencing a bargain sale beyond the city gates. The military police and private troops of the nobles that tried to intrude into the souvenir store already went straight underground, dropped into what Haruka-kun calls Middle-Aged Men Hell. And there is no way short-staffed guards can possibly stop a rampage (stampede) of countless aunties. Anyone who tried was knocked down, trod upon, and trampled into the dust. The sturdy gates of the capital were breached in the blink of an eye.

Moreover, men and women of all ages flooded from the gates, lured by the scent of broiled eel. Even we couldn’t help drooling. Everyone was eating with great appetite. The samples were delicious, so everyone was busy tasting and selling.

It’s all because Haruka-kun found red sake and eels in the capital! The Capital was doomed that very moment. I mean, it’s broiled eel! Everyone worked on fanning the cooking eels and sending the smell into the Capital with Wind Magic. Yeah… No wonder they will burst outside. I mean, that is the enticing scent. To be able to withstand that aroma one probably has to have no sense of smell!

And all of this was a farce, it was already predetermined that this uproar would go the way we want. As long as the proper groundwork was laid, it was certain to go smoothly.

After all, it’s Librarian-chan’s Agitation, powered by『Ripple Necklace – MiN InT 50% Up, Anti-Resistance, Ripple』, that Haruka-kun has even called the trump card of this operation. As long as some sort of an opportunity was arranged the rest could be done through masterful manipulation of crowd psychology. That’s why it was destined to fall from the very beginning, we only had to wait for the opportunity and timing. Everything was decided from the start.

That’s why it naturally fell. The only thing left was the little drama play.

Then, carrying banners, the Royal Guard and the Frontier’s troops entered through the opened gates, and under the gaze of the cheering citizens made their way to the castle. Thus, the Capital that was considered impregnable and invincible fell without a fight.

The invincible walls of the Capital, the Kingdom’s treasured artifact 『Ultimate Lock (Protection)』’s Complete Protection and Complete Intrusion Denial, and infinite traps produced by 『Everlasting Trap』 all failed without being put to any use. On top of that, the Kingdom’s treasured 『Everlasting Trap』 still remains in the possession of the unceremonious thief!

The King, just as was expected by the scenario, recovered, leading to the immediate purge of the Confederation’s and the Theocracy’s agents from the Capital. Corrupted nobles are also either arrested, or if they put up resistance, stripped of their power.

Just as we thought, the King was poisoned. They were able to keep him alive with a heirloom relic of the Royal Family, but it seems he was afflicted with a more than lethal dose of poison. But with the Frontier’s specialty giant mushrooms prepared by 『Mushroom Evangelist』-san instantly curing him was an easy task. Just in case, Omui-sama was given a ton of mushrooms for treatment, which led to him thanking Haruka-kun in tears over and over again while gripping his hands. Haruka-kun was super annoyed about having his hands clutched.

As The Royal Guard and the Frontier Army had entered the capital, making a grand procession with flags and banners towards the Royal Palace, making sure to encircle it on the way, the nobles didn’t even attempt to organize a resistance. And the prince (monkey) seems to have been arrested as well.

And with the King recovered the Capital was liberated. A happy end for the play.

The Capital was engulfed with ovations and cheers. The people sang and shouted in joy, getting so loud and lively that it even made one wonder if the Capital truly had this many people before. Everyone is overjoyed about the peace being restored.

The Capital should be fine now. So we are going.

「We are counting on you to watch over the house, you will be good girls and boys, right? We will come to pick you up as soon as we can.」

「「「「We will be good, waiting for you! Take care.」」」」

　Wismregzero-san was sold as the palace security. His equipment was given to him by Haruka-kun, with 『Dona Dona』 written on the cloak. Going that far, I felt a bit bad for him.

His little sister Erailia-san got along with the children, and agreed to look after them in our absence. She apparently was an elven shrine maiden, and although she has a caster job, judging by her demeanor she seems pretty strong so they should be safe with her. The Royal Family also dispatched the Second Division to protect the souvenir store. Apparently this store gets extravagant protection since it’s a benefactor of the Capital. So there is nothing to worry about.

The children are going to be alright… So we can go. To the side of the person doing the most not alright thing all alone in the entire Kingdom.

Angelica-san left for the Frontier ahead of us. Even if we went together, Angelica-san’s travel speed is much greater than ours, and we want someone to join Haruka-kun as soon as possible. Moreover, she was so impatient that she couldn’t wait any longer. So we had her depart first.

After all, in the worst case, Haruka-kun might already be at the Fake Dungeon. After all, if he is alone, there is a chance he might attempt to fly. I don’t understand why he is so carefree about flying despite not developing a controlled landing method yet, but he is outrageously fast during flight, even his crash landings are apparently ultra-high speed. And even though he brags about it, naturally, it seemed to be quite painful.

「Then, is everyone ready? We are going to travel at high speed in full combat gear, so make sure everything is in order.」

「「「We are good! Ready to leave any time!」」」

Everyone is impatient. Haruka-kun is fighting by himself, he is waiting for us there. All aloneー That’s why everyone is getting so hasty.

「Let’s go then. Athletic Girls please lead the way.」

「「「Jaa!」」」

「「「「Good luck! Tell Big Brother that we are waiting for him to return for us.」」」」

The children, wearing hand(tentacle)made kids clothes that Haruka-kun distributed beforehand, are waving hands while smiling. All dressed up, with cute frilly dresses and prim short pants suits, they are sending us off. That’s why we have to wave back at them with smiles too.

「「「「We’ll be off.」」」」

Just as Haruka-kun wanted, the peace was instantly brought to the Capital through a bustling festival, without anyone getting hurt, killed, or any disturbance or fires happening.

That’s why we leave for the Frontier, where Haruka-kun is.

We are the one who asked Haruka-kun to help the orphans. That must have disrupted Haruka-kun’s plans. Even so, he built an orphanage and remodeled the slums. Although he probably would’ve done the same even without us asking. Or rather, even before we said anything, he already was remodeling the slums, making various excuses as he went. But that probably shifted the schedule by one day at the very least.

And the reason why ships from the Confederation would not come anymore, was because Oda-kun and others went all the way to the Confederation’s ports to attack them. Haruka-kun appeared to be surprised, but also pleased by that. That Oda-kun and others were angry, that they were fighting based on their own judgment… But that also means that Oda-kun and others’ return will be delayed. Which is another deviation to Haruka-kun’s plan.

So Haruka-kun must be forcibly trying to defend everything alone, doing something absurdly risky as he fights to make everyone happy. That’s why Haruka-kun is going to be what we protect!

The entirety of this world can be left to Haruka-kun to take care of. We will protect Haruka-kun, who forgets to take care of himself.

After all, we already know.

When things look grim, Haruka-kun won’t hesitate to sacrifice his own life. Haruka-kun would try to protect the lives of others, even knowing that it would kill him.

That’s why the consensus of endless discussions during Girls-only Meetings is that we will protect Haruka-kun even if we have to ignore everything else.

That’s why we spent every day endlessly raising levels, preparing equipment, and practicing. All of it was for the sake of fighting for Haruka-kun’s sake.

That’s the Girls-only Meetings’ decision.

「Vanguard swap. Nothing unusual ahead~, no signs of the enemy either~.」

「Got it, the Tamed Group next, please. Make sure not to run ahead too much.」

「We know. Do you want to keep this speed??」

「Yeah. We shouldn’t tire ourselves out, Haruka-kun said to come in full readiness.」

「「「「Roger.」」」」

Even if we can’t be at his side, as long as we can diminish the risks it’s all good. Even if it’s just by becoming a decoy and splitting enemies, or scaring them, or whatever, a diversion, auxiliary assistance, anything is fine… I just want to be of help to him.

I don’t want him to carry everything on his back.

I want to be of help to him, even if it’s just a little bit.

After all, it’s the combat that is the biggest danger to Haruka-kun. I mean he has many issues like level and HP and such, but that’s fine.

What I don’t want to see is him deciding to meet death by himself.

I don’t want to let him go off to die like back then.

Haruka-kun most likely will do just that in the end.

That’s why I don’t want to let him face the end.

We just have to become cards in his hand, the rest Haruka-kun will handle himself, coming up with outrageous ways to trick and destroy enemies.

That’s why I at least want to remain a useful card to him until the very end, that’s enough.

I don’t want to see him running out of moves and going out to die by himself again.

This is the consensus of endless discussions during Girls-only Meetings, no matter what else we have to leave behind, we will stay with Haruka-kun.

「Are you sure about going at this speed until the morning? Cultural Clubs’ girls can still take more.」

「We were told that there is no need to rush. We didn’t receive a summons, so it’s fine to maintain a safe pace for now.」

「How come the reinforcements don’t have to hurry yet when he is facing 30,000 enemies alone? Well, trying to worry about him is a pointless effort anyway.」

Be it opening the way, taking a shot, or running errands, anything is fine, as long as we can expand his options.

I’m sure even now, facing 30,000 enemies by himself, he is doing something that we wouldn’t be able to comprehend.

We might be of no use even if we arrived on time. But even if we aren’t of any use, as long as we can add extra options for the critical moment, it’s fine.

We can’t do anything unless we remain by his side. But having at least a single duty assigned to us is fine. As long as it can help avoid Haruka-kun becoming a sacrificial pawn himself.

That alone is the consensus of the endless discussions of Girls-only Meetings since we came to this world… We will follow Haruka-kun.

We absolutely won’t allow him to risk his life alone again!

「Angelica-san went ahead, but I don’t think she can reach him before tomorrow morning~, I wonder if Haruka-kun already made contact with the enemy?」

「Enemy forces should’ve been at the Fake Dungeon already, the question is where Haruka-kun will choose to engage them?」

Our speed keeps increasing unless we consciously pay attention to it.

He didn’t call for us yet, and Stalker Girl’s clansmen haven’t shown up either.

But the closer we get the greater are the chances that we might be of help to him, so everyone keeps running faster.

Earlier, we followed this path to the Capital, chasing after Haruka-kun. When we arrived, a souvenir store was standing there.

And now we are returning by the same way, and I’m really worried what could’ve popped up at the Frontier by now!

「I wonder what Haruka-kun is planning to do with an army of 30,000 people?」

「「「Don’t! For the sake of your sanity and common sense, don’t even try to think about it!」」」

I don’t know what was that thing that Haruka-kun was worried about, but that look was the one of uneasiness.

If something’s up, then we’d like to make it in time, everyone is rushing ahead.

We are so used to it by now, that we are able to eat beef bowls while moving at nearly the maximum speed.

There are many problems in the proper maidenly sense, but it definitely saves time. Let’s finish eating while the night is still dark and nobody can witness us.

「If there also was miso soup there’d be nothing to complain~.」

Don’t you think traveling at ultra-high speed while eating a beef bowl AND sipping on miso soup at the same time is a bit much? If there also were pickled veggies it would be a real danger to our femininity!

「Let’s hurry up and extort more delicious stuff!」

「「「Yeeeeaah!」」」

Wait? What were we chasing after again? Delicious food? I wonder if there are manju?!