A letter arrived from Guinel, the representative of the Six Dragon God Kingdom.
It was a progress report, stating that all was well and that he was doing his best. Tucked within it, wrapped in no less than five layers of extremely polite phrasing, was a gentle request—to share some of our village’s harvest for his wife, Metora.
Frankly, if it was just about that, it’d be faster for Metora herself to write the letter.
But apparently, now that she’s a married woman, it wouldn’t be proper for her to correspond directly with men other than her husband.
I see.
Although… I could’ve sworn I’d received quite a number of letters from married individuals before.
According to them, if it’s for official business, then it’s acceptable.
Well then.
-0-
In any case, I’ve already arranged for some of our harvest to be sent to Guinel’s household.
We considered having Hakuren or Rasuti deliver it, but figured that might make the other side uncomfortable, so we left it to the Goroun Company.
Upon checking, it is being transported from Village Five without any problem.
And from what I heard, the transport is taking a sea route from Shashaato City, rather than using the teleportation gates, due to congestion.
That means the delivery will be taking longer than usual.
I’ll keep an eye on it… but for now, we wait.
-0-
As we made our preparations for winter, I spent some peaceful time with Zabuton and her spiderlings.
Most of them go into hibernation once winter sets in, so now is the time to enjoy their company.
Well, “company” mostly means I put on a solo fashion show, and worry aloud about Ursa…
Yeah, I really am worried about Ursa.
I know.
If anything happens to her, just leave her be.
Of course, I’m hoping nothing happens at all.
-0-
Maybe because I was bonding with the Zabuton and the spiderlings, Kuro came over, wanting attention.
I rubbed his belly.
There, there.
His head, under his chin, his thighs… oh, his thighs are firmer than before.
Impressive.
Even his stomach’s flatter than it used to be.
He must be working hard when no one’s watching.
When I praised him, Kuro looked a bit proud of himself.
Though… Fracia seemed a little annoyed?
Haha, don’t mind her.
Fracia seems perfectly content when she’s fussing over the angels’ wings.
You know, the angel can be divided into “active” and “inactive” types…
Malbit and Ruincia have been racking their brains over this.
Apparently, no one can stop Fracia from going over to the inactive ones, and once she’s there, she just keeps rubbing their wings nonstop.
Frau and Holy, who’ve been helping look after the angels, are having a hard time dealing with it.
Not that I mind her visiting them, but… yeah, just endlessly kneading their wings? It’s a little concerning for the future.
Speaking of Holy, I heard she went back to Beezel’s estate recently and did an outstanding job.
She immediately straightened up everything that had grown lax in her absence.
There hadn’t been any wrongdoing.
But Holy’s strict.
Even Beezel himself got a lecture and was told to clean up his act.
I’d better watch myself, or I might be next.
While I was thinking about all that and petting Kuro, Yuki came over and nudged him with her nose, it was her turn.
Kuro reluctantly gave up his spot, and Yuki flopped down, belly-up, right in front of me.
Good girl.
I rubbed her favorite spots.
-0-
The attempt to transport goods to the Six Dragon God Kingdom by sea had failed.
Apparently, a massive sea demon beast had appeared.
The ship that had set sail from Shashato encountered the demon beast and was forced to turn back in a panic.
It seemed no other ships would be departing for a while.
Because of that, the Goroun Company had given up on sea transport and decided to use the teleportation gate instead.
Since the shipment had already reached the fortress near the royal capital, it should be delivered within the next few days.
I heard all this from Miyo.
Originally, it would have been Goroun Company or Youko who delivered such a report, but Miyo had come to convey an emergency request for aid from Shashato.
「Normally, demon beasts like that would be handled by the seakins… but this time, it’s beyond their ability」
Were there casualties among the seakins?
「Yes. The sea people near Shashato gathered and tried to drive it off, but they were defeated instead.」
Hmm.
「They’ve informed us that they’ll be hiding until the massive sea demon beast is gone」
Understood.
We’ll send some relief funds.
「A small amount will do. Most of them have already come ashore and are playing around in Village Five」
……
Is this not a serious situation?
「Such things are fairly common in the sea」
I see.
「There was a similar case before. At that time, Rasuti-sama dealt with it」
Rasuti?
「Yes. It was before I was stationed in Shashato. A huge sea demon beast approached the city, and since Michael-sama from the Goroun Company happened to be with Rasuti-sama, he asked her to take care of it」
Ah, right. That must have been around the time the mountain elf Ya and the others arrived.
「So we were hoping we could ask Rasuti-sama again for help」
Alright.
Let’s ask Rasuti.
As I said that, someone struck a dramatic pose in the corner of my vision, as if to say, “Here stands someone you can count on.” It was Girar.
Are you saying you’ll go?
「On one condition」
Then forget it.
We’ll ask Rasuti.
「Wait, wait, wait! Just hear me out!」
What is it?
No, I already know.
「The truth is… there was a little incident with Guronde」
I figured.
Did you two get into a fight?
「It wasn’t a fight. Just a slight disagreement」
I see.
So, what’s the condition for you to go?
「I’d like you to get me some dried persimmons」
Dried persimmons?
You mean the persimmons harvested in autumn that are left to dry?
They shouldn’t be fully dried yet.
「Indeed. They weren’t sweet」
If you’re saying they weren’t sweet… does that mean you already ate some?
「It just happened. Well, they weren’t sweet, but the astringency had a strange charm to it. They went well with alcohol」
I see.
So you like that bitter aftertaste.
I’ll give you some burdock root next time.
「I’d appreciate that」
But would something like that really make Guronde mad?
「I ate all of the drying persimmons…」
Ah…
「She told me not to come home until I brought back more dried persimmons」
You tried to do something about it, but aside from Big Tree Village, there aren’t many astringent persimmons available.
And on top of that, all the ones in Big Tree Village are being used exclusively by Rasuti to make dried persimmons.
The only exceptions were the ones given out to those who helped Rasuti during the harvest.
The ones Guronde had were from that batch.
「Please. If this keeps up, I won’t be able to go home until next year」
Well, Rasuti makes a lot every year, so if I ask, I’m sure she’ll share some…
「What is it?」
No, it’s just… whether it’s asking her to slay a giant sea beast or asking for dried persimmons, I’m still going to have to ask Rasuti either way.
「Don’t say that. Think of it as helping this Dark Dragon Girar!」
Fine, fine.
I’ll ask Rasuti to share some dried persimmons.
「Thank you. In return, leave the sea demon beast to me. I’ll slay it before the day is done」
The sooner the better, but don’t overdo it.
If you get hurt, Guronde will scold me.
「This Dark Dragon Girar will never lose to some sea demon beast. …But still, I appreciate your concern. I’ll be careful」
Girar transformed into his dragon form, no, he used the teleportation gate while still in human form.
I could tell that more than wanting to slay the beast quickly, he wanted to make up with Guronde as soon as possible.
Before he returns, I should go ask Rasuti.
With that, I asked Miyo to contact Shashato.
Since it looked like Girar was going to take care of the issue, we didn’t want to cause a fuss.
Miyo gave a quick nod and rushed after Girar.
-0-
The next day.
Girar returned in his dragon form, clutching a large chunk of meat frozen in ice.
It looked like he’d successfully defeated the demon beast.
Good.
Judging by the color, shape, and taste of the meat… was the massive sea demon beast a tuna?
It was delicious.
-0-
Guronde:「Why would you eat all of the not-yet-sweet dried persimmons when there are already sweet ones!?」
Girar:「S-sorry」
-0-
Dwarf:「That bitterness goes well with alcohol… I see」
Girar:「You understand?」
Dwarf:「…I get it a little, but astringent persimmons are too harsh, right? I couldn’t stomach them」
Girar:「No no, they’re totally fine」
Guronde:「……」
Girar:「Astringent persimmons aren’t meant to be eaten. Yes, I’ll make sure everyone knows that」
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