Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki

End of Chapter Story: The Quiet Island, and the Tranquil Kingdom

Its still before dawn.

Oh, yeah...? Well, Im going back to sleep, then. Haah...

Im all for that, but can you get off me first?

No way.

Shot down instantly. Oh, well.

I went back to sleep once more with Naden staying where she was. When we first started sleeping like this, I had dreams where I was being crushed flat by a rhinosaurus, but now... I was already pretty crushed. I hope... these peaceful days... can last fore... ver... Zzz...

I cant be sure how serious Mio is about that just from reading a letter. It could be her griping about having to deal with the numbers, and bringing it up would just make Colbert unduly cautious.

You have a point there.

I know, right? You know how it goes, eh? I said with a suggestive smile. Lets let the young couple work it out between themselves.

Meanwhile, around that same time... To the east of the Kingdom of Friedonia, in the United Kingdom of the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago (called the Archipelago Union for short), in a port town that belonged to the Archipelago Union, a young man had a frown on his face.

The tall and lanky man, whose hair was tied in a ponytail, had white fox ears on his head, making it clear that he was a member of the mystic fox race like Kaede. From the Nine-Headed Dragon katana he wore at his hip, you could also tell he was a mononofu, a job roughly equivalent to that of a knight in the Kingdom of Friedonia.

The mononofu with white fox ears looked at the town and sighed. It seems the situation is serious...

This island, like the other islands of the Archipelago Union, had a prosperous fishing industry, and the ports were always bustling. The islanders lived, and died, by the sea. It bore them a great bounty, but when the waters were rough, it would take their lives without mercy. Because they were in constant danger, they lived every day to the fullest.

That was why, at this time of day, the fishermen who had come back from their early morning fishing were in the pubs, singing sea shanties... Or they would have been, but...

Now there were few people in the port town, and it was silent, without a sea shanty to be heard.

Many of the shops on what should have been a busy shopping street were shuttered, and there were few products on display at the ones that were open. There was a man on the side of the road who had drunk himself into a stupor, lying down with no vitality in his face.

The mononofu with white fox ears peered into an open fishmongers business.

Hello there, Chief. What can I help you with? A beastman fishmonger who had the face of a tanuki called out to him while rubbing his hands together.

His home was situated on the islands high ground. Though it was called a house, because of the history of conflict between the islands, each island chiefs residence was like a fortress. They were built on top of stone fortifications and surrounded by white-painted walls. There was a building on the low ground, and another on the high ground. The island chief generally lived in the second house, on the high ground, but carried out his political duties in the first house on the low ground. This was all built on the highest point on the island, so the gate of the second house had a view of the bustling port, and the blue sea beyond it.

As he returned from the fishmonger, he noticed someone was waiting for him by the gate.

Lady Shabon...

The person was a young girl wearing the outfit of a court lady with its frilly sleeves and hem. She was maybe eighteen years old.

The girl had airy, emerald-green hair, but what was truly distinctive about her was the fish-like fins that she had where a human would have had ears. Her slim arms also had translucent fin-like growths attached to them like sleeves. Her kind were known as mermaids, and they were especially common in the Archipelago Union.

I have returned, Lady Shabon. The mononofu with white fox ears called out to the mermaid girl, and stood next to her.

The girl he called Shabon turned her somewhat sleepy-looking eyes towards him. Welcome home, Kishun. How were things in port?