Side: Yuki
"Alright, so this calculation here..."
I was just teaching class like normal.
A peaceful, everyday routine.
Come to think of it, I never expected to be on the side of the person doing the teaching—well, more like playing the role of a teacher.
With that in mind, I was once again teaching everyone as usual today, but...
"Y-Yuki-sensei, it's an emergency!"
A female teacher from the same workplace—recommended by Crack.
If you found that phrase erotic, you're out. She's just a normal staff member.
"Did something happen?"
It's rare to be called out during class. It was still morning, and the meetings usually didn't start until after noon.
"Well, a strange man has shown up at Sheila-sama's office..."
"A strange man?"
"Um, he says he's a big shot from Roshure and went straight to the General Administration Building..."
"...A 'big shot,' huh. Understood, I'll head there immediately. Can you take over here?"
"Yes, no problem. Please take care."
As I swapped places and moved to leave the classroom...
"Is Sensei going to save his wife?"
A voice piped up.
Well, Sheila is a princess; I guess it sounds like something out of a picture book.
"Yeah. A man's gotta protect his wives. That's how it is, so you kids better study hard."
"""Yes, sir!!"""
"Sensei, go blow him away!"
"Well, we'll see. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. See ya."
As I dashed out of the room, I could hear the kids cheering behind me.
"Sheila-sama is a real princess, right?"
"Yeah, she's a princess from Gartz."
"I knew it, Sensei is a hero. He'll come dashing in to save her!!"
"Seraria-sensei said she was saved by him too, didn't she?"
"That's righ! Nii-sama is amazing desu!"
"Onii-chan is a prince!"
"...Ara ara. Their expectations have reached astronomical levels."
Well, it's not like I'm going to go in there swinging wildly.
I'm more the "scheming" type.
* * *
Incidentally, Sheila doesn't attend school; she usually helps with accounting at the administration building. She shows up at the school occasionally, but she insisted on being useful and works quite seriously.
Killue told me:
"Originally, she wanted to be helpful like that, but in our country, she had to stay quiet for the sake of the other princes and princesses. If it please you, let her do as she wishes."
Since she said that, I had no reason to stop her, but since she's my wife, I told her not to overexert herself.
"...So, how is this Roshure big shot involved?"
I mean, didn't Roshure unanimously agree to push the princess onto us...?
While thinking about that, I used the Return Ring to instantly arrive at the administration building.
Why did I run out of the classroom, you ask?
It was for the performance. To protect the dreams of children.
There's no person inside the mascot costume—just dreams.
* * *
"Ah, Onii-san. You came."
"Ratz, you're here too?"
"Yeah, I was called by Sheila-sama, who's helping me with the accounting..."
Right, Ratz is the head of accounting. Sheila technically acts as her subordinate.
"So, what on earth happened?"
"I don't even know. It's those inspectors who arrived the day before yesterday. Ever since they met Sheila-sama today..."
* * *
Flashback: Ratz
"Alright, let's work hard again today. We'll start with greetings."
I gather the store managers from each shop.
Now, not just Super Ratts—
Open-air baths, arenas, various entertainment facilities, and the weapon and tool shops in the adventurer district have started operating. It's become impossible for me to work at just one location.
We even created a Commerce Office to select and manage store managers.
Since it's state-run, Onii-san calls them "public servants".
"""Good morning. Welcome. Please wait a moment. Thank you for waiting. We apologize. Thank you very much. Please come again."""
The voices of the managers echoed.
We gather every morning like this for a meeting to check if there are any problems. These managers are veterans selected from the 300 people who came from Roshure. Seeing them grow and become useful makes me surprised that I was able to train them so well.
From a mere traveling merchant and adventurer to this... I've come quite far.
"Now then, as usual, yesterday's sales..."
As we were going through the reports...
Beep, beep.
A Call came in.
What could it be this early in the morning?
"Excuse me. I'll take this, so please continue."
"""Understood."""
I left the meeting room and answered.
『S-Sorry! Ratz-san, p-please help me!?』
"Sheila? What's the matter?"
『S-Some strange man is...』
『Ooh, how beautiful!! Won't you please become my wife!?』
...Huh?
This is weird...
Sheila-sama, who I entrusted with accounting, should be at the administration building.
Strange people shouldn't be able to enter...
"Understood. I'm coming right now."
I said that, excused myself to the store managers, and came running...
* * *
"Ooh, the rabbit-eared lady is beautiful too!! It seems God told me to find a wife during this inspection!!"
My head hurts.
Let's see... Killue-san is shielding Sheila-sama. She's quite strong, and after leveling up in this dungeon, she's on another level entirely.
...Yet she hasn't attacked this strange man.
That means he must be someone of fairly high status...?
"Um, excuse me, may I ask who you are?"
"Ah, my apologies. I am Germa Labluse, eldest son of Duke Labluse, who governs the Labluse territory in the Kingdom of Roshuru. I have come to inspect this dungeon on the King's orders."
"I see... thank you for your courtesy. And regarding your proposal to Sheila-sama, what exactly is your intent? Sheila-sama is already the wife of Onii-san... Marquis Yuki-sama."
He was strangely polite, showing no signs of violence or arrogance, which made it hard to remove him by force.
But a duke's son, huh... The son of someone ranked higher than Onii-san... how troublesome.
"I have heard about that. However, Sheila-sama is clearly being treated as nothing more than a nuisance!! No, the dungeon itself is not at fault. In fact, it is wonderful!! But the reason she was brought here is clearly to get rid of a nuisance. When I heard there was a princess being treated this way, I came to see the situation — and how lovely and beautiful she is!! This is fate!! A divine revelation telling me to save the princess and make her happy!! Please become my wife and live in my territory. Labluse is close to the royal capital, and I will never let you want for anything."
He rattled it all off in one breath.
Ugh, he's weird... He's a weird man.
"And you, Rabbit-kin girl! May I ask your name?"
"U-Uh, yes. I'm Ratz."
"Ah, Ratz! Please become my wife as well!! I will never let you be unhappy. I believe there should be no difference between people. Nobles stood up to protect others, but they were once just common people too. So even if you are a commoner, I will not discriminate! What do you say?"
"Uh, well... no. I have my duties here... and I am already married..."
What is this...? If this had been before I met Onii-san, would I have sparkled and become this man's wife...?
Uwaa... No way.
He doesn't seem like a bad person, but... he gives me the chills...
"How terrible to make Ratz and Sheila-sama work!! You two have the important duty of bearing and raising children, yet you are forced into such heavy labor...!!"
No, our husband is the same person, so it's not "husbands," plural.
Also, minus points—We are working because we want to.
"—Hey, Ratz. About that accounting from the other day..."
"Oohh! Even the Elf girl is so beautiful!"
"Uhyah!?"
The strange man started proposing to Eris in the exact same way.
But because he seems... serious, so it's hard to brush him off harshly.
"W-Wait, Ratz?! Who is this person!?"
"Sorry, Eris. Please keep him busy for a bit."
I passed the buck to Eris and held a quick conference with Sheila-sama.
"What should we do? I think Seraria would be most effective, but..."
"No, that would be unwise. Given Seraria-sama's personality, she might physically eliminate him."
"Ah..."
"Even if unusual, this is still a direct proposal—not forceful. Let's properly refuse first and have him give up. If that fails, we'll call Yuki-sama to persuade him."
"...So Seraria-sama is the last resort?"
"Yes. His head might physically fly off otherwise."
I look at Eris, and she's getting her hand kissed...
"Please, become my wife."
"Huh? I refuse. I am already married."
Eris shut him down instantly.
Ah, Elves do tend to be quite fastidious. Especially since she's devoted only to Onii-san...
"What!? You too!? What kind of workplace is this, making wives work!! That husband of yours must be incompetent! If it were me, I would never let you want for anything!!"
"""!!!"""
Everyone present got irritated at the same time.
Well, if you don't get mad when Onii-san is called incompetent, then we'd have to give that wife a lecture ourselves.
"Excuse me. Sheila-sama, Ratz-sama, Eris-sama... can I kill this man?"
Killue's eyes were dead.
"W-Wait, calm down, Killue! If you do that, it'll cause trouble for Yuki-sama!"
"...But."
"T-That's right. We can endure it, so Killue-san, please calm down."
"Yeah, Onii-san said he likes Killue-san when she's smiling, so stay calm."
"I-Is that so? Yuki-sama said that...?"
This is bad.
If we don't do something before he says anything else stupid, we might end up chopping his head off ourselves.
"Very well! Call your husbands here! I shall explain things and make them understand! And then, you can become my wives without any reservations!"
* * *
Side: Yuki
Wait, what?
Is this some kind of arrogant "Obocchan" event?
But it feels a little different from the usual pattern.
This is gonna be awkward to handle...
"And, that big shot from Roshure is currently waiting in the reception room."
"...And you want me to do something about it?"
"Yes. If we handle it ourselves, we might end up killing him."
...Their love is heavy.
