Side: Eris
"Now then, our job is to guard Amanda-san and keep watch on the Holy Sword Wielders. Let's make sure we do our jobs properly."
"Umu. Leave it to me."
"Indeed. Danna-sama is busy, and we cannot trouble him with something like this."
We parted ways with Yuki-san, his three guards, and Samantha, and are currently waiting in the courtyard provided by the duke, where we have guided Wai-chan the wyvern.
Our purpose is to prevent anyone from making a move against Amanda, who possesses the wyvern, and to play matchmaker between her and Eoid.
And also...
I shifted my gaze away from the wyvern and Amanda to the corner of the courtyard, where the holy sword users were bound tightly with ropes.
"Bauu!"
"""Eek!?"""
...Just a bark from Kuro-chan in her puppy form was enough to make them shrink back.
While they appear to be vulnerable young women, inside they are Holy Sword Wielders who have lived far longer than I have.
I suppose they have gone through various things to arrive at their current situation... Even so, given that someone younger than them like me can recognize that their choices were wrong, it clearly shows how vital it is what one learns and what principles one lives by.
No matter how much despair I faced, as long as Yuki-san and my daughters weren't killed, I'd never think of destroying the world.
"Hey, Kuro-chan. Don't bully them by barking at them too much."
Aslin warned.
"Kyuun..."
"Aslin. Kuro-chan is doing the job properly. I think this much is fine nodesu."
"Do you think so?"
"Well, yes. Unlike with Headmaster Poppuri, this isn't a misunderstanding, and if they accidentally escape, it will cause harm. So, let's be strict."
"That's right. Aslin, if this is too difficult for you, we'll take care of watching Kuro-chan and the others."
Labyris and Sheila seem to be suggesting taking turns monitoring the Holy Sword Wielders.
Though in reality, the ones doing the actual watching are Kuro-chan and the others—the self-proclaimed "Ten Magical Beasts" directly under Aslin. Those magical beasts are absolute Aslin fanatics, but they don't disobey us. So if watching the prisoners is becoming a burden on Aslin, then someone else should take over.
Aslin isn't suited to this sort of harsh work, after all.
Speaking of which, where did the other nine go?
Kuro-chan alone can keep watch, but it would be difficult for one person—or one beast—to monitor them alone. No matter how capable someone is, there are limits to what a single individual can accomplish. That is why creatures cooperate and coordinate to make up for individual limits.
Those pets under Aslin's direct command shouldn't be so foolish as to not understand that.
"Hey, Aslin. What happened to the other nine?"
I asked out of curiosity.
Since those little ones usually disguise themselves as small animals, they are extremely effective for this sort of surveillance and reconnaissance.
Though the real reason they make themselves smaller is so Aslin can pet them...
"Hmm? Um, you see, Ta-chan, Ki-chan, and I-chan are moving separately to trail the other Holy Sword people. Onii-chan already gave permission."
"I see. But if they're going after someone, wouldn't Kuro-chan be better? He's a dog, after all."
I had heard this from Yuki-san before.
Dogs have an extremely sharp sense of smell, and as long as the scent trail isn't broken, they can track a target even over long distances.
Indeed, Tori also has wolf blood and was quite sensitive to smells, so I believe that is a reliable fact.
"Because those three can transform. That's why they were chosen as the tracking team."
The one who answered my question was not Aslin, but Labyris.
And her explanation made total sense.
"Now that you mention it, those three can transform, can't they? In various ways, that makes tracking and capturing easier."
"Exactly. Two of them are tanuki sisters, and one is a weasel. The three of them are on a completely different level from the other seven."
"They usually disguise themselves as Aslin or Filia to play together, don't they?"
It surprised me the first time I saw it.
I honestly thought Aslin and Filia were secret beastkin.
They had grown cute raccoon dog ears, weasel ears, and tails, after all.
"They often disguise themselves as me or Sheila, too. In that form, they even go shopping in the streets of Weed. Literally speaking, it makes it very easy for them to move around in many ways. While their sense of smell is inferior to a dog like Kuro-chan, their overall adaptability is overwhelmingly superior."
"Well, they've been with us from the beginning."
"That's right. When they became monsters I thought Aslin would cry, but she didn't."
That's right... Those three are the offspring of animals that died in battle long ago when Derieu attacked Weed.
Perhaps Aslin and Filia saw something of themselves in the three who had lost their parents. They spent as much time with them as possible, and the three even accompanied them during their training.
Then, one day, Aslin and the others said that they had learned to use magic. Yuki examined them and discovered that they had become magical beasts and had acquired various skills.
After that, they examined all the animals around Aslin and discovered ten magical beasts in total, including those three. The animals themselves acknowledged their new status and began calling themselves the Ten Magical Beasts. They constantly protect Aslin, Filia, Labyris, and Sheila.
In terms of pure capability, they fall short compared to the "Weed Four Heavenly Kings"—Steve, Slakichi-san, Mino-chan, and John. Still, since five of them together can hold down one of the Four Heavenly Kings, they are by no means weak.
If they were to join the Weed Monster Army, they possess enough strength and intelligence to serve as company commanders... Well, rather than putting them in the military, having them look after the accident-prone Aslin and Filia is much more helpful to us.
Ah, lately they've even been helping take care of our children too.
Incidentally, "Ta-chan" comes from the "ta" in tanuki (raccoon dog). "Ki-chan" comes from the "ki" in tanuki. "I-chan" comes from the "i" in itachi (weasel).
...As you can probably tell from that, the other magical beasts have similarly simple names. They're satisfied with them, so... I can't exactly say, "Aren't those names a little too simplistic?"
"Then where are the remaining six?"
"The two that can fly are in the sky. The rest are... Shi-chan, No-chan, Rou-chan, Dan-chan. Come on out!"
Ah, naturally the two bird types are in the sky.
As for the remaining four, when Sheila called out to them, a white snake and a baby wild boar emerged from the bushes.
"""Eek!?"""
Seeing the white snake and baby boar, the Holy Sword Wielders let out even more pathetic shrieks.
Well, I suppose it's understandable.
This white snake, Shii-chan, is currently less than thirty centimeters long, but its true form is a gigantic snake more than twenty meters long. It can crush not only wyverns, but even flying dragons and red dragons. A red dragon is only around fifteen meters long, so you can imagine just how enormous Shii-chan really is.
As for the other one, the little boar is, naturally, actually a giant wild boar. At about 10 meters she looks small next to Shii-chan, but Shii-chan is a long snake whose torso is only about 3 meters thick at most. No-chan, however, is a 10-meter round mass of flesh. Yes, the destructive power of a 10-meter object charging at high speed is a different kind of strength from Shii-chan's.
"Huh? Where are Rou-chan and Dan-chan?"
『Right here, Eris-sama.』
『Yo, Eris-sama.』
As I search for the remaining two, a jorō spider and a pill bug appeared from under my feet.
These are the last two of the Ten Magical Beasts.
Since they aren't animals, Yuki-san once snarkily pointed out, "They aren't even beasts, are they?" only to receive a fierce protest from the two of them, so I refrain from saying anything.
The jorō spider is, naturally, a spider monster.
She is an unusual monster among the Ten Magical Beasts, being the only one whose true form consists of a human woman's upper body and a spider's lower body, deviating quite a bit from her original form. I believe she resembles the mythical creature known as an Arachne, though Yuki-san called her a "Jorōgumo"?... I don't quite understand the character differences, but apparently it's a Japanese monster or yōkai.
Her abilities are typical for a spider, engaging in combat by manipulating opponents with thread she creates herself. Furthermore, she is versatile, capable of territory construction, setting traps, and more.
The last one, the pill bug, is one of the modified pill bugs upgraded by Zargis. Aslin frequently fed it mana-infused food, and before anyone realized it, it became one of her direct subordinates. The other modified pill bugs are working alongside Kaya in farming and land development.
...Wait, why did the two of them appear from directly below?
"What were you two doing?"
『Naturally, I was laying threads of mana to ensure those foolish Holy Sword Wielders could not escape.』
『I was checking underground to see if there were any traps or secret tricks-ssu.』
"I see. But being so small, aren't you afraid of getting stepped on?"
Since the two are currently in their small spider and pill bug sizes, I'm a bit concerned.
Well, I don't think getting stepped on would actually kill them, though.
『Not at all. In fact, I would be delighted if Aslin-sama or Filia-sama were to step on me.』
『I'm usually under the dirt anyway, so I don't get stepped on-ssu.』
...Setting Dan-chan aside, Rou-chan is an M, isn't she?
"In that case, keeping watch over the Holy Sword Wielders shouldn't be an issue."
『Indeed. Even if they attempt to deceive Aslin-sama, we will properly advise her, and we will report everything to Labyris-sama, Sheila-sama, and Eris-sama.』
Hmm.
We cannot do anything further to the Holy Sword Wielders right here and now anyway. We'll conduct the interrogation once we've prepared everything properly.
Then—the remaining issue is still Amanda.
Amanda's position has now become that of the legendary Dragon Knight, and she received an excessive welcome on the way here. Not overwhelming in a bad way, but in a good way.
To prevent panic over the wyvern, the Duke apparently deliberately announced to the townspeople that a legendary Dragon Knight had returned.
Thanks to that, no disruptive commotions occurred, but nobles, merchants, and children who heard rumors of Amanda have been knocking on the Duke's gates nonstop, begging for an audience.
For the time being, until talks with the Duke settle down, visits to Amanda are not permitted.
That is only natural—the Duke has yet to address his duties regarding the monster stampede or hear the news of Yuki-san and Samantha's marriage. By any metric, those take priority over Amanda. Even so, allowing others to greet Amanda before the Duke himself gets to meet her cannot be permitted for various reasons.
Though thanks to that, we are being saved quite a bit of trouble as well.
Her fame and her cover as a wyvern rider serve as convenient excuses for our upcoming actions. Our combat capabilities and the hassles of transport can all be pushed onto Amanda.
Back when Yuki-san's team first rode the Marauder into Gartz, I—who was handling administrative work in Weed at the time—was bombarded with countless inquiries and requests from people wanting to buy or receive the vehicle. To avoid that happening again, we need Amanda to remain in a position where she can continue traveling alongside us.
Therefore, we absolutely must prevent other countries from recruiting her or nobles from forcing her into an engagement. For that reason, we need to have her bind herself to Eoid so she can be classified as part of the Academy's fighting force.
Eoid and Amanda are both commoner-born—so even if they marry, nobles might interfere. However, if Poppuri takes them under the Academy's wing under the guise of "protection," that problem is solved.
Neither Eoid nor Amanda would want to be torn apart after marriage, and they don't hold many cards to fight back against nobles. Thus, having the Academy's backing thanks to Poppuri's authority as Director would be something Amanda would be extremely grateful for.
"...Well, assuming she actually wants to be with Eoid, that is."
If she wants to marry a nobleman instead, then we'll prioritize her wishes.
No matter how convenient it would be for us, we have no intention of forcing her to go against her own will... In that case, we'll find another method, or simply use Poppuri's authority to forcefully have her accompany us.
That said, it's painfully obvious she's interested in Eoid. No—not just interested—it's like she's claimed him as hers. From what Cleana has told us, it's clear she has a strong sense of possessiveness toward Eoid.
...Come to think of it—I was also a commoner-born in a sense—but I don't feel as possessive toward Yuki-san... No... I can't tolerate other women flirting with him besides his wives, and in bed I do whatever I want with him, so maybe I do have a sense of possessiveness after all?
Regardless, Yuki-san is a open-minded husband who lets us freely pursue what we want to do whenever there is free time. I spend my spare time reading through Japanese books, while Ratz makes toys, and so on.
Oops, mustn't get distracted.
Right now I need to bring Amanda over to our side...
"Speaking of which, where is Amanda?"
"Hm? Ah—for some reason, she's curled up in that corner over there."
Looking in the direction Derieu indicated, sure enough she was sitting on a garden stone in the courtyard, hugging her head and curled up.
Wy-chan is quietly waiting in the center of the courtyard. With Aslin, the others, and Kuro-chan's group around, there shouldn't be any incidents.
In any case, I won't know until I talk to her, so I approach Amanda.
"...What should I do? Why are so many people interested in me? I only accepted the transport task because the Headmaster asked me to. W-What is going to happen to me...?"
She is muttering such things while holding her head.
I see. She seems confused by a situation she has never encountered before.
Hmm, it would create a nice atmosphere if Amanda and Eoid were together in this state, but Eoid is currently delivering the official letter to the Duke, so I suppose I will offer a little support.
"Amanda, is something the matter?"
"Ah... Eris-san. W-What is going to happen to me from here on?"
She looks at me like a frightened puppy.
For now—I'll just tell her the facts.
"Well... Amanda is currently being hailed as a legendary Dragon Knight. From now on, you'll be treated accordingly—and there will be people who use anything from proper methods to dirty tricks to recruit you."
"Eh? W-What do you mean? Like serving as a noble's officer?"
As expected of a commoner-born—she can't even imagine the proper methods, let alone the dirty ones.
"If a family acquires a asset like you—a card that is now recognized throughout the continent as being equal to a Holy Sword Wielder—that family's name will spread throughout the entire continent. And the fastest way to acquire Amanda is through marriage."
"M-Marriage!?"
"Yes. A legitimate approach means a straightforward marriage proposal."
"So, it's not because they like me..."
"Exactly. They simply want your status as a Dragon Knight. That's how nobles are. Even Samantha was prepared to marry someone whose face she didn't know if she hadn't met Yuki-san."
"...I don't want that."
"I thought so. However, there will also be those who use underhanded methods to forcefully marry you."
"U-Underhanded... what kind of methods?"
"Let's say I were to use a underhanded method. First, I'd take control of Amanda's parents and relatives. I could threaten them, or I could treat them extremely well. Either way, Amanda would end up in a situation where if she didn't marry the person I chose, everyone around her would suffer."
"......"
"For example—accidental deaths."
"...E-Eoid will surely..."
"Eoid would be a target as well. The exact method would depend on the person. They might threaten him not to approach Amanda, or tell him that Amanda has already decided to marry someone else and that he should give up. The two of you are obviously in love with each other. Eoid would probably be the first person affected."
"No... That can't..."
"Well, that's still the better possibility. Since Eoid is your childhood friend, depending on the opponent, they might hold him in contempt, murder him quickly, and show you his corpse, saying, 'If you don't want anyone else killed, do as you're told.'"
"NO!! I DON'T WANT THAT!!"
Perhaps imagining a scene where Eoid lay motionless, Amanda covered her ears with both hands, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Calm down, Amanda."
I say, soothing her.
Well, I am the cause of her distress, though. But if she gets shaken this easily, she really might fall into someone's hands without a fight.
We need to get her together with Eoid as soon as possible.
"It's alright. I only told you scary stories, but there is a way to ensure everyone stays safe. We will lend a hand, too. After all, we're friends, aren't we?"
The primary reason is to increase the amount of time Yuki-san and I can spend being affectionate together.
The second reason... is so our family can relax.
And somewhere around the third reason is wanting our friend's happiness.
"W-What should I do? C-Can I really stay together with Eoid?"
Amanda looked up at me as if clinging to hope.
"Calm down. What we can do is eliminate the obstacles. Whether you can marry Eoid depends on you, Amanda."
"Y-Yes... But what do you mean by eliminating obstacles?"
"That is..."
After that, I explained to her the idea of coming under the Academy's protection, methods for dealing with situations where harm might reach her family, friends, or acquaintances, and taught her never to handle things alone.
As for Eoid, I reassured her that since Yuki-san and Taiki-san are training him, he will definitely be fine.
Well, Yuki-san will structure a flawless setup regarding that relationship, and with Taiki-san the Hero present, things will work out one way or another.
Kufufufu...
With this, anyone who carelessly lays a hand on Amanda will end up making enemies of the Academy and Duke Hughes.
To be honest, I hope people make moves on Amanda left and right... Because that will give us a righteous cause and a justification to cross over into other countries! Neither the Academy nor the Duke would refuse, as they can use the opponent's wrongdoing as a shield to advance diplomacy to their advantage.
That is precisely why we went through the trouble of showing the Duke a handycam—a video camera capable of recording. We'll give one to Amanda as well, gather indiscreet evidence that the other party cannot deny, and strip them clean, won't we?
"You have quite the wicked look on your face. Eris, you're starting to resemble Yuki, aren't you?"
"...Un Eris-san is the intellectual type. She's probably closer in nature to Danna-sama than to those of us with royal mindsets like me, Seraria, or Sheila."
Fufu, say whatever you like.
Besides, resembling Yuki-san means we're a matched pair of husband and wife. It truly is destiny that Yuki-san and I are married.
When I return to Weed, I shall record it in the history books:
'Yuki and Eris were a perfectly matched couple who shared the same mind and heart.'
* * *
