"My Lord Merlin, we can see Gunjou City!"
One of the knights who had been riding ahead came back to report. It was still dim around them — it would take about another hour before dawn broke.
Normally, they wouldn't have been running a carriage at such an early hour, but since they were now close enough to Gunjou City — less than a day away from seeing Tenma — Merlin had insisted they press on.
Still, the knights understood exactly how Merlin felt, and without a single complaint, they took turns resting while keeping the carriage moving all this way.
"My, I'm sorry for making you push so hard. But at last, I'll be able to see Tenma... Chris, I hate to ask, but could you ride ahead to the gate and secure us passage?"
As Merlin said this, he handed Chris the royal crest he had received from Alex.
With this crest, they could pass through most places without issue, but to avoid confusing the gate guards, Merlin deliberately sent Chris ahead as an envoy.
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
Chris straightened his back on horseback, saluted, and rode off with one knight in tow.
Thanks to sending Chris ahead, they were able to enter Gunjou City without any confusion... However, Merlin later learned that almost no one present had ever actually seen the royal crest, so the knight commander who happened to be there had verified it himself — which meant no one suspected it was a forgery.
"Mark, how much longer until that Manpokutei place?"
"It shouldn't be far from here... Oh, there it is! That's the place!"
Mark pointed at an inn and shouted, but —
"There's a long line of people... Is that really the place?"
What Merlin saw was a large crowd of people forming a line since early morning — hardly what you'd expect outside an inn.
Merlin had the carriage stop near the line and was about to approach three young girls queued near the entrance when —
"Hey, mister, you have to line up at the back!"
"If you cut in, the Duke will get angry with you!"
"The end of the line is around that corner over there!"
And they were scolded by three cat-girl beastkin.
"Oh, my apologies about that. You see, we came here on business with someone staying at this inn... by the way, what's this line for?"
At those words, the three realized they had misunderstood and apologized, then explained what the line was for.
"It's a line to buy sweets!"
"They've become incredibly popular lately — the word is that nothing in the Royal Capital even compares. You have to line up early in the morning or they sell out right away!"
"We started lining up an hour ago, but look how many people showed up so quickly."
That was apparently the gist of it. Merlin thanked the three and headed for the entrance of the inn they pointed him toward.
"Hey, is Dozle in there! It's me — Mark!"
As if responding to that voice, a sound came from deeper within the inn, and a large man emerged.
"Oh, Mark! It's been a while! How many years has it been!"
The man had a surprisingly easygoing air about him as he approached, despite his imposing appearance.
"Don't just show up like this... If you'd let me know ahead of time, I would have at least prepared a proper welcome..."
"Sorry, sorry. Well, forget about me — the one with business here is this guy."
Mark stepped aside to introduce Merlin, who had been standing behind him.
"Well, well... A pleasure to meet you. I'm Dozle, an old friend of Mark's. I've long heard rumors of the great Sage Merlin."
"Oh, no need to be so formal. As it happens, I heard that my grandson has been staying here..."
"Your grandson?"
"Yes. His name is Tenma — a fifteen-year-old boy."
When Merlin brought up Tenma's name, Dozle pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Tenma is no longer here..."
And told Merlin that. Merlin was stunned, but quickly composed himself and,
"Do you not know where he went!"
He pressed Dozle for answers, but Dozle said,
"I'm sorry... I don't know the details, but all he said before leaving was that he might try visiting the Dungeon City or somewhere like that."
"...I see... By the way, did this Tenma have a white wolf and a Slime among his Familiars?"
When Merlin asked Dozle to confirm this,
"Yes. That Tenma definitely had a white wolf named Shiromaru and a Slime named Slarin as his Familiars."
he stated firmly. Upon hearing those words, Merlin,
"Oh... that is indeed my grandson Tenma... Thank goodness... He's alive..."
he murmured, tears welling up in his eyes.
Everyone watched Merlin in silence until he calmed down, and once Dozle saw that the old man had settled,
"Tenma had several people he was close to in this city. If you'd like, perhaps you could speak with them?"
he offered, and gave Merlin several names. But when Merlin heard those names,
"...They're all women's names, aren't they..."
he murmured. At that moment, Dozle said,
"Three of them happen to be in this very shop right now, so I'll bring them over."
He left and quickly returned with the very same girls who had been standing in front of the shop earlier.
"Huh? The one who wants to hear about Tenma is that old man from earlier?"
The girls were each holding paper bags full of sweets, and printed on the bags were the words "Tenma's Sweets."
Their names were Lily, Nelly, and Millie, and they were apparently triplet sisters.
Merlin explained that he was Tenma's grandfather and wished to know his whereabouts. The three girls began talking all at once.
Based on what he heard, they had known Tenma since he saved them from danger and were the closest friends he had in this city. They mentioned things like defeating bandits together during Tenma's first request, or being refused when they asked him to take them along somewhere. It seemed the only thing they knew for certain was that he was headed for the Dungeon City.
After thanking the three, Merlin headed to the guild to meet the next person he had been directed to.
There, he met the Guild Master and the Deputy Guild Master, named Max and Flute, respectively. Tenma had apparently been good friends with Flute.
"I'm told you're Tenma's grandfather... Tenma helped me out a great deal."
The woman who introduced herself as Flute bowed deeply.
She too was surprised upon hearing Merlin's name, but once they began talking, she shared various information.
She told him that Tenma performed beyond his assigned rank, that troublemaker adventurers had significantly decreased thanks to him, and that the guild's reputation had risen due to Tenma's exploits.
However, Flute also only knew that Tenma was heading for the Dungeon City.
Merlin's next stop was the city council, where he met a man named Marx. Merlin stated his business, and the man said, "Then my niece would know more details," and went to the trouble of summoning her there.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Serna. Your grandson Tenma saved my life."
She explained why he had called for her.
Her story was that her village had been attacked by bandits, and several village women, herself included, had been enslaved and were suffering greatly when Tenma, who had been tricked by a false request, arrived. He noticed the anomaly in the village and rescued them.
Like the others before her, Serna did not seem to know a specific destination.
As Merlin was about to take his leave, Serna stopped him at the door with a request.
"If you should meet Tenma, please tell him that my gratitude to him will last forever."
Merlin agreed, thanked her, and then set off for his next destination: the headquarters of the knights.
It was said that the person Tenma had been close with there was the captain of the Fourth Company, the third daughter of Duke Sanga.
"He certainly seems to know a great many women..."
Merlin briefly wondered if Tenma was a womanizer, but judging from the reactions of the women he had met so far, it didn't appear that any of those relationships had become romantic.
Chapter 477. The Sage's Granddaughter?
"I wonder if he's just hopeless... or if he's simply dense..."
He couldn't tell which was the case, but at least it seemed like he wouldn't have to worry about his great-granddaughter's prospects if she ever met Tenma, so he decided that was probably for the best.
When he let this thought slip to Mark, he was asked, "Is it better for her to exist, or not to exist?"
So Merlin replied that it would be better in the long run, but for now, perhaps it was better that she didn't.
Even the knights—including Edgar and Chris—seemed to be holding back laughter at that answer.
Once they entered the Knights Order headquarters, it was clear that word had already been relayed ahead of them, and they were escorted straight to the Captain's office.
"H-H-Hello! I am Primera von Sanga, Captain of the Fourth Company of the Gunjou Knights Order!"
Upon being led into the room, they were greeted with a salute from the woman standing ramrod straight inside.
"Sorry for the sudden drop-in... I'm Merlin, Tenma's grandfather. I say it myself, but please, relax."
At those words, Primera snapped out of her stiff demeanor, was guided to a seat, and the moment she sat down, she began pouring tea herself.
It seemed this Primera was not only nervous about Merlin, but also about the presence of Edgar and Chris—the King's Royal Guards.
"So what exactly is it you wanted to ask me about...?"
"Well, no need to be so nervous. We're looking for Tenma, but we don't know where he's headed, so we've been going around asking people who know him."
At those words, Primera's expression shifted as if recalling something.
"Now that you mention it, it seems like Tenma had narrowed it down to three locations within the Dungeon City..."
She listed the names of those places one by one.
"After that, I spoke with my father, and he said he believed the Seigen area was the most likely candidate."
Without any certainty, she relayed the details of her conversation with the Duke as well.
"Seigen, you say... That's a place we passed through..."
Still, there was nothing to be done about what had already passed. Resigning herself to that, she decided to listen to Tenma's account.
His account covered being scolded by Tenma, the knights getting thoroughly trounced by Tenma, teaming up with the Duke to put the nobles in their place, and more. Upon hearing that the knights had been completely overwhelmed, she was startled at first, but given that he had defeated a Dragon Zombie,
against the knights,
she supposed such an outcome was only to be expected... However, what truly caught her attention was Primera's attitude whenever she spoke about Tenma... It didn't seem like mere respect, no matter how she looked at it... Yet it wasn't as if she was in love with Tenma, either.
For now, the feeling of respect was stronger, but it could perhaps develop into romantic feelings someday... Aside from Merlin, the only other person who thought so was Chris, a fellow woman.
Incidentally, setting Mark and the other knights aside as entirely hopeless, it was surprisingly the case that even Edgar seemed clueless when it came to matters of romance.
For now, they settled on Dungeon City Seigen as their next destination, decided to depart the following morning, and took their leave of the knights' headquarters.
For tonight's lodging, thanks to Dozle's generosity, they secured rooms at the Manpukutei and were treated to a lavish dinner.
Upon learning that several of the dishes and desserts were recipes invented by Tenma, the whole group was thoroughly astonished.
"Next time, I will definitely reunite with Tenma!"
Merlin steeled herself with renewed determination.
Tenma, who had been sleeping, sensed something was off and slowly opened his eyes — and there, right before him, was a girl's face.
Still slightly drowsy, Tenma
(What beautiful hair... Come to think of it, Jeanne really is a pretty girl...)
That was what he was thinking, but a few seconds later, when his consciousness fully returned,
(This is bad! This situation is way too dangerous... I need to get out of here somehow... Wait, she's grabbing my clothes — Jeanne!)
He tried to escape, but Jeanne had a firm grip on his clothes, making it impossible to get out of bed. What's more, Jeanne tangled her legs around his and buried her face in his chest... Somehow, a pleasant scent was wafting from Jeanne... No, that's not the point!
He tried to slip out of his clothes without waking Jeanne, but every time he moved even slightly, Jeanne tightened her grip.
Just as he thought this was getting dangerous, something stirred behind Jeanne... It was Shiromaru!
Shiromaru is no help at all! As if sensing his thoughts, Shiromaru placed his front paws on the edge of the bed...
"Woof!"
He let out a single bark... Shiromaru was wagging his tail, looking for attention, but right in front of me... Jeanne's eyes were slowly opening... It's over... Bracing myself for the expected sonic weapon, I covered both ears with my free hands...
"Fnyuuuu..."
With a boneless, drowsy sound, Jeanne drifted back off to sleep... Thank goodness... I tried to seize the opening where Jeanne's grip on my clothes loosened, but...
"Kyiiiiii—"
This time it was Solomon who cried out. And this time, Jeanne's eyes opened all the way...
"...Good morn...ing?"
For a while, time seemed to freeze around me. Jeanne mumbled a sleepy greeting, but before she could finish the word, she woke fully, caught sight of my face, and went rigid.
I, too, was unable to move carelessly, and so for a brief stretch the two of us simply stared at each other from point-blank range.
The one who broke that silence was—
"Oh my, you two are quite the pair~ Already sharing a bed?"
It was Aura's teasing voice. The moment that voice reached us, time began to flow again—
"A—ah—gh, glgh—ghmm!"
"No loud noises in the morning, Jeanne."
Aura's quick thinking shut down the sonic weapon. She clamped a hand over Jeanne's mouth, and then—
"Jeanne, look closely. This is Tenma-sama's bed."
That was Aura's firm reminder to Jeanne, and in that split second I slipped free of the bed and put some distance between us.
"Jeanne, you must have been half-asleep and crawled into Tenma-sama's bed on the other side by mistake," Aura said.
Hearing that, Jeanne let out a low growl, as though it did ring a bell.
"Well, it's also possible that Tenma-sama was half-asleep and pulled you into his futon!"
Aura's words undid all my efforts at persuasion, and Jeanne turned red, her eyes glistening as she glared at me… I looked at Aura with a pleading expression, as if to say "Give me a break,"
"Well, accident or not, you still have to take responsibility for sleeping in the same bed with a young maiden, Tenma-sama!"
She said something so unreasonable, yet the atmosphere Aura gave off made it impossible to argue back…
"So that's who you really are, Aura…"
But I couldn't accept that my future would be decided over something like this!
"Jeanne, tell Aura to stop too! …Hey, Jeanne…"
I called out to Jeanne, thinking she would object and wanting to bring her to my side, but no reply came. Wondering why, I looked over at Jeanne,
"Sleeping together… responsibility… take responsibility… marriage…"
She was muttering unsettling words, her face bright red, and seemed to have completely bugged out.
"Then let's decide by majority vote. Slarin, Shiromaru, Solomon — I'll give you all the right to vote as well."
Aura tried to force a vote like that,
"Hey, what are you talking about…"
"All those opposed, raise your hand~"
I reflexively raised my hand at those words.
"Tenma-sama has registered as participating! Anyone else opposed…"
I thought "I messed up!" but I looked at Shiromaru and the others,
"No forcing anyone, Tenma-sama!"
Saying that, Aura blocked my line of sight toward Shiromaru and the others.
"Looks like there's no one else… All those in favor, raise your hand~"
I thought to myself that there was no way Shiromaru and the others would agree, but the result was…
"This motion has been approved with three votes in favor, one against, and two abstentions!"
There stood the triumphant Aura, letting out three victory cheers...
"In valid..."
"Surely you wouldn't say it's invalid after it's already been decided, right? Tenma."
"No, this is—"
"You, Tenma, who have earned fame throughout this Dungeon City, would surely never abuse your position as master to overturn this result just because you lost a majority vote, right?"
"No, this is—"
"You wouldn't possibly~ go so far as to call it invalid after losing the vote — or worse, call it cowardly and shameless, right?"
This is bad... I can't win this one on my own... Jeanne...
"Asking a girl you've shared a bed with for help — that's so embarrassing~ ...Ten-ma~!"
I'm cornered... But marriage, seriously...
"Oh~ I'm so looking forward to your kids~ ...Taking care of Jeanne's babies has always been my dream!"
She's determined to push this all the way to marriage no matter what... Fine then!
"...I suppose... I could consider it..."
In response to my vague words as I desperately tried to find a way out, Aura grimaced,
"Well, for now, I'll let it slide with 'I'll consider it'... Tch."
Why do I have to go through this... I didn't do anything... I'm completely innocent... And Aura, stop clicking your tongue at me...
Even as I was dragged along in defeat, I glared at Shiromaru and Solomon with all the resentment I could muster, glaring at them like the traitors they were, but the two seemed completely oblivious to why I was glaring and started begging Aura for treats.
By the way, the breakdown of the vote was as follows:
In favor: Aura, Shiromaru, Solomon
Opposed =
Me.
Abstained = Jeanne, Slarin
That was the result.
As for Slarin abstaining, that was one thing, but Tenma couldn't understand why Shiromaru and the others had switched to voting in favor. At the time, Shiromaru's thought process was,
Tenma = beloved master, parental figure, person who spoils me, person who gives me food
Jeanne = colleague, person who spoils me, person who gives me food
Aura = colleague, person who spoils me, person who gives me food
And furthermore,
Tenma + Jeanne (Aura included) = people who spoil me ×3, people who give me food ×3 = happiness ×3
Tenma + Jeanne + Aura − (Jeanne + Aura) = people who spoil me ×1, people who give me food ×1 = happiness ×1
This calculation flashed through Shiromaru's mind. He figured Jeanne and the others wouldn't be going anywhere, but if Tenma and Jeanne got together, happiness would triple — that much was certain — so he voted in favor... One could also view it as him prioritizing his own happiness.
As for Solomon... he arrived at the same line of thinking as Shiromaru, so he voted in favor.
In Slarin's case,
emotionally, he wanted to stay with his master Tenma. However, unlike themselves as Monsters, having a human become the permanent partner was a serious matter — the proper thing was for the two of them to discuss it between themselves, and it was wrong for those around them to stick their noses in.
Moreover, he was nothing more than a Slime, so taking action himself and causing unnecessary confusion would not be a wise move.
The best outcome would be for the two of them to talk things through until they were satisfied and reach their own conclusion.
Having judged thus, he deliberately abstained... Furthermore, Slarin
had decided he would give those two a lecture later.
That was what he had resolved... but unfortunately, being a Slime, no one ever realized that Slarin had been thinking that deeply.
As for Jeanne, well, when it came to her—
"Sleeping together… responsibility… take it… marry…"
She was still bugged, so unfortunately, she had to abstain.
"Alright, today's plan is to go collect high-ranked Monster magic cores!"
He forced a cheerful voice to shake off the sinking feeling as he made the announcement, but—
"Together… responsibility…"
"Jeanne, snap out of it already!"
Aura delivered a sharp chop to the head of Jeanne, who remained bugged, at a precise 45-degree angle.
"Mgyuh… Huh? My head hurts…"
It seemed Jeanne had successfully rebooted, so—
"You're awake? Hurry up and eat breakfast so we can head to the Dungeon!"
Aura quickly placed breakfast in front of her.
Jeanne tilted her head and nibbled at a breakfast sandwich, but just as she finished eating—
"Aura… I had a weird dream…"
She started to say, but before Aura could hear the details—
"Oh, that's probably not a dream. You've been decided as Tenma-sama's bride candidate!"
Aura casually said that while clearing away Jeanne's empty plate as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
"Huh… So I'm going to marry Tenma…"
"Well, maybe. Don't worry about it for now — just think of it as Tenma-sama taking responsibility to protect you."
"Right, right?" she said, looking over here for agreement—
Ah, ah, yes, that's right...
I nodded with a dry laugh. Seeing that, Jeanne nearly started to bug out again, but—
"Alright! Let's get ready quickly!"
—I gave her back a push and started preparing, so it seemed she managed not to glitch.
Once preparations were done, we headed straight for the dungeon and teleported to my highest cleared floor, the 38th.
"Listen, the monsters here are significantly tougher compared to the floors below. Don't get too far ahead or fall too far behind!"
"Okay!"
"Shiromaru, Solomon, Slarin — your priority is to protect those two, not me!"
"Wau!"
"Kui!"
At my words, they each took their positions. In order: me, Solomon, Jeanne, Slarin, Aura, and Shiromaru.
Seeing everyone was ready, I said—
"Right! Let's go!"
The hunt for magic cores began.
The unexpected developments were: Tenma wasn't there, Tenma's knowledge of Aura's true nature, and how Aura was almost overpowering him.
As for Jeanne, her future path from here on remains undecided.