Chapter 212 The Real Deal꞉ The Duke ①
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I left the room of Duke Roost Badcage¹ after finishing the “ritual” and walked back to the great hall used for the banquet. To be honest, I didn’t know why I asked for it myself, and I even felt some regret, but I definitely felt refreshed.
”Forgive me. I meant to hold back, but…”
”No, it is just that I am a bit weak, so please don’t worry… I was the one who asked for it, after all…”
My father-in-law, who had given me a hit so hard I thought my bones would break, held up my shaking body and spoke kindly. By hitting each other with our true feelings, I felt like the distance between our hearts had closed a little.
By the way, I did not use the healing potion I worked so hard to make. Because the Duke held back just enough, the marks and damage were not as bad as the pain made them feel.
It was a punch thrown by a father thinking of his daughter. If I could, I wanted to take it all without using a ‘cheat’ like a potion. Still, there was a little swelling left, so Tina might be worried…
I thought about this as I entered the hall. There, I saw the old retainers of the house lined up perfectly. It seemed they knew I had been talking alone with the Duke.
With red faces from the alcohol, the old men let a single tear of manly sadness fall and dropped to their knees. Then, they spoke together with shaking voices:
”Son-in-law, please take care of our lady…!”
I gave them a strong nod. They went back to being happy old men, crying and drinking their booze again. I wanted to let them each hit me once too, but my body wouldn’t survive it.
”Kento-dono! What happened to your face, noja…?! Did Father do something mean to you, noja?! And why did the grandpas suddenly line up with serious faces? What is happening, noja?!” Tina asked, running to me.
”Ah, it’s okay, Tina. This was… a rite of passage, I guess. I’ll want to hit the man my own daughter brings home one day too…”
”I don’t understand that at all, noja…”
Tina came close and wiped my cheek with a cloth. A maid brought water to make the cloth cold and wet; it felt very good.
Duke Roost and the butler, Sebastian, watched us and the drinking old men with happy eyes. If things ended there, it would be fine. But…
”Tina, if you are that worried, Kento-kun should stay the night.”
”Umu, that is a good idea. We must comfort the Master as he drinks. The Young Lady should relax with the Son-in-law.”
”I have ready the annex; please rest there. I will make sure no one but the maids goes near it until morning.”
Those were the words of the Duke, Grandpa Kario, and Sebastian. …I guess that’s two outs?
”I’m excited, Master! We will see a grandchild soon!”
”Hah! I must live a long time now! I will stay alive until our lady’s child takes over the Badcage House!”
”Then we have to stay for the great-grandchildren too! Let’s drink! More wine!”
Just like that, it was three outs—game set. Sebastian had already told my house I was staying. Everything was prepared.
* * *
Now, I was in a clean bedroom in the Badcage annex. I was on the bed with my head on Tina’s lap—she was wearing very thin clothes—while she cooled my face with a wet cloth.
”Umu. I think the swelling will be gone by morning, noja.”
”Sorry for the trouble…”
”Those are my words, noja. Today was only supposed to be a greeting…”
”Well, I’m taking away a princess, so this much is fair…”
Umu. For ‘this much’ pain, her soft lap and her gentle hands were more than enough of a reward. I wouldn’t say that out loud, though.
”Besides, they just got excited on their own… you know, talking about grandkids and all…”
”But that was the plan from the start, wasn’t it?”
”Yes, but… the ‘order’…”
By “order,” Tina meant the plan for having children among the women. Since they help with “experiments” for magic items, we have an order so they don’t all get pregnant at once. We can’t ask a pregnant woman to do “experiments.”
The “order” is based on when I met them. First is the love-slave Lily, then the elf Tania, then the dog-beastman Laika.
Since Sister Amelia doesn’t want kids, next is Aerith of the Garou Merchant Guild². Satsuki is busy, so Tina is last.
”Ah, right. About that…”
”You are busy with Tania-dono now, right, noja?”
”Yeah… but I don’t know how long Tania will take, and I wanted to start with Laika soon to match her ‘heat’ cycle.”
We had been talking about this lately. I just hadn’t told Tina because today was such a big day.
”Umu. If Tania-dono is okay with it, that is fine, but Tania-dono has it hard, noja…”
”Yeah, well, she likes it in her way. So, I thought it might be better to let Aerith go before Laika…”
”What? Why…?”
”Well, for Aerith, we told everyone she was my ‘mate.’ In beastman culture, if too much time passes without a child, people worry. Her parents, everyone.”
I made a public declaration at the Beast-person Association³ a year ago. People keep asking her, “No kids yet?” Aerith won’t say it, but Laika told me.
”…So you are swapping Laika-dono and Aerith-dono, noja?”
”Actually, I want to do both at the same time.”
”Won’t that stop the magic item ‘experiments’, noja…?”
”It should be fine. Amelia will help, and Lily will be back soon. It would help if Lily’s sister, Flearis, came too… but we’ll make it work.”
”I see, noja…? Well, I am happy my ‘turn’ might come sooner…”
Tina was still being slow. I took her hand and put on “the ring” I had in my pocket.
”The plan was so you wouldn’t be lonely, right? Then we have to hurry.”
”Ah, um. Yes. After today’s talk, I was going to ask Lily-dono and Father… Wait? Kento-dono, what is this…?”
”Yeah… after today, I felt it would be bad to be the only one looking after a pregnant Tina… though I never planned to let you leave anyway.”
”Ke-Kento-dono! Th-this!”
”We can talk about the details later. The child will be mine, yours, and a child of the Badcage House.”
”Th-that isn’t it! I mean, eh?! Why are you talking about the future already…?!”
I sat up and looked into her red eyes.
”This is a ‘wedding ring.’ In my home, it means ‘I love you’ every time you look at it.”
”Ah… ah…! I know this, noja…! Lily-dono and the others wear them… But why now…?!”
”You don’t get it?”
”Eh…?”
”It means today is the ‘real deal’—no more ‘practice’.”
”Ah…”
—
Summary:
Kento proves his resolve to Duke Roost Badcage and receives the family’s blessing. The staff conspires to keep Kento overnight with Tina in the annex. During an intimate moment, Kento presents Tina with a wedding ring, moving their relationship past the ‘practice’ stage.
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Character Insight:
Kento shows his awareness of social pressure regarding Aerith’s pregnancy, while Tina’s anxiety over the ‘order’ reveals her deep respect for the other women in Kento’s life.
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Behind the Scene:
The ‘order’ system is a unique plot device used to manage the protagonist’s harem while keeping the ‘magic item experiment’ (adult goods) premise active.
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T/L:
Notes:
• Roost – Duke of Badcage and father of Tina Badcage. He has long silver hair mixed with some white, a cool-headed expression, and red eyes. Despite a relatively slender build, he possesses a strong fighting spirit.
• Kento – The owner of the magic tool shop ‘Harvest,’ which discretely sells adult goods. He’s a former overworked, ordinary salaryman from modern Japan who was suddenly transported (isekai’d) to this fantasy world. He has dark hair and an unremarkable appearance, typically wearing a plain, slightly suspicious-looking shop owner’s clothes looks like Kazuma Satou from certain series. He has a minimal amount of magic power, enough to craft his specialty items.
• Kario – An elderly mage serving in the Pikeaxe Fort, referred to as ‘Grandpa Kario.’
• Laika – The beastwoman dog.
• Tania – An Elf adventurer who, despite her race’s reputation for low sex drive, is secretly quite passionate. She initially seemed ‘wasted’ (emotionally dry) to her friend Raika, but was easily introduced to the pleasure-items sold at ‘Harvest.’ She is easily embarrassed and attempts to maintain a dignified facade, despite her recent, frequent purchases. She wears practical but light armor over a simple cloth tunic and short pants, highlighting her grace and agility. Her primary relationship is one of friendly senior-junior with Raika.
• Lily – the sl*ve and primary experiment subject for the magic shop, ‘Harvest.’ She has striking pink hair, Blue eyes, medium breasts, which the Protagonist associates with being ‘wanton’. She has a working knowledge of magic, which she kept hidden from the slave trader.
• Satsuki – A talented Court Mage who was forced to analyze the shop’s adult magic tools. Miranda’s granddaughter. Now she’s the new worker at Harvest, a development she finds both humiliating and surprisingly fulfilling due to the rapid progress in her research under Kento’s guidance. Has long black hair, palace mage robe, and staff.
• Aerith – A wolf beast-person and Ouka’s daughter. She is intensely attracted to Kento’s creative genius and is not shy about showing her interest. Have gray fur hair and tail, wearing elegant dress.
• Amelia – The Sister of the Church of Demon-Subjugating, who usually buys from Kento, has light blue hair.
• Flearis – A member of the diplomatic envoy and guard. Has pink hair.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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