Chapter 595 Southern Continent Letter ②
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
A letter has arrived from the Southern Continent. It comes from a former buyer of ours, Nada-san, and her master, Meryamisha-dono. I am currently explaining its contents to Her Majesty the Queen and His Highness Prince Roland, her royal brother. Now then, this is where the real matter begins, so let me steady myself and continue reading aloud.
”Let me start with the end. It seems our shop’s products have done well over there as well, driving away the Succubi with great success.”
”Ooh…!”
At those encouraging words, Roland-dono let out an unwilled cheer. Half of his excitement, I think, comes from his joy that our kingdom helped solve another nation’s problem, and the other half from his happiness that my Magic circuits played a part.
The other day, the shop’s secret side business and my true identity were finally found out. Yet even knowing that, his attitude toward me stayed almost completely unchanged. Just as before, he puts his trust in this suspicious Magic circuits shop, even looking at me with something close to respect.
I think part of that comes from the strange background I explained to him at the time, but another factor is likely his future wife, Lady Unia of the House of Greter, who has been quite friendly toward my various creations.
’I can’t wait to test each one’s performance after we’re happily married!’
’U-Uh… yeah…’
The memory of that proposal—far too exciting and tempting for a young man in his prime—comes to mind. This noble lady, almost made of curiosity, spares no effort in breaking down our future king’s innocent feelings. It has become her daily habit to whisper information gathered from the maids into His Highness’s ear.
’I’ve heard stories that the so-called “Slime-Pal” has great effects. Could you please tell Lord Harvest my request to get the higher-performance version that respected sister-in-law uses?’
’”Slime-Pal”…? Hmm, I don’t really know what that is, but I’ll ask.’
’Thank you. I’ll pay you back through my rear hole eventually. Though I guess for a while, it’ll be nothing but the front hole for making heirs…’
’Unia!? What in the world are you talking about!?’
Or so the talk supposedly went… Well, not that all of our talks are about that sort of thing. She also shows big interest in my other creations.
’So it truly was your work that killed those two Great Dragons… Amazing power. I think you still can’t explain the detailed methods to me yet?’
’Indeed. This isn’t a matter only about our kingdom. When you’ve safely become queen, I’ll be happy to tell you as much as you like.’
’…Roly. This technology is something this kingdom must carefully grow and develop. When that time comes, we shall have many talks. Be sure to study up in the meantime, won’t you?’
’…Yeah, I understand.’
This talk happened during the test-firing of the “Do**do-Buddy Cannon” some time ago. Lady Unia showed neither dislike nor fear toward my strange-looking Magic circuits, joining in such talk with complete seriousness.
Following her words, His Highness also became motivated to “study up,” which even let me get into some fairly technical talks. Whether that proves useful for his royal duties is debatable, but having a ruler who understands technology is certainly a blessing.
Now then, the reason I’m remembering at such length is because it relates to this current matter… but before that, I must discuss the specific investigation.
”The investigation was first done within Meryamisha-dono’s area. However, as I said before, her lands had relatively few Succubus attacks, and it seems the work quickly moved toward planning countermeasures with friendly nearby lords…”
”Ah, I remember hearing something about that. Have they found the reason? A simple line of thinking would suggest your products are involved.”
”…Well, yes. The short answer is that’s exactly the case… but let me explain the investigation first.”
Her Majesty’s question gets a somewhat avoiding answer from me. She tilts her head at my hesitant manner, but I have my reasons. I hope she’ll forgive me.
”That said, there’s nothing particularly complex about the investigation itself. Teams went to heavily affected areas, took positions at night with ‘Do**do-Buddies’ ready, and waited. When Succubi appeared, they fought them. That’s about it. At the same time, they did interviews in villages and towns across the area, asking the usual questions—whether anyone had seen or pushed away any Succubi.”
Her Majesty and His Highness listen in silence, nodding along. His Highness, I notice, reacts quite sensitively to the word “Do**do-Buddy.”
As I said, aside from the time, effort, and people needed, the investigation itself isn’t particularly hard. Leaving aside the clear answer about that being exactly the hard part… the main worry was making sure teams had both men and women to protect against Succubus charm.
”As a result, they confirmed two things. First, the ‘Doo-Buddy’ attracts Succubi. This was seen both when investigators directly faced the creatures and in similar reports gathered during interviews.”
”We confirmed the first part here on this continent as well. But the latter… you’re saying a large number of ‘Doo-Buddies’ are moving around within Meryamisha-dono’s area?”
”Yes. It seems that beyond the legal trade through the Uminari and Yuunari merchant guilds, a significant number of ‘Do**do-Buddies’ have been flowing into the Southern Continent through unofficial channels.”
This was rather surprising news, but thinking about it, it’s not unreasonable. Remembering how the great merchant guilds of Sylvaol had been asking for business from our shop and related parties last year, they certainly saw the money value of the “Do**do-Buddy.”
And since the start of this year, legal trade with Meryamisha-dono had actually started, increasing the spread of real products. The great merchant guilds are not so unable as to just watch that sales performance with folded arms.
Likely, they bought up products sold locally in Sylvaol—not meant for export—and exported them on their own to make a profit. Naturally, the profits would be smaller, and avoiding being found by the Uminari and Yuunari guilds, not to mention the authorities, would be a hard task.
However, if they could get the products, our shop’s goods were profitable enough to make the risk worth it. Not only due to quality and performance, but also because from the Southern Continent’s view, these were originally luxury imports. Looking at the sales numbers, they likely made a good profit.
I’ll be sure to warn the Uminari and Yuunari guilds to be careful, but I must admit, I’m impressed by their business spirit. While it’s not exactly good behavior, there’s a reason the great merchant guilds are great. And in this case, their scheming worked in a different direction.
”Hmph… well, setting aside the rights and wrongs of that for now, it’s still rather hard to believe. Your products only started being used in the Southern Continent at the start of this year, yes? That would mean far fewer ‘fans’ who are fully hooked on your goods like they are here, and more importantly, they don’t have the Church of Demon-Subjugation over there.”
”Yes, I’d think normal Succubi and Incubi might be manageable, but smarter ones would be a different story. Even here, we’ve had individuals who were ‘almost’ Succubus Queens or Succubi Kings appear. In the Southern Continent, where they came from, there should be many more troublesome examples.”
Her Majesty is right. The smoothness of Succubus defeat here owes much to our “fan” customers and the Church of Demon-Subjugation men. The reason Meryamisha-dono’s area had fewer attacks lies elsewhere.
”That is the second fact confirmed by Meryamisha-dono’s investigation team.”
And it’s also the fact that, as I was reading the letter, I couldn’t help saying “You’ve got to be kidding…” under my breath. Honestly, I wish I could pretend it never happened, but at the very least, I must report it to Her Majesty.
”…As I said earlier, the investigation team actually went to the field and met Succubi. With a ‘Do**do-Buddy’ in their left hands and swords or sticks in their right, they held them up… and were completely ignored.”
”…Stop being dramatic and get to the point.”
”…Yes. Upon seeing the held-up ‘Do**do-Buddies,’ the Succubi covered their behinds and ran in fear.”
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Summary:
A letter from the Southern Continent shows the storyteller’s Doo-Buddy products are actively driving away Succubi, leading to a report before the Queen and Prince Roland. The talk turns into memories about Prince Roland’s future wife Unia, whose bold curiosity about the storyteller’s creations shows the kingdom’s unusual technology culture. The investigation confirms that even foreign merchant guilds are illegally spreading the products, ending in the shocking finding that Succubi now run away from the items, working against their own hunting nature.
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Trivia:
The storyteller’s true identity and secret business were only recently found out, yet Roland’s trust stays strong.
Unia’s daily habit involves whispering maid-gathered news to His Highness about private topics.
The Slime-Pal mentioned by Unia reportedly has great effects, and she wants a higher-performance version.
The Doo-Buddy Cannon (Doo-Buddy Cannon) was test-fired earlier, with Unia seriously talking about its technical points.
Meryamisha-dono’s area had fewer Succubi attacks, starting the investigation into why.
The great merchant guilds of Sylvaol started buying local products for illegal export once legal trade began.
The Southern Continent doesn’t have the Church of Demon-Subjugation, making Succubi management harder there.
The Succubi ran away after seeing Doo-Buddies, not fighting.
Her Majesty pushed the storyteller for direct answers when he waited during the report.
His Highness reacted especially sensitively to hearing the term “Do**do-Buddy” said aloud.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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