Volume 3 Chapter 9 Arrogant Noble
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The saddle made for the centaur by Mr. Munin is pretty good overall.
It’s a prototype, but honestly, I think it’s fine just like this.
Compared to a normal horse saddle, it’s mounted a bit more forward.
I’m going for a style where I cling directly to Ms. Claire without using reins.
It might be closer to riding a tandem bike than actual horseback riding.
To avoid getting thrown off, I have to press my body close, but Ms. Claire’s big chest is kind of in the way.
Still, I can’t lie; I really enjoy this situation.
Even though it’s a bit hard to handle weapons while riding, it’s nice that I can mount it so easily.
I put my feet in the stirrups and apply about half my weight.
If I sit completely on the saddle, I won’t absorb the bumps and my butt will hurt right away.
”Master. You can do anything you want to me, but please don’t touch Lady Joa.”
I might have gotten caught enjoying the feeling of her chest, and Ms. Claire is putting me in my place.
It’s admirable to want to protect her master by sacrificing herself, but I think her situation awareness is lacking.
Right now, I’m the master, and if I feel like it, I can do whatever I want with both of them.
Since they’re bound by the slavery skill, there’s no room for negotiation.
A sadistic master… In this crazy other world, I think it wouldn’t be strange for someone to become like that with just a little trigger.
Well, I won’t do anything to get looked down on by Ms. Nina, though.
* * *
Today, Ms. Nina has gone negotiating to borrow a field with Ms. Joa and Ms. Ann.
Apparently, there’s an available field near Ms. Erin’s house.
If left alone, the wall barley will just spread, so it sounds like we can rent it really cheap.
Ms. Ann seems better suited for gardening than fighting, so I want to leave the management of our vegetable garden to her.
When she has free time, she should help out in Ms. Erin’s garden and learn various things.
I’ll leave quail hunting to Ms. Ant and Ms. Aqua while I practice riding with Ms. Claire a bit away from them.
The prototype bra made by Mr. Simonov seems to do a good job of minimizing movement.
The leather chest protector did its job when shooting a bow──it guarded my chest alright.
But it’s stiff and hard to move in, so wearing it all the time isn’t exactly comfortable.
I guess this place is better suited for crossbows.
With those, you don’t have to worry about chest size when firing.
They’ve got decent power and accuracy too.
Ms. Claire seems like she can handle a crossbow just fine, so that’s no problem.
I wish Mr. Zenom would give up on his eerie coilgun prototype already.
If he wants to make a new weapon, it’d be more practical to add an automatic loading mechanism to a crossbow, don’t you think?
I bought a crossbow toy in the capital that you can easily reload with a lever, and it even has a chain and clutch mechanism.
It’s surprisingly well-made for a toy.
They were selling a real version with the same setup, but it was cheaply made and overpriced, so I didn’t buy it.
If I turn the bolts into cartridge-style and use magnetic force to move this toy’s lever part, it might be able to fire automatically.
I think it would be a more practical weapon than a coilgun.
The only issue is Mr. Zenom’s mood.
Once my master starts obsessing over something, he tends to find everything else a hassle.
If I don’t ask him when he’s in a good mood, he might just end up hating the idea of copying a toy.
To get on Mr. Zenom’s good side, preparing some delicious wine snacks is the best bet.
Roasted quail skewers are indeed tasty, but can’t I add a little something extra?
The first thing that comes to mind is garlic, but it’ll be a few months before the leeks are ready to harvest.
What’s the best snack I can make with what I’ve got on hand?
I guess I’ll have to get creative with the cooking method.
Smoking is already done, but without wasabi or ginger, sashimi or tataki might not be great.
Should I marinate it in olive oil?
Ms. Erin’s herb garden has some spices like thyme too.
But I’m not sure if eating quail meat raw is safe.
Wait a minute, I’ve got olive oil, so I can make fried stuff, right?
Fried quail could steal the show at the drinking party.
I’ll get on it as soon as I get back.
After a bit of horse-riding practice, Ms. Ant and Ms. Aqua come back with 4 quail each strung up.
Ms. Claire seems upset, so we switch and let her hunt quail.
Ms. Claire takes up her bow and skips off happily into the thicket.
Looks like she’s really into quail hunting, must be a natural-born hunter.
I sit down on a handy rock and take a little break with Ms. Ant and the others.
It’s been getting pretty cool lately, makes it nice to be outside.
Guess it’s almost autumn.
They say Antfolk eat 3 times as much as humans but work ten times harder.
But if they don’t move at all, they can apparently live half a year without food or drink.
They might be the perfect race to enslave, but mess with them and you’ll get some nasty revenge.
There are countries that got wiped out because some dumb slave trader picked a fight with the Antfolk legions.
Antfolk are strong alone, but their real terror is in their seamless group combat.
Their communication with ultrasound is so instant it’s like they’re connected by telepathy.
Mind Communication skill is said to be mediated by words, but Mind Communication with Antfolk is like pure telepathy, with images just flowing right in.
Maybe there are words housed in ultrasound that our ears can’t pick up.
Ms. Ant and her kind have been living in symbiosis with elves since ancient times, they usually don’t follow anyone but elves.
I’m like an exception to the exception, gotta make sure not to betray their trust.
Antfolk are covered head to toe in a sturdy carapace.
It’s not just hard, it’s got a rubber-like resilience, boasting better defense than leather armor.
Only the lower half of their face is exposed, but the shape of their lips and nose is perfectly human.
Their neatly sculpted nose bridge and lustrous red lips are even sensual.
If they can love humans and have children with them, are they really that different from us?
If you look close, you can see that Ms. Ant is wrapped up in this dark fog of Corruption, like a mist.
This fog is probably the grudge of all the lives she’s snuffed out.
I mean, she’s got strength in numbers, but she’s even taken down real dragons, or so they say.
Ms. Aqua’s Corruption is a lot lighter than Ms. Ant’s.
Maybe it’s ’cause she’s younger, and her main job was spying, right?
Ms. Claire, who zipped back after taking down 2, seems even lighter.
Maybe she hasn’t done much hunting?
If I look at myself, I can see a faint mist of Corruption too.
Makes sense, considering how many quail I’ve hunted.
I can tell there are elves who hate eating meat.
You can see the Corruption from taking lives.
If you saw that, you’d lose your appetite too, I guess.
Well, still, I’m grateful to eat life when it’s offered.
Eating it all up, every last bite, that’s how I do things right.
* * *
There are 2 familiar carriages parked in front of the village gate.
Some dumb noble’s been shooting quail around here lately.
Never seen him actually bag anything, but he’s good at scaring the quail with gunshots.
Real pain in the ass.
I’ve heard he even injured a servant with a gunshot.
Might as well use a bow and arrow, ’cause he’s not getting anything either way, I figure.
”Hey, you there! Don’t you dare ride past in front of the noble’s carriage, you fool. Hand over that quail properly.”
Some guy in flashy, trashy clothes is pointing his gun at me.
Must be a noble’s lackey, but what he’s doing is plain robbery.
By the way, there’s a custom to dismount as a sign of respect for a carriage with a crest, but there’s no punishment if you don’t.
You’ll just get laughed at for being rude.
First off, there’s no crest on the carriage.
Only big nobles and their people are allowed to use crests.
So, are they small fries or spies?
Nah, probably just the former.
”Can’t you hear me! Don’t just stand there trembling!!”
The guy waving a gun around while threatening is covered in dark, thick Corruption, like he’s been killing a lot.
But he doesn’t seem that strong, maybe he just likes messing with weak folks and killing them.
The 8 rough guys around us also pull out their weapons, closing in tight.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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