Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi
chapter-260

Aegir POV–

The next morning, I get on a carriage headed to Kenneth’s residence right after accepting his invitation.

「I thought ‘at a later date’ meant at least a week or so.」

I recall Nonna telling me this as part of her social etiquette lesson.

「Yes, but the Commissioner-sama said he wanted to see Hardlett-sama as soon as possible…… Count Beltz seemed to have a pressing urge as well.」

It’s a sudden request, but my schedule is open.

This evening, I will be attending the banquet hosted by the King.

It is an important dinner party where all the feudal lord nobles gather to greet the King in the new year.

Even though it’s in the evening, all the nobles should have a free schedule today.

「If we go together I guess I don’t have to worry about being late.」

「We won’t commit such a blunder and make you late.」

With that said, the maid once again buries her face in my crotch.

「Ooh, you’re good. What a naughty maid.」

I also reach out to her ass, lower her underwear and stick my finger in her pussy.

The reason I complied with Kenneth’s invitation was because I wouldn’t have to worry about being late, also I was curious about that man referred to as Count Beltz.

It definitely wasn’t because the pretty lady who was beckoning me into the carriage was wearing a skirt so short I could see her underwear, nor was it because the maid uniform she was wearing couldn’t cover all of her ample breasts.

It wasn’t because I thought the way she licked her lips was sexy.

「……」

Celia opens the window of the carriage to peek, and then stares coldly at the maid sucking on my crotch.

She is accompanying the carriage on her horse.

「I knew this would happen the moment you entered the carriage.」

「Hahaha, well it would be bad if the carriage broke after I swung my hips after all. Ooh, lick the underside more.」

「Mmu~」

Kenneth’s Residence

「Now, let’s get to the real issue at hand.」

When I arrived at Kenneth’s mansion, Count Beltz was already there.

Apparently, he stayed overnight at Kenneth’s place right after meeting me yesterday in preparation for today.

Even now his eyes are glued to me.

After getting through the typical small talk of asking about each other’s health, how wonderful the Kingdom is, and how the weather is today, we finally get to main reason we gathered.

I want Count Beltz to tell me the reason for his constant hostile intent.

「The reason Lord Hardlett and Lord Beltz have been called here today is so this humble Baldwin can mediate the friendship between the two of you.」

Friends? I don’t even know this old man, he’s just one-sidedly directing his hostile intent at me.

As I was about to say that, Count Beltz forces a smile and asks for a handshake.

「It seems like…… my humble daughter has been left in your care.」

「Your daughter has? Well, who might that be?」

The moment I asked that, Celia who is standing in the corner of the room flails her arms in a panic, but I have no idea what she’s trying to say.

And then, a vein bulges out on the Count’s temple.

「……my daughter, Gretel! It seems like you’ve been taking care of her!」

Oh, so he was Gretel’s father.

He could have told me that at the start.

I don’t know who you mean if you just tell me Beltz.

Kenneth urges the huffing Count to drink some tea.

Unlike the elegant behavior he was portraying up until this point, the Count gulps down the tea and slams the cup back on the table.

「I’m glad that you’re showing Gretel plenty of affection!」

「Hahaha, the lady has quite the talent in politics. She might be a trainee right now, but she has received high praise from my own domestic affairs official.」

Even I know not to mention what happens at night to her father.

Besides, it’s true that Gretel is the most capable after Adolph and her instructor Polte.

Celia shakes her head and does some strange gestures, but I don’t know what they mean.

「I am pleased you hear you value her so highly. However, what I…… pardon me, what I’m1 trying to say is regarding something else.」

Another vein bulges out on Count Beltz’s face.

He better calm down or a blood vessel is going to pop.

「Lord Beltz wants to talk about how Lord Hardlett is treating his daughter as a woman.」

Kenneth steps in and clarifies the situation.

「Oh, hahahahaha.」

So he found out.

Trying to hide it makes me look like an idiot then.

「She is no longer a child. I know what it means to be in the care of a man, besides I know Lord Hardlett is an up-and-coming man of high military prowess who has even captured the attention of His Majesty, so I have no issue as a parent if our fates end up becoming tied. Rather, I welcome it…… however!」

Lord Beltz takes out a large stack of letters from his pocket.

「That is only if she is treated appropriately as the daughter of a noble! What on earth is this about!?」

Gretel, does not go back to her own home like the other interns and instead should be writing letters to her family quite frequently.

I don’t know what she’s been writing nor do I care, so I didn’t ask her about it, but was she in fact writing about her unpleasant experiences?

「Would you care to take a look?」

「Please!!」

I take one letter and read it.

「Let’s see here……」

In the letter, she wrote things like, “the stroll at night was fun” and “there is nothing more beautiful than the night sky filled with stars”.

She actually wrote that she walked on all fours wearing a collar to the different open spaces within Rafen but there is no need to mention that.

「My daughter is in love with Lord Hardlett. While I might have some complaints with you keeping a daughter of the Beltz household, I decided to accept it as a path my daughter chose!　……that is until I saw the contents of letters gradually worsen!」

I read the letter he shoves in front of me.

Written on it is, “The accessory I was given made me extremely happy”.

I can feel my cheeks start to relax, then I become expressionless after reading the next line.

「What does she mean when she says “this smooth collar and pretty leash”!?」

「Guh……」

I don’t have any words to say.

「Here she writes, “worried about me hurting my knees while walking on all fours, he gave me fuzzy knee pads” and over here she writes, “the yard in the new mansion is lush and doesn’t have any small rocks so my hands won’t get hurt” and here she writes, “I was praised after going to the toilet properly!” Things are getting out of hand, don’t you think!? How are you treating my daughter?!!」

「Guh.」

I notice that I tend to make that sound when I’m cornered.

Gretel wrote everything in her letters.

Oh yeah, recently she’s stopped feeling embarrassed when acting like a dog and doesn’t seem to mind walking on all fours even in the presence of maids or gardeners.

If she’s even reporting it to her family, that definitely means her shame has disappeared.

「Reading back now, I even see that she’s adding ‘woof’ and ‘bark’ to her sentences! I thought that she was using popular phrases that typical young ladies use! But are you in fact treating my daughter, playing with my daughter like you would a dog!?」

Adolph also mentioned before that Gretel ended her sentences strangely in her report documents.

I have no words to say to the Count who has steam coming out of his ears.

If I pat his shoulder and tell him not to worry, things will probably get violent.

Celia is already hanging her head with one knee to the floor.

「Now now, Lord Beltz, let’s try to solve this amicably.」

Kenneth jumps in to stop Beltz’s uncomposed angry yelling.

「Though in saying that, it is natural for him to take offense when the daughter of the well-known Beltz household is treated like a dog. I assume Lord Hardlett would not want such a rumor to spread either.」

Kenneth glances at me before continuing.

「So Lord Hardlett, how about making Gretel-dono one of your concubines?」

Beltz is glaring at me as usual.

「Lord Beltz, you cannot accept that your daughter is being treated like a plaything, right? If she is married…… well, being toyed with like a dog is an issue between husband and wife, not something outsiders can have a say in.」

Beltz clears his throat and returns to using his normal tone.

「…… my household is one of traditional status, however it is unavoidable for the fourth daughter of a Count family to become a concubine through marrying a Margrave. It follows that the father has no say on whatever perverted play the couple chooses when having sex.」

In other words, he will tolerate the perverted acts if I make Gretel my concubine.

Now this is a little troublesome.

Count Beltz belongs to Kenneth’s faction so Erich may get angry.

But if I say I’m not able to make Gretel my bride, it would disgrace her.

If rumors about me shaming her spread, she probably won’t be able to marry anyone, more importantly she loves me.

「I understand. I will make her my wife after confirming with her in person.」

I don’t have to think about it.

Although I don’t want to make trouble for Erich, choosing to make a woman who has accepted me unhappy is not an option.

Besides, I injected her with plenty of my semen so she might be pregnant with my child.

「Aaaah…… another one……」

Celia slumps over and falls to her knees.

It’s a good thing that the family is growing.

Plus, you’re my precious Celia, that won’t change no matter how many wives I have.

「In that case, I will disregard the humiliation of my daughter. But I respectfully ask you to refrain from any shameful treatment in public which would hurt her honor.」

Sorry, Gretel being my dog is already an open secret known by my servants.

They’ve already seen her walking around in the yard and copulating outside countless times.

Actually, Gretel is already walking in the halls wearing her dog ears, collar and anal plug tail like it’s normal.

「Hahaha, what a joyous result. The banquet happening tonight will be the perfect opportunity to announce the new relationship between Lord Beltz and Lord Hardlett.」

Beltz looks dubious compared to Kenneth who is smiling ear-to-ear.

I guess this was the reason he wanted to have this meeting before the banquet.

There will be nobles who don’t normally attend banquets showing up today’s royal banquet.

I’m starting to not be able to see Erich face-to-face.

Oh, I know. I’ll just get Kroll to dress like me and act as my replacement.

「That’s not going to work…… he looks nothing like you.」

Celia heaves a heavy sigh.

Royal Palace. Banquet.

「Lord Hardlett, I heard about it, how you’re going to make a daughter of the Beltz family your concubine.」

「I’m so happy for you. It’s wonderful to see a noble household with an ancient and honorable origin become one with an up-and-coming household. This is truly wonderful.」

「My family is also a relative of the Beltz family, I hope you treat them as you see fit from now on.」

When I make an appearance in the banquet, nobles immediately talk to me.

I was a little suspicious at how everyone knew about it despite the dinner party just beginning, but then I see Kenneth in the corner of my eye busily going around to others.

So he’s spreading it as expected.

The only ones approaching me are those traditional nobles in Kenneth’s faction, the new nobles are looking over with blank expressions on their faces.

「Erich is angry, isn’t he.」

「I’m sure he is.」

By the way, Celia and Kroll are my attendants.

In case it’s necessary, I brought Kroll along to act as my replacement, stuffing a bunch of packaging material in his crotch to make it seem big, but he was stopped at the entrance by the palace guards.

「……the banquet is one where His Majesty will also be attending so please refrain from looking so vulgar.」

That’s what was said.

I could have used him as my replacement if only his crotch bulge was larger.

「Lord Hardlett.」

「So you were here.」

「Geez, it’s hard to deal with someone who walks so far ahead.」

I turn around as I hear those voices and see the three poor nobles.

Since all feudal lords are to gather here, I should have known that they would also come.

「I can’t thank you enough for shouldering my debt last time.」

「Because of that, I was able to afford proper formal clothes.」

「Previously, I could only afford half the material, exposing my backside…… though I somehow made it through by standing with my back to the wall.」

「It’s not a problem, we’re neighbors after all.」

It’s much easier to interact with these three than some other new face.

But that last guy was joking, right?

「Also, I heard about it.」

I think to myself, ‘great, so them too?’.

「Your new mansion was finally completed.」

「I hear it’s incredibly large.」

Aah, they’re talking about that?

That’s right, Nonna was pretty enthusiastic about holding a party commemorating the completion of the mansion.

She should be holding it not long after this banquet is over.

「Yes, my wife is currently getting it ready. I will of course be unveiling it to everybody.」

I’m not a regular participant so I’m not sure, though they should be included on the guest list.

「Oooh! Wonderful.」

「I’m looking forward to it already!」

「It will surely be a grand one!」

Don’t make it a bigger deal than it is.

If Nonna finds out, she would really go overboard and make things too grandiose.

「A party to celebrate the completion of a mansion?」

「Do you mind telling me a little more about it?」

Other nobles who overheard start crowding around.

Crap, I said that in a place with lots of people.

Just when I thought I attracted the attention of the participants of the banquet again, the mood in the air changes and everyone pulls back.

Even the poor noble trio start to drink their wine awkwardly.

「Hm? What’s wrong?」

I turn around as I take a bite of the ham in my hand.

「What an auspicious story Lord Hardlett, by the way there is something I would like to discuss with you.」

Oh no, it’s Erich.

I automatically push Kroll to the front.

「Hardlett-sama, we’ll be going to the toilet.」

After saying that to Kroll, I take Celia by the hand and leave.

Kroll is dressed the same way as I am so he should buy me some time until his disguise is discovered.

「What kind of game are you playing?」

Erich sees through the disguise immediately and heads for me in a straight line.

So having his crotch stuffing taken away really made a difference.

Crap, there’s no way out now.

Erich, after taking me to the break room, directs his wrath at me with a smile.

「You understand what I want to say, don’t you?」

「Is it about the marriage with Gretel?」

「The name of the daughter doesn’t matter! The marriage with the Beltz family itself is the problem.」

So he’s angry, like I thought he would be.

「Of course I am! Entering into marriage is the basics of creating a relationship with a particular faction. The rumor that you will be marrying the daughter of Count Beltz, one of mainstays in Kenneth’s faction, is already spreading throughout the entire royal palace. My subordinates are also making a fuss about seeing you with him!」

「No, that’s not how it was.」

I know it’s unsightly, but I can only try and come up with an excuse.

「It’s bad that you came to the royal palace today directly from Kenneth’s mansion too! You’re practically saying he won you over!」

That’s because I was invited by a beauty.

After we talked about Gretel, I wanted to return to my mansion for a while but Kenneth held me back.

He said, “why not stay for a drink and relax” so I did so in another room.

When I got there, three pretty ladies were waiting for me, pouring me drinks.

Not only that, everyone started becoming charmed with me and took their clothes off like they wanted me to embrace them no matter what.

I couldn’t just refuse the girls’ requests so I did my best and before I knew it, it was time for the banquet.

Of course, Celia was included in that lovemaking session, where I satisfied all the girls.

「You were baited by women again!? ……fine, if you’re going to do that, I have my own way of doing things too.」

I have a bad feeling about this.

「If I leave you alone with free time, you’ll end up eating women left and right. That’s right, when I think about it you’ve only been fighting personal battles as a feudal lord lately. I need to remind you that while it’s a reserve role, you are also a commander of the nation’s army.」

Erich nods in agreement, then stands up.

My premonition changes into belief.

「So the Military Commissioner will attend the party to celebrate the new mansion……」

「Umu, I ask that you let me go. Though that will probably be some time later.」

Erich takes his leave after that.

「That sounds so troublesome.」

I complain while stretching Celia’s cheeks.

「You reap what you sow! Please hold back a little more in your desire for women! Fhg gh, sdoob dah!2.」

Erich doesn’t say anything to be in particular after that.

Finally, it was about time in the banquet for the King to make his appearance.

「Everyone, glad you could come. Please take this time to deepen the relationships with the feudal lords you don’t often get to meet.」

As soon as the King started to speak, there was a strange tension in the air.

There weren’t simply feelings of respect towards the King, I could sense feelings of caution and fear as well.

When Rebecca appeared behind the King, the tension reached its highest point.

It was strikingly obvious with the nobles who were usually in the palace, whereas the feudal lords tilted their heads in bewilderment about the abnormal atmosphere.

「Oh my, I wonder what’s wrong.」

「If this meat is dried, I wonder how long it will last」

「I-I lost my wallet……」

The three poor nobles don’t seem to understand what’s going on.

And Baron Gokhin seems to have dropped his wallet.

「This is supposed to be a time for celebration…… however I have some unpleasant news to share.」

As the King read out the names of those suspected of treason, even the feudal lord nobles not affected by the tension previously started to realize how bizarre the situation was.

The King one by one reads out the names of people along with their list of offences in a hateful tone and practically berates them.

There is nothing more unpleasant than listening to someone speak badly of others endlessly.

To distract myself, I feel up Celia’s ass.

For some reason, her ass has gotten hard.

「Aegir-sama, that’s my butt.」

Curse you Kroll, you tricked me.

「Haa, haa ……that will be all from me.」

Rather than a new year greeting, 90% of the King’s speech was bad mouthing.

With the feudal lords and those captured by the indictments of the secret informers or information officers quite aware of their fates, everybody packed into palace now have the same expressions on their faces.

「Next, we have an announcement from the Military Commissioner.」

Erich walked up to the stage next.

The new nobles light up while the traditional nobles frown.

「There is this much of an effect just from the order of who speaks?」

Celia comments in an astonished manner.

This kind of atmosphere is created over who gets to speak first.

The fight between Erich’s and Kenneth’s faction is more serious than I thought.

I would have thought they’d get tired of it after a while.

「Firstly, honor to His Majesty and to the Kingdom of Goldonia! Now then, I will report the current state of affairs as the Military Commissioner.」

Erich expressed the necessity for military expansion and requested for the feudal lords to cooperate more, among other things he usually says.

It looks like I’ll surprisingly be in the clear, I can feel myself relax.

「However, on the west bank of the North Teries river under the His Majesty’s warm heart, the number of rebel army soldiers going up against the general governorate who has granted them generous amounts of land, and acting disloyally with weapons to disrupt the peace, is not small.」

The nobles who were aware of the chaos in former Magrado nod.

「Thus to assist with the rule of the general governorate, it has been decided that the royal army will be deployed in His Majesty’s name to that land to display the Kingdom’s prestige.」

The King nods greatly at Erich’s declaration.

「I would also like to seek help from each and every one of you to shoulder this burden appropriately.」

The feudal lords openly display their unwillingness, though quickly compose themselves when they see Rebecca step out from behind the King.

Erich takes a breath to confirm the audience’s response before continuing.

「I appoint the commander in charge to be…… Margrave Hardlett. Lead a corps of the royal army consisting of 15 000 soldiers and restore the order in that land together with the general governorate’s forces!」

So that’s his plan.

「Hau!」

I unconsciously squeeze Celia’s ass tight.

Erich chuckles after looking in my direction.

I close my eyes and slump my shoulders.

I crushed his honor.

I guess this much of a punishment is sufficient.

The army I will be leading is not my own so I don’t have to worry about expenses or casualties though.

Seeing my reaction, Erich nods contently.

「The burden for each feudal lord ‘requested’ will be determined later. Furthermore, beginning with Lord Hardlett, anyone who takes part in the campaign will be granted special reductions and exemptions. That is all.」

It can’t be helped.

For now, I’ll call on Leopolt so we can think about it together.

「Burden, another loan?」

「I was finally able to eat three meals a day too.」

「My wallet is gone and more is going to be taken away on top of that?」

The poor trio looks over to me.

I get it, you guys are going to participate too, stop looking at me.

It feels unpleasant to be stared at by three men.

–Third Person POV–

Side Story: Alice’s Fun.

「Good, everyone’s asleep, I think.」

Late at night in her own room, Alice checks the window locks after confirming no sounds were being made around her.

Then she pulls out a pot from under a desk.

There was a heavy looking board of iron acting as the lid on top, which she slowly pushes off.

「Haa…… haa…… it’ll be fine, just a little…… only a little bit……」

Alice flips up her skirt and pulls down her underwear.

Then she spreads her legs and lowers her hips above the pot.

「It’ll be fine…… if it hurts, I can stop.」

She mutters quietly to convince herself before squatting like she would when going to the toilet, completely dropping her hips down.

In that moment, something reaches out to feel her ass.

「Ah!」

Alice pulls her hips back up on reflex, though quickly resolving herself to lower them again.

And then something wiggling stretches up again and rubs her ass.

That thing was a severed roper tentacle she brought back from the black elf village.

It continued moving even after being separated from the main body of the monster, so Alice picked it up out of interest.

She kept it in a sturdy pot to keep it from running away and gave it leftover food to help it grow bigger.

「Agh!」

The tentacle’s movements become more vigorous as it notices the girl’s ass appear, extending the tip towards her vagina.

「No, that’s the wrong one.」

Alice grabs the tentacle and pulls it away as it tries to enter her genitals.

Despite having grown a bit since she picked it up, the tentacle is still small and weak enough for the weak girl to handle.

Finally, the tentacle found the place which the girl wanted it to go.

「Ahih!!」

The end of the tentacle easily slips into the girl’s ass which was loosened from all her previous abuse and expectation of pleasure, then burrows its way into Alice.

「Nnhoooh! It’s inside! It went in my assss!!」

Alice’s sense of reason flew out the window as she shouts and puts both hands on her cheeks.

Seeing how it wasn’t pulled away, the tentacle intrudes deeper into Alice’s hole.

「Oooooooh! Aaaaaaah!」

The more the slimy tentacle pushes up, the more pleasure Alice receives, as her body collapses from all the sexual feelings.

However, the fun would end if she fell now so she clings desperately to the lip of the pot.

「That slimy feeling inside! It’s going deeper? N-not good!」

Alice sticks her tongue out as she groans out in pleasure from climax.

Her hips rock back and forth against her will and eventually slides off the pot.

The girl slowly covers the pot with the lid while her eyes are still unfocused.

「Haa, haa…… that was incredible. I’ll let it grow, a little more.」

The pleasure she felt consciously did not come close to what she usually felt from the man who makes love to her.

However, it was an entirely different pleasure which humans could not reproduce.

She wondered what it would feel like if the thing grew thicker and longer.

「I don’t need this anymore.」

Alice throws away the dildo she’s been using in her ass all this time, darkened in color from being stuffed up to the root.

「Get bigger…… ‘kay?」

Alice tosses a slice of unfinished bread into the pot.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 24 years old. Winter.

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. Mountain Legend. Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless. Dragon Slayer Hero.

Elf Mediator.

Citizens: 175,000. Refugees: 650

Major Cities – Rafen: 26,000. Lintbloom: 5000. Vandolea Special Town: 9000.

Army: 7000 men

Infantry: 3000, Cavalry: 900, Archers: 500, Bow Cavalry: 900, Light Infantry (Inadequately Equipped): 1700

Reserve Army: 3000 (Incompletely Armed)

Cannons: 15, Large Cannons: 5, Dwarven Cannons: 16

(Dwarven cannons were made from special materials, newly manufactured cannons were made into large cannons)

Alice (nurturing a tentacle)

Assets: 19,599 gold (Loan to Baron Gokhin -1)

Sexual Partners: 406, children who have been born: 55 + 555 fish