The conference at the guild headquarters lasted three days. After returning to their respective kingdoms, the leaders sent troops to Sanargia, the place chosen as the battleground. On the other hand, me and the others were tasked with transporting the other existing sacred beasts.
From the kingdom of Dartan is Silva, Airavata from Naji and Mabia from the kingdom of Kycilia. We transported these three sacred beasts to the World Tree in Sanargia. By the way, the main reason why Sanargia is the chosen battleground is because the World Tree Treant is rooted in the ground and cannot be moved. In addition, Sanargia boasts a large territory, so it is easy to fight there.
After transporting the sacred beasts safely to the forest city of Zara, we rested for a while until the armies of each kingdom were assembled.
“It’s been a week since the meeting, but there hasn’t been a movement from those angels huh.”
“There’s probably a reason why they can’t move right away. Well, that’s a good thing for us.”
“However, we don’t know when they are coming, and we don’t know what the enemy’s strength is. It’s like being forced to fight blindfolded. I think we should just be ready to raise the white flag.”
Erna says as she nibbles on a cookie on the couch. We are currently in the mansion of her family, the Frederia family. Thanks to the kindness of Mrs. Frederia, we are allowed to stay until the battle begins. But as usual, it can’t be helped that I feel a little uncomfortable with the luxurious decoration.
“Hey Father, can I go shopping in town?”
It was Pero who spoke as he stares intently outside the window. Come to think of it, it is his first time in Sanargia. He wags his tail more than usual and sticks out his tongue happily. He looks so cute that when I stroked his head, my son stretched out his ears and squinted his eyes.
“Father?”
“Alright, let’s all go shopping. Since we’ve come all the way here, let’s have some fun.”
“Yes, let’s eat a lot of delicious food.”
As soon as it is decided, we all prepared to go out. I only put on the things I need and I called out to the other three to go shopping. After telling Sebastian, the butler, that we are going out for a walk, we decided to go to the city on foot.
◇◇◇
“Whoa! You can see the World Tree from here!”
“If I keep looking at it, I feel like my perception will malfunction.”
“Father look! Silva-san is on that branch!”
The five of us were sitting on a bench, enjoying the view as we eat ice cream. At the place where Pero was pointing, there was indeed the figure of Silva. It seems that the other sacred beasts also sleep near the World Tree. According to what I heard, the range of perception of the sacred tree seems to be extraordinarily wide, and it is possible to know who is doing what even a hundred kilometers away. Thus, it is the perfect place to shelter from the angels.
“By the way, Tanaka-dono, aren’t you going to summon your familiars in this battle?”
“I’m just preparing them as my trump card. And honestly, I don’t want people to see them.”
I hope that I don’t need to summon them until the end. Many of them have good character and are hardworking. But it takes time to figure that out. Moreover, among magical beasts, the undead are the most hated ones. It will be difficult to accept them as a force to be reckoned with right away. Above all, it would be foolish to spread unnecessary ripples before the battle with the angels even begin.
Someday, the existence of my familiars may be exposed to the world. But that shouldn’t be now. That’s what I thought.
At that moment, a sound that sounds like a horn echoes at the entrance of the city.
“I heard that the Logas army has arrived!”
“Really? Let’s see what the Human Army is like!”
Children happily run in front of us.
I see, the army from the kingdom has finally arrived. The other armies are probably heading towards Sanargia too, but Logas, which is closer, is naturally the first to arrive.
Above all, I am relieved that my clone is doing the king’s job well. After a while, a man on horseback passed in front of us. No, he immediately turned back and stopped in front of me.
It was Edner who was on horseback. He looks great in his ornate armor and blue cloak. He looks like a general.
“Oh, as His Majesty has said, you guys are already here.”
“It’s been a while, Edner. Did you get promoted?”
“His Majesty has appointed me as a general. I myself had never imagined that I would be able to become a general at my age. Well, just like last time, I will be under your command this time as well. We’ll be in your care.”
Edner had the dignity befitting a general. “If you don’t meet the man for three days, take a closer look”. I recall such a saying. It’s unclear what happened to Edner, but he seemed to have gained a lot more confidence than he had before.
Suddenly, I noticed that he is staring at Pero.
“Pe-Pero-kun, can I touch your fluffy fur?”
“Eh? Edner-san is a fluffy?”
“Just a little bit…. Just a little bit around that chest hair.”
Edner then jumps off his horse and buries his face in Pero’s chest hair. His expression shows that he is feeling blissful.
“No way, Edner-sama is……”
“I’m sorry Freya, I’m no longer the Edner I used to be. I’m a fluffy general who loves fluffy!”
Edner had a fearless smile on his face and Freya’s cheeks stiffens in shock. I am also quite surprised. He didn’t have the slightest interest in fluffy before. I wonder what the hell happened to Edner.
“Wau~, Edner-san’s hands feel good.”
“Pero-kun’s fur is the best. I didn’t know you had such a fluffy coat.”
“Eeiii! Don’t touch it any more! I’m the only one who can touch Pero-sama!”
Freya brushes Edner’s hand away. Her reddened face clearly shows that she’s jealous. Seeing this, Erna and Liz both got excited, exclaiming, “It’s a love triangle!”
“Can you satisfy Pero-kun with that level of skill?”
“Shut up! I know Pero-sama better than anyone! I’m the only one who can satisfy Pero-sama!”
“Fluffy Enlightenment”
“!?”
Just when Edner said that, Freya gasped loudly.
What the heck is fluffy enlightenment?
“I earned it. I got a full license.”
“That’s a lie…… I …… even I, who was called a genius, could not grasp that secret….”
“The fluffy hermit did say that Freya was a genius, but I was the one who was loved by the furry ones. Your self-interested fluffy way will never be a match for me. You must have fallen to the dark side of fluffy.”
What is the dark side of fluffy? I got no idea at all.
Freya then slammed her knees into the ground helplessly. Pero intervened as he looked at their faces.
“Let’s stop fighting for the time being. I don’t really like this fluffy thing in the first place.”
“Pero-sama……”
Flare clings to Pero with teary eyes. Edner shook his head from side to side in dismay, and said, “I’m in a hurry, so let’s end it here.” He then rode off on horseback. I couldn’t understand the situation at all, but I could barely tell that Freya had lost.
I mean, what is the road to fluffy?
“Pero-sama, Pero-sama! Freya has lost! I’m sorry!”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know where you decided whether you win or lose but, just cheer up. You can touch my tail and chest hair.”
“Haaaaa! What a generous heart! I’m sure I’ll learn the mystery someday! I’ll never lose to Edner!”
Freya buried her face in Pero’s chest and screams. Well, it’s great that she seems to be in a better mood now. I decided to resume shopping for the time being.
“Shinichi, take a look! This is a cute hat!”
Erna puts on a straw hat and spins around. The sunlight shining through the trees from the World Tree makes her look beautiful. Then someone pulls on the robe behind me. I turned around and saw Liz standing there with three pairs of underwear.
One is a pair of white panties with a cute bear embroidery. The other one is a pair of pale blue panties with a ribbon. And the last one is a black string lace panties.
“Which one does Oniichan like?”
“Me? That black one.”
“Oniichan is lascivious after all huh.”
She walked back to the underwear store next to the hat store with the underwear in her hand. Curiously, I looked inside the store and saw that Liz was talking to a woman who seemed to be the clerk there.
“Like you said, he is lascivious.”
“Right? He is indeed lewd for choosing that black string lace panties. But knowing your partner’s preferences is important for tactics. Information is the key to staying one step ahead of your rivals. There’s something you can’t get by just charging in.”
“I see, as expected of a master. I would like to ask for more teaching.”
I decided not to look at it anymore. Recently, I’ve noticed that Liz seems to have a crush on me too. It all started with Erna’s confession. As someone who had been away from romance for a long time, it was quite difficult for me to come up with that.
I was said to be insensitive to such things. If not for their conversation earlier, I would have mistakenly thought that she was being coached by a combat professional who runs an underwear shop. ……No, but I can’t dismiss that possibility. It’s possible that she is receiving instruction in combat.
“Father, they are selling this!”
Pero runs over to me with what looks like a cloth over his ears. If you ask me, it is called an ear cover. Elves’ ears are long and pointed that they easily protrude from their hats, so they sell covers as a tool to protect against sunburn. Freya breathes heavily when she sees Pero this way.
“Haa~haa~, it suits you well Pero-sama!”
“Your eyes are definitely misty.”
Suddenly, something huge passed directly above us. The residents of the city looked up at the sky and screams, “It’s a wyvern!”.
When I looked up, I saw a mustard-colored wyvern without horns flying by. It is about 15 meters from head to tail. The wingspan is 20 meters wide. It circled over the city and then flew north.
“Do wyverns often appear around here?”
“Sometimes. Apparently, there is a big nest in the mountains to the north. I’ve heard that this city is protected by the Sacred Tree, so the wyverns won’t mess around carelessly.”
“A nest huh. That’s interesting. I was thinking it was about time for a full-fledged flying force.”
“Wait. Don’t tell me……”
It’s as Erna had thought. That’s right, I decided to turn the wyverns into my subordinates. And I had an ambition that I secretly harbored. Someday, I will make the dragons my familiars too. In addition, they can be used as a force in the upcoming battle.
I hurriedly changed plans and decided to go to the mountains in the north.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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