Foreigner Volume 9, Chapter 199

Volume 9 Chapter 199, Demonic Dragon ~ 14

　Liese is a small country that connects the 13 city-states, Raid, and other large nations with Arsweta, the Dwarven nation.

　It is a small country that makes its living mainly from sheep and wheat production, and from trading in Arsweta.

　There is a fair amount of human traffic, but this is because it serves as the western gateway to Arsweta.

　Humans are not as good as Dwarves in smelting technology such as iron and glass. This is due to the attributes of the Dwarven race. As a race of earth and fire, Dwarves can discern the composition of the earth with their eyes and handle fire at higher temperatures than humans, which is why their quality is higher than that of human craftsmanship.

　Although there are only two dwarven nations in the world, the human race is inviolable as a race.

　This is partly out of respect for the Dwarves, who helped in the miraculous recovery from the Seven Days Disaster, but also because they are responsible for the minting of gold, silver, and copper coins, which are now indispensable to the Dwarves.

　The Dwarves are hard-working and honest people, who dislike lying and do not negotiate. Because of this trust, it was more reliable to entrust the minting of coins for the entire world to the Dwarves than to a human nation.

　When the quality of the coins deteriorated, they were taken to Arsweta or to Einzel, another dwarven state in the east, to be minted and recycled.

　Therefore, although Liese is a small country, there is a lot of traffic, and the taxes raised from it are quite high. That is why the role of the customs offices in this country is extremely important.

　It is no small matter to report that the Haivan checkpoint was recently broken through by an unauthorized man.

「A big man like a cloud! Not only did this man forcefully break through the Haivan checkpoint, but he also raised his hand against my son!」

　The middle-aged man who was standing in the Liese Royal Palace, shouting enthusiastically at the King, was one of the country's ministers. He is not only surrounded by other ministers, but even the king himself is looking at him coldly, and he is bubbling at the corners of his mouth as he speaks out in an eloquent voice about the tragedy of his son.

「Poor boy, he has several broken lower teeth and has difficulty in eating.」

「So, what's your point?」

　The minister did not seem to notice the old king's exasperated tone. He is a competent man in normal times, but when it comes to his own son, he is not so competent. It would be a fool's errand to call him a parent.

「I ask your permission to bring the outlaw who harmed my son to justice!」

　To begin with, this minister's son was well known as a fool. He was arrogant, stingy, and jealous, and such were the only rumors that came to King's ears. Even so, his father, the minister in front of him, has a certain amount of influence in the country. I can't ignore him, so I have his son appointed as a deputy at a local customs post, and this is what I get.

「What exactly are you going to do about it?」

「The outlaw has already left the country. I'd like to send out a wanted list to the neighboring countries.」

　If he has already left the country, there should be no problem, but I won't say it. He can't send an army to Arsweta, but he can at least put out a wanted list for such an outlaw. Of course, in the name of the state, approval is required―The king nodded appropriately, showing his reluctance. "Do as you please" The minister left the king's office with his heart pounding in his chest.

　Although the king had come to this conclusion without any particular thought, there was no way he could have realized at this point that this would be a problem that would affect the future of the country.

　With the king's authorization, the minister, with diligence commensurate with his abilities, proceeded to arrange for the insolent person who had destroyed his son's jaw.

　The minister's eldest son, who had caused the problem this time, was indeed an insolent son, but he was still the minister's beloved son whom he loved so much that it would not hurt to put him out of his sight.

　His son had a shattered lower jaw and several teeth. He has almost no ability to chew, and even speaking is crippled. If the damage was that severe, only the advanced Holy Art of 【Regenerative Healing】 would be able to heal him. However, no one in Liese can master such a difficult art, and the nearest town is the Sorcery City of Ares, which requires a large donation and a six-month waiting period.

　The minister, with only his hatred for the man who had injured his son, who would be forced to suffer inconvenience for half a year, investigated and took various steps.

　The soldiers at the gate in Haivan only described the outlaw as a large man but refused to give any specific description of him or what he was capable of. He shook his head in frustration, but the minister was stunned by the attitude of "It's better than being killed," but he received a report from a knight who had been chasing the outlaw.

「I have seen the big man, sir.」

　The knight did not hide his inexperience but answered the minister's question with dignity.

　He and two colleagues were searching for the man when they encountered him in the Red Forest. The knight tearfully apologized for having succumbed to the threat after being shown a fireball that was so out of the ordinary.

　The minister was delighted by the knight's bitter apology. Certainly, it was shameful for a knight to let an insurgent who had forcibly broken through a checkpoint go free without a fight because he demonstrated vicious power. But on the other hand, it could be said that he avoided an impossible battle and brought valuable information.

　Hearing that the big man was also the one who kicked out the Baki Clan, the minister forgave the knight who confessed his shame that he had missed it without a fight. It was only because the knight's honor and bloodlust did not deviate that he was able to obtain valuable information.

　He immediately called an artist to draw a portrait. He confirmed with his son, who could not speak properly, that the portrait would resemble the big man to some extent, and it was completed. According to the knight's testimony, he was wearing a strange bracelet on his left arm. A wristwatch.

　Dozens of copies of the completed arrangement are made by hand, and arrangements for the outlaw are begun with neighboring countries.

　At any rate, at this point, it is also known that he seems to have crossed the checkpoint from the southern road and entered Arsweta. However, since the human country is not allowed to intervene in the affairs of the Dwarven country, the ministers can only send them a written arrangement.

　Thus, the handbills for the outlaw who forced his way through the Haivan checkpoint were distributed to the neighboring countries. A bounty of 500 L (Libram) was also offered from the minister's pocket money.

　But the minister does not know.

　He is not aware that his plan to avenge his son's humiliation will soon be taken out of his hands.

　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊

　Satoru's younger sister, Alice, has been an overly attentive child since she was a child. First of all, she is rarely selfish. She is a bit of a spoiled child, and when she can see Satoru, she sticks to him, but she never does anything that Satoru does not want her to do.

　It is probably because she was raised in an orphanage from the time she was a baby. While Satoru was grateful that she has grown up to be a very understanding child, it is also difficult for her to tell him what she wants to do, what she wants him to do, or what she wants him to give her.

　Satoru once scolded Alice for this.

　When Alice was about to enter elementary school, a child from the same facility took the adorable stationery Satoru had bought for her, and in an attempt to get it back, she injured the other child.

　When Satoru received a call from the facility and went to see her, Alice's face was a bit unhappy.

　After hearing the whole story, Satoru lightly hit Alice with a thump.

　The shock of being hit by her beloved brother seemed to have made a big impact on Alice's heart, and she looked like she was going to cry, but she didn't cry to the utmost.

　Satoru looked Alice in the eye and told her that no matter what the circumstances were, it was wrong that she had injured someone, apologized to the person who she had injured for, apologized to Satoru, and finally, she cried out loud.

　After clinging to Satoru and crying, he lightly hugged her and soothed her. The next day, he went to buy some cute stationery for the girl to use, and he remembers giving it to her, telling her to use it separately from the girl who had injured her.

　―I wondered why I remembered that time.

　Satoru opened his eyes and looked up at the metal ceiling and thought to himself.

　A girl was standing beside him, looking like an unrealistic figure. Satoru breathed heavily as he remembered how he had held this girl like an animal last night, as she had asked him to do.

「Oh」

　She must have noticed that Satoru had woken up. Satoru glanced at Leia, who made a small noise, and half raised himself up. Liz was at his side, and Isolde was asleep beyond her. Minerva is still asleep, and Rico, as usual, is waking up earlier than Satoru. Solor seems to be the one currently piloting the airship.

　Leia, who had been stealing a glance at Satoru's expression as he lay half-awake for a while, sighed heavily.

「My Lord, are you all right?」

「...... what is?」

　Satoru's voice is lower than usual when he wakes up from sleep. However, the low voice seems to indicate the gloominess of Satoru's heart, which is probably because they have known each other for a long time.

「That's what happened yesterday with Liz. Didn't you push yourself too hard?」

　Satoru did not give an immediate answer to Leia's remark. He scratched his shoulder silently for a while.

　Strictly speaking, Leia was also the one who set fire to Satoru last night. She had her own feelings about Satoru, who had been raping Liz with an unprecedented lack of care and animalism.

　Rico did not know what had happened last night. But even so, she could tell that something had happened. Satoru smiled to himself as he met the two girls' gaze.

「Well, a little. Just ......」

「Just what?」

　Satoru's expression is lost. He turns his gaze to Liz and Isolde, who is still asleep.

「I don't know what to say,...... I guess I can say that I'm scared now. Leia, you too, Rico, Minerva, Solor, Liz, and Isolde...... every one is changing.」

　Not only Leia, but Rico nodded her head.

「To think that I've changed them all if not all of them. I can't help but feel bad.」

「Guilt, huh?」

　Sighing, Leia also looked at Liz. The girl who was sleeping in the nude, without any clothes on, was probably cold now that Satoru, who was by her side, was gone, so she rolled over and hugged the sleeping woman nearby.

「Mnya」

「Aahh, Milord ...... such an outrageous ......」

「How unusual. Isolde is sleeptalking.」

　Isolde, embraced by Liz, also seems to be deeply asleep, which is unusual. It seems that Solor trained her after Satoru fell asleep, so she slept deeper than usual, and it is no wonder that she woke up late.

　Leia smiles a bit, then withdraws her smile and turns to Satoru.

「What I can say with certainty is that it is not a sin.」

　Leia keeps a straight face. Rico agrees.

「I agree. It's not a sin, so there's no need to feel bad about it. I met Satoru and I've changed. I'm proud of it.」

「Me too」

　Satoru was unable to reply to the confident voices of the second and first magical slaves. Rico stopped preparing breakfast and approached Satoru on all fours.

「You say "you've changed," but that's just one word for it. But it can also be called growing up, can't it?」

「Hmm, well, ......」

　Satoru stroked his chin and groaned. Certainly, he can recognize it as growth. To deny growth is to admit stagnation and abandonment of thought. That is not something Satoru likes.

「That's not a bad thing, right? Without a doubt, Satoru is a positive influence on everyone. You can be proud of that.」

「With all due respect. I, too, am truly glad that it was Master who awakened me」

　Even Solor interjected from the cockpit. Indeed, she, too, is growing up. Not only Satoru but also others recognized this.

「Besides, you see. If my Lord behaves like that, it makes us uneasy, even though we have changed.」

「Muh ......」

　Satoru accepted Leia's opinion with a groan. Certainly, if the person who changed the person shows regret, the changed person will feel uneasy.

「Satoru, you should be proud of yourself. I know you're uncomfortable being pressed by Liz, who looks like your sister, but you've decided to accept it, haven't you?」

「I, guess. ...... Yeah, you're right. Sorry.」

　Rico laughed colorful at Leia and accepted Satoru's apology.

　To these two, Minerva has also accepted that she and Satoru have been traveling together for a long time and have been completely changed. Of course, there can be no blame, because she recognizes that it has changed for the better.

　What lies within Satoru is hesitation. He regrets that his overwhelming power has changed Liz and Isolde against their will.

　But to Rico and Leia, the opposite is true. They had to change, and for the better. Satoru was certainly a catalyst and a factor, but he has nothing to regret or be ashamed of. The person who was changed feels that way more than anything else.

　Satoru stood up and turned his feet to the cockpit. Through the glass, he could see the landscape below, which looked like a meadow with few signs of life.

「What is the course of the ship?」

「It seems to be drifting further south than planned. Because it seems that the winter northerly winds are coming in.」

　Solor ran her finger over the map of the world taped to his side and pointed to their approximate current location. It has been a full day and a half since they left Arsweta on Deligrande. It is in the territory of control of the neighboring country next to Arsweta.

　The goal now is the Sacred Mountain Nevis. It rises in a huge lake called the Middle Earth Sea in the southern part of the continent and is the abode of the Holy Dragon Feather Dragon. Sure, the path is somewhat diverted, but it's not a problem.

「...... Well, it's within the bounds of course(?). All right, then, drop for a moment. I need to take a leak too」

　Satoru saw that Minerva and Liz had woken up and that Isolde was getting up as well, and he sent out the order. Solor also responded, and slowly sent the Yamato to descend.

　After carefully checking the surroundings for people, elves, and dwarves, Solor asked Leia to perform a certain art. Leia responded to her request and performed the art.

「『Life Force Detection』 (Detect Life)」

　She checked for any signs of people in the vicinity.

　Solor's total magic power, which is the soul of a living being, is about 10 times greater than Leia's, but 【Life Force Detection】 is a Holy Art, and Leia is better at it. Therefore, Leia's detection range is superior to Solor's.

「There are no signs of humans or monsters in the area, but there are a few beasts in the area.」

　The detection range of Leia is about a half-mile radius. Incidentally, Satoru has also used it for chanting once in the past, and its detection range is tremendous, but since Satoru cannot be burdened with that much work, those tasks are the domain of Leia and Solor. If there were many signs of people in the area, they would ask Satoru to do the job, but fortunately, there were few signs of people in this area.

　Rico opens the door and lands on the ground first, followed by Satoru, who is about to get off when he is approached from behind.

「Onii-san」

「Hm?」

　Satoru turned around to see Liz. Liz, who was fully awake and clothed, bowed to Satoru with a somewhat apologetic expression on her face.

「Thank you for listening to my selfishness last night.」

　―I wonder what I look like now.

　Satoru responded to Liz's gratitude with a discouraged expression. Probably, his expression is quite subtle.

　Last night, Satoru held Liz quite hard in response to her request. He finished it when Liz lost consciousness, but it was hard for him to violate a girl who looked like his sister with his beastly nature, even though he was prepared to hold her. Liz began to seek such intense intercourse ― So much so that he felt guilty about changing the girl, and Leia pointed it out to him before Liz and the others woke up, and he complained unintentionally.

　Liz lifted her head with a sad smile, perhaps impatient with Satoru's lack of response.

「I wanted you to know, too.」

「...... what is it?」

「I, too, wish to be ruled by Onii-san. I wanted you to know that I wanted to be violated.」

　Satoru took a small gasp at Liz's words, which were spun with a hand on her chest and a forlorn smile on her face.

「I resemble Onii-san's sister ― there's no way to hide that. There is a part of me that accepts that Onii-san sees me as a replacement for Alice-san, and there is a part of me that doesn't,......, and I was also at a loss.」

　Satoru gets stuck. He realizes that the reason he can't see Liz as an independent girl forever is because of the naivete in Satoru.

　Because Liz resembles his sister Alice.

　Even though I say so, I have already held her many times. Being nice is just another excuse. If only I could alleviate some of the guilt―It is for the convenience of Satoru alone. It is not an action that truly considers Liz.

　Liz must have been worried about it for a long time.

「I know ......it's not really the right word to say, but I'm sorry. It was selfish of me.」

「Hmm, no, ...... I don't think you're selfish by any means, but ...... what can I say? It's more like I'm wrong.」

　Satoru suddenly looked away and walked out of the Yamato. A cool wind with a refreshing coolness unique to the prairie area stings Satoru's skin. The cool air soothes Satoru's head.

　The biggest problem is that he sees Liz as a replacement for Alice forever. He is gradually becoming comfortable with the idea of holding her in his arms, but he still sees her as a replacement for Alice, and he keeps reminding himself over and over that she is a different person and a different girl.

　Satoru took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. It was a clear blue autumn sky. I wish I could face the girl without a single cloud like this sky, but the reality is that it is not possible. On the other hand, I am not comfortable hurting the girl's heart with my own naivete.

「......I'll do my best. That's all I can say.」

「Okay. That's good enough for me.」

　Liz, who landed next to Satoru, smiled. The smile that seemed somewhat relieved made Satoru's guilt dance violently in his heart again.

　From Satoru's point of view, Liz's resemblance to his sister is not the only reason for his guilt. Honestly, for Satoru, who is not a lolicon, she is very young. Especially when she smiles, her childishness is emphasized.

　However, it is not Liz's fault.

「But you see, Liz?」

「Yes.」

　While patting her on the head.

「If you say so, then you should not do what you did yesterday when you made a sound after only one time, how should I put it ......」

「I can't beat Onii-san in sex, so it can't be helped.」

　Rico, who was probably listening to the sudden rebuttal in a sultry, sweet voice, laughed loudly. Even Rico still gets knocked unconscious once out of every two times.

　Satoru looked at Rico, who laughed and then exhaled once more.

　The guilt over this girl who looked like his sister was not going to get away from him anytime soon.

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