Chapter 197 (1/2)

Chapter 197

–Aegir POV–

In the office, there is an out-of-place plate of food with a light serving of pasta placed on top . A portion of it was picked up and carried into the mouth of a girl .

The distinct flavor of the pasta spread throughout the girl’s mouth, giving off a taste slightly different from normal pasta .

「Hm, mhm…… the oil is different in this one . It just doesn’t linger in my mouth or I guess it isn’t as heavy . 」

Celia was able to pinpoint the difference immediately .

The way she stuffs her cheeks like a hamster is cute, but…… is she able to eat that much in one bite?

After that, Polte and Gretel came back from doing inspections and also tasted some of the pasta .

They took several tiny bites instead .

「This is-…… oh, I like this one . 」

「Ara, it’s really fresh and suitable for a woman’s palette . 」

It generally received favorable reviews, but Gretel is wearing dog ears for some reason .

Don’t tell me she did the inspections looking like that .

「Now Adolph, what is the meaning of serving food during a domestic affairs meeting? Celia’s going to be fat again . 」

「I’m not fat anymore! Besides, I normally eat four meals every da-…… nevermind . 」

I rest the pouting Celia on my lap .

Gretel starts tapping her foot unhappily .

Adolph clears his throat once before beginning to speak .

「This morning, the trade party from the city states arrived . This oil is one of the items they brought with them . I personally think it’s an excellent commodity and I just wanted everyone to try it as well . 」

「Hooh, so we’ve begun to trade with them, you work pretty fast . 」

Relations.h.i.+ps were made through visits, but I didn’t think we had talks about anything concrete, especially with regards to trade .

Adolph must have did something independently .

「Our vault is empty after all . We must push forward with talks that will make us money . 」

He didn’t have to worry that much .

If we run out of money, we just have to borrow from someone .

「So, what else did they bring?」

Adolph takes out the list of trade goods .

「The items consists mainly of that oil and all sorts of fruits . Moreover, they travelled through the Democratic Nation of Libatis so a variety of decorations and luxury items are mixed in as well . 」

「I see…… wait a second, why did they have to go through Libatis? The city states are right next to Goldonia so wouldn’t it be faster for them to make a direct trip?」

According to them, they didn’t come directly to Rafen, but rather detoured to the south towards Libatis and the southern nations before going up .

Incidentally, Malt didn’t have much in terms of trade value before their wheat could be harvested and were ignored .

「Let’s see . They took the long way around if you look at distance, but it is the shortest route if you consider the time . 」

「Aah, I see . 」

Because Polte taught this subject before, she seemed to have a clear understanding of the situation .

Celia also got the general gist of things, while Gretel just pretended to understand, so let me rub her b.u.t.t .

「Aahn……」「Kuh!」

For some reason, Celia glares at me when I smile at Gretel after teasing her a little .

「Goldonia and the city states are adjacent but our territory isn’t connected directly with the city states . They must first cross the Goldonian borders, get their cargo inspected and pay the taxes, then after that, they would be have to pa.s.s through the territories of the various feudal lords, stopping and paying taxes every time they did so . If they want the process to be smoother, they would probably need to pay an additional amount as a bribe . To that point, Libatis would only require a one-time payment for landing within their national borders, and any movement within their nation following that would be smooth, not incurring any additional charge . 」

I see, taxes and road blocks…… a problem which would give headaches to any merchant .

I have heard that some ill-natured feudal lords would purposely make you wait several days unless you bribed them .

If this happened within my own territory, I would change it, however I have no say on what goes on outside my domain .

「Furthermore, Libatis has a reputation for being a safe country . 」

「I thought they were just a commendable country, but it looks like they’re even better . I understand now, I don’t care what path they took . I’ll give permission to the merchants, so tell them they are free to do as they want . 」

Adolph nods in acknowledgement .

「In addition, a piece of interesting information just came in from the caravan of merchants . I believe you are aware that the the city states is located between the North Teries and Teries rivers-……」

I just found out now, so no problem .

「There is Polis located on the south coast of a part of the Teries river . Further south of that Polis is an area where a vast wetlands and dense forest are . 」

「Wetlands and a dense forest, huh……」

Celia looks a little unhappy .

Wetlands means there is a swampy ground that makes it hard to walk, plus leeches and poisonous insects, not to mention there will probably be a bunch of slimy monsters hidden within the marsh .

On top of that, a dense forest would not let the sun s.h.i.+ne through the thick cover of leaves .

Factoring in the heat of the south and the seemingly endless depths, it should be a pretty uncomfortable place to be .

「That thinking isn’t wrong . Currently, none of the powers are trying to rule over that area . It’s a dangerous place where individuals who step foot in its boundaries often go missing after all . 」

「I see…… so, what’s so interesting about this place?」

If it was close, we would need to make preparations, but the place is pretty far away .

「Just being a dangerous place is enough to keep people out, but I hear that the herb used to make an expensive medicine grows there . 」

Adolph shows me a few leaves he had stored in a bottle .

「One leaf of this medicinal herb can make one bottle of medicine . It’s a salve which is rumored to be able to bring even the dead back to life . 」

Of course, he later adds “Though you can’t believe everything a merchant says” .

Everyone stares interestingly .

「By the way, one leaf is worth 20 gold . 」

Celia and Polte spits in shock .

「Adolph! What kind of thing did you buy!?」

「That’s right! That’s half my annual salary…… no, there are four leaves so two years’ worth, abhbh . 」

The cost of medicine can reach sky-high prices depending on the efficacy, but it’s unheard of for a one-use drug to cost 20 gold .

Only the very rich or the very desperate would buy something like this .

「I bought this to maintain a good relations.h.i.+p with them, but it’s pretty easy for our feudal lord-sama here to injure himself, so I don’t believe it will go to waste . 」

How cheeky, I’ll have to confirm this with a doctor .

If it’s a fake drug, I’ll sentence him to go on a date with Madam Gonzales .

「If we keep them as close trading partners, we can get them to supply us with a huge amount of medicine like this . 」

「I see, and I’m guessing we traded iron?」

「Mainly finished iron products . There is a city in the western Polis that has a mine close to the mountain range, although they don’t have enough charcoal to melt the iron…… in other words, they don’t have enough wood . The forest in their area is quite small, so I believe finished iron and steel products are incredibly important to them . 」

The city states aren’t technologically or economically inferior to us, however the narrow area of their domain really limits what they can do .

In order to maintain the population of their overcrowded city, a large majority of their surplus land was converted into farmland, so their land has practically no bountiful forests left .

「As long as all the expensive medicine isn’t bought up, doing trade with them should lean towards a positive return . I intend to personally look deeper into this particular case . 」

「We will be receiving money and they will obtain iron . This is a good relations.h.i.+p, just make sure you don’t overdo things . 」

Trade…… merchant…… it feels like I’m missing something, oh well .

「There is still an important piece of information . It is regarding the harvest of wheat……」

「Do we not have an abundant harvest?」

Polte and Gretel nod and then continue their explanation .

「The Margrave’s territory has an abundant harvest . However, not so much for Goldonia and the other territories…… they have rather poor harvests to put it bluntly . 」

There are years where the harvest of wheat is plentiful, but also years where the harvest is bad .

For the years where there was a sudden outbreak of war, like this year, having a low crop yield has double the impact on everyone in the territory .

「According to what the caravan of merchants said, the city states and Libatis have a decent quality of harvest…… though the thing I’m worried about is-」

「What?」

「The summer this year seems to be more humid than usual . Previously, when we got this sort of climate…… there would be long spells of rain during the harvest time . 」

Wheat stores better when the climate is drier, so getting lots of rain during the harvest time is fatal .

「Until now, we were able to buy in grain from the Federation even if we had a poor harvest . But this year……」

It would also depend on the state of war, but it’s hard to believe that they would export any food supplies when they’re in the middle of a war .

「It isn’t certain that we will get heavy rain again . We could unexpectedly get crisp, dry weather and clear skies for our abundant harvest . 」

Celia tries to be positive, and I can hear Irijina shout “I’m sure everything will be okay!” in the distance .

Is she shouting because of her training or something……?

「……The wheat sowed during autumn should be ready for harvest right about now . Let’s hurry and reap it . 」

「Agreed . We shouldn’t unnecessarily waste the ripened crops . Let’s prioritize reaping it . 」

Sensing the unsettling set of events, Adolph and I make the decision immediately .

This is the only thing we can do and we can’t exactly defy the weather .

「Is Malt doing okay?」

Adolph speaks after looking at the doc.u.ments in his hands .

「There are no problems in Malt for now . I did a rough calculation and the amount of manufactured goods they have within the nation is three times more than the amount they consume . They shouldn’t be in shortage even if they have a poor harvest . I also looked into their history, but there is no record of Malt experiencing any kind of famine . 」

Then all is good .

As expected from a country that’s only good at farming, they at least have something to eat .

「This will be the first harvest since they formed a pact with us, and it seems Queen Celestina will be coming here too . 」

So I can see that bright, beaming smile that is as radiant as the sun once again .

I’ll make sure to spoil her lots .

After our conversation ends, I stamp my seal on the authorization something-or-other doc.u.ment and the approval whatchamacallit that Adolph hands me .

The person who brought the papers and Polte still have things to do, so they hurried out of the room .

Celia also scurries off, most definitely going to the toilet . I can tell .

「Fuu…… I’m tired . 」

I get up from the office’s desk, drop myself onto the sofa and lean back .

Doing a feudal lord’s work from morning till now is bad for the body .

The first thing I would do after I wake up is embrace a woman, then eat something nice and then drink some alcohol .

Then I guess I could do a little work before embracing more women at nice .

「W-woof . 」

Oh, Gretel is still here .

I thought for sure she went with Polte .

「Kuuuuun~」

Gretel crawls on the floor towards me on all fours .

She quickly flips up her pants to reveal her specially designed pants with a tail attached underneath, which she apparently wears all the time .

「Uu…… it’s been a while, woof . I’m lonely, woof . 」

I entrusted her to Adolph so it’s been a while since I paid her any attention .

「Alright, let’s do what you want to do . 」

「W-woo, woof!」

Gretel runs around on all fours and then jumps on me, latching her mouth onto mine .

When I pet her head while she’s wearing the dog ears, her mouth quickly lowers .

She bends down all the way to my crotch and Gretel places her hands on the front of my pants to remove them .

「You’re a puppy today, and dogs don’t use their hands . 」

「Right, woof!」

Gretel obediently puts her hands back on the floor and tries to use her mouth to undo the string of my pants, though she seems to be struggling with it .

Her hot breath and drool make my pants wet and the moist sensation is transmitted to my gradually bulging meat rod .

「There…… woof!」

When she finally loosens the string, Gretel the dog bites my pants to pull them off as if she can’t wait any longer .

「Kyaah! It’s already so big, woof . 」

She probably expected my d.i.c.k to be a certain size as she felt it through my pants, but the heat from her hot sighs caused my d.i.c.k to get aroused and point straight up after it broke free from my pants .

The dog-eared girl moved her hands to my shaft out of instinct, but she remembered that I told her not to use them, causing her to lower them again and then bringing her face closer .

The stimulation from the gentle flicking of her tongue leaves much to be desired .

Yet, it is also a different kind of tantalizing pleasure to enjoy .

「Lick my b.a.l.l.s too…… aah, that’s good . Just like that . 」

Until I f.u.c.ked Gretel, she was a high-cla.s.s n.o.ble lady who didn’t even know what a man’s d.i.c.k looked like .

Now, she looks like a trained dog who is crawling on the floor and frantically sucking my c.o.c.k with a flushed face .

I don’t really enjoy humiliating girls like this, but the sense of immorality makes me harder than usual .

「It’s so hard…… almost like a piece of iron…… woof . 」

「I don’t mind if you bite it . I can handle your teeth . 」

Brynhildr comes once a week to suck my blood and likes sinking her fangs into my d.i.c.k when she gets in a bad mood .

Compared to her menacingly sharp teeth, this fake dog lady’s teeth seem cute .

「Woof…… aahmu!」

She opens her mouth and bites down playfully on the side of my shaft, giving the perfect amount of stimulation to further arouse me .

When I place my hand on the girl’s head, she closes her eyes and stiffens her body as if preparing for my next actions .

She must have sensed me getting close to my limit from my twitching d.i.c.k and was antic.i.p.ating me to swing my hips while I hold her head down .

Before I could do so however, someone interrupts us .

「Aegir-sama, it’s already noon time, so you should get something to eat…… what are you doing!?」

Celia came back after she went to the toilet .

As soon as she saw Gretel kneeling in between my legs, she instantly understood the situation .

「Puha…… please don’t get in the way . I’m trying to pleasure my master here! ……woof . 」

You don’t have to force yourself to add that to the end of your sentences .

Seeing how my face was filled with pleasure, Celia didn’t push Gretel aside, but rather sat down beside her .

「Then I will make him feel good too! The tongue of a newcomer is not nearly enough to satisfy Aegir-sama after all . 」

「What did you say!? Are you trying to find fault with these techniques taught to me by the master himself!?」

「Hmph, Aegir-sama taught me ever since I was a kid!」

Gretel reacts to the word ‘kid’ and looks at me .

Of course that would lead to misunderstandings, I embraced Celia after she grew up…… no, I guess I just let her play with my d.i.c.k when she was quite young .

Who really cares about that now though .

To match Gretel, Celia took off her short pants and exposed her bouncy white a.s.s .

Then she sits herself in between my legs and the two girls start fighting each other to lick my d.i.c.k .

「Ah, how could you use your teeth like that!?」

「Ara, I got permission from master to do so . 」

「Kuh…… then I will do it too . 」

Their playful biting from both sides draws a groan from my lips .

As I put my hands on their heads in preparation to shoot my seed, there was another interruption .

Because Celia rushed into the room, the door was left wide open .

「Pardon me, if you are done with the meeting, perhaps you would like to eat with me?」

「If you don’t mind, I would also like if you took a look at my new script . Or not . . 」

The ones who appeared in the room are Catherine and Yoguri, who have been hanging around each other quite frequently as of late .

I’m willing to eat with them, but they just came at a bad time .

The two in between my legs should be aware they can be seen by the other two girls, but the competing girls pay no attention and don’t stop sucking, continuing to slurp loudly .

「……you’re in the middle of enjoying yourself?」

「Is it fun to have two young girls suck on you like that?」

The other two girls seem a little angry as they enter the room, but excitedly roll up the hem of their dresses and take off their panties .

「As a woman who is charmed with the same man, I can’t lose . 」

「Yeah, let us take care of the final spurt . 」