Chapter 101: The King Of The Little Ones II (2/2)

「………………Oh, ohh. Sorry, I'm sorry, little lady. I wasn't trying to bully your father, alright?」

He had broken out into a huge smile.

This person seems like he would spoil his grandchildren silly if he had any.

「Oji-chan, who are you?」

「I'm Lemuria・Oru・Almagest・Razva, the king of this land」

「Why is the king so angry with my Otou-sama? Why?」

「Um, umu, your father, you see, he sort of has a problem with women. I had heard that they were in a relationship, but I haven't given them my blessings yet, and he laid his hands on my daughter despite being a married man. Furthermore, he assaulted my daughter after refusing my proposal once, so it’s……… How should I put it?」

He seemed to be having a hard time finding the right words.

Sticking to acting like a child, Lanseal continued.

「Do you have a wife, King-sama?」

「I had two, but they both died early. But fortunately, they left behind several children」

「Is it really just two?」

「………………Mu, hmm? Umm………that’s, well………」

Hang on a second there, King-sama.

You had two wives and you still fooled around with other women?

「Little lady, all kings love women. This may be hard for a child to understand, but that's just the way it is」

「Two young noblewomen from Elysium who had come for a visit」

「………………」

When Lanseal said that softly, all the blood drained from King Lemuria's face.

「Three widows of advanced adventurers」

「………………Obfuu」

The king choked.

「The Mansion of the Night Demon's Wild Banquet, the Golden Fleece Mansion, the Mansion of the Red-Eyed and Indolence, the Mansion of the Sleep Demon and the Goddess of Fertility, Isela's Mansion of Honey」

「Th, that’s………」

Cold sweat had begun to trickle down the king's forehead.

The words that had come out of Lanseal's mouth must have rung a bell.

They were all names of brothels.

「Eight dancing girls from a traveling troupe」

「Wh, who did you hear all that from?!」

The king was flustered to no end.

「There's a journal that Verxina-okasama inherited from Nemosh-okasama. It’s currently in my possession. Father」

「What, could it be that you're Lanseal?!」

「Yes, I may have become like this, but I consider it a blessing as it allowed me to get a very precious look at the king」

She looked like a six-year-old, but she was even more intimidating than the usual Lanseal.

The king sure fooled around quite a bit, huh?

The Guild President, who had remained silent, gave the king a belated explanation.

「King Lemuria, I just got confirmation. This appears to have been caused by the Gunmerrys' elixir. I’d never have thought that it would have such an effect. I believe that the black-haired child in question was Souya himself」

Bullshit, you've known that for quite some time.

「I see. That's awful. So the effects can be reversed?」

「Yes」

Finally, I had a chance to speak.

I took out the elixir from the pouch at my hip.

「This is the elixir that reverses the effects. By pouring this over Lanseal's head, she will return to normal」

「Ohh, that's great」

He was trying to act all innocent.

Lanseal was giving him a look of disdain.

「Umu, there's no problem then」

The king slapped his knee and got up from his chair, trying to escape.

「Father. I'm not done talking to you just yet. Please sit down」

「But you see, Lanseal, as the king, I have a backlog of matters involving the country to attend to. Isn't that right, Solcia?」

「That's right, King Lemuria. We must return to the castle at once」

「Solcia, you take a seat as well」

Lanseal also spoke forcefully to the Guild President.

「Lanseal-sama, where exactly would you have me sit?」

「The floor is fine. Even the floor is a luxury for those who laugh at setting others up in their wicked schemes. If you prefer, shall I arrange for a blade for you to sit on?」

「………The floor is fine」

The Guild President folded. He put down his staff and sat down next to King Lemuria.

My goodness, Lanseal is so strong.[2]

「Souya」

「Hmm?」

「Go sit next to the king as well, Souya」

「………………」

I'm also on that side, huh?

With the Guild President and I sitting on either side of King Lemuria, Lanseal's lecture began.

「Father, you've had your way with the maids as well, right? Nine so far. No, eleven?」

「………Thirteen」

「It's high time you learned some sense! If you want to marry, marry! Choose properly! Take responsibility properly! You're too old to be sleeping around like a young man! It's this kind of behavior that has had such a bad influence on Georg that he's become as rotten to the core as you!」

For some reason, I felt ashamed as well.

Seeing my grimace, Solcia chuckled.

「Solcia, I also have some concerns about your work」

「Well, Lanseal-sama, as the President of the Adventurers' Guild, I've never singled out Souya」

「You've been rejected twice by Rana, haven't you?」

「Ugh」

「Pfff」

This time, it was me who burst out laughing.

So the reason why this guy has been so cold towards me is because he has a crush on my wife. What's more, to think that he'd hold a grudge against me because he had been rejected twice by Rana.

………If he had approached her after we got married, I'm going to have to step in though.

「It doesn't make sense to have Evetta, who has never dealt with Shogaku tickets before, be the one to explain them. In the first place, shouldn't this have been explained the moment Souya became a novice adventurer? Huh?!」

「That's because his exploration of the dungeon was going so well that we didn't have the opportunity to――」

「It should have been explained, RIGHT?!」

「………………Yes」

He was completely overpowered by her.

「Completing requests to help improve his bad reputation. On the surface, that sounds reasonable, but is that really something that needs to be done so badly that you have to ban him from exploring the dungeon?」

「He's the most notorious man in the city, so I believe that something of that level is justified」

「Regarding this notoriety that you speak of, Souya actually has quite a good reputation among the merchant companies, the tradesmen, the menial laborers, the farmers, and the serfs. They all say that he understands the value of things and pays well. That he is polite and not arrogant.

Certainly, it is a fact that there is some jealousy from the adventurers from the same batch as him. But that's just the opinion of the most vocal. Are you sure you're not attaching too much weight to those voices, Solcia?」

「………………」

The Guild President fell silent.

I'm surprised that I have such a good reputation among those kinds of people.

But it's only because there are people like them who sell quality products that we're able to enjoy delicious meals, so I don't quite understand why some people feel the need to act arrogantly towards them.

Even though doing such things always comes back to bite you.

「Where's your apology to Souya?」

「Urgh」

「Lanseal, there's no need for that. Even though I was late to hear about the Shogaku tickets, it wouldn't have made any difference to my adventures. So there's no problem」

「………If that's what you say, Souya, then I'll let it slide」

I turned and smiled broadly at the Guild President.

How's it feel? The feeling of being pitied by the likes of me? Hehehe, I'm feeling really great right now. I think I'm going to sleep very well tonight.

I could hear the Guild President gnashing his teeth.

Oh, crap.

I couldn't stop myself from provoking him.

I hope he doesn't hold a grudge over this. Or is it already too late? Well, what will be will be.

「Souya, there's something that has been on my mind for a while now. I thought that someone would warn you about it, especially Rana, but that woman has no ability to judge, teach, or nurture a man, and only thinks about lovemaking no matter how much time has passed! So let me say this to you with all my heart. You're a small-minded person」

「What?!」

She suddenly hit me in a sore spot that I was sensitive about.

「Show the tolerance to silently forgive those who don't do anything more than mock you. You're so petty. Your caliber as a man is small!」

「Y………………es」

Right at this moment, the pillar supporting my heart got shattered with a single blow.

It’s a good thing I'm sitting down. If I had been standing, I would have been felled.

This scene of a king, a Guild President, and a foreigner being lectured by a six-year-old girl.

It's a nightmare.

Even at the best of times, people are creatures that get depressed when yelled at by those younger than them.

When the person doing the yelling is a little girl, the damage dealt is immeasurable.

She's not really a little girl and only looks that way, but that doesn't matter at this point.

The sun had long since set before we were finally released from it.

[1] This is a reference to Admiral Masatomi Kimura’s words that I’ve mentioned back in vol 2, “Let’s go back, since we’ll be able to come here again if we go back”, which is about retreating to live another day.

[2] Souya is talking like a middle-aged woman here.

This has to be the chapter that I laughed the hardest on so far. Btw, in case it wasn’t clear, Lanseal was only pretending to be a kid the whole time and Souya knew it yet indulged her.

Btw, Oji-chan=middle-aged to elderly man. Not to be confused with Ojii-chan=elderly man, grandpa.

I mentioned this a while back, but note Souya’s complete refusal to call King Lemuria “Your Majesty”, be it aloud or in his head.

Well, pretty funny chapter overall. But it seems that Solcia knows about Souya’s tech...what does this mean and for how long has he known? Stay tuned, still a ways to go till the end of the arc!