In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 9

by Patora Fuyuhara

  The lack of magical beasts on the island might have negatively impacted the ecosystem, but it was better than having people’s lives threatened. I also summoned a Kraken and let it loose in the Rondo Sea, so the surrounding waters would be safe.

  “Hm... Well then, as all four leaders are here... Shall we discuss basic trade agreements and toll amounts? I’m sure it won’t take us that long.”

  “Oh, if you guys are gonna do that... I’ll fetch you guys a table and chairs, and then excuse myself.”

  “Thank you. Sorry for the exclusion.” Doge Audrey made an apologetic smile, but I told her not to worry about it. I brought a set of chairs and a table out of [Storage]. The four of them sat down and set to work on their plans for trade and building on the island. I finally had some free time to myself, but it wasn’t like I could just go home, since they had to be brought back to their respective nations, too.

  I had an idea. I’d been keeping Dragon meat in my [Storage], along with some other stuff. I decided I’d prepare lunch for everyone.

  I took out the ingredients, a small cooking stand, and the utensils. I figured I’d just make some Dragon skewers.

  I sliced up the Dragon meat and put the chunks on a few skewers along with some veggies. Then, I applied salt and pepper seasoning, and spread out the plates. After that, I took out a BBQ set and lit the charcoal inside. All I needed to do after that was fit on the wire mesh.

  I decided to take out another dish right after. Mismede’s specialty, curry. They called it cully, but... Well, it was about the same. I had Crea cook it for me earlier. It was actually about a month earlier, but time didn’t pass within my [Storage] space, so it was still fresh.

  Either way, I continued preparing until I created my magnum opus... The joined Mismede-Eashen deluxe meal, Curry Rice. I prepared two types. Spicy, and sweet. Mismede’s cully was super spicy by default, after all.

  Finally, I prepared a few pitchers of fruity water... I’d have liked some pickles, but there were none around.

  “Er... Touya?” I turned around when Reinhard called out to me, only to find all of them staring at me.

  “You’re making something...? It looks really good, what is it?”

  “I figured I’d make lunch for everyone. It’s grilled Dragon meat with curry rice. Did you guys finish talking already?”

  “Well... it’s less that we finished and more we wrapped things up after we saw you. We have the vague terms down, at least... But, um, what is that ‘curry rice’ you have there?”

  “Oh, it’s Eashen fusion. I combined Eashen rice with Mismede’s cully. It’s much more mild, so people who have low tolerance for spice can enjoy it too.” I served up a portion of the sweet curry rice and put it on a plate. Then, I handed it over to Doge Audrey’s personal guard, Knight Commander Limit.

  I didn’t give it to Audrey herself, naturally. This food was something made by a foreign king, so it needed to be taste-tested.

  She scooped it up with a spoon and smiled broadly.

  “This is incredible... I’ve eaten cully in Mismede before, but this isn’t nearly as spicy... I like this a lot more.”

  “Don’t worry, guys. There’s enough for all. Your guards, too.” I brought out a ton of tables and chairs from my [Storage]. I kept on grilling more Dragon skewers on the BBQ, and everyone sat down to tuck into their new meal.

  “Mm! Great grub!”

  “Amazing... It’s only a little spicy, I like it.”

  “Mmh... I wouldn’t mind having this at home...”

  “Touya, do you have the recipe...?”

  “It’s not hard to make, but you can only get the rice from Eashen at the moment. I’m planning on growing some myself in Brunhild soon.” It seemed like the curry rice was a big hit. Ieyahsu had given me a ton of rice as thanks for helping him, but I definitely wanted to start growing my own.

  Everyone finished their portions, then even went to get some more! There was more than enough, luckily.

  Plus, they all seemed to love the skewers, too. Still, all I did was cook up the meat and add some seasoning... It wasn’t even like I was the one who made the curry to begin with...

  I gave everyone there the recipe and a few bags of rice and spices so they could make it for their families. They seemed satisfied with the food, so I was satisfied too. It’d probably end up increasing demands for rice and spices on the global market. Truly, curry was a magnificent thing.

  Interlude II: The Daughters of Babylon

  “Goo-goo... Ga-ga...” I cradled Prince Yamato in my arms, as he reached out his hands and mumbled incomprehensibly.

  “He’s definitely gotten heavier.”

  “Children grow fast. He’s only going to get bigger as time goes on.” The King of Belfast grinned broadly as he watched his son babbling happily in my arms. Queen Yuel, who was seated next to him, smiled wryly.

  Holding the baby really drove home how adorable he was. I was engaged, so I had plenty of siblings-in-law, but this baby was the only one younger than me.

  There were plenty of younger children at Elze and Linze’s place, but those were technically my cousins.

  “He’s so cute. Makes me wish I had a little brother or sister.” Sue whispered as she peered in from Yamato’s side, and her parents, Duke Ortlinde and Lady Ellen averted their gazes awkwardly. Innocence could certainly be cruel.

  Then, I handed over Prince Yamato to Yumina, who was waiting patiently to receive him. Cradling her little brother, Yumina began rocking him in her arms.

  “Yamato. It’s me, your big sister.” The Belfasts didn’t come over often, so she was probably worried he’d forgotten about her. However, she had nothing to worry about. He was smiling more broadly than he did in my arms.

  “In a few years, you may well very be holding your own child in your arms like that.”

  “Little Yamato’ll be an uncle before he knows it. Or well, at least I should hope so.”

  “Hahaha, right...” I laughed stiffly, trying to avoid the royal couple’s suggestive words.

  What in the world are they saying?! Yumina turned aside, pretending to have not heard what they were saying, but she was visibly red to her ears.

  “I’ll bear Touya’s child too! And if it ends up being a girl, she can be Yamato’s bride!” Sue proclaimed proudly and clung to me happily.

  D-Do you have any idea what you’re saying?! You can’t promise a kid that isn’t even born yet to marriage!

  “...Hmm. That doesn’t sound too bad, actually. The Belfast family would be included in Touya’s lineage... Good idea, that.” The King muttered pensively.

  Huh? He’s going along with that?! But I did wonder what would happen to their relationship if that happened. Yamato was Sue’s cousin, so that would mean he’d be marrying his cousin’s child. Cousins marrying wasn’t unheard of, so I figured it wouldn’t be all bad. In my case, it would be my brother-in-law marrying my daughter, and from the King’s perspective, it would be his son marrying his younger brother’s grandchild. It was all a little complicated for me to take in.

  The plan was that I’d marry everyone when I turned eighteen, but I couldn’t help wondering what I’d do about Sue. Marrying a twelve-year-old was a bit of an issue. Of course, I’d stand by my promise and marry her, but it’d have to wait a few years. Wait, then she’d be the only one to get left out...

  “It’ll take four, maybe five more years before you can give birth, Sue. And that kind of age gap isn’t that big of an issue... Hmm.”

  “Hey there. How about you cut it out right now? There’s no point thinking that far ahead.”

  “Oops, haha. I was just joking.” Rebuked by the queen, His Majesty smiled apologetically.

  No, that definitely wasn’t a joke. He was serious. Totally serious.

  “Fwah... Gwah... Mah...”

  “Oh? Mother, I think Yamato is sleepy.”

  “Let’s see... Yes, he certainly does seem to be. Alrighty, it’s time for a nap.”

  Taking her c
hild from Yumina’s hands, the queen carried him to a bed in an adjacent room. Yumina followed her along with Ellen and Sue.

  With only the men left in the room, the duke lowered his voice and whispered to me.

  “Ah, Touya... Regarding that matter...”

  “Oh right. I checked that it’s safe for use, and it seems to be alright. It’s fairly potent, so make sure to take only one a day, alright? Taking too many won’t change the effect any, and you’ll be sluggish the next day from the excessive mana.” I warned the duke as I handed him a bottle filled with pills. I wished he didn’t have to rely on them, though. When I told him that, the duke said that youth truly can be a bitter thing. I wondered what he meant.

  “What’s that?” His Majesty asked, noticing our conversation. It wasn’t much of a secret to keep from another man, but telling the truth was a touch too awkward.

  “Oh, that’s, uh... what they call, an energizing medicine... Put simply, it’s an aphrodisiac.”

  “What?!”

  “Sssh! No need to shout, Brother!” The duke covered His Majesty’s mouth. If the ladies were to hear that, he’d be ashamed to no end. Especially with the King’s daughter there.

  “The other day, the duke brought the matter up and asked if I could help, so I had Flora make it for him. We tested it out by offering samples to clients at a brothel, and it was quite effective. They kept going on and on for several rounds...”

  “I-Is that right... A-Al! Share some with me!”

  “You have no need of it, Brother! On the other hand, I must produce Ortlinde’s heir!”

  “Be quiet! Quiet! There’s another bottle!”

  “Shut up!” Angry shouts lashed out at us from the other room. As I expected, we’d irritated them...

  The two men, on the other hand, held the bottles excitedly and smiled broadly. I still didn’t really understand what all the fuss was about.

  “It’s been ages since I visited Belfast’s capital.” I walked through the royal capital with Yumina by my side. I hadn’t even spent a year there, but it was still a very nostalgic place for me. It was where I got my omni-resistant coat, after all.

  Yumina walked alongside me in her adventuring attire. The outfit was more comfortable for her, and there was no need for her to dress up in Brunhild, so she was used to it, too.

  Our country didn’t have anything resembling nobility, after all. Obviously I was the Grand Duke, but that was more like being the chairman of the neighborhood association.

  “It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to hang out, too.”

  “Has it? I guess so... It’s been pretty hectic lately.” I walked along the royal capital’s streets with Yumina, a bit embarrassed as her arms locked with mine.

  We’d been really busy recently, like having to go to Eashen to defeat a servile god or constructing a bridge in Felsen. I was just telling Yumina how so much had been going on, but...

  “I think it’s just you that’s been going around the world like that, Touya. I’ve been feeling kind of lonely, actually.”

  “I’m sorry. I want to spend as much time as I can with all of you, too.”

  “I know that. So even if I feel a bit bad for the other girls, I’m keeping you all to myself today.” That said, we did have some work to do.

  Walking down the road, I saw several people riding bicycles. Bikes had become quite popular in the royal capital. They were still fairly expensive, so only some affluent citizens could afford them, though.

  We found our objective at a corner of the main road. The Reading Cafe, “Moon Reader.” As we entered, we were greeted by the clerk, Wendy.

  “Welcome... Oh, boss! It’s been too long!”

  “H-Hold up, Wendy! He’s a monarch, you can’t call him that!” The manager, Sylvie, scolded her, but I assured her that I was fine with it. Being called Grand Duke or something here would be all kinds of awkward.

  “I’ve had Olba’s firm take care of purchasing new books. Has that been going well?”

  “It takes a while to receive them, but there aren’t any problems, really.” All the books were imbued with the [Paralysis] spell to ward off thieves and burglars. Having said that, Sylvie motioned toward the back of the counter, to a rack that looked almost like a photocopier. It’d been programmed to apply [Paralysis] to any purchased books.

  “The books are selling well, and our cooking’s been getting a good reputation lately, too.”

  Like Wendy said, Moon Reader seemed to be doing just fine. To be frank, even if the cafe didn’t make much money, I wouldn’t mind too much, since this place was kind of like a hobby to me. Still, hearing that business was flourishing made me happy.

  “Oh, I brought some new books. I picked up some popular titles in Felsen, Roadmare, Lestia and Lyle. They’re pretty hard to come by around here, though.”

  “Wow, thank you so much!” The books I pulled out of [Storage] piled up on the counter. And like always, there were some “female oriented” books included there, too.

  After that I said hello to everyone, adjusted the shop’s reclining seats, and left Moon Reader behind.

  With this we had concluded our errands, so I spent the rest of the time hanging out with Yumina.

  “This place really is huge compared to Brunhild.”

  “Makes sense. But the bigger a city becomes, the more places that are out of sight pop up.”

  That was certainly true. Outlaws and villainy could flourish in places that evaded the law’s gaze. That thought made me think that perhaps it was high time I started bolstering the ranks of my country’s knight order.

  Hm...?

  “What is it?” I stopped in front of a certain shop, and Yumina called out to me. Before me was a poster plastered to the shop’s window.

  “A spectacle of love and adventure! The epic tale of the hero Toyya, who challenged the deadly Black Dragon to save princess Yuina... Refreese’s major hit, delivered to you in a massive scale, finally arrives to Belfast... Touya, isn’t this...?” The poster was an advertisement for some exaggerated, dramatic play. I thought it was just a coincidence, but upon reading the names I realized that I wasn’t imagining things.

  “Look here, Yumina.”

  “What is it...? Scenario writer by Lil Refres, author of The Order of the Rose... Ah!” Yumina was shocked.

  Lil Refres? The author behind that pen name was surely none other than the first princess of the Refreese Imperium, Reliel Rehm Refreese! The rotten princess herself.

  “That little... I can’t believe she used us as material for her story.”

  “This is about us, right Touya? Judging by the advertisement, it looks like a perfectly normal story...”

  I don’t know about that. It’s kind of suspicious. I’d bet it has handsome fencers or dandy dukes or something like that. Well, guess I’ll just have to see it to find out. Depending on the content we might have to forbid them from making future performances.

  The next performance in the capital theater was in about twenty minutes.

  “Alright, let’s check it out.”

  “Sure. It feels a little weird, but it should be fun.” Yeah, watching a play that’s blatantly modeled after you was strangely off-putting. Still, so long as it didn’t drag my name through the mud I couldn’t care less whether or not the story was interesting.

  I spent the next two hours watching the play with Yumina. Thankfully, my concerns were unfounded, and it was a pretty average story. Though of course, it was pretty far removed from what actually happened.

  I didn’t fight the Black Dragon one-on-one, and Yumina was taking refuge in Belfast’s palace. It wasn’t so much a dramatization as it was a whole new story. It might as well not have been me but some other hero. The guy playing Toyya’s role was really handsome, though. And the girl playing princess Yuina was cute, but nowhere near as cute as Yumina.

  It was a story filled with harrowing adventure and exciting romance, so overall it was definitely worth a watch. When the play ended, th
e audience cheered and applauded. Seemed like that rotten princess could write a decent story after all. Surprisingly enough. Really surprisingly enough.

  It was already getting dark out when we left the theater, and stars had already started to dot in the sky.

  “It was really fun! Especially the scene where he confessed to the princess before fighting the Black Dragon! I was holding back tears!” Having heard Yumina say that, I imitated the hero from the play and knelt down before her, taking her small hand into mine. Yumina was shocked by my sudden action.

  “Come what may, I pledge to protect you and become your sword and shield. So please, grace me with your smile. I would know no greater joy than to have you by my side, smiling. My love is yours. Now, and forevermore.” I recited the hero’s lines. I might have remembered it a bit wrong, but it sounded about right.

  I looked up at Yumina, only to find tears in her eyes.

  Wh-What, huh?! Did I say something to upset her? I straightened up in a hurry to apologize, but Yumina shook her head and wiped her tears away.

  “It’s fine. I was just happy to hear those words coming from you, Touya...”

  O-Oh. That’s good, then. I was scared for a second there.

  But using lines from a play to move her felt a bit pathetic, honestly. I should have conveyed my own feelings, instead.

  “Those lines... are what I really feel for you. I always want you to smile, Yumina. At first it was all sort of ambiguous, but now I can say for sure. I really do love you, Yumina. Please stay by my side. I want us to be together forever, always smiling. I’m so grateful I met you. Thank you so much.”

  “Touya...” Yumina clung to me. Gently embracing her small body, I basked in my joy. These girls were my treasure. I wouldn’t forgive anyone who would hurt them. And so, I swore to protect them with everything I had.

  After embracing for a while, we naturally drew into a kiss and smiled at each other.

  “Let’s go home.”

  “Yes.” We made our way back under the night sky, hand in hand.