I’ve checked this before, but I’m pretty much in a state of constantly preparing for festivals.
After all, there are so many places with ties to me.
Basson is probably beyond my reach now (though I do have friends there, so I’ll stop by if needed, but it’s not really part of my community anymore), and then there’s Polka, Grange, Karlwin, the elf territory, Renne, the cat colony, the royal capital, Talc, and the harbor town Sitala.
Even if festivals in one place happen only once or twice a year, with this many, it means something is happening every month on average.
Well, the festival in the royal capital is way too crowded to mix into (though I’d be fine if I went alone; but taking the female slave or the kids would be risky), and honestly, it’s not so much about me doing anything as it is backing up the various activities of the Sylphide Trading Company. Strictly speaking, on the day itself, I’ll just be holed up in the Neumann household, and I usually don’t do much. If Lila and Anzoros team up, there’s no need to worry about anything.
As for the festivals in other communities, I have to get involved as a host or organizer, which is a hassle with scheduling. Of course, my real specialties are lewd things and blacksmithing, so my skills are still pretty lackluster, and I rely heavily on people like Dianne-san, Cristy, Cosmos-san, and others who handle management to pull it off.
Lately, even the kids have started helping out with festivals.
“Do we have enough materials for the Grange’s Founding Festival next month? If worst comes to worst, we’ll have to scramble to gather them from the dragon army again.”
“No, we’re fine. Look at these numbers…”
“That’s not your job. Half of it is for the arts festival.”
“The arts festival… Oh, wait! Last year’s! Are they doing it again?”
“If we don’t have a surplus, we’ll have to rely on the dragons to gather them. That means Papa will have to go groveling for crystals again.”
Hilda-san’s son, Claudius, has already shown a knack for managing numbers and is helping with checking the amount of materials entrusted to the maid group and keeping records.
If it comes down to it, we can rely on the help of the elf lands, the dragons, or even Onyx and the Sylphids to get us through tough times. Until now, we haven’t been too strict about managing things, but of course, it’s better not to panic.
“Even Claudius would want to have some fun during the festival.”
“I can’t enjoy myself until I’ve eliminated all my worries. Seeing things like this makes it hard.”
Claudius quickly scribbles a new document with a mark-making pen, recording incoming and outgoing stock.
It’s not like he’s using the mark to seal anything, but after I lent him one before, he really took to it and ended up loving it so much that I recently gave it to him as a proper gift. The materials—dragon horn and a magic solid pen tip—are the same as what I made when I was younger, but over time, the design and balance have improved, making it much easier to use.
Still, the materials are probably too extravagant for just writing things down, so I’m thinking of making him something more suitable using wood from the elf lands. If he gets a sense of its value, it might even get stolen by some thieves.
“Claudius is way too uptight. He needs to live more freely or he’ll burn out. Hilda-mama said so too.”
Meanwhile, Peter, who has grown up carelessly and cheerfully, is boasting about himself.
On the other hand, Peter, being a half-dwarf, still looks quite young and gets a lot of leniency, which he takes advantage of to get into trouble.
It’s not good for him to grow up shrinking and introverted, but it’s also not great to be too much of a scoundrel… While he’s cunning enough not to cross the line and risk getting punished by the female slave in charge of discipline, he’s still my kid in many ways.
If I hadn’t left the royal capital and stayed in Polka to raise him, I probably would’ve grown up into a sly little brat like him too.
I recall my youth, thinking that both the harsh apprenticeship and military service were essential in shaping my current sense of social responsibility.
“Peter is way too easygoing. Maybe I should send him off for some training…”
“T-training!? What are you suddenly talking about, Dad!?”
“Well, when I was 10, I left home and trained in the capital. Back then, I couldn’t use dragons, so it took three weeks to get there and back. Even if I’d gotten tired of it, I couldn’t just come back easily, so I learned things like patience and teamwork…”
“But in the capital, half-breeds like me are just outcasts, right? There’s no way they’d accept training!”
“That’s not true. Dwarves are actually quite respected in the smithing community, so you might even be popular in the capital.”
“Yeah, maybe? Hehe.”
He’s cunning but at heart simple, which makes him easily swayed by convenient ideas. In that way, he’s still a bit of a child, which is both clever and cute.
But the capital… It’s not like I could just send him back to Three-D’s workshop again. The master’s already over 80. He still comes to the sacred spring every six months, so he’s still in good health.
The baron’s family seems to be shifting to the next generation.
When I returned, the baron’s junior was just a child, but now they’ve grown into fine young men. The baron has largely handed over his greetings to Prince Daniel, who’s taken on the role.
His daughters each married noble families they met through the capital university.
When I brought a gift, we got into an argument about whether such gestures were more appropriate for the nobles to make. Eventually, Irina stepped in and said, “Now, now, on behalf of the White clan,” and they finally accepted it.
As for Daniel-kun, he’s at a marriageable age, so he needs to start looking for a wife. But apparently, this is proving quite difficult.
“If you honestly tell them that ‘there’s a dragon palace about 2 kilometers away from the manor,’ it usually doesn’t go well.”
“I’m really sorry.”
Vapor Palace is an official, authentic dragon palace, fully endorsed by the dragons themselves.
And apparently, there’s a rule among nobles that “don’t marry into a family with a dragon palace nearby.”
Well, considering the Dragon War a hundred years ago, it’s only natural to think that if dragons are nearby, you never know when they might roast you alive. That’s generally the prevailing understanding.
“I can’t really say it’s not a scary dragon palace, so I can’t exactly tell you to rest easy…”
“That’s a bit tricky.”
“Yeah… I was asking for too much.”
A dragon palace that isn’t scary? It’s like a benevolent serial killer. That’s generally the consensus.
“So, marriage with an ordinary woman is also in the cards.”
“Is that allowed?”
“It is not prohibited. It seems it was difficult in the past, but now Polka is an autonomous zone. Polygamy is also common.”
“Oh, I see… Since there’s no restriction on having just one wife, there’s no need to strictly select a woman of high status.”
“Also, the authority of the social hierarchy within Trot has little weight.”
As Daniel-kun said, Trot is still treated as a semi-autonomous territory.
Moreover, the autonomous zone has extraterritorial jurisdiction, and many foreigners live there, so it cannot be said that Trot nobles are necessarily of high status.
If so, it would not be a bad thing to demonstrate the use of the recognized freedoms by the next leader of that autonomous zone.
“Let me ask you something.”
“Hm?”
I was wondering why Daniel-kun had called me here and started with some small talk about how “you’re getting to be a good age to get married, if you don’t hurry, you’ll end up like Lanz.” But it seems I’ve gotten straight to the point.
“Does anyone know a half-elf woman who seems like a nice fit?”
“You’ve specified half-elves, huh?”
“Regarding the purity of the bloodline, I’m somewhat concerned about whether I can pass on my blood. So, having some human blood would be better…”
…On the surface, it makes sense, but it feels like a leap in logic.
For half-elves who are treated as outcasts and used as mere outlets for one-night desires, to think that nobles would seek them out is surprising…
“But half-elves often get treated like ‘illegitimate children’ by their parents, right? When it comes to marriage, I imagine they’d have to deal with that kind of stuff.”
“That’s something you can handle if you put your mind to it.”
Daniel-san stroked his fake mustache, which he had grown as a pretense of being a baron, and smirked.
Nobles are scary.
“Honestly, growing up in Polka, I find that humans from other lands don’t seem all that appealing. Elves are just too beautiful.”
“I get it.”
I’m also under the spell of the ‘charm of beauty’ cast by Apple.
It’s hard to find women at the level of those in the royal capital or Besson, and besides, the polished women of the royal capital are too perfumed and harsh compared to the clean and healthy women of Polka.
Plus, half-elves often have bigger chests than elves, who are lacking in that area.
“Got it. …But you really came to me about that, huh?”
”? My father told me to take this to Mr. Smysen when it comes to elves and half-elves… but…”
“No, because it’s about wanting a wife, right? I’d hate it if it felt like I was being handed some woman you’ve already touched… …Well, maybe it’s a bit much for me to say this, but I’ve always been the type to get close to women, touch them, and then end up in bed with them.”
“That’s… well…”
”…No, never mind. That was pointless. Yeah.”
So who should I even ask to “introduce me to a half-elf woman. Ideally, one who’s a virgin”?
The pure-blooded elves who had been ostracized, of course, but even the half-elves themselves didn’t have particularly strong connections with each other.
Moreover, when it came to someone who could tell them things firmly, the options narrowed even further. Unless you held a certain position of power, you couldn’t exactly bring up marriage prospects that could change your life.
“Anyway, I’ll do my best. It might not be found right away, though. After all, the baron’s family has helped me out a lot.”
“Thank you.”
Being politely thanked by Daniel-kun made me feel a little weird.
I’m just a commoner who’s on friendly terms with the baron, so I should’ve been more humble in the first place. Even now, it feels late to change that.
So, that’s it.
“I want to look for the next baroness in Grange and the hidden village.”
“Do you have any virgins in Grange?”
Selen interjected with a serious expression.
…I looked at Neia, who was visibly flustered.
Both Selen and Neia, while feeding their newly born second child, laughed awkwardly.
“Girls old enough to do it usually end up with lovers in Grange, or they’re yours, aren’t they?”
”…N-no, I wasn’t planning on going all in with every single one of them. Sure, some of them have ended up that way, but…”
“If there were over 15, you could say that’s normal. Actually, it’s become a thing where if they get with Smysan-san, they won’t be thrown away, so those with no strong will end up like that… Plus, half-elves tend to get attached and then fall deeper and deeper.”
”…There were over 15 of them…?”
“That’s just what I know about. There might be others. I’m not counting the two or three who are neither white nor black.”
“Andy-san, you always end up with a harem no matter where you go, huh?”
“Ugh, uhh…”
Did I really get that into it? Well, there are a few girls who come to my place every night… um, two groups of three and one group of four, plus some solo ones… huh? That’s quite a lot.
”…Crap. I got way too carried away.”
“You’re fine, aren’t you? It’s not like it’s hard to hold back or anything.”
“No, I’m not some sad monster who’ll get sick if I don’t have sex!?”
“No, actually, I’d rather you were that kind of monster when it comes to sex. Like, make sure your top priority during free time is ‘who am I going to sleep with today’!”
“That feels like something’s wrong with me as a person.”
“There are plenty of girls who can handle it, so there’s no way I’d have time for anything else. Just keep doing what you’re doing and let me bury myself in your girls while you cum! It’s a miracle you’re even alive considering everything that’s happened!”
“Don’t keep applying those wild memories from over ten years ago to me! I’m in my 40s now, so there’s no way I can handle something like that anymore!”
“But look at Napoleon or that bald guy from Rennes-les-Bains—they’re both old men now and still pulling off crazy stuff. If you’re the right person, you’ll keep going no matter how old you get.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m the kind of person who keeps doing it even when I shouldn’t.”
“There’s no proof for that. I just think you’d do it if you had a chance. So, please keep having sex in your free time. Meanwhile, the dragon girls will handle most of the trouble.”
“Recently, I’ve been thinking, ‘Why does nothing ever happen wherever I go?’ But then I realized it’s because you’ve been giving those orders…?”
“See? You were totally expecting something to happen, weren’t you!”
Well, it’s more about mindset. I mean, we’re moving a massive force after all, so when things do happen, we can’t just panic.
“Andy-san, please just keep having sex whenever you get the chance. Keep making babies. That’s what will make everyone happiest.”
“It’s something every man dreams of hearing at least once in his life, but it’s kind of complicated when you actually hear it…”
“I’ve had enough of my heart racing! There are hundreds of girls who want children, so honestly, I don’t even have time to sleep!”
“Speaking of which, if there wasn’t a sacred spring, I’d probably die of indigestion by now.”
“But it’s fine because we have the sacred spring♪”
Also, with that method, there’s a high risk of accidentally (in a sexual sense) shooting Daniel-kun’s future bride candidate.
“Papa♪ I’ve been wanting to have kids too… We’ve been doing family butt-to-butt sessions a lot, so maybe it’s time to try family nipple-licking competitions or something?”
“Ele. Make sure she’s playing outside properly. Lately, hasn’t her vocabulary been getting contaminated by Kay-chan? Or rather, that twisted maid group of hers.”
“The only dad who’d let his daughter out in public looking like this is Andy. Oh, I mean, in a training sense? Someone who’s made to wear even more embarrassing outfits than going outside naked?”
“Hey, Selen, your daughter’s getting a lot of semen in her brain. Isn’t that bad?”
“My daughter, of course♪ By the way, I haven’t done it recently, but I’m totally fine with you doing it to me in a training kind of way♪ Like walking around naked with collars…♪”
“I think you should make me a collar first.”
Even though this is the paradise of Vaper Palace, these perverted mother and daughter are making some seriously twisted remarks.
Even Neia seems a bit taken aback. Well, she’d probably do it if asked, though.
After thinking about it for a while, I suddenly remembered and asked Floria, Naris’s daughter, “When you grow up, will you marry Daniel-san?”
She’s half-elf, so even if her brain gets vaporized, she’s still fine. She looks super cute, her personality is bright, and she’s still young, but in about 10 years… I think even an engagement would be fine for now.
Isn’t that a nice idea?
But then…
“Wait, isn’t she supposed to marry Papa…?”
“What do you mean ‘supposed to’…?”
“All the big sisters said it’s ‘our family tradition.’”
“No, wait? Don’t you think that’s weird? Dad is already married to Mom.”
“Mom said something weird when I asked her: ‘It’s fine, but it’s not.’”
”…I think there must have been a ridiculously long period of time before she answered like that.”
I could almost see the twisted look on Naris’s face as he pondered this.
Later, when I went to see Daniel-kun again, I found out he’d gotten shockingly engaged to a fox beast girl who had come to the hot springs for treatment.
“He was cute…”
Is that really okay with you?