Published: September 10, 2025
※2016/5/1 Typo corrections made.
※2016/5/1 Some parts revised.
This is Satou. Ending something is many times harder than starting it. There have been more than a few times I wished someone else would do the final debugging for me. Is there really no utopia somewhere without the need for debugging...?
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“Well, well, isn’t this Viscount Pendragon?”
“White hair with a cheek scar—that must be Lord Kuro of the Echigoya Trading Company.”
This farce was taking place in the royal castle of Tonoark, a small country neighboring the Silga Kingdom.
Pretending to have just bumped into Kuro, who came to express gratitude for the permission to open an Echigoya branch, the members of the Tourism Ministry carrying the Satou doll exchanged some small talk.
Since this was a hall connected to the corridor leading to the audience chamber, many ears and eyes of the people in Tonoark’s castle gathered.
“May I have your attention for a moment—”
“What! The Weasel Empire has invaded the Makiwa Kingdom?”
Using a loud voice skill, Kuro’s shout echoed to every corner of the castle.
“—Lord Kuro, your voice is a bit too loud.”
“My apologies! But even though the Silga Kingdom lies in between, this Tonoark Kingdom can’t treat this matter as someone else’s problem. Have you informed the King of Tonoark?”
“No, not yet. That’s why I stopped by to notify him.”
The people watching from a distance showed worried expressions.
The door at the back opened and someone who looked like a royal messenger appeared, signaling the end of the farce.
“But rest assured—”
“Oh? The dragon knights from Dragon Valley have been dispatched? That is excellent news! However, if we don’t help with transporting the refugees, our lord will scold us.”
“That’s reassuring. Please give my regards to Lord Hero Nameless.”
“Understood. I came to thank the King of Tonoark for the branch opening permission, but I’ll leave that to this branch manager and return to my duties as the hero’s attendant.”
Having played out the farce to the end, Kuro created a white smoke screen with magic and disappeared from the scene like a ninja.
Secretly swapping places with the Satou doll was a piece of cake.
I signaled by eye contact to the Tourism Ministry members that the swap with the Satou doll had been made.
Only Miss Karina, who was playing the role of Lady K this time, seemed unaware.
No particular problems, so I decided to leave it as is.
“Did he disappear?”
“That’s Lord Kuro of the Echigoya Trading Company, rumored to appear and vanish at will.”
“As expected of the hero’s attendant.”
The bar for “hero’s attendant” had casually been raised, but rumors always get exaggerated, so it was fine.
After creating a witness, I swiftly completed the audience with the king, dispelling the tension with a smelly but impressive “land and sea chestnut” dissection show I had brought as a gift, and enjoyed the dinner featuring Tonoark Kingdom’s local specialties.
Tonoark quietly exists between the Shiga Kingdom, the Flying Dragon country—Silga Kingdom, and the Black Dragon Mountain Range, but I found a surprisingly varied and enjoyable cuisine.
Mostly dishes of nuts and mountain vegetables that seemed to have developed from substitute foods, with a mysterious dish made from moss pine bark soaked in something, which paired well with the Tonoark Kingdom’s bean sake and tasted delicious. Both had rather subtle flavors on their own, which was interesting.
I lightly brushed off marriage proposals from the rustic Tonoark nobility and was taught about various domestic sightseeing spots.
The real sightseeing would be after departure, when I could secretly visit as a civilian with my companions.
After all, I wouldn’t be able to relax and enjoy myself until the refugee transport arrangements were complete.
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“Lord Kuro, what do you mean by ‘all hands abandon ship’?!”
“Don’t worry, we’ll bring them back properly—”
After putting the crews of two large Shiga Kingdom airships to sleep, I sent them to the Echigoya Trading Company’s underground detention center in the Royal Capital.