Time flew by and our 10 day stay passed in the blink of an eye.
The first day was a visit to the cathedral.
We took Zenith to the Miko and she used her power to hear what she had to say.
Claire was with us too, and half way she broke down into tears.
I almost did as well, bud seeing that Zenith was happy as always, I held it in.
While we were doing that the children seemed quite bored waiting outside, but we still had to meet with the Pope together with the Miko so we ended up taking quite a while.
The Miko kept bragging about her daily training routine and how slim she’d gotten and just wouldn’t stop…
The kids must really have been bored out there.
Apparently Aisha took Ars, Lara, and Sieg to see the Adventurers Guild HQ.
Going by the fact that they go back so late and Ars’s face when he got back, it looked like some problem had occurred…
But Aisha had probably already dealt with it.
But it didn’t seem that Lucy was mad at being left behind.
She and Clive were probably satisfied looking around the Cathedral together.
She might have liked the gardens or maybe Clive’s tour was quite entertaining.
And seeing that Lucy wouldn’t tell me the details it was probably the latter.
If I pressed it I might have gotten it out of her, but I held back.
In any case, I’d like for Clive-kun to continue to be sincere.
The second, third, and fourth days were spent giving various greetings.
Letting people know that the Dragon God’s subordinate was in Millishion.
The Holy Knight Captain.
Various members of the Latrea family. And of course among them was my aunt Therese. She’s unfortunately still unmarried.
After that was the formal audience with the Pope…
I met with the Millis Royal Family.
The 5th Royal Prince. And although he was a price he was over forty.
It was a real pain, but I eventually managed to secure an audience with the King in several days time.
For a greeting as the representative of the Dragon God.
Orsted had said, “It’s fine if you put off making relations with the Millis Royal Family,” but I asked him before and a simple greeting was fine.
I don’t know why he said that after hearing that we were going there for a holiday, but the original purpose was show the kids different parts of society.
I myself didn’t see any problem.
On the fifth day we delivered the doll to Cliff.
When we got there he had some good news for us.
In the last five years he seemed to be evaluated quite highly and they were considering his promotion to Bishop.
Normally that would be impossible as young as he is, but I’m sure there’s some kind of ulterior motive.
The parish Cliff is in charge of is in a particularly special location.
The southernmost point of the Great Forest.
When I went through it while traveling, it wasn’t a particularly important place.
But it seems that in the last 10 years the scope of the place has increases along with the number of people.
The city isn’t affiliated with any particular country or race, but when places get larger like that, people are bound to be interested.
And so, various representatives of different races have gathered there to decide all kinds of things.
The Millis Church’s representative is an Archbishop known as the Cardinals’ Dagger and part of the Demon Expulsion Faction.
He follows the Human Supremacy Doctrine, so not only is he against the Magic Races, but the Beast Races too. He’s a disdainful man, but he’s good at his job.
I’m sure he’s working to assure all kinds of things are in his interests.
But considering his personality, putting him there could cause problems with their relationship with the Great Forest.
But there are some especially extreme groups among the Demon Expulsion faction that welcome such a turn of events.
And so that’s why Cliff was chosen.
Because of his relationship with the Rudo Mercenaries who employ a number of beast races and one of the Beast Race Princesses.
He was well connected, possessed no prejudice and he was of the pope faction.
So they raised his rank and gave him the job of overseer.
Cliff seemed disappointed that he wasn’t chosen purely for his ability.
But regardless, after he finishes his work in the city, he’ll be a Bishop in both name and rank.
Once he becomes a bishop, his influence will increase, and if he can gain favour with the Elves of the Great Forest, the church may stand for him taking one as a wife.
If that happens he’ll be able to invite Elinalise and Clive to Millis.
And after hearing that much I was like “Then here’s your promotion gift!”
And took out the doll, but he got super mad.
Apparently if they knew he was with a woman at this time, it would be a big fuss.
That said, he didn’t completely outlaw the doll, so I think he might have been happy with the idea.
He seemed quite curious as to the details of its Magic Formation.
Well if it comes down to it we can always put some sunglasses on it and dress it as a man, like Sylphy suggested.
It has the strength to act as a bodyguard so I’m sure it would be helpful for Cliff in his line of work.
There’s no guarantee that that Archbishop won’t try to assassinate him.
Incidentally, when I returned that day, Claire was in quite a good mood.
Apparently Lara found her locket that she had lost a year ago.
It’s a good story.
A parent loves to boast about their kids.
…Although Leo was probably the one doing the searching.
And Roxy’s child raising motivation seemed to have increased.
“All the children will be at school soon, so I’m going to have to properly watch over them,” she said.
Roxy’s cute but she’s the type to worry too much when she’s enthusiastic about something so I’m a little worried.
Also, apparently Sylphy and Norn took Lucy and Clive to the Adventurers Guild.
Lucy talked about how wonderful their lunch was with a massive smile plastered over her face.
It seemed like she wasn’t that interested in the guild itself.
On the sixth and seventh days we walked around with no particular goal.
We went shopping and took the kids sightseeing.
We took a carriage out of the city to look around, we stopped at a nearby farm, we let the kids play in the river we came across.
We basically just did whatever we felt like.
The ninth day was the audience with the King.
The Millis King was a mild old man.
In Millis the Church holds most of the power so the Royal family is comparatively weak.
It’s now the tenth day.
Time for us to leave Millishion.
We’ll head north through the Blue Dragon Mountain Range towards the hot springs.
“There aren’t any monsters until we reach the entrance to the Great Forest, but I hear there are a lot of ruffians near the town stops.
Just you alone would be one thing, but to bring children along too, you’ll should be a bit more careful…”
Right before we left, Claire gave us a good mouthful.
When I was here last, she was reprimanding me for all kinds of things, but when we first arrived she didn’t say much, now, by the tenth day, she seems to have no problem scolding us.
Although she’s not unpleasant about it.
She probably finally managed to get a feel of the distance between us.
But right before we left, she turned to face Norn.
“Norn-san, this time around we didn’t talk all that much, but would it be alright if I said just one thing to you?”
“…Yes.”
Norn had “Here it comes,” written all over her face.
She’s been trying her best to avoid Claire these past 10 days.
Even in spite of Ruijerd telling her to treasure her relatives…
But Norn couldn’t be blamed.
If they were to talk, Claire might end up bad mouthing Ruijerd.
And if that happened, I’m sure Norn would fight back in turn.
Claire’s quite stubborn, so I’m sure she wouldn’t take back anything she said and it’s quite possible it could turn into a massive ordeal.
“You are no longer a Latrea or a Greyrat.”
“Yes.”
In that instant, Norn’s expression was extremely aggressive.
She probably expected something unfavourable about being a Demon’s wife.
That’s just how sharp Claire’s words were.
Even I had a premonition that something bad was going to happen.
“You are now the wife and mother of the Sperdia Family. Be aware of that and work yourself to the bone for your husband.”
“Eh?”
But what Claire followed up with was something quite sensible.
It did sound somewhat like an order though…
“I am not knowledgeable of Demon customs but is it a wife’s duty to protect their children and house, I’m sure that hasn’t changed.”
“…”
“Do you understand?”
“Ah… Yes!”
Norn looked quite shocked but she eventually meekly nodded.
Claire then nodded in satisfaction.
As if a weight was lifted from her shoulders.
I feel like Claire has changed in these last 10 days.
Maybe because of that, Roxy and Lillia could spend their last few days here relaxing.
Something probably happened in the time I was away.
Especially Claire and Roxy. They seem much closer compared to when they just met.
She’s probably happy Claire wasn’t discriminating against her.
Roxy’s had more than enough of that in her time after all.
And thanks to that, Norn probably managed to get over a little of her ill feelings.
…Aisha is the same as ever though.
After about half a day’s travel from Millishion, we arrived at the entrance to the Blue Dragon Mountain Range.
We stopped the carriage and got the children off.
And then we turned around.
“…”
A spectacle opened up before us.
You could see the City of Millishion in the distance.
The river flowing through the city, green as far as the eye can see.
We spent 10 days there.
The Brilliant white Royal Palace, the glittering gold Cathedral, and the Sparkling silver Adventurers Guild.
It’s the same view I saw together with Eris and Ruijerd 20 years ago.
Although the small building and the people living there might be different, seeing it like this makes it seem like nothing’s changed.
“What do you think?”
This kind of massive scenery is something you can see quite often in this world, but I would bet there’s no other place that you could walk around in and then look at it from a distance like this.
It gives a kind of indescribable feeling.
I stopped thinking to myself and turned around to check the children’s reactions.
“Wow~!”
They were quite varied.
Lucy had a smile of honest admiration.
She’s been acting more and more like the eldest sister lately, but she’s still quite childish in this aspect.
…Oh, Clive next to her seems to be debating to himself whether or not to grab her hand.
In the valley that divides the Blue Dragon Mountain Range.
On the proverbial ‘handle’ of the Holy Sword Highway.
The cliffs rise up straight from the ground, with only the occasional rock jutting out, producing a gloomy valley as far as the eye can see.
The children were quite excited when they first saw it.
Even Lara let one of her rare “Wow,”s slip.
―○●○―
1. Ok, these lines sound way out of place in english.
But it''s actually a joke on Rudeus''s part.
"Doki Doki Shichau.
Doushimashou. Tabun, ima, atashi no kao, makka wa."
The is a super cliche line that a shoujo heroine would think to themselves after being confessed to.
The tone is super effeminate and he even uses ''Atashi'' the most effeminate of pronouns.
2. This joke was legit there in the Japanese.
バウリンガル - Bowlingual (Bow wow the dog noise combined with Bilingual)
It refers to this gimmick product that claims to translate barks into Japanese and Rudy refers to Lara as one.
It literally says: "Since I don''t have a Bowlingual I can tell, but ours doesn''t really speak all that much."
3. Hey! What''s wrong with that. I''m offended [Sarcasm]
While I''m here I''d like you guys to give the Editor, King of the End, a thank. He''s been with me since nearly when I took over and he''s saved me hours of having to read over my work multiple times. He''s been doing (almost) thankless work for a while now and he''s still always there ready and happy to help. So ket him know he''s appreciated.