The manga adaptation of Otherworld Transmigrator Adventurer by Shiba no Bancha-sensei is set to release on February 14th!
A bonus manga is planned for the end of the volume.
We hope you'll continue to enjoy both the web version and the book version!
"Thank you for coming all this way. I am Harold von Haust, head of the Haust Earldom."
I had been distracted by the sight of his wife dressed as a maid, and before I realized it, the Earl had already started his self-introduction.
Sure enough, as expected of an Earl, he carried considerably more presence than any noble I had encountered so far. In terms of appearance, he might be similar to Baron Mustang... well, for now, that was just my impression based on looks
alone.
But.
There were two reasons I had that thought of "based on looks
alone."
One was that the Earl was the father of Lion, who in my eyes had become the poster child for "loser and clueless."
The other was that the Earl himself, from a moment ago, seemed more concerned about the "maid-dressed wife" standing beside him than about me.
"I'm grateful for the extermination of the wyvern swarm, as well as the support along the border."
The Earl paused briefly there, then glanced to the side.
"Also, my knight order's vice-commander has caused you trouble. I am truly sorry."
Bowing his head, the Earl once again stole a glance to the side to check on his companion.
"As for the various rewards, not all reports have come in yet, and the calculations aren't finished. I'm sorry, but I'd like you to remain here for a while. Of course, all expenses during that period will be on us. I've also prepared guest rooms in this mansion for your party. However, if you'd prefer not to stay here, I've arranged the finest accommodations at the best inn in town. If there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask any of the household staff."
With that, the Earl seemed to consider the matter settled, lightly lifted himself from his seat, and was about to sit back down in his chair—when...
"My, my, how high and mighty..."
Hearing the quietly muttered remark from Grandpa, the Earl's body shivered for an instant. He had half-risen from his seat and now froze in that position. For Grandpa, it was probably an offhand comment, but it seemed to have hit the Earl rather hard. Though I'd been irked by the Earl's attitude too, I'd been paying more attention to how concerned he was about the woman beside him. Incidentally, that woman had been smiling the entire time the Earl was talking. However...
"Hmm, twenty... fifteen points, perhaps?"
The moment she let that one line slip, the Earl's body trembled even more violently than when Grandpa had spoken. The woman said something like that without even glancing at the Earl, simply smiling away.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I am Harold von Haust's wife and also Lion von Haust's mother — Edilia von Haust. Thank you so very much for everything regarding this matter. The wyvern subjugation of course, but the support you provided to Lord Otomi at the border was also a tremendous help — not only for our defenses but economically as well. Furthermore, I'm terribly sorry that my son Lion has caused you trouble time and again. If he has done anything to inconvenience you, please don't worry about his status or rank — feel free to straighten him out properly. And also..."
Here, Edilia paused and looked toward the Earl.
The Earl drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and laboriously rose from his chair. Then,
"The incident at Kukuri Village six years ago was our failure. While there are voices in the world that place the blame on the guards who were dispatched, that was the responsibility of the Haust Earldom — my responsibility as the Earl. I am truly sorry."
He bowed his head deeply. Caught off guard, Grandpa and I were slightly flustered and exchanged uncertain glances. The entire time, the Earl remained with his head bowed.
"Tenma-kun, Merlin-sama. Why don't you hear what the Earl has to say? Besides, it doesn't seem right to keep the Earl bowing like that indefinitely..."
Following Chris's advice, we asked the Earl to lift his head and then listened to the full story.
The Earl tried to begin right there, but at Edilia's suggestion, they moved to an adjacent meeting room. Once inside, Edilia immediately began preparing tea, and Jeanne and Aura hurried to help as well — but both were gently ushered back to their seats by Edilia.
After the tea had been distributed, the Earl opened his mouth to speak. Surprisingly, he turned out to be something of a poor speaker, stumbling over his words and rephrasing things here and there.
The first thing that came up in his account was that, regarding the incident six years ago, he had wanted to apologize to Grandpa and me for a very long time. He had already visited the survivors of Kukuri Village in person to offer his apologies, but with us two, he had never managed to do so.
The reason was that my whereabouts had been unknown for a long time, and by the time they were finally pinpointed, the neighboring country's movements had grown suspicious and he couldn't leave his territory. As for Grandpa, he had gone immediately after relocating to the Royal Capital with Uncle Mark and the others, but Grandpa at that time, despite being more than half out of his mind, would fly into a terrifying rage the moment he heard the words "Earl Haust." The King had judged that if the Earl ever appeared before him, he would certainly be killed, so all meetings were refused. Incidentally, he had also apologized to Uncle Mark and the others at that time, but given that it was right after the incident, his apology had not been accepted on the spot. The apology was finally accepted by the other Royal Capital residents — excluding Grandpa — just shortly before my location was discovered, during the Earl's last visit to the Capital.
"Grandpa, you really went that wild?"
"...I don't remember a single bit of it."
"No, you really were incredibly violent. Parts of Grandpa's residence were destroyed several times over, you know."
The damage was mostly to Grandpa's room, apparently, but if left unchecked it could have brought down the whole mansion, and each time they had to call in Din.
When I checked with a glance at the Three Idiots and the Earl to confirm this, Albert and Cain nodded with wry smiles, while the Earl and Lion were pale-faced and trembling. Later, Lion told me that he had spent his time in constant fear, thinking, "If word of my presence in the Capital ever reached Merlin-sama's ears, I might be utterly annihilated without a trace." Most likely, the Earl had felt the same way.
"Well, regarding that matter — I can't say I bear no grudge at all, but I've decided to forgive you."
Since this had been decided through repeated discussions with Grandpa and Uncle Mark and the others, I conveyed that it was the collective will of the former residents of Kukuri Village currently residing in the Royal Capital.
Seeing Grandpa nod along with my words, the Earl, Lady Edilia, and Lion all showed expressions of relief.
"However, as I told Lion before, if the Earl's household were to turn hostile toward me, or try to forcibly bring me under their control, please understand that would not apply."
At the words that followed, the Earl flinched for a moment, but quickly nodded.
"I've heard about that matter. Apparently, a promise was made in front of Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons… I get the feeling my idiot son was played by those two, but regardless, I'll make sure the retainers are made aware that it was agreed upon as a commitment of the Earl's household."
As expected, the Earl had seen through the schemes of those two, but Lion looked absolutely shocked. And to make matters worse, Albert and Cain, who were standing beside him, burst out unable to contain their laughter, which only deepened his confusion.
"I have nothing further to say on that matter. As for our lodging…"
"Mm, as I mentioned earlier, I've arranged rooms at one of the inns said to be the finest in Shellhide, apart from our own estate. Would you like me to have someone show you there first?"
"No, if it's all right, I'd like to stay at the Earl's estate. I promised Lion some time ago that I'd visit the Earl's household, so this seems like the perfect opportunity. However…"
"However?"
"Please separate the rooms by gender and keep them at a distance from one another. Since we're all unmarried men and women, I'd like to avoid any potential rumors as much as possible."
Hearing my request, the Earl gave a firm nod and promised to prepare rooms as specified. On the other hand, Amour and Aura looked visibly displeased. And for some reason, Lady Edilia too…
"Very well. As soon as the rooms are ready, I'll have someone from the household guide you there. Until then, why don't you rest in this room."
Saying that, the Earl and Lady Edilia excused themselves, saying they had matters to attend to, and left the room. Before leaving, Lady Edilia had cast a glance toward Chris, so that displeased expression of hers was probably related to Chris.
"Haaah… my shoulders are all knotted up. Meeting the Earl is nerve-racking, unlike with Lion."
"It really is."
"Even though the Lady was smiling the whole time, there was something intense about her presence…"
As Chris stretched in her chair, Jeanne and Aura nodded in agreement. Incidentally, when the two had moved into this room, they'd tried to stand toward the back as usual, but Lady Edilia had practically forced them to sit down.
"Maybe being in a border territory next to other countries naturally gives a person that kind of commanding presence."
"Perhaps so. He had more of a warrior's aura about him than Duke Sanga or Marquis Samons."
"Well, Father and Marquis Samons both have more of a civil servant's temperament, when you think about it."
"That said, I think the Border Count's imposing presence back then was a bit different from what everyone imagines."
At those words, Grandpa and the others looked at Cain with expressions that asked "What do you mean?" But Cain just smiled and turned his gaze toward Lion.
When they all looked at Lion, he was wearing a complicated expression. And then—
"That was... the old man back then was just plain nervous. Dad gets nervous easily and has a real tendency to be shy around people..."
This unexpected testimony came tumbling out. Even Chris, who had met the Border Count several times before, apparently didn't know this—and in a sense, she was the most surprised of all.
"So in other words, Lion's own cowardliness is, in a sense, hereditary."
"Dad says it's not a problem because Mom covers for him in that regard, though."
"So when he seemed so arrogant during the initial greeting, it was simply because he was nervous."
"And the fact that he kept glancing worriedly at his wife during the conversation was his shyness showing through...? If that's the case, what about the fifteen points Edilia mentioned afterward?"
"It's probably a score that factors in things like coming across as too pompous due to nervousness, and his attitude when expressing gratitude or apologies. The old man's probably getting an earful from Mom about it right now."
It seemed that in the Border Count's household—
But—
—the wife was clearly the stronger one.
"What kind of person is the Border Count's wife?"
After a moment's thought in response to Grandpa's question, Lion said:
"She doesn't push herself to the forefront—more like she supports the old man from behind. Apparently, Mom entered the Border Count's household as an etiquette trainee when she was a child, and caught the eye of the old man's mother...
The previous Border Count's wife...
...and that's how the marriage came about. By the way, she wears a maid's outfit because it's convenient for her hobbies of cooking and cleaning. Also, since Mom's family was a barony, the retainers who valued lateral connections apparently tried to get the old man to take a concubine, but his shyness worked against them and it didn't happen, or so I've heard."
"That is... even among the nobles I know, they're quite a rare breed. It's usually the other way around, you see."
"Ah... so when you were greeting His Majesty, after first checking where the Royal Guards were stationed, you never once looked their way again. That wasn't really about checking the layout — it was about confirming which spot would let you avoid making eye contact with any unwanted people."
"That's probably exactly what my sister said, yes..."
When Chris indicated her understanding, Lion gave what amounted to an affirmative reply.
"Well, that said, she's definitely not someone you can afford to underestimate. From what I've heard, she's not only capable of commanding armies, but her personal martial prowess is high as well. According to my father, she can even hold her own against the Captain of the Royal Guard head-on."
"Though apparently only without magic," Cain added, and Chris followed up with, "That's a well-known story." Well, she'd need to be at that level to govern a territory bordering another kingdom.
"If that's the case, then Lion's going to have to put in some serious work. Especially on the political side."
Everyone except Lion laughed at my remark, and just as the joke had landed, Edilia came by to announce that the rooms were ready. Chris, Albert, Cain, Jeanne, and Aura all seemed to think the timing was just a happy coincidence, but those of us with the ability to Sense, the old man with his sharp instincts, Amour who was closest to the wild, and Lion who was family — all of us understood that it wasn't good timing. Edilia had simply been suppressing her presence and waiting in front of the door the whole time.
The way she masked her presence was remarkably similar to Aina and Kurif — I even wondered whether those two might have martial training as well.
"These four rooms on this side are for the gentlemen, and those three over there are for the ladies."
The rooms Edilia showed us were arranged exactly as I'd requested, keeping distance between the men's and women's quarters. I did wonder why the women's side had one fewer room — I'd assumed Jeanne and Aura, being maids, would share a room, but two rooms had actually been prepared for them — but it turned out she'd only been able to clean three of the women's rooms, so Chris had been given the room next to Lion's.
"Hey, Albert, Cain. This can't be a coincidence, right?"
"No, it definitely isn't."
"Edilia's trying to set Lion up with Chris."
It certainly looked like Chris had been locked onto by the current Border Count's wife as the future Border Count's wife. But Chris, who had long been saying "Anyone but Lion,"
"My Lady the Border Count's wife, there is no need for your concern."
—saying that, she grabbed Amour by the scruff of the neck as he had been creeping closer toward me,
"On this journey, we have this troublemaker, and Lady Maria gave me strict orders not to let him out of my sight for even a moment. Therefore, I must remain in the same room as this"
"troublemaker."
"There is no way around it."
"Hmph..."
Saying that, Chris managed to avoid Edilia's schemes. Even the border countess had to back down when the name of the Queen, who held the highest authority among women, was brought up. That seemed to be how it played out.
"That's right, Mom. Besides, if Sis is in the next room, I can't relax... Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."
Before Lion could finish his usual flippant remark, he was glared into submission by Chris. Seeing this, Edilia looked terribly disappointed (probably because Chris had gotten away and Lion had performed so poorly).
After that, they each chose their rooms (I secured the farthest men's room, and Chris, ignoring Amour's opinion, picked the one farthest from mine), and it became free time in our rooms until dinner.
"So, what to do with the few hours until dinner... Take a nap?"
It was too awkward a time to do anything properly, so I decided to just sleep lightly for a bit.
The room I borrowed was spacious enough even with Shiromaru and the others out (not their original size, but their size with the collars on), so each of them had tumbled out of their bags and was lying around. I hung a sign on the door that said, "Sleeping until dinner. Please don't wake me," but after asking Slarin to handle it or wake me if anyone came, I went to sleep.
And then, just before dinner.
"Wuff!"
"Guh!"
I was woken up by Shiromaru's paw. It seemed like Shiromaru had tried to place a hand on my shoulder or chest but miscalculated slightly and dropped its paw right in the center of my face... It was highly suspicious, but before I could get angry, Slarin was already scolding it (while being restrained by the Emperialized Slarin), so I decided to leave it to her.
"Hey, Tenma! Time for food!"
From outside the door came Lion's voice, announcing that it was dinner time.
"I'm coming."
After tidying myself up a bit, I took Slarin and Solomon with me and joined Lion. Shiromaru, meanwhile, seemed to have been swallowed into Slarin's
body
and was nowhere to be seen. Well, with Slarin, it would probably be released at some appropriate point, so Shiromaru wouldn't miss out on dinner entirely.
"Let's go already! Everyone else went ahead first!"
Everyone else had been led away by Edilia earlier, and Lion had stayed behind to guide me.
"I didn't know you were sleeping, Tenma. I went to your room thinking we could hang out, but Slarin turned me away."
It seemed they had no choice but to hang out together, the usual trio.
"Come to think of it, Amour got collected by Big Sis while I was passing by, too."
"In that case, I'd better make sure to lock my door at night."
Chatting like that, we headed to the dining hall where everyone was waiting, with Lion leading the way.
Everyone except me and Lion was already gathered in the dining hall, and the moment we took our seats, the meal could begin right away.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
As soon as I entered the dining hall, those were the first words out of my mouth. Lion then guided me to my seat. At the head of the rectangular table sat the Margrave and his wife. Along the left side from the couple, lined up in order, were me, Grandpa, Amour, Jeanne, and Aura, while Lion, Albert, Cain, and Chris occupied the right side. It was clearly divided between people who knew the Margrave and those who didn't. Chris would have naturally been seated on the same side as me, but the seats had probably been arranged to balance the numbers — and Edilia's scheming had played a part in it, too... She wouldn't go so far as to shamelessly seat Chris right next to Lion, but deep down, that's exactly where she'd have wanted her.
"Well then, cheers— mmph!"
Seeing me and Lion take our seats, the Margrave tried to launch straight into a toast, but Edilia elbowed him from the side, cutting him off. In that brief pause, several maids stepped forward and filled everyone's cups.
"I'll have tea, please. Amour, you're a terrible drunk, so juice or tea for you. Jeanne and Aura too."
Chris stopped a maid who was about to pour wine and banned Amour and the others across the table from having any alcoholic drinks.
Well, Amour was technically a baron's daughter (though she didn't seem to realize it) and she was a terrible drunk, so keeping her from drinking was a good way to prevent any embarrassing incidents. And while Jeanne and Aura were being treated as guests, they were still maids, so it was probably best if they abstained.
They seemed to be well aware of this themselves and did as Chris said.
However, the reason Chris refused the alcohol and specifically chose tea was probably different from the reason the other three did.
Chris could hold her liquor better than most people. But she had a tendency to get carried away, and she would often drink until she passed out. In fact, on occasions when she came over to visit because the next day was a holiday, she'd start drinking in the middle of the day, pass out cold, and not wake up until the following morning.
Well, during those times Aina would stay behind to look after her, and even when she wasn't there, Jeanne and Aura would take care of things, so Grandpa and I made sure to stay out of the way — or rather, we couldn't get close even if we wanted to. However, if Chris passed out here at the Margrave's estate, there was a real chance that Edilia — who already thought of Chris as Lion's future wife — would have her dumped into Lion's room.
Even if a blackout-drunk Chris was carried into Lion's room, as long as Lion was in a state to make rational decisions, he could return her to her room without incident. But there was no way Lion would skip the drinking at a gathering like this. And since this was his family home, he'd drink without holding back. And he'd get completely wasted.
If that happened, an unmarried man and woman would end up spending the night together. And since they'd both be dead drunk, there'd be no way to prove their innocence. After that, it would be all about social appearances and responsibility, and they'd be forced to get married.
It seemed Chris had refused the alcohol with exactly this chain of events in mind. And watching Chris turn down the drink, Edilia looked visibly frustrated.
"To mark the occasion of the Haust Margrave household and the Ootori family getting acquainted, we have prepared this modest banquet. Please enjoy yourselves to the fullest. Now then — cheers!" With the covert maneuvering now concluded and drinks in everyone's hands, the Margrave — who seemed entirely oblivious to the battle of wits that had just played out — took it upon himself to propose the toast.
During the meal that followed, the conversation between the Margrave and me never really picked up. Well, the topics we had in common were pretty limited — the first thing that came to mind was the incident at Kukuri Village six years ago, and beyond that it was all about Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons. But since both of those men had heirs on good terms with me, there wasn't much traction to be found in those subjects either.
Lion, worried about the two of us, made an effort to keep the conversation going — unusual for him, to say the least. But then again, because it was Lion doing the mediating, it had almost no effect. If anything, the Margrave had a habit of steering the conversation away at precisely the moments when I might have managed to join in, so perhaps Lion's presence did more harm than good.