I. Journey to Vulcan
After giving birth, Cassandra became completely devoted to taking care of Hilda, whom she had previously treated so roughly. Even that demon-like woman must have found her own child adorable.
Just as I thought that, she was already intent on starting Hilda’s training,
so I desperately tried to stop her. I didn’t want her giving a baby things like little daggers as toys.
Since Hilda was too dangerous for just Cassandra alone, I decided to assign her numerous maids.
However, the maids didn’t last long because Cassandra, like a mother bear right after giving birth, was terrifyingly ferocious.
Cassandra tended to demand strength from those close to her, which was troubling.
As a result, there was no one suitable in Cassandra’s eyes to be Hilda’s dedicated maid.
This became a source of vexation for me for a while.
By the way, ever since Cassandra became pregnant until after she gave birth, I had started going to Sheila’s place at night. An ex-S-rank adventurer, she’s a beautiful woman with neatly trimmed silver hair and a dignified face. Among my wives, she’s the most sensible one.
I did want to visit my other wives occasionally, but they tended to reject my visits once they had given birth to a child, as if they had fulfilled their duty. It made me feel rather sad and unwanted.
When I complained about this to Sheila, she said with a serious look,
“I don’t think they dislike you. Everyone adores you, Your Majesty. It’s just that becoming one of Faloon’s wives is quite arduous. One must become strong, both mentally and physically. Even I realized I need to train harder.”
Then she added, “That aside, shouldn’t you take more wives, Your Majesty?”
I didn’t really need that many wives, nor did I understand what was so difficult about it. But I didn’t pry further, afraid it might strain my relationship with Sheila. If things went sour between us, I’d have nowhere else to go.
Fearing the atmosphere might become awkward, I changed the subject.
“By the way, Sheila, you’re from Vulcan, right? Are there any delicious meat dishes from that country?”
I still haven’t given up on my dream of eating delicious meat dishes. I don’t want to spend my life eating nothing but the foul meat of monsters.
After Faloon, I could no longer get meat dishes in Dorsen either. But if that’s the case, I just need to eat them in other countries.
“Meat dishes, you say? Since Vulcan is a nation of valor, we don’t really have elaborate cuisines. The culture prefers simple fare. So it’s not quite a dish per se, but Yakiniku might be famous.”
“Yakiniku?”
“As the name implies, it’s just thinly sliced meat grilled on an iron plate. But it’s delicious when eaten with a sweet and savory sauce.”
“Oh, that sounds tasty.”
It’s common to cook and eat thicker cuts of meat, as thin slices tend to burn easily. Grilling thinly sliced meat and eating it with sauce sounds delicious.
“But ever since coming to this country, I haven’t been able to eat Yakiniku, or even proper meals for that matter…just monster meat every day…”
Sheila’s expression clouded over with gloom.
…Come to think of it, it might have been inappropriate to talk about food in Faloon.
The awkward atmosphere was my doing.
No, it was Cassandra who started eating monster meat, and Ogma who popularized it, so I’m not to blame.
And learning that there’s a dish called Yakiniku in Vulcan was good.
My next goal in life had been decided.
To go to Vulcan and eat Yakiniku. Life requires delicious food.
One does not live only on monster meat alone.
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While I had set my goal, Vulcan was admittedly far away. Even I would need quite some time if I simply ran there like an idiot.
However, I had a secret weapon: the wyverns, the monster troop I had recruited second to the werewolves.
Wyverns are dragons, but of an inferior species, so they’re not particularly strong. If sent into actual combat, there’s a possibility they could be defeated. Since there weren’t as many of them as the werewolves, it would be a waste. So instead of using them for battle, I had planned to utilize their mobility for transportation and such.
Cassandra, who was from the northern Ronza Empire famous for its dragon knights, happened to be well-versed in training wyverns, or dragons in general. She had, rather unusually, lectured Kiri on it.
I was also taught by Cassandra in the process, so I became able to control wyverns myself. Plus, since I had captured the wyverns personally, it was easier to make them obey me.
The wyverns were also being considered for messenger roles, so I had a dwelling built for them within the castle grounds to allow me to summon them quickly. It was a stone structure imitating the caves often used as nests.
I stepped into this massive, stone-built dwelling.
A distinct reptilian odor assailed my nose, but having grown accustomed to the foul stench of raw monster meat, it didn’t bother me much.
Rather than dragons, wyverns resembled winged lizards in appearance. Looking closely, their faces seemed more creepy than cool.
Upon seeing me, those creepy monsters cowered back in unison.
Don’t you have any pride as monsters?
“Air.”
When I called out, a slightly larger wyvern emerged from the back.
I had named the wyvern I ride Air. Being the leader of the pack I had captured, Air had a more impressive appearance than the others.
It came out quickly today. Sometimes it took longer, forcing me to personally give it food to build trust.
The food I give is the same monster meat I eat myself. Kiri said eating the same thing helps strengthen the bond.
“Since wyverns eat monster meat too, eating the same thing as the monster-like people of Hundred will help you get along quickly! Though normally, people don’t eat monster meat, you know. They’d die. So in that sense, Hundred’s people are like monsters themselves. Ahahaha. …Eh? You feed the wyverns the same monster meat you eat, Your Majesty? …Ah, no, never mind.”
Kiri had said such things while her black eyes swam around.
Following her advice, I tried giving Air the meat I had brought. But Air strongly refused to eat the meat meant for me, a human. There should be no reason for the wyvern Air to not eat meat that I myself ate.
Yet Air tried to fly away, so I jumped up, knocked it down, and forcefully shoved the meat into its mouth. After repeating this several times, Air finally became obedient to me.
It seems eating the same meat does help build a bond.
Air lowered its head and took a stance that made it easy for me to mount its back. Apparently, the proud dragon species rarely goes this far.
“It’s a bit pitiful, isn’t it?”
Watching this, Kiri seemed to feel sorry for the wyvern. But what’s so pitiful? We’ve clearly formed such a close bond.
“Alright, Air. We’re going quite far today!”
As I straddled the saddle on Air’s back, I pointed in the direction of Vulcan.
Yakiniku awaits me!
I think riding a wyvern is more comfortable than a horse. Since you’re not connected to the ground, the vibrations don’t transfer to your body. Plus, being able to fly through the air is pleasant.
At first, I thought, “It’d be scary if I fell.” But Cassandra told me,
“You haven’t trained enough to die from just a fall. If you were to die from that much, I’d kill you myself.”
That made me less afraid of falling.
Cassandra is far more terrifying than falling.
Without the fear, wyverns are incredibly convenient for travel. You can go anywhere quickly. The downside is that, while inferior dragons, they’re still dragons – so they’re very conspicuous.
Since Vulcan is technically an enemy nation, I couldn’t just land too close to its cities.
So I had Air land on a mountain near the capital city of Thrakia, and I headed to Thrakia on foot from there.
Thanks to Kiri’s magic, I share a master-servant bond with Air, so it will come immediately when I call. It won’t just go off somewhere. Though whenever I summon it, it always has a sad look. It must have felt lonely being alone.
Anyway, I left the mountain and reached the main road, then walked to Thrakia from there.
It seemed about as large as Berse in Dorsen.
There were many unadorned, simple buildings – fitting for a nation that values fortitude and practicality, as Sheila had told me.
Compared to Dorsen, the clothes worn by the people walking around also tended to be simple in design, with few people dressed flashily. In that sense, it was similar to Faloon. Well, our country is just rural.
Walking down the large street in this foreign city, there were all sorts of unique shops selling unusual things, so it was enjoyable just strolling around.
But my goal was Yakiniku. I wanted to eat at the most delicious place if possible.
A restaurant… This would be my first time entering a city eatery, so I felt a bit tense.
But with enough money, anything is possible. Money rules the world. …Oh no?
I had forgotten to bring money.
I don’t normally carry money since I can’t get food anywhere in my own territory anyway, so there’s no chance to spend it.
So it’s not my fault. It’s the fault of all the Faloon people who refuse to sell me food.
Well, this is troubling. Going all the way back to Faloon for money would be too much hassle.
I felt hesitant to borrow money from someone. Or rather, does a king who has come to another country even exist borrowing money from ordinary citizens?
“Hey you there. I’m the king who came from Faloon, but could you lend me some money that I’ll pay back later?”
TLNOTE: While waiting for the next chapter , I implore you dear readers to read other masterpiece novels that also written by the same author :
- Who killed the Hero?
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
Volume 3 English translation is already finished btw…
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