Chapter 625 – Information
This message along with the chapter was posted on 20th Feb 2024
Eguchi Ren: Sorry for the late update (Sweats). I have been going to the hospital lately, which is why I have been a little busy… It’s not a major illness that requires surgery, but it would take a bit of time to treat. Also, when they did some tests, they found a lump… well, so far I don’t have any symptoms, but I have been placed under observation. I was startled because I never thought I’d find a lump on my body
Everyone, please take care of your health
Eguchi-san posted the latest message on 3rd Jun 2024
https://mypage.syosetu.com/mypageblog/view/userid/679640/blogkey/3300872/
Hello everyone, it’s been a while. First of all, thank you very much to everyone who voted for me for the Piccoma Award 2024. The Novel Category Award is the most positive news for me recently, and it cheered me up. Also, I’m really sorry for not being able to update for so long. To be honest, that’s not the time for me right now. As I mentioned a little before, caring for my parents is getting harder and harder… Given my parents’ age, it’s unlikely that they’ll get better if they start caring for them, so it’s inevitable that they’ll gradually become less mobile. I wanted to keep them at home as much as possible, based on their wishes and my own feelings, but it’s finally becoming difficult for them to live at home, so I finally applied to a facility a while ago.
That doesn’t mean they can enter a facility right away, as all the facilities are full and there is a waiting list. (I think it’s probably the same in every area) I’m managing to get by by using day services, but I’m so busy with daily life and caring for them that I can’t even get around to updating my blog. If I had other family members living with me, the care work would be spread out, but I’m the only one here. I hope that all readers will understand that there are circumstances like that. Of course, I intend to update once things have settled down, so I hope you will be patient while you wait. To be honest, I was hesitant to reveal my private life, but since many readers have expressed concern about the lack of updates, I decided to share this update with you. I hope you will continue to support ‘Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi’.
Gumihou: I decided to include both messages so that all readers may know the latest update with Eguchi-san. He is a very private person and has reached out to the readers after we all expressed concern about the lack of updates. Let us all continue to support Tondemo Skill and keep the interest up!
[1] What’s the difference between the Victor family and the grim-faced, former [Dawn Brigade] mercenaries? Well, I must say that one group is attracting more attention than the other.
I ended up paying double the amount of what I had paid last time for this new batch of slaves. Then again, it’s not like I lack money anyway, so that’s fine. Frankly speaking, I have no idea how much money I have now… I’m… not sure I want to look at it too closely.
Haha.
Will I one day crash the economy…
Anyway, I paid a smiling Radoslav-san in cash. The smile grew even bigger when I handed over a basket of pound cakes.
[2] “So, um, these are called pound cakes. They are a kind of dessert…” I said, gauging his response. Thus far, everyone has been very happy to receive the cakes I made. Moreover, Radoslav-san looks like the type to say ‘I do not eat sweets’…
“Oh my, dessert? I’m sure my wife would enjoy these!”
“… haha, I er, this one is the Plain Pound Cake, this one is made with black, this one with dried fruits…”
“I see, I see, thank you ever so much. I look forward to seeing you again~!”
“Not too soon, I hope,” I said. After all, I had just bought more people on top of getting those High Elves…
That said, I have to admit that walking around with 10 more people around town is actually kind of awkward. Especially with the extra 6 hulking men and four rather frail-looking people. It’s not like I could walk too fast either since Victor’s family was so weak…
“Oi.”
“What now?”
“Let’s go over there.”
By ‘there’, Fer meant the line of stalls that was selling all kinds of skewered meat… In fact, all of my familiars were staring at me with shining eyes.
“… are you serious?”
“Yes! Let’s go!!”
“No.”
“Whyyy!!!”
“Because,” I said as I kneaded my forehead. “We are not the only ones here now.” In short, can’t you guys read the room a little? Are you doing this to mess with me? If it was just the 6 incredibly muscular and confident mercenaries, I would have gone over to the stalls, but can’t you see just how anxious the two little children are?
Also, I can’t stand the stares any more. I want to go home, away from the eyes of these people!!
“Umu, is that so?”
“That’s right!!”
“Even so, I still want food.”
“You!!!”
“Master, I wish to eat food from the stalls as well.”
““Hey!! A new batch of meat is out!! Let me at ‘em!!””
“”Sui wants skewer meat too~””
“Oi, why are all of you like this? You can eat once you’re home. Don’t tell me you think that skewer meat from the stalls is better than my cooking?!”
“Mu, well…”
“’Well’ what? What are you trying to say?” I was really angry now. How dare these gluttons try to manipulate me!? [3]
“Well, if Master is willing… this old dragon would like to eat steak…”
“”Ou! Thick-cut steaks! Thick-cut steaks!””
“”Big meat~! Big meat~!””
I could feel a vein throbbing on my forehead. Should I just smack them? Smack them with bread, I mean.
“In other words, you want to eat meat, is that it?”
“YES!”
“Haahh… whatever, you’re saying that you’re willing to go home if I give you guys steaks.”
“Umu, all the steaks we can eat.”
“”Endless steaks! Endless steaks!””
I considered. Well, since we’re already planning to visit the Meat Dungeon (let’s ignore the extra floor for now), I could use up all the remaining large pieces of meat as steaks. I can cook up all the special beef first, and supplement them with the more ordinary meat later…
“Fine, you want steak, I’ll make you steaks. In exchange, don’t make trouble here.”
“U-umu, since Master had said so, you won’t go back on your word, right?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That’s right! There is no way Master would go back on his word!” Grandpa Gon cried.
“… What are you two up to now?” I said tiredly.
““Hue hue hue, we’ll be having steaks tonight!!””
““Hue hue~””
“Stop it! What are you teaching Sui!!??” I screamed, kicking Fer in the leg. I would kick Grandpa Gon too, but his scales looked hard. Naturally, my kicks did nothing but they did make me feel a little better. “Tch, whatever, I’m going home. You can come if you like.”
“Ou! Steak! Hey, the four of you move faster!” Fer snapped at Victor’s family.
“You!!” I rushed forward and seized Fer’s cheek fur, “What the heck are you doing?! I already said I’d feed you, the very least you could do is show some basic freaking courtesy! Courtesy!”
“Ooguh, sthap-”
“You stop!”
Meanwhile, the former merchants and Victor’s family huddled together away from the spectacle.
[4] “H-honey, a-are you sure we’ll be alright?”
[4] “I-I’m sure, I’ve had dealings with Radoslav before. Even introduced some slaves to him before. He has a good reputation… which is why I did my best to contact him…”
“You stupid furball!!”
[4] “Hey, Victor, looks like life will be interesting, eh?” said the leader of the [Dawn Brigade].
Somehow, we arrived home without further incident.
Today’s gatekeepers were Luke and Irvin. While I was glad to see the twins, I can’t say that I am too happy to see them. Was it too much to hope for a more professional representative for my house?
[4]
“Ou! Are those our new comrades?” said Luke.
“Hey, they look pretty strong!” said Irvin.
“Yes, you will be working together from now on,” I said cautiously, keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully, these guys would get along well. Please get along well.
“Awesome! More breaks!”
“Hey! Maybe I’ll get to do more escort work too!”
“Hahaha…” maybe it was good to have the twins be the first to greet them.
“Oh hey, you back there, you don’t look so good,” said Irvine.
“Mukouda-san, is it alright if I escort them to the house? That house is for them right? I’m sure they’ll want to take a rest or something.”
“No way, food! Food is the thing to go!”
“Oh right, I’ll get one of the kids to take care of that. Celia’s pretty sensible.”
“Speaking of which, where do you guys come from?” Irvine said, looking at the former mercenaries.
“I believe Radoslav-san said that they’re pretty famous at the Republic of Quinn,” I said.
“Hey, isn’t that just a group of small countries pretending to be one big country?” said Irvine.
“Yeah, I heard they’re affiliated with Radoslav too,” said Luke as he narrowed his eyes at my new employees, Victor’s family in particular.
“Oi, oi, enough about that,” I said as I slashed my hand to stop the staring contest. “Before you ask, Victor’s family was originally the Holy Kingdom of Rubanov, but their home is at the edges of the kingdom. Also, they have already renounced their religion so, please don’t make trouble for them.”
I openly mention this because there was no hiding the true anxiety shown in the eyes of the people staring up at the two huge Beastmen. It would be best to have it out in the open now than let it fester away in the dark.
“Ugh, Rubanov…”
“I still remember that priest fellow…”
“E-excuse me,” said Victor. “Please, I have already said this to Mukouda-sama, but please let me say it again. While it is true that we were once part of Rubanov, ever since we were incarcerated, our entire family had suffered in the hands of the humans as well… in fact, it was the other races who had been kind to us while we were still inside the kingdom.”
“O-oh well, I guess you’re alright.”
“H-humph, as long as you know that race doesn’t determine a person’s value.”
“Of course!”
Well, at least it looks like everyone is willing to get along.
“Since we have new comrades, how about a party to welcome everyone? I know that Alban and the rest have been anxiously waiting to see who would move into the third house. I think Verde and the rest are interested to see the newcomers too.”
“I-is that so?” Wow, I never thought that my people would be so enthusiastic about welcoming the new workers…
“A welcoming party! A welcoming party is a must!”
“Yeah! A banquet! A great dinner with lots of drinking!!”
“… I see, so that is your aim…”
“Ehehehe~”
“Fine, we’ll have a party-”
“Yay~!”
“Woohoo!”
I ignored the idiot twins as they high-fived each other and rambled on and on about ‘let’s drink till we drop!’.
Victor’s family and the ex-mercenaries were clearly confused by the actions of my people. However, if you think I’m going to explain anything about those crazies, you are mistaken! You will find out about the details yourself. Eventually.
When I reached the main house, I found everyone (minus the twins) waiting for me at the front entrance. It was nothing like the neat lines of professional housekeepers in black and white outfits, but everyone was eagerly waiting for my return.
Therefore.
“I’m home~”
“Welcome home~!!”
“New friends! Lotte has new friends~!!” Lotte cried as she hopped in place. “Yay~! Lotte will show you where you stay~!”
She rushed off to the side, since there was nothing for me to do, I followed her. Which meant I had an entourage of people trailing behind me as we made our way to the servant’s quarters.
“Here~! This house is yours! Lotte helped to clean it. Humph!”
Lotte-chan looked really proud herself. Victor’s family looked in awe at the two-storey house.
“W-we’ll be staying here?”
“Yup, yup. Lotte wants new friends to stay with me, but Sister said that new friends would want to live in a house with their family.”
“Th-this is…”
“Oh- oh my…”
“Ahem,” I quickly interjected before things got out of control. Or even more out of control. “Why don’t I introduce everyone? This is Victor, and his wife Nerina. These are their children, Nikolai and Katrina. By the way, Nikolai is 9 and Katrina is 7.”
Speaking of which, Victor is 30 and Nerina is 26, but I guess no one’s really interested in this information…
“Eehh–! They are both older than Lotte? But, Lotte wants to be a big sister…”
“Oh?” I said as I patted her head. “Since Lotte-chan has been living here longer, you can teach them a lot of things, right?”
“Um, oh, yeah! Lotte will teach you lots!” Lotte beamed happily at the slightly confused Nikolai and Katrina.
“Speaking of which, Victor and his wife used to run a general store. So, he has good reading, writing and calculating skills. I believe they would be a great help to us.”
Rather than being anxious about his position, I am glad to see Costi look happy. I guess he had been having a hard time keeping up with the mercantile side of the work.
“And these are the former mercenaries from [Dawn Brigade]…”
“Andrei,”
“Vadim,”
“Kirill,”
“Martin,”
“Delk,”
“Nestori,”
Speaking of which, the mercenaries’ ages were as follows: Andrei (35), Vadim (31), Kirill (34), Derk (30) and Nestri (29).
Tabitha and Bartel made some ‘impressed’ noises as they studied the newcomers.
“Well, ah, the former mercenaries will be staying in that building. Bartel, if you would?”
“Eh, sure, come on. I’ll give you guys the grand tour.”
And that was that. Since I have servants, might as well have them do some grunt work, right? That said, I can’t imagine living in a space with a bunch of manly men together…
“It’s over now, right? Time to eat,”
“Master, please be reminded that we are having steaks for dinner.”
“”Thick steaks, thick steaks! I want the steaks to be bigger than me!!!””
““Meaty~ meaty~ steaky~!!””
I turned away from the Gluttonous Four.
“Teresa, thank you for preparing the house. Do help them settle in, make sure they have everything they need and know how to use all the facilities inside.”
“Yes, Mukouda-san.”
Somehow, Teresa had become the de facto head housekeeper of this place. Which was great since I could just give her some instruction and she would see to it that everything is properly done.
Speaking of getting things done…
“We will be holding a New Arrivals Party tomorrow. Please get the things ready,”
“Yes.”
I actually heard Bartel cheer in the background. Well, let’s ignore him for now. I think, I had better not make it an all-you-can drink party.
“Hey, Grandpa Gon. I’m going to say one word to you. One word only. Moderation. Understand?”
“Kuuhh, I-I understand.”
“Mu, let’s not talk about that any more. Steak! It’s steak time!”
[Gumihou: Kind of filler-ish and a bit all over the place. ]
[1] This line doesn’t actually make much sense, tried to guess the meaning the best I could.
[2] Expand the pound cake scene, because I plan to slash some juvenile arguments later
[3] A transparent cheap trick to get Mukouda to cook steaks for them. Make it less ‘Mukouda was coerced’ and more ‘Mukouda was fed-up’
[4] Add some details