|| TL: miyakriko ||
In the end Adonis was welcomed by the villagers of Mirmoos all night long, but he fell asleep before dawn and was soon awakened in the early morning.
“Ugh… Grant, what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry to wake you up, we need to report it to Prince Adonis immediately, the village chief’s body was found dead.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. But the villagers found his body floating in the canal this morning, he apparently drowned. We’ve retrieved the body, but…”
“I’ll get ready right away.”
Adonis washed his face with water and thought as he woke up.
What happened?
Taretto was standing next to him without a word and handed him a change of clothes, which he accepted and put on.
“…The village chief was connected to Prince Verano.”
“I thought his attitude was a bit strange… You investigated that far.”
“Yes. That’s why I warned him yesterday… but I never expected it to turn out like this.”
After that, Taretto apologized for acting on her own while explaining everything about her conversation with the village chief and what she had learned.
Adonis was surprised for a moment, but nodded. He never thought that this quiet maid had such a hidden side. He planned to listen to her story in detail later, but now there were more important things to prioritize.
“It’s okay. If you did it for me, that’s fine. I won’t ask about it now, but in the future, please consult me as much as possible.”
“Understood.”
“So, regarding the village chief’s death, you weren’t directly involved, right?”
“No. So, if it can be considered, he may have committed suicide out of fear of being exposed for betrayal, or…”
Taretto said, and her gaze turned to Tiamat, who was waving her hand gracefully from the canal towards them.
“…Let’s go to the scene for now.”
Adonis arrived at the scene with Taretto, where a crowd had gathered, and Scosia was using magic to inspect the village chief’s body next to Grant, who had arrived earlier.
“How is it?”
“…He drowned. There are no other injuries.”
“I see.”
Adonis was more concerned about the puzzled expressions of the villagers than anything else.
It didn’t seem like everyone was sad for some reason.
So Adonis asked a young man named Luke, who was the representative of the villagers, about the situation.
“Well… the thing is, the village chief always goes to the capital, and everyone here is an outsider. One person leaves and another person comes… like that. So, we only have minimal interaction with them… I do feel sorry for him for dying, but… honestly, I don’t have any more emotions than that. We think he probably didn’t commit suicide, since he wasn’t that kind of guy, so he probably just drank too much and fell into the canal and drowned…”
The villagers nodded in agreement with Luke’s words.
“I see. Understood. Anyway, since it doesn’t seem to be a criminal case, please follow the customs of this village and hold a funeral or burial for him. If he has any family, that would be good, but…”
“Well, we haven’t heard anything like that either. Should we report to the capital?”
Adonis thought about it for a moment, then shook his head and replied, “I’ll take care of that. Please just continue your daily life as usual. Also, it would be helpful if you could select a temporary new village chief. We can’t make any progress without a representative.”
“Got it! I’ll gather the village representatives and have a meeting.”
Luke nodded and led the villagers to the meeting hall.
Some of the villagers put the chief’s body in a bag and carried it to the graveyard.
“He was a despicable man, but why did he die?”
“I have a suspicion.”
Saying that, Adonis headed towards Tiamat, who was by the canal.
“Oh, good morning, my lord.”
“Yeah, good morning, Tiamat. By the way, I want to ask you… was it your doing?”
There may be various ways to pretend to drown someone and kill them, but it was most natural to assume Tiamat did it.
“Yes.”
Tiamat smiled wryly. Her face showed an expression that seemed to say “so what?”.
“Why did you do it?”
“I listened to the conversation between that maid and him through the water, and he was trying to secretly contact someone afterward, so I killed him~. I won’t forgive anyone who shows hostility towards you, my lord~”
“I see. Taretto, what do you think would have happened if that message had been received?”
“Probably, Prince Verano, who was suspicious, would have sent troops for reconnaissance.”
“That’s what I thought. Ideally… for now, I want you to keep quiet, Tiamat. Your judgment was not wrong, but I want you to lay low.”
While saying so, Adonis approached Tiamat. His face had a stern expression.
“I respect your on-site judgment. But if possible, it would be helpful if you could let us know to some extent beforehand. If I’m caught off guard like this, I might make mistakes.”
“I understand. I’m sorry for going too far.”
“No, it’s fine. Sorry, I didn’t say that clearly.”
“I may not fully understand people’s values but I will make an effort. However, please remember that we are fundamentally merciless towards the enemies of our lord.”
“Ah, speaking of which, how about this for the means of transportation for the canal we talked about yesterday?”
Tiamat brightened up and pointed her hand towards the canal. A magic circle was drawn in the water by bubbles, and something jumped out of it.
“What is this?”
It was no wonder that Grant couldn’t help but say so. In the canal, a creature about the size of a cow, which seemed like a combination of a turtle and a dragon, floated. It had two horns on the end of its long neck, and it swam around the canal smoothly with its four fins and tail.
“This is my familiar, the water dragon Lusalka~. It swims very fast and has great strength. It’s also friendly to humans, so it’s perfect for towing ships. And this one is strong enough to easily repel any attacks, and can also serve as a guard for the canal.”
“Kyui~!”
The water dragon happily cried out and sprayed water into the air from its mouth.
“I see… With this, it will be easier to travel between the Rock Castle and here.”
“I can summon as many as needed, so I can increase their numbers as necessary~”
“Got it. I’ll let Luke and the new village chief know about this later. We also need to make ships for towing, but…”
“That’s not my area of expertise~. If you call Yuguyugu, they can make it in no time~”
“Yuguyugu?”
In response to Adonis’ words, Tiamat answered happily.
“The dragon who governs the plants, in other words, Yggdrasil-chan~”
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