A Letter From the Tsuia Family

That day, a troublesome matter was delivered to me via Deputy Village Chief Wozuma.

"Village Chief, do you have a moment?"

"What, is it about the brothel again? You feeling pent up or something?"

"No, it's not about that. A letter arrived from the lord of Tsuia…"

Seriously, what do you think I delegated all those responsibilities for? Though I suppose if it's from Tsuia's lord, that means it's from a noble.

Dealing with bigwigs. That's my one and only duty as a figurehead village chief, so I guess it can't be helped.

I received the lord's letter from Wozuma. Let's see, what does it say? "In this auspicious season remembered by the mountain god, the white goddess dances forth to greet—"

"What's with this long-winded greeting? It's a pain to read. Do you have a summary?"

"Right here."

I wanted to say he should've just given me that from the start if he had it prepared, but Wozuma really is excellent. He's good at subtly showing off his competence like this… He's not someone Haku-san sent over just for show.

By the way, the summary was three lines long.

• The Tsuia family highly values me as an excellent adventurer and is prepared to offer support.

• "Would you marry our daughter?" Marrying into the Tsuia family to join their lower ranks would be acceptable, as would a standard marriage.

• They want to see me in person and hear my response directly. (Mandatory)

"This is a marriage proposal consultation from the Tsuia family. They want to tie a string to you as village chief. Currently, you're only connected to the Adventurer Guild."

So it's called Tsuia because it's the Tsuia family's territory. Just learned that now.

"Still, being able to pad three lines of content into all this decoration. Nobles really are worthy of respect."

"Important codes can be hidden within that decoration, the phrasing indicates how highly they regard you, and it also serves to determine whether you're an ill-mannered person who can't understand their expressions. There don't appear to be any hidden codes this time, though."

… So there were the other two intentions, huh? Well, I'll leave it to Wozuma anyway.

"However, Village Chief, if I recall correctly, you're D-Rank as an adventurer. I wouldn't say that's particularly excellent, so I wonder where they caught wind of your supposed excellence…"

"… Hmm."

If Wozuma is Haku-san's piece, it wouldn't be strange for him to know I have a B-Rank Adventurer Guild Card. Is that what he's getting at?

"By the way, about that 'mandatory' part on the third line… do I really have to go? I'd like to just settle it with a letter."

"The other party is a landed noble. An ordinary village chief can't refuse their requests without some significant circumstances. And the distance between Tsuia and here is quite short."

"… I have…"

Oops, I almost said "I have Rokuko." That was close. Wozuma is Haku-san's piece. If I said something like that, it wouldn't be strange for Haku-san to come charging in wearing a hannya mask or something. Uhh…

"… sleeping work to do?"

"Please postpone it. A village chief's top priority is responding to the lord. Here is your invitation."

Yeah, I figured.

"Haah, fine. I'll go refuse them, I suppose…"

"Oh, you're going to refuse?"

"Of course. There's no benefit in it for me."

"You'd become a noble, though? If one-in-a-million chances align, you could even become the lord of Tsuia."

"Don't mess with me. You know those aren't benefits as far as I'm concerned."

"Well, I suppose not. You don't seem interested in status or honor, and financially…"

Becoming a noble might help business flourish, but even without that, things are going more than well enough right now. Between the repayments from Debt Hero Wataru and the rice money I'm forcing through Nayuta, the gold coins I've deposited with the Dyne Trading Company have apparently been rolling along nicely too.

Money gathers where money exists. I don't know who said it, but that's a famous quote.

"Also, Tsuia is the lifeline for this Golen Village's food supply. We import our flour from Tsuia, and most of our vegetables as well. Some comes from Pavera too, but… So please don't upset the lord, Village Chief."

"R-right."

I ended up getting warned by Wozuma.

But that just means if I fail, I can just have the dungeon drop rice and vegetables, right? It'd be a bit suspicious, though. Alright, I'm gonna refuse them with everything I've got!

For now, I need to tell Rokuko about this. We've finally settled things between us as partners (which is really just another name for postponing the decision).

I explained the situation to Rokuko, who was lounging around in my room.

"So that's why I'm going to Tsuia to refuse them."

"Take Niku with you. I'd be worried if you went alone, Kehma."

Huh? I feel like she used to leave everything entirely to me in situations like this. Did my reliability drop or something?

"… Well, I mean, Leona did all sorts of things to you, right? If you go wild like that time, there needs to be someone who can stop you. Especially since this time it's about, well, that kind of thing."

"Ahh…"

The day I have no memory of. Apparently, that day I hit on every woman who caught my eye besides Rokuko. Rei and the others, Niku, Ichika… and unbelievably, I even whispered sweet nothings to the Guild Receptionist-san.

It's Leona's fault. Pretty much all Leona's fault. Yes yes, Leona's fault, Leona's fault. It's a fact, so it's fine.

"Well, I'll take Niku along."

"Make sure to get me a souvenir, okay? … Oh, and I'll give you a farewell kiss!"

"Oi, where did you learn something like that?"

"There was something called 'manga' that I could exchange for DP… Oh, right. I learned a bit of Japanese, so I can read simple stuff now!"

Th-this girl just casually learned Japanese!?

Setting aside that you can exchange DP for manga, Japanese! A language known for its difficulty!

"There was a skill scroll called [Japanese] that cost 5,000 DP."

Oh, it's from a skill. Or rather, you can learn languages through skills? As expected of a fantasy world.

"No, but wait. A farewell kiss? Uh, you don't really have to do that, you know?"

"Partners do that sort of thing! I just decided it. So be a good boy and give me your cheek!"

"O-okay."

She just decided it, huh. I bent down slightly to match Rokuko's height and offered her my right cheek.

"S-so then, Kehma. Have a safe trip… mm, mmn."

And with that, Rokuko gave my cheek a clumsy kiss… Crap, my face is hot. The soft lips that touched my cheek felt ticklish. Is Rokuko okay? When I looked, she had turned away, her face flushed red. She seemed embarrassed, covering her mouth and trembling slightly.

"… C-come back safely, okay?"

"Yeah, I'm heading out."

… Right, I definitely have to refuse this marriage proposal.

With Niku accompanying me, I set off for Tsuia.