Late at night, at the inn "Rock Sugar."
"Ugh...… ah...…!!"
Kentō Kanami clenched her fists tightly.
Finally, accompanied by a thunderous impact, the next instant—the girl's mind went completely blank.
"Hah...… hah...…"
When Kanami came back to her senses, she was already lying prone on the floor, panting heavily.
"Ugh...… as expected...… it's really amazing...…"
"Are you okay?"
Looking down at the girl in his arms, Duanmu Huai asked in a low voice, and Kentō Kanami nodded slightly.
"Mm...… I'm fine. Compared to the beginning, it's much better now, it's just that..."
As she spoke, Kentō Kanami stretched out her hand.
"It still feels a bit...… uncomfortable."
"You're not injured, right?"
"No."
"That's good."
Hearing Kentō Kanami's answer, Duanmu Huai finally let out a breath of relief.
"I was really worried something might happen."
"Me too."
Faced with Duanmu Huai's words, Kentō Kanami gave a wry smile.
"To be honest, at the very beginning, I never thought I'd be able to handle something this big...… I thought I might die."
"I was worried about that too at first, but now that I think about it, the human body really is amazing..."
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai couldn't help but sigh. He involuntarily recalled some strange anecdotes he had seen on video sites in the past, where people's bodies could accommodate almost anything, even fists or bowling balls, which he had thought was absurd at the time.
Now that he thought about it...
"M-my lord?"
Perhaps sensing something, Kentō Kanami's face went pale once more.
"Um...… I already..."
"Sorry, sorry, just an instinctive reaction."
Noticing Kentō Kanami's unease, Duanmu Huai hurriedly apologized. Perhaps because it was rare to finally indulge after long abstinence, he felt that his appetite had become especially large. Right now, he was only half satisfied——but considering that Kentō Kanami probably really couldn't take any more, he had no intention of continuing.
So Duanmu Huai changed his posture and deliberately shifted his attention.
"By the way, what do you think about the commission we accepted at the Adventurers' Guild today?"
"Ah...… mm..."
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Kentō Kanami quickly calmed down.
"It just feels a bit off. Why would they kidnap so many noble girls? It's really strange."
"I think so too."
Duanmu Huai nodded silently. Generally speaking, kidnappings boiled down to money, lust, or power.
For example, kidnapping noble children to extort wealth.
Using them as bargaining chips to threaten their parents.
Or simply wanting to take possession of someone because they were beautiful.
But in this world, the third reason didn't really hold up, because the proportion of beautiful women here was simply too high.
Of course, this wasn't to say that ordinary people couldn't give birth to beautiful daughters. From a more realistic perspective, ordinary people needed to spend more time on labor, work, and survival, so they had less energy to devote to such things. Especially in a sword-and-magic world like this, even beautiful women would inevitably suffer some wear after days spent toiling with their backs to the soil. In contrast, the children of the wealthy had more advantages in this regard—better skincare, cosmetics, and so on. As a result, on average, the children of the rich tended to score higher in appearance.
But this world was clearly different. Whether it was the innkeeper's wife, the shopkeeper at a small stall, or even farmers by the roadside, there was no shortage of beautiful women. It could be said that in this world, most beauties differed only in temperament, not in any obvious hierarchy of looks.
Like the tavern owner's daughter Duanmu Huai had rescued earlier—dress her up in a gown and people would believe she was a princess.
So from this angle, deliberately kidnapping noble girls carried high risk and lacked special significance.
If it were for money or power, at the very least there should have been some contact with their families. Yet according to the nobles, they hadn't received any such demands. At first, they had suspected the Hermann army, thinking it was done to intimidate them into submission, but the Hermann side seemed unaware of it as well...
"What do you think?"
"Mm...…"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Kentō Kanami thought for a moment.
"If I had to say, it seems that many of the missing girls are students from Paris Academy."
"Paris Academy?"
"Yes. It's a higher-level school in Lisath that only allows female students. There are quite a few noble daughters enrolled there."
"And the missing ones are all noble girls."
Duanmu Huai immediately caught the key point.
"So that means there's a problem with Paris Academy?"
"Ugh...… that, I don't know."
"Then could I trouble you to investigate Paris Academy? I'll handle checking out the inner city."
Since it was a girls-only school, Duanmu Huai wasn't stupid enough to go there himself, and Kentō Kanami nodded.
"I understand."
"Then, good night."
"Mm...…"
Before the words had even finished, Kentō Kanami closed her eyes and fell asleep in the blink of an eye. It seemed she was completely exhausted.
"Heh heh...…"
Looking at Kentō Kanami's sleeping face in his arms, Duanmu Huai smiled slightly, then gazed up at the ceiling.
He had to admit, this was a very stimulating form of entertainment. No wonder so many people fell into the embrace of the Sin of Excessive Desire. However... for him, ordinary girls still seemed a bit insufficient... ah well, there was no point thinking about that now.
With that thought, Duanmu Huai closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
Early the next morning, when Duanmu Huai opened his eyes, Kentō Kanami was already gone. He sat up and changed into a fresh set of clothes. Just then, there was a knock on the door, followed by it sliding open. Duanmu Huai then saw a beautiful woman in a kimono walk in.
"Good morning...… would you like breakfast?"
"Mm, thank you for the trouble."
Looking at the woman, Duanmu Huai nodded. This woman was the innkeeper of the establishment, Horikawa Nami—a beauty who suited wearing a kimono perfectly. Naturally, Duanmu Huai was also very satisfied with this inn—and the reason was simple: it was a Japanese-style inn. In other words, the rooms didn't have beds; instead, futons were laid out directly on tatami mats...
This point was extremely important to Duanmu Huai. Given his height, most beds simply couldn't accommodate him, and even if he lay on them, he would be cramped and uncomfortable. Fortunately, Kentō Kanami had recommended this place. Not only could he sleep comfortably, but he also had a kimono-clad beauty coming every morning to prepare his breakfast...
Mm, comfortable.
After finishing breakfast, Duanmu Huai headed to the gate of the inner city. Luckily, no one stopped him. After presenting his pass, he entered the inner city smoothly.
However...…
It really was troublesome.
Looking at the streets with checkpoints every few steps and sentries every short distance, Duanmu Huai frowned slightly. This place was completely different from the outer city. If the outer city still felt relatively peaceful, then the inner city was tense, like a city in the middle of wartime. And those Lisath soldiers with lifeless eyes—clearly, they had been brainwashed and were being controlled.
...… What a hassle. Might as well just kill my way in.
Looking at the palace in the distance, for a moment Duanmu Huai even considered charging straight in. Why bother with all this? In the end, wasn't it all going to come down to fighting anyway?
But...… even if I rush in now, there's no guarantee the target is there.
At the very least, I need to confirm the target is present before making a move.
Otherwise, wouldn't this trip be pointless?
With that in mind, Duanmu Huai abandoned the idea of storming in directly and turned his gaze toward the nearby arena.
In any case, he decided to check out the arena first.
This arena was not much different from the Roman Colosseum. Spectators sat around the perimeter, watching the combatants fight in the central field. Duanmu Huai had no interest in such low-level battles. Instead, he simply swept his gaze around, then looked toward the grandstand——but apart from guards, there was no one else there.
Then Duanmu Huai reached out and tapped the shoulder of a nearby spectator.
"Hey."
"What do you want?"
The spectator was in the middle of enjoying himself and was annoyed at being interrupted. He turned around and barked angrily, but when he saw Duanmu Huai standing in front of him, his voice immediately dropped several octaves.
"May I ask what you need?"
"I heard there's a tournament being held at the arena?"
"That's right. Do you want to participate?"
"Just watching."
Duanmu Huai didn't say whether he would participate or not, instead looking toward the empty grandstand.
"Wasn't it said that Princess Lia would come to select her guards?"
"What, you're here for that?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, the spectator suddenly realized and nodded.
"Unfortunately, it's impossible for you to see Princess Lia here. As the princess of a nation, she doesn't have the leisure to watch such boring competitions. In fact, even if someone participates, at most only her attendants will come to observe."
"I see."
Duanmu Huai wasn't surprised by this answer. Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Why would a princess of a nation have nothing better to do than run to the arena all day? Apart from wasting time, what was the point?
Looks like this path won't work...
Next, it would depend on what Kentō Kanami found out.
(End of Chapter)