Chapter 78: Despite This One Being Okay, That One Is Out!
After they came back, the adventurers prostrated themselves before me.
ââââYour Grace, please give us your permission for a rental registration! We beg you!!ââââ
âYo, thatâs quite a change in attitude, isnât it? Didnât you people look down on Indra?â Sword asked.
Hmm?
âŠâŠAHH! Once again this guy has perceived malicious intent, hasnât he!?
âWe will earnestly and humbly apologize for any rudeness and impolite behavior! Please forgive us!â
They apologized, but I shook my head, âI donât really remember you having been rude to me, nor do I feel like you changed your attitude. âŠSword! I donât want you to listen to my talks with other people any longer! Iâve been telling you over and over again to shut out the ill will of others, havenât I!?â
Sword ducked his head.
ââŠI know that. If you insist on believinâ that others desire a handshake with you because your a beautiful girl, Iâll just go âlong with that dream of yours, no matter how disappointinâ it might be.â
Itâs not disappointing, for heavenâs sake! Itâs reality! The maids confirmed it as well when I asked them!
âThere is no mistake! Sir Sword is the odd one out here! Anyone would feel a desire to shake hands with a beauty as lovely as you, Your Grace!â
Thatâs what they told me!
âUuhhïœâŠâ
âI got it, itâs just as you say. You and your maids are completely right. So stop lookinâ at me with teary eyes!â
When I groaned in frustration, Sword soothed me by stroking my head.
ââŠGoddammit, the maids are a lost cause as well, arenât they? Because of their pamperinâ, your completely on the way of becominâ a dud who immediately starts cryinâ âround out of conceit and misunderstandinâ.â
âDid you say something?â
âNo, nothinâ.â
I felt like he said something terrible about me, though.
âWell, whatever⊠Bennyboy, whatâs your take on this?â
Bennyboy got startled when I suddenly brought him into play and pointed a finger at himself, âY-You mean me?â
âRegistering them for rental would be proof of our trust in them. You should be quite aware what kind of item that thing is. Right? You were brought along by Sword, and because youâre trusted by Sword, I trust you as well, which is the reason why I allowed you to get registered for rental. Sword has declined their registration since he doesnât believe them, and I canât really make a call since I havenât known them for long. Bennyboy, what do you think? You had to do with them the most among us three, and youâre going to remain connected to them in the future as well, arenât you? If we increase the number of registered rental users, the number of potential traitors grows in proportion. Thatâs directly linked to the possibility of your own death and a theft of Char. So, what would you like to do?â
When I asked Bennyboy, Sword sighed and scratched his head, âYour askinâ all that now nâ hereâŠ?â
âHmm? No, itâs something I should ask now and here, isnât it? Bennyboy is the merchant we contracted to sell our liquor, and heâs the one in charge of the transport with Char. And theyâre adventurers who have been merely hired as guards. Their positions are completely different, no? Thatâs why, if Bennyboy says that he can trust them while considering the future and the harshness of the current situation, where only he can drive, if disaster strikes, I might be willing to register them for rental after adding some limitations. However, if Bennyboy says that itâs too dangerous for his life and that itâd be possible for Char and the liquor to be stolen, I wonât register them. After all, itâs likely nothing Bennyboy could ever reimburse. Leaving aside the liquor, Charâs value is priceless.â
The adventurers all let their heads hang all at once.
âYou should give it a rest if you just wanna drive the thing âround because it looks fun. Sure, itâs a blast to do so, but look, this is a battle golem for supply transport to begin with. If you attack with that thing, no one will be able to handle it unless itâs me, her, or the golems she built. In reality it ainât anythinâ that should be driven âround without the necessary precaution.â
Sword, you were the one who coaxed me into making it!
Once I stared at him, he grabbed my face once again!
âMmpfmmpfmmmmpfff?!â
As I struggled, Bennyboy replied, âNo? Iâm totally cool with it. These guysâre my friends. You can trust them as much as you trust me. Hence, please register them for rental,â without any hesitation.
Sword stopped arresting my face, and I stopped wriggling.
âI see. Iâll register them for rental then. You might want to take a break because of exhaustion after driving Char for a long time, so youâd need someone to switch with you, I guess. However, they wonât be allowed to change the modes. Theyâll be allowed to drive Char for one hour per day on normal mode. With all four of them, thatâll be four hours per day. I think that should be enough time for you to take a rest, donât you think?â
âYouâre right. Please do it like that.â
Things were quickly settled in such a manner.
ââBenâŠââ
âYouâŠâ
âBen, youâŠâ
The adventurers were touched by Bennyboyâs chivalrous spirit.
âOh right, itâs not really a replacement, but I can register you guys for renting out Bronko, you know? Thatâs a golem I built with the sole intent for being a toy. Itâs something similar to a horse. Moreover, itâs a dangerous vehicle. It requires proper driving skills, and itâs not easy to handle, but if any of youâŠâ
âNo, that oneâs out!!â
I got interrupted.
ââŠEhâŠ?â
âThat oneâs a no! I borrowed it! Didnât I tell you to paint it with me in mind!?!â
ââŠThatâs certainly true, butâŠâ
Huh? Char is okay, but Bronko is out? Just why? Bronko doesnât have any particular attack magic, and itâs something like a horse thatâs running on magic stones. In the first place, motorbikes are hobby items.
The adventurers all zoomed in on Bennyboy in the next moment.
ââŠSomehow I get what youâre planning. Youâre thinking that youâll drive around that golem while letting us run the transport one, donât you?â
Bennyboyâs body shook as he gulped. And then he started to fidget around.
âNo, I mean, of course I like Char, okay? But, there are times when I wanna feel the wind. Bronko, you see, kinda allows me to become one with the wind, unlike a horse.â
âOh, yeah, I can totally relate to that. Charâs automatic drivinâ and comfort that protects you from any weather is great, but Bronko allows you to directly feel the weather while givinâ you a feedback when movinâ it with your whole body. Drivinâ Bronko and going back to a relaxed drive with Char when tired is the best combo.â
âAbsolutely!!â
After getting all riled up like that by themselves, the two suddenly withered away. Probably because the adventurers and I were staring at them super coldly.
âHmm, I wonder, should I add a usage limit for Bennyboyâs BronkoâŠ?â
When I mumbled that, he started to bawl while clinging to me.
ïŒ
When told to show his Bronko, Bennyboy, and Sword as well for some reason, triumphantly showed their bikes off. A little while later, four people were lying in the dust in front of me once again.
âYour Majesty, please grant us your permission to borrow a Bronko!â
âBen has grumbled that he definitely wouldnât lend out his Bronko, so please take some pity with us!â
âIf you tell me to lick your feet, I shall immediately get to it! Please call me slave from now on! So please, please, please, lend it to me!â
âYour Majesty, I shall become your faithful manservant who will never betray you, no matter what happens. So please lend a Bronko to me!â
It looks like I obtained a manservant, and also a slave.
âI got it, I got it. Youâre really hopeless. Iâll build a new one since Bennyboy would cry otherwise. But, you have to properly do your work, okay? Donât spend all your time playing around with Bronko, got it? Also, practice how to drive Char!â
ââââAs you order, Your Majesty!!!ââââ
I built another Bronko since I had no other choice. The bikes are crazy popular, arenât they? But, they require quite the reflexes and technique, theyâre dangerous, and they need a reasonable amount of maintenance, you know?
I told the same to Sword and Bennyboy, but those two apparently tended to their bikes gleefully.
Hmm, what should I do about the color? I love bikes with flashy colors. Given that Sword claimed his personal color to be white, that was a valid choice, but since I colored Bennyboyâs to match with that, Iâm already out of options in a certain sense, am I not?
Because I plan to paint my own one blue-green, that oneâs a no-go. And because red is Ms. Bloodyâs personal color, that oneâs out as well. Then again, if I used their party name as a basis, Iâd need to go with a transparent coloring. Pfft, pupupu.
ïŒ
At the end of some fretting over the color, I went with metallic silver! I also added black and vivid red color points!
âIs it okay like this?â
ââWoooooooowww!!ââ
ââOMG!!!ââ
It looks like theyâre happy with it.
âIâm first!â
âNo! Me!â
âIâm going to ride it!â
âNo, Iâm first!â
They were so damn noisy.
âDonât fight over it. If it becomes a reason for bobbery, Iâm going to revoke your rental registration.â
They calmed down at once.
âOh! On another note, you arenât allowed to drive it like that. Ask Bennyboy, and get the necessary outfit ready first. Ask him also about how to ride it. If youâre unlucky, it wonât just end with some injuries.â