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Shirone looked at her figure reflected in the mirror. She was wrapped in a light blue dress that fluttered every time she turned around.
「Uhm, even I have to say that I look charming. But, I still lose when standing beside you.」
Shirone muttered while looking at the one beside her. Kyouka was standing right next to her and was wrapped in a rose-coloured dress that emphasized her prominent figure. Her waist was constricted, and her big br*asts could be seen from the opened cleavage of the dress. Even Shirone, who was of the same sex, couldn’t help but get captivated by Kyouka’s beauty.
「It matches you very well, Princess Kyouka.」
Corfyna, Eclas’ wife, praised Shirone and her companions’ appearances in their dresses. She praised them honestly without any pretence. Despite being a queen, Corfyna didn’t give off the air of a queen at all, as if she could get along with everyone without any trouble.
Just like Eclas, this was the second time Shirone had met Corfyna.
Corfyna was originally a merchant’s daughter. She met Eclas for the first time when she came to Velos for trading with her father; and just like that she became Queen. It was what people would call “gaining power by marrying a rich and influential man”.
However, Shirone had heard that many people opposed making Corfyna Queen of Velos due to her low status. Yet, after seeing what had happened to their king after his fiancee eloped with Algore’s king, Eclas’ subordinates couldn’t deny him for a long time. They had seen how devastated he was back then, even though he had given her and the King of Algore his blessing. Thus they relented and accepted his marriage to Corfyna.
Corfyna herself was a graceful woman, and Eclas became cheerful again after marrying her. Moreover, due to her extensive knowledge of accounting through her days as a merchant’s daughter, she had helped her husband with the country’s finances and had brought Velos to a whole new level of prosperity.
By now, no one doubted her capabilities as a queen. They had now been married for years and had a son who was about to turn five years old.
Shirone remembered Chiyuki praising Corfyna as a prime example of a good wife and queen. Just one night after their arrival and she was already offering them her dresses to wear to the ball.
From what they understood, it seemed that Eclas would give Corfyna many precious gems, metals, and dresses all the time. As such, Corfyna had many unused dresses and accessories, which she let the women borrow.
The craftsmanship of this world would vary from one country to another. There were countries that had the best quality goods, ones that were even better than the ones back on Earth, and there were countries with low-quality goods. A wealthy country like Velos of course had the best quality craftsmanship, it was regarded as one of the best in the world. The ball gowns Shirone and Kyouka wore were really elegant and were not below the quality of dresses back on Earth.
「The ch*st opening is too much…」
Kyouka muttered in complaint.
Corfyna was a tall and slender woman, that’s why even though her ch*st size wasn’t that small, it was definitely a lot smaller than Kyouka’s, whose size boasted as the second biggest in Shirone and co’s group.
In Shirone’s case, she just felt it was a bit too constricting around the ch*st area. In Kyouka’s case however, the original size of the dress almost choked her to death. It was for that reason that there was a need to modify Kyouka’s dress by creating an opening in the ch*st area of the dress, which resulted in a design that would take away any man’s line of sight.
「Surely, the opening is big. But, I think it’s really charming. Parsish-dono will surely be delighted.」
Kyouka’s face frowned slightly upon hearing Corfyna talking about Parsish. From the very beginning, Kyouka didn’t wish to dance with Parsish.
Though Shirone felt bad for Omiros, she bet that Reiji was a better dancer than him even though she had danced with him only once. Several women wanted to dance with Reiji and would literally line up, waiting for their turn since there were too many of them, even though the dance time was short. Thus, she hoped to get another chance to dance again, slowly this time.
（I want to dance with Kuroki too. But, he might refuse since he hates gaudy events like balls. Well, he might change his mind once he sees my current appearance though.）
Shirone was looking at her own reflection in the mirror while recalling her childhood friend. Her childhood friend, Kuroki, was definitely handsome. That’s why Shirone felt that he had to come to a brighter place. He shouldn’t be holed up in a dark place like Nargol. Thus, Shirone swore to herself that she would definitely bring back her childhood friend.
「It’s okay, Milady. Just crush him on the spot if he dares to overstep.」
Shirone and Corfyna smiled wryly upon hearing Kaya’s remark. Naturally, there was no need to ask which part should be “crushed”.
This conversation was kept to themselves since Parsish and Omiros were currently attending a dance lesson in another room.
（But, since it’s someone as beautiful as Kyouka-san. That kind of resolution is only natural.）
Shirone smiled lightly while imagining what would happen “IF” Parsish really tried to play with his luck. At any rate, the ball would be held tomorrow. Shirone wanted to finish it quickly so that she could start gathering information about her childhood friend as fast as possible.
◆Former Governor; Echigos
「Dammit… what should I do after this…」
Echigos pondered about his future while walking along Velos Kingdom’s main street.
After that incident, Echigos and Daigan had been tied up with chains and locks, mounted on the Hippogriff by those three demon-like women, and brought to this country. The Hippogriff had taken many breaks along the way due to the increased weight on its back. Echigos thought at the time that those women should just release them.
They were thrown in jail once they arrived, Daigan was currently still resting in the jail since they couldn’t leave a werewolf to his own devices. Echigos, on the other hand, was released after only one night since he was a normal human. The jailer had set him free because the cost of keeping him in jail was expensive.
Though he was elated with his release before, his excitement had been snuffed after he remembered how penniless he was.
（What should I do now…?）
All Echigos’ money was hidden in a secret room in his house in Koki Country. He had no choice but to go back to Koki Country if he wanted to take back his money. But, he still needed money to go back. That’s why his current priority was to gather some money in this country.
（What should I do to get money?）
Echigos pondered what job he could do.
Velos kingdom was a merchant-friendly country because the queen of this kingdom was a merchant’s daughter. The queen was the incarnation of virtue, she had many nicknames such as Lady of the Mirror.
But, Echigos and his fellow merchants called her another nickname: Black Bellied Woman.
Originally, as a merchant’s daughter, the queen had a low status by noble standards. Nowadays though, she received the King of Velos’ love, and governed the kingdom from the shadows.
Once upon a time, Echigos used to work as the sales clerk of one of the wealthy merchants of this kingdom, but then, that wealthy merchant fell from grace and lost all of his customers due to the plot of the queen. Echigos had also lost his job and turned into a wandering merchant.
At glance, the queen seemed like a gentle person but she was in fact a capable woman. Thanks to her shrewd plans, things would just suddenly look like they fell into place, in her favor no less. The business laws she created had no flaw nor loopholes that could be used. In short, there was no way to gain money with underhanded means. Such law was ill-suited for corrupt merchants like Echigos.
「Stop right there!」
While Echigos was still wondering about what to do to earn more income, someone shouted at him. He turned around only to see two men with large builds, and an old woman standing between them, looking at him. It seems the one who called him was one of those two men.
Echigos tilted his head in puzzlement as he had never met these three people before.
「Uhm, do you have some sort of business with me?」
Echigos tried to ask them with a courteous voice. He instinctively realized that the two big men were ready to use violence when they saw fit. Their thick, log-like arms looked like they could easily pulverize Echigos’ body. That’s why he acted servile in front of them.
「You, I remember that you were the human in Zengu’s place back then. Your name should be Echigos, right?」
Cold sweat ran down Echigos’ back the moment he heard Zengu’s name.
「It seems I’m right.」
The big man laughed as he confirmed that fact.
Echigos felt that he caught a glimpse of fangs in that man’s mouth, and since they mentioned Zengu’s name, he concluded that the two tall men before him were ogres.
Echigos knew that ogres could use powerful magic, transforming into humans wasn’t a big deal for them. He then looked at the old woman in the middle and concluded that her identity was probably Zengu’s mother.
(I gotta escape as soon as possible!)
Echigos’ brain was churning at its maximum speed, pondering about a way to escape from the current situation.
「A-Are you sure that you’re not mistaking me for someone else?」
After he asked while stepping back, Echigos turned around to escape.
「GUHE?!」
And then fell flat on the ground after he tripped on something on the ground. He felt like the soles of his feet were glued to the ground.
「I’ve caught your shadow. Do you really think that you can escape from this great Kujig?」
When Echigos raised his upper body and looked at his feet, he saw that the old woman’s cane was pressed on his shadow. He realized that the other party prevented his escape with magic.
Echigos recalled something the moment he heard Kujig’s name. It was the name of the Great Ogre Mage and the Queen of Blue Forest—and she was Zengu’s mother. His previous guess was spot on.
Kujig the Witch was infamous in the northern part of the continent. She lived in the Sweets Castle deep in the Blue Forest. The aroma of the Sweets Castle was said to be able to reach human countries located far from the centre of the forest, and the humans who got lured by the aroma would become Kujig’s meal.
The old woman was now walking toward Echigos.
One could see terrifying fangs peeking out of her mouth. Echigos’ body trembled in fear at the sight.
「Now then, spit out all the information you have.」
Kujig spoke with an eerie smile on her face.
A chill ran down Echigos’ spine the moment he saw that smile.