Vol 2 Chapter 5 – Let’s Change the Lustful King into the Virtuous King

Day three of resuming our honeymoon.

Today too, I woke up on the bed in the villa bedroom overlooking the lake.

Mornings around here were apparently quite cold, but…

“~♪”

Since I shared body warmth with naked Yumeba every morning, I never felt cold.

Today as always, I embraced Yumeba’s warm, soft body and…

“Good morning♡”

My day began with a first-thing-in-the-morning kiss from the awakened Yumeba.

For the past few days—or rather, since arriving on our honeymoon—we’d been spending all our time flirting inside the villa. Since this lifestyle was becoming excessively decadent, we decided to go out together to walk through the forest and by the lake.

“~♪”

Yumeba was in good spirits as always, linking arms with me and chatting about trivial things as we strolled leisurely.

The hot springs town hadn’t been bad, but this was fine in its own way too.

Both Yumeba and I were enjoying our walk slowly without any problems, and…

“…”

We passed by the world’s strongest creature couple we encountered along the way, both parties pretending not to see each other.

Yeah. We hadn’t seen anything and hadn’t encountered anyone.

“I didn’t see anything and didn’t encounter anyone, but… the atmosphere is completely ruined.”

“…I agree.”

What kind of punishment game was this, encountering your wife’s parents while flirting with her on your honeymoon?

Pulling myself together, I invited Yumeba to go see the lake.

This lake apparently had one of the largest surface areas on the continent, easily surpassing Lake Biwa, said to be Japan’s largest.

It probably wasn’t as big as the Caspian Sea, the largest on Earth, but it was still a vast lake where you couldn’t see the opposite shore.

Honestly, from what I could see, it looked like the forest surrounded the lake, but the lake’s area was overwhelmingly larger than the forest’s.

“This… isn’t the ocean, right?”

“It’s not seawater.”

I stuck my finger in the lake and licked it, but it wasn’t salty.

Well, the Caspian Sea’s water was apparently salty, but this lake was ordinary freshwater.

“If we get the chance, how about taking a boat ride on the lake?”

“Sounds lovely♪”

Yumeba agreed, perhaps thinking that would be romantic in its own way.

Well, there was no need to rush, and a regular walk was plenty for now.

Having no intention of attempting the ordeal of circling the entire lake, we leisurely strolled while gazing at it. For lunch, we cooked fish we’d caught in the lake together while flirting. At night, we enjoyed a BBQ near the villa, then—we bathed together and got into bed together.

Of course, simply going to sleep was impossible, so we thoroughly enjoyed our time as husband and wife.

◇◇◇

Since there were no boat rentals at the lake, I created a boat with magic and rowed out onto the lake.

“So wide~♪”

I’d set it up to propel effortlessly with wind magic, but even moving forward, no land appeared on the opposite shore.

Yumeba sat not facing me but beside me, having fun excitedly.

“It’s a bit chilly on the lake.”

“…Yeah.”

It wasn’t cold enough to really feel it, but using that as an excuse, I pulled Yumeba’s shoulder close. She didn’t deny my reasoning and honestly let herself be embraced, snuggling close, and…

Ring. Ring.

“…”

The inconsiderate ringtone from the telepathic device earring completely destroyed the atmosphere.

“…What?”

Yumeba asked the telepathic device necklace in a terrifyingly grumpy voice.

“Huh? Why should we do something like that…? You should do that yourselves… Ah, wait!”

After several exchanges, Yumeba turned back to me with an exhausted expression.

Ah. A bad feeling.

“Mom and Dad want us to make them a boat too.”

“…Oof.”

I didn’t know how they’d found us after we’d rowed out onto this vast lake, but what an unreasonable and selfish demand.

Sure, rowing out onto the lake in a boat instead of just walking around it would look romantic, but was this something to specifically demand from newlyweds?

“Can we ignore it?”

“In that case, Mom will force her way over without question.”

“…How unreasonable.”

As expected of the current world’s strongest creature.

Her unreasonableness was also world-class.

“Sorry, Lio. If only I had more power…”

“It’s fine. You’re doing your best, Yumeba.”

To think we’d feel our lack of power over something like this—surely this wasn’t going to turn into another Saionji Duke family trial, was it?

“Thank you♪ Having a son-in-law with useful skills is really something.”

“…Yes.”

In the end, the world’s strongest creature—Yukina-san—normally thanked us, normally stored the boat in her bracelet, and left.

Apparently she’d genuinely just wanted the boat.

“Where should I direct this frustration?”

“There, there.”

Since Yumeba calmed me down, I’d direct it at her body tonight.

In a sexual way, of course♪

“Somehow I’m not really in the mood for a boat on the lake anymore. Let’s go walk somewhere else.”

“…Yeah.”

But for now, let’s take Yumeba up on her invitation to change our mood by flirting while walking.

Ring. Ring.

Just as I was thinking that, the telepathic device rang again.

“…What?”

“Eek! U-Um? Alisa-san… or rather, His Highness Emilio?”

I’d responded with undisguised irritation, but my conversation partner wasn’t Yukina-san but Sarya, the Adventurer’s Guild female staff member.

“Did something abnormal happen in the capital?”

“No, this is the scheduled contact we agreed on from the start. So far, there are no abnormalities in the capital.”

“…Right.”

Come to think of it, I’d asked for scheduled contact at a set time once every few days.

I should have known, but I’d forgotten because of Yukina-san’s unreasonableness.

“Thanks. I’ll buy souvenirs before returning, so keep taking care of things.”

“Ah, yes. Just enough that Yumeba-sama won’t resent me, okay?”

“…I know.”

I quickly finished the scheduled contact and ended the telepathic call.

“Scheduled contact?”

“Yeah. There are no abnormalities in the capital.”

“I see. Now that you mention it, this was the time for it.”

Yumeba seemed to have forgotten too, as she didn’t appear particularly angry at Sarya.

“But today’s been full of interruptions.”

“…Next time, let’s go radio silent and hole up on a deserted island to flirt.”

“Sounds great♪”

It had been half a joke, but Yumeba approved instantly.

I should pick out a suitable deserted island next time.

◇◇◇

Today too, I was flirting with Yumeba while gazing at the lake from the villa’s veranda, when I spotted a single boat slowly rowing out onto the lake.

Without needing to think, it was probably Yukina-san and her husband’s boat.

“I wonder why? They shouldn’t particularly be in the way, but just spotting them feels like the atmosphere is ruined.”

“…I agree.”

Something I’d thought for a long time, but I recognized anew that Yukina-san was one of my top most difficult people to deal with.

So as Yumeba and I absently followed the boat’s path—the lake suddenly split and a giant water dragon appeared.

“…Huh?”

Within the vision of Yumeba and me, stunned by the suddenness—the water dragon was cleaved in two and sank to the bottom of the lake.

“Right…”

I didn’t know what level of monster that water dragon was, but apparently it was too weak to show itself before the world’s strongest creature.

“So the lake has monsters at that level living in it.”

“There probably haven’t been people trying to row out onto the lake in boats until now. So due to lack of experience… it couldn’t gauge its opponent’s strength.”

“What an unfortunate creature.”

Of all things, to appear before the world’s strongest creature and even interfere with their date, touching a sore spot—how pitiful.

“I hope that water dragon wasn’t called this lake’s guardian deity or something.”

“…I didn’t see anything.”

“…I didn’t see anything either.”

We decided with perfect coordination to treat it as if nothing had happened.

Without needing to check with True Eyes, Yukina-san and her husband were fine, and moreover, they hadn’t been splattered with even a drop of blood.

Plus, they had no intention of interrupting their boat outing, leisurely continuing to row slowly across the lake.

Incidentally, when I’d tried to check on Yukina-san with True Eyes before, she’d smiled sweetly and waved at me.

Apparently she noticed my gaze even through magic.

I’d instantly thought, “Ah, this won’t work.”

I hadn’t been trying to peep on Yukina-san, but it seemed like True Eyes wouldn’t give me any advantage against her.

In Yumeba’s case, she vaguely sensed my gaze but apparently couldn’t clearly determine she was being watched yet.

She’d probably be able to do it in the future too.

“But underwater monsters, huh. I haven’t really thought about it before, but having magic that lets you fight underwater would be convenient.”

“Is that something to think about during your honeymoon?”

“Wouldn’t walking through the lake be fantastical?”

“That might… be nice♪”

Having gotten Yumeba’s approval, I wanted to complete it during our honeymoon schedule.

◇◇◇

Today we went out to town in the morning and decided to enjoy a town date for the first time in a while.

Thinking about it, we’d only been sightseeing around the villa, so we hadn’t explored the town at all.

“I thought it was a small town, but it’s bigger than expected.”

“We were comparing it to the lake so it looked small, but the lake is just too big.”

Yeah. It looked like the town sat cutely by the lake, but the lake being compared to was just too large—the town’s size was plenty big.

Plus, it seemed to cater to wealthy people staying at villas, so the product selection sold in town wasn’t bad either.

Yumeba and I enjoyed shopping together for the first time in a while.

“What should we do for lunch?”

“Any random restaurant is fine, right?”

“Yeah.”

Like last time, hits and misses were part of the honeymoon experience, so we decided to enter a restaurant that caught our eye.

Fish dishes were the main offering since fish could be caught from the nearby lake, but the taste wasn’t bad.

“Not bad, so 75 points.”

“If they’re cooking fish caught in the lake, they’re working hard, so 80 points.”

We evaluated while feeding each other’s food and enjoying our flirting.

The envious gazes of single men stabbed into us as usual, but I’d grown accustomed enough as Yumeba’s husband to feel superiority from it.

As we were enjoying our meal together—the restaurant door slid open with a clatter, and the noisy restaurant fell completely silent.

“Something like this happened before too.”

“It did.”

What entered the restaurant was a tall, muscular man and his female companions.

Of course, the restaurant wouldn’t have fallen silent if he had just one or two female companions, but their number was more than abnormal enough.

One man and ten women filed into the restaurant in a line.

“Why do we keep encountering harem guys during our honeymoon?”

“Last time was five, but this time it’s doubled.”

Even Yumeba and I were stunned by the number.

“Shopkeeper! Do you have seats available?”

“Ahh… As you can see.”

Naturally it was lunchtime now, and this restaurant was popular enough that almost all the seats were filled.

No matter how you looked at it, there weren’t seats available for 11 people.

“Clear them.”

Saying that, the man pulled a leather pouch from his pocket and scattered its contents onto the table.

The contents were money—not gold coins but silver coins scattered and spread across the table.

In other words, he’d scattered dozens of silver coins worth about 10,000 yen.

Lured by it, the customers who’d been seated reflexively gathered the silver coins—then looked around with a start and hurriedly left the restaurant.

This shop was prepaid, so it wasn’t dining and dashing.

So customers cleared out of the restaurant in one go—leaving only Yumeba and me, unbothered.

By now, a few silver coins weren’t enough to make us bother picking them up, so we ignored it and continued eating.

Fortunately, our seats were against the restaurant wall, so perhaps thinking we wouldn’t be in the way, the man narrowed his eyes slightly but prompted the women to each take seats and started ordering from the shopkeeper.

“How tasteless. The fun atmosphere is completely ruined.”

“Yeah.”

The atmosphere of enjoying a meal while chatting pleasantly was gone, so Yumeba and I sped up our eating pace slightly.

We didn’t need to finish everything, but since there was nothing particularly wrong with the meal, leaving it unfinished would be wasteful.

After finishing our meal, we promptly left the restaurant, and…

“Miss, do you have a moment?”

The man chased after us as we left the shop—or rather, chased after Yumeba.

I’d only glanced at him earlier, but he had a wild atmosphere with silver hair and deep green eyes.

“…What?”

Yumeba glared at the man with maximum displeasure—the man who’d clearly ignored me.

“It seems I’ve disturbed your meal, so as an apology, please accept this…!”

Mid-sentence, Yumeba swatted away the leather pouch the man offered—probably containing money.

“Don’t touch me with your filthy hands.”

“…”

The man who’d been gentlemanly—pseudo-gentlemanly—toward Yumeba while ignoring me narrowed his eyes.

To defend her, when Yumeba said “filthy,” she meant his character of trying to solve everything with money, not that he was unclean or lowborn.

“Hey now. Just because you’ve got a pretty face, I gave you attention, so don’t get cocky. You’d better fall for me while I’m still being nice, got it?”

So Yumeba’s assessment of his character was correct, and this guy was definitely scum.

The man slowly approached Yumeba with narrowed eyes—and before I knew it, he was in front of me.

Apparently his strategy was to pretend to target Yumeba while actually targeting me as her companion, but before my Aegis’s defensive power even came into play…

“What? This is all you’ve got?”

“Wha…!”

The man’s fist aimed at me was caught by Yumeba before reaching me—and crushed as is.

“Gaah…!”

The man forcibly escaped Yumeba’s hand with a scream, but Yumeba, uninterested, turned to talk to me.

“Hey, Lio. If we convert this guy to adventurer rank, what level would he be?”

“S-rank, probably? There’s supposed to be an S-rank adventurer called the Lustful King Linacle who’s a silver-haired, blue-eyed womanizer.”

“How does he compare to the guy I punched before?”

“By public opinion, Kelzacchel is considered superior.”

“What? If he’s below the bottom tier, then he’s really nothing special.”

In Yumeba’s recognition, the S-rank adventurer Lawless King Kelzacchel we’d encountered before was the weakest S-rank, so anything below that would be trash.

“You bastard! Who do you think I…!”

“Don’t get cocky, trash. Just thinking about something like you breathing nearby is unpleasant.”

Yumeba apparently found Linacle physiologically unacceptable, as she frowned with undisguised disgust.

“Hmm. Since we have the chance, let’s put a suggestion on this guy too and make him unable to approach women ever again.”

“That’s great♪ As expected of Lio.”

“…!”

Linacle’s face paled upon hearing our conversation.

“W-Wait. You guys, don’t tell me you’re the ones who cursed Kelzacchel and changed him into the Diligent King…!”

“Lucky you. You might end up working seriously from now on and get called the Virtuous King or something.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding!”

Having apparently heard rumors about Kelzacchel, Linacle fled from us at full speed, and…

“You can’t possibly think… you’d escape, could you?”

“…!”

Yumeba caught up in an instant and punched him in the face.

Thanks to that, I witnessed the valuable scene of a human bouncing off the ground and then soaring high into the air.

So that’s how a human body bounces when slammed into the ground with that much force.

“Ah… guh…”

Of course, the one who got punched couldn’t be unharmed, trembling on the verge of unconsciousness while crawling on the ground.

“He’s still alive.”

“I held back properly♪”

“…”

What was holding back again?

“…Well, whatever.”

I pulled myself together and grabbed the fallen Linacle’s body to sit him up…

“Hey, look this way.”

“Oghh!”

I delivered a smack! slap to the face of the desperately resisting Linacle,削ぎng away his resistance.

“Haguh! Hogehh!”

Getting annoyed myself by now, I delivered a series of backhand slaps pa-pa-pan! and…

“Lio. If you go any further, won’t he die?”

“Ah.”

Before I knew it, Linacle had rolled his eyes back and was convulsing.

“He’s called the pinnacle of adventurers as S-rank, yet he’s still so fragile.”

Come to think of it, I might have forgotten to fine-tune the physical enhancement attached to Aegis.

It was troublesome, but I’d have to heal him before putting the suggestion on him.

I put a suggestion on Linacle to change him from a frivolous womanizer to a stoic woman-hater, so I thought his female companions would be angry, but…

“Thank you so much! Thank you so much!”

They thanked me while crying instead.

Apparently they hadn’t followed Linacle willingly but had been forced to accompany him, essentially kidnapped.

Moreover, Linacle apparently made it his routine to always keep ten women with him, and women who got pregnant or seriously injured were abandoned, so they’d been terrified.

“He’s the worst.”

“I’ll add an extra suggestion to make him compensate the women he’s wronged.”

Neither I nor Yumeba saw any room for sympathy, so we added an extra suggestion for Linacle to compensate all the women he’d treated terribly.

Yeah. Now he’d truly be called the Virtuous King instead of the Lustful King.