Vol. 08 – Chapter 10 Border Village II

Be Warned, this content is Machine Translated with some editing done from my part. I also try to read the Japanese text and use a dictionary like jisho.org, but my Japanese is at the very beginner level (hiragana, katakana, and less than 500 kanji), so don’t expect much.

I may or may not remove a very small amount of content, only if I wasn’t able to get a good translation, and didn’t affect the story.

Harem Shujinkou

After dinner, I meet Will in his room to discuss how to allocate the points he earned after leveling up on today’s battle. 

There’s a lot of skills he’d wish to obtain, but for now we start by increasing his archery skill to level 3, as part of the essentials.

Once done with the skill points I move to the main topic: having him take her of Francesca.

“That’s right, I noticed that a while ago you had Francesca as your sparring partner.”

“Yes, she’s really strong.”

“Well, about Fran, don’t you think it is quite dangerous that she keeps wanting to dive into battle with us as a vanguard all the time?”

For now she’s been properly listening to my instructions, but I don’t know what can happen in the future if she gets too excited.

“She’s actually strong, so I don’t think we need to worry too much about her.”

“You may be right, but remember that we were hired as her escorts, it will be troublesome if something happens to her. No matter how improbable that may be, we must avoid putting her in any danger. That’s why I’d like you to keep an eye on her from now on.”

This guy properly finished the beginners training, and has worked as a proper adventurer for months. He even has experience working in a party, so it should be alright for him to look after her.

“Me? Are you sure?”

“Of course. I also want you to have her follow your lead during battle.”

Francesca was very calm while facing the demons, so the one I should be worried about during battle is him. Also, when Will and Shira teamup, each of them is too busy dealing with their enemies to take care of each other, so maybe these two will have an easier time cooperating.

He could also be suitable for the role of shield, especially since he seemed rather scared of the vanguard position. Although that may be because we had him face too many orcs during today’s battle

“I can’t put Fran in front of our formation, so I’ll have Shira act as the main vanguard, while I provide her backup with a golem. You and Fran will be behind them working as the middle guard.”

Of course, I will also have Sati keep an eye on Shira.

“To be honest I would like Sati to do it, but she and Francesca can’t seem to get along.”

Sati can’t seem to forgive Francesca’s attitude towards me, and Francesca lost to her in the tournament, so it’s a complicated relationship. 

I’m sure that if I asked Sati to do it, she would agree, but just thinking about their imminent quarreling I can already feel my stress levels skyrocketing.

So that only leaves Ann, who could probably handle the middle guard position, and I’m sure wouldn’t mind taking care of Fran, but I’m reluctant to do that. In that case, as the saying goes: six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. In other words, if the two alternatives are equivalent or indifferent, it doesn’t matter which one I choose, so let’s go with Will.

“But aniki, aren’t you aiming for Fran as well?”

This guy, seriously, just what does he think I am.

“Will, I love girls, but that doesn’t mean just anyone will do. Besides, it would be hard to add more.”

“Eh? But you keep buying female slaves like Shira.”

Well, I won’t deny that I chose Sati and Shira because I liked them, and I have bought four girls so far.

“Shira and the others were purchased to test if the blessing would work on them.”

I explained to him what happened with Sati when I bought her, and how we were looking for a connection with Shira and the others. 

And if I had been able to increase the blessing by buying slaves, I wouldn’t have settled with someone like you Will. 

“You just have to watch out for her in case something goes awry, and to make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble. You should also keep her company as her sparring partner.”

“But I don’t know if I can handle all that, especially sparring with her. I don’t know if my strength will be enough to keep up.”

“It’s okay to use up your physical strength. It’s also for your benefit to be her opponent.”

Will can rest while we fly, and Shira will be the vanguard in the battle formation, so he should have a surplus of fighting power at his disposal. And it shouldn’t be a problem during battle even if he’s a bit exhausted. 

“If it gets too tough for you during battle, both of you retreat to the back of the formation and switch to your bow.”

This way we’ll have an excuse to keep Francesca in a safer position.

“Well, think of it as tough training you’ll have to endure only at the beginning. Once your level goes up, and raise your skills, you’ll start noticing battles become a lot easier. Remember your blessing will help you get stronger.”

It’s normal for him to be worried, but he needs to get used to battle right away. It may seem like I’m forcing him to overdo it, but if it gets troublesome he just needs to pull back, use his bow and watch the situation. If this doesn’t work, then maybe next I’ll have him try archery, or perhaps covert skills?

“Be honest, is the role of shield too tough for you?”

He had a large amount of orcs trying to kill him today, so there is no way he didn’t find that scary. The me back then would’ve been very scared. Well at least he understands his weakness now, so he should try to improve himself.

“Well, I wouldn’t say…”

Will suddenly averts his gaze. It seems he didn’t offer to stay in the village during the harpy subjugation just because he wasn’t a good match against the enemy.

“I know it’s scary to see a large group of orcs coming right at you. That’s normal.”

Shira seemed calm today, and Sati has never seemed afraid of the demons. Do all beastkin have nerves of steel, I wonder.

“I was also scared of orcs at first. The first time I fought them I was still adventuring solo. Five of them came out of the forest and I was able to defeat them using magic and a sword.”

Well, before you misunderstand, let me tell you about my embarrassing past as well.

“Well, but before that happened, there was a time when I felt that it was impossible for me to be an adventurer. I was ready to give up.”

“Eh!?”

That’s right, with all that I had going on, it’s weird that I have been able to make it this far. And then I even had to participate in a gladiator tournament to boot.

“Did you know that some people call me the wild rabbit?”

“I’ve heard it several times, it’s because you’re good at hunting wild rabbits, right?”

It seems that the rumors of my humorous defeat are dying down. Or maybe he heard it from an acquaintance of mine, and they’re skipping the shameful details. Right now the only rumor going around Shiori town is how I crushed Tilika’s ex-fiance.

“That’s not all, it all started with me losing a battle against a wild rabbit. I already had the blessing at the time, yet I had to be helped by a passerby.”

It’s a funny story now, but it was a situation where it wouldn’t be strange if I had died back then.

“In the first place, I’m nothing without the blessing. Before coming to this world I couldn’t use magic and had never held a sword. My family was kind of wealthy, so I always depended on them.”

So I understand why even with the blessing he got scared during our battle with the orcs. He most likely decided to remain in the village instead of coming with us to subjugate the harpies, because he feared for his life.

”I was that kind of person, so don’t feel bad about being scared. I’m sure you’ll gain more confidence as you keep fighting.”

Now, as expected, with all these shameful secrets out in the open his loyalty is probably going to decrease, right… Uh? Why is it increasing instead!?

“So aniki also had a hard time.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, after that, there was a defense battle at Fort Golfus.”

I explained how it was pretty good over there, and then after earning plenty of experience points, it became much easier.

“Once you manage to reach level 20, you can become a top-class adventurer. With your skill you’d be able to do as you wish anywhere you go. Even now you’re free to do as you wish.”

He doesn’t even need to stay with us, unlike with my wives, I can’t take responsibility for his life. There is nothing binding us together, besides being something akin to a pupil, perhaps? 

“I’m free to choose?”

“Yes, I’m the only one with the responsibility of being the apostle. You are free to decide if you want to continue being an adventurer, or if you’d rather quit, and become something else. So always keep that in mind.”

“Yes, aniki.”

“Frankly speaking, I don’t care about apostles or oracles.”

Well, not caring about the oracles is an overstatement. I should have said that their priority is very low.

“What do you mean by that…”

“That I’m desperately training not because I want to be ready for the oracles, but because I don’t want to die.”

“Well, I can understand that, but…”

“As a matter of fact, it’s easier to just ignore or turn down the oracles.”

“This talk about turning down oracles is terrible, aniki.”

“It’s okay, I was told that I can decline. Just that my wives, especially Ann, say it’s ridiculous to decline an oracle.”

“That’s to be expected, aniki.”

Obviously, the merits of accepting an oracle are plenty, but the main reason for accepting them immediately as of late, is due to my wives.

“In my opinion it would be best if everyone of us could just live quietly somewhere.”

But this idea has a bad reputation with everyone except me, apparently. Well I know very well it wouldn’t be possible to begin with.

“What about you? What do you want to do after finally learning enough magic?”

When I think about it, I haven’t had the chance to talk with him about these things. I’ve heard about his desire to learn magic, about his position in the family, but nothing further.

He has already fulfilled his wish of learning some magic, but he still doesn’t seem to want to go back home.

“I want to become a more useful person. I’m not as smart as my brothers, so I thought I could at least learn magic, and start from there.”

Well, he’s pretty good among adventurers of the same age, but for a prince of the empire, he’s still lacking. As royalty a lot more is expected from him, or at least that’s what he feels is expected from him.

“If I had stayed as I was back at home, I was going to end up being married to someone, and probably be given a territory and position that isn’t very important.”

From my point of view, it seems like a really good life plan. But, was it so bad for him to even run away from home? The fact that he rushed into the dangerous forest alone, and that he was desperate to become my disciple when I showed to help, means he felt quite cornered.

Is he hoping for a more exciting life? Or big achievements to return proudly to his parents’ house?

However, now I understand why he feared the monsters this much. He probably lived a prosperous and peaceful life until recently. He must fear for his life during battle as much as I did at the beginning. Not that I don’t still fear for my life whenever I get a new oracle.

So is the middle guard position not a good match for him? Should I have him use the bow, and see from there? The bow can also be powerful, and with a little aptitude for swordsmanship, his options of attack will increase. As for magic and swordsmanship, it is hard to guess right now.

Incidentally, we need to consider the direction of the skills that he will learn in the future.

The basics are swordsmanship, and special magic is also listed as a candidate. Summoning is impossible because he doesn’t have enough magical power. Space magic is very popular, and once you manage to learn skills like transfer, you won’t be hungry for the rest of your life. But I doubt he will find something like that exciting.

“By the way, you could try learning light magic.”

It costs a lot of skill points, but it may be reasonably convenient if he can master it.

“You mean like the hero!?”

“That’s right, just like the hero. If that appeals to you, you can become one. I don’t mind giving the position away.” 

“And disregard aniki? I don’t know, that’s a bit…”

“I don’t really want to be on the front stage, I’d rather live quietly behind the scenes. Think about it, if you learn light magic, you can go back home to become a hero! You can even lead the Imperial Army on their attack to retake Hiragis!”

Will seemed to give a good reaction to my last statement.

However, I had to remind him about the demons. I explained that as the only user of light magic, he’ll probably become famous, but that will also make him a target for extermination by the demons. 

“No, I’ll refrain for now.”

As expected, it’s no good, uh? Well, even if he wanted to learn it, the danger seems to be greater at the moment, so it’s better to refrain until he increases his level.

For the time being, we decided to strengthen his sword, bow and other battle related skills. We also decided to have him acquire the life detection skill. This way he won’t get ambushed, and it will make it easier for me as well. 

Since our discussion lasted a good amount of time, by the time we were done, everyone was already asleep.

I used my covert, and stealthy step skills, made full use of night vision and sneaked into bed right next to Ellie. Her body temperature is warm.

If this was in the mansion, the next step would have been to have some fun by playing a prank on her to wake her up. Then she would get angry at me for waking her up, but soon after she would forgive me if I showed her my affection. It’s a lot of fun every time I’ve done it.

Too bad I can’t do that here. Although we’re lucky to be able to stay together.

We just managed to do some light flirting in the bath, and it was pretty horny.

Next time if we get an inn, it may be better to stay in a small room. If you are in a private room, you can do various things secretly. Yeah, that’s a good idea. I thought it would be absolute abstinence during the trip, but I had some fun during the bath, and other opportunities mey show up along the way.

・ －－ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ －－ ・

The next day, we got up at sunrise. It seems we’ll continue our volunteer activities until breakfast. 

Ann asked me to dig a well, and to build a watchtower. Meanwhile Ellie will go around the village repairing and strengthening some of the walls. She has become quite accustomed to making things using earth magic, so something like this will be quite easy for her.

“Oh, that’s amazing! How much does this cost?”

Francesca, who came to see my work, was impressed when she saw me build a watchtower almost instantly using earth magic.

Be amazed more, for this is amazingly free!

Well, I’m not including the stairs, so what I’m building is just a very simple, yet very sturdy tower. It would take time and effort to build it alongside the stairs and to work on the interior, so I’ll just ask the villagers to take care of that themselves.

“You’re doing this for free? You didn’t take a reward from yesterday’s harpy subjugation, either. Is everything you guys do being outsourced by the temple?”

“Not really, this is just Ann’s personal hobby.”

“Don’t call it a hobby Masaru. We have the ability, and I’m sure Masaru and the others are happy to cooperate with the missionary activities of the temple.”

I wouldn’t say I’m happy to do it, but with my current skills I can easily do these sorts of things. And it’s not a bad idea to have Ann be thankful for my work.

Okay, so next is the well. Let’s try to find a water source using earth sonar. Found something over there. Alright, one well coming right up!

“I see it was not a lie that you’re very good at magic. What else can you do?”

“I can use all kinds of magic, but I’m mostly good with fire and earth.”

There are things I’m good at besides magic, but I have no obligation, nor any desire, to share that with Francesca.

“Hey, why don’t you become my subordinate?”

“Why don’t you try saying that again after you get a better position of influence?”

First of all, what was her current position? Whas it the captain of the Guard? I don’t think she is too high up the ladder, even if she is related to the king. I mean, she can’t be that different from Will, who is also related to the emperor, and look at him now. 

“What kind of position are we talking about?”

“If you can manage to get a position pretty close or equal to the king, you can ask me again. But even then I might just offer to help you a little.”

For now, since I’m planning to settle in the kingdom, I can’t help it if I have to deal with requests made by their royalty or officials.

“Such a great position of influence, and you’d only offer to help me a little?”

“Well, I tend to be very busy with all sorts of things, you see. So I may only be able to help you if I have the time.”

“Give up, Fran. We, the elves, were going to give him anything he wanted to have him work with us, but in the end, not only we couldn’t stop him, but I ended up being the one following him.”

“Even the elves tried to recruit you…”

Francesca will never be able to offer me more than what the elves did. Just give it up.

“If you want Masaru to listen to your requests, then why not become his. Then I’m sure you can ask him anything you want.”

Is Lillia trying to increase our companions? No, if Francesca is willing to let me do erothic things with her, then I’ll welcome the idea… Okay, now I’m just letting my desires take over. I think I’m still kind of horny due to last night’s lack of action.

But well, even if her background makes her a bit annoying, if we can get her as a companion, then it would be better to think about the benefits. Though, it’s hard to think about that when Lillia is actually suggesting something like this right in our faces.

Oh, Francesca’s face turned red, and even proceeded to guard her chest with her hands, while taking a step back.

“Don’t stare at me like that!”

“Oops, excuse me.”

It’s because of Lillia’s strange suggestion that I couldn’t help but to gaze at her. I mean, if the discussion starts heading in that direction, it can’t be helped, right?

“Are his chances low? That’s a shame.”

That’s right, it’s a shame… No, that’s not it!

“Just to let you know, Francesca, but I’ve never had any nefarious intentions when listening to my wives’ requests. So I’m not guilty of whatever you’re thinking of me right now!”

“Yes, yes, Masaru is admirable, Masaru is splendid, now please do this next.”

Ann tries to comfort me, but why do I get the feeling she just wanted me to concentrate on my job. Behind me I can still hear Lillia talking to Francesca. Hasn’t she given up yet?

But seriously, I don’t do this kind of work in exchange to get new wives, I do it because my current wives are requesting me to do it. Well, I won’t deny that if a cute girl asks me for a favor, I may not deny her…

Once we were done, and after having breakfast, we got ready for departure. The villagers brought us harpy meat and other ingredients. I can see they were able to dismantle them properly last night, at least enough to share the spoils with us.

The food situation in the village didn’t seem to be bad, so we got a lot of freshly harvested crops. Well, with this much we can either use it later at home, or maybe even sell some of it in any towns we stop by. So I’d say this isn’t bad as thanks for a day’s work.

Seen off by many villagers, we finally leave the first village we encountered so far during our journey.

I’m currently looking for volume 10, please let me know where to find it, or if you can provide me with a copy of it. I’m currently using scanned novels, so I don’t mind a scanned version, but an epub or text version would be helpful.

If you want to help me release faster, helping me with the OCR process, editing, spellchecking among other things, would be great. Please let me know.

Harem shujinkou

• Tenohira Pioneer Village Vol. 1 – Prologue

  I was walking through a newly built village in the slightly fragrant sea breeze. Most of the village is made up of fields and orchards, and you can see sheep and buffalo grazing in the distance. The white cobblestone road that runs through the village is unbelievably magnificent.

  ---

  October 1, 2023

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