Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi Chapter 287

Translator: Nat

-Aegir POV-

I face Natia, Pipi and Brynhildr inside the ship while the smaller boats get prepared.

「So, let's hear the reason why you chased after me.」
「Stowing away on the ship…… what are you all thinking!?」

Celia and I both have a tinge of anger in our voices.
We were saved because of their help, however it isn't something I'd like to become a habit.
Stowing away is not a big deal, but we'll be jumping into a war between the Federation and Empire soon.

Even though I was called to be a commander, the battlefield can be unpredictable.
It may become a chaotic melee where allies and enemies are all over the place.
In a war between two giant nations, there's little I can do on my own.
That's why I wanted to bring the bare minimum, an amount of people within the range of my protection.

Natia and Pipi are both skilled archers, but they can't do much if they're surrounded. Even Brynhildr might also get injured.

「I caused trouble for the chief……」
「Well, I was interested to see what it was like in the Federation…… it should be fine if I'm not getting in the way.」
「Hmph! I'm just doing as I please. I don't have any obligations to explain.」

Pipi meekly lowers her head while Natia mumbles something.
Brynhildr puffs her cheeks and turns away from me, seemingly becoming smaller than she already is.

At that moment, Schwartz neighs after being dried off, in which Natia who understands animals responds with a nod.

「What did he say?」
「"Die, stupid idiot", he says.」

「This guy, does he want to become horse meat before we get there!?」

Schwartz snorts and turns his head away with a soft grumbling neigh.

「…… "what a small man for complaining about being chased by women", he says」
「……」

We can't turn back after coming this far and I can't just leave them alone in a situation where pirates can appear at anytime.
A real man would gladly take them along. It's not because Schwartz said so.

「U-um……」

And then the lid of a barrel slowly lifts up, revealing another familiar face.
The one who apologetically and nervously bows her head is――

「L-Leah!?」

Celia unconsciously shouts out. It goes without saying that she wasn't aware of Leah's presence.

「I'm sorry. But I just haven't had much time together with Master lately…… it's been lonely…… even Celichan hasn't really……」

She puts her hand on the rim of the barrel and looks up at me with puppy dog eyes.
It was an extremely cute gesture which really stirs my desire to protect her, how troubling.

「Leah as well, huh…… hmmm.」

Unlike Natia and Pipi, Leah can't fight at all and is even more clumsy than an average city girl.
She can't protect herself either.

「U-um master…… it's fine. Worst case scenario, you can abandon me……」

Schwartz neighs again.

「"If you can't protect a single defenseless girl, give a few of them to me", he says.」
「Shut up, you perverted horse. I don't need you to tell me that. As if I'm going to abandon Leah.」

I kick Schwartz's balls before wrapping my arms tightly around Leah and kissing her.
The pervert horse runs around the neck wildly while neighing loudly. Don't break the ship now, you hear?

There's no other option now. It's my responsibility for leaving the girl alone in the first place.
I just have to protect everyone. It's not a matter of if I can do it, I just have to do it.

「……why is Leah the only one who gets a kiss?」
「Marta cannot accept that either.」

Celia and Marta pout.
I certainly can't stop here. I know they all love me but their sins need to be punished accordingly.
After separating from Leah's lips, I declare to the girls.

「Now that you're all here, I'll protect you. However, you'll have to be punished for acting on your own..」

I meant to say it with a serious expression, but Celia just sighs.

「If you sound so happy to punish them, you won't have any persuasiveness……」

Natia seems shaken up, while Pipi and Celia are calm.

「Well, I'm going to stretch it out then.」
「Pipi too! Pipi is small so she needs to prepare, or else it will turn into a fistula!」
「Fistula? W-what is that!? What are you going to do for punishment!?」

Brynhildr walks over while glaring at me.

「Hmph, I am just a passenger on this boat. There's no reason for me to be punished by you. In the first place, the fault lies with you who keeps going out to far away places!」

Despite being mad, she holds out something.

「Even so, well…… I guess I could have let you know. For that, some scolding is deserved.」

She hands me the whip from that day.

「……are you telling me it's okay to hit you with this?」

Actually, why did she bring this whip in the first place?

「……I'll let you think of the answer.」

Brynhildr silently turns away and looks in the distance.
However her face seems to be flushed and her breathing seems a little strained.

「The small boats have been prepared!」

We've finished talking too so I guess it's time to go to the pirate ship.
Mirumi and the others are probably getting tired of rocking the boat.
Actually, she may be in an unexpectedly good mood and doing it enthusiastically because of her destination.

Now the disarmed pirate leader and executives are lined up before me.
The other small fries are packed in the cabin.
Of course the female pirate I captured is also sat in front of me.

「This woman is apparently the leader's lover. She probably slept her way to the top.」

After the ship's captain makes his statement, the female spits at him.
Her attitude is quite different from when I caught her.
She must have resolved herself after some time passed.

「Can you tell me your name?」
「Who's going to say anything to a seedy guy…… no, to a noble like you!」

Spit also comes flying at me, but I choose not to avoid it.
If she's going to send me spit, I'd rather her just kiss me and send it directly into my mouth.
Well, there are some people here who won't let that fly.

「Woman, you better be prepared.」

Celia's expression disappears and she pulls out her sword in a smooth continuous motion.
Sensing true intention behind Celia's words and actions, the female pirate turns her head and starts mumbling.
It looks like she surprisingly doesn't have any guts. I grab Celia's breasts to subdue her sword.

「Annette…… my name is Annette.」

I give Annette another once over.

She's somewhere in her twenties, her height is a little over 160 cm and she has fairly dark skin probably from being out in the sun.
She's making a scary face right now, but her facial features are nice, so I can see why the boss would want to make her his lover.
Her semi long millet-colored hair is sticking together right now because of sweat, though it'll likely become fluffy when she washes it.
Judging just from when I touched her during the time I captured her, her breasts are neither small nor large.

She's a fine woman. It's a waste to leave her as the lover of some pirate leader.
I unconsciously reach out to touch her boobs again. It was a gentle touch so she doesn't feel any pain.

「Hey, wh…… stop that, you perv! Horny noble!」
「They're soft and shapely breasts…… wonderful.」

As I proceed to expose her chest, I see a butterfly tattooed on her right breast.

「I'm not a fan of girls injuring their body like this, but it does look a little erotic.」

My hand cups her boob as if to envelope the butterfly tattoo and I gently caress her.
Annette's face becomes flushed and her nipple starts to get hard.

「Ah, you're good…… not! Didn't you hear me telling you stop!?」

The male boss shouts something angrily but I can't hear him so whatever.

「Ahem! Shall we leave it at that for now?」

The captain and Celia are glaring at me. Arbakin is…… laughing again.

「Err, she had such nice boobs I was engrossed with them for a bit there. Anyways, regarding their treatment――」
「We will of course be following customary practice. It will be a little troublesome though.」

The customary practice the captain is talking about is almost certainly execution.
The treatment of pirates is similar to that of bandits. Massacring the entire faction of insurgents is standard.
However that would mean Annette would get executed too. That's not good.

「About their treatment…… can I ask you to leave them to me?」

「Haah!? T-that's to be expected I guess……」
「Aegir-sama, again……?」「A woman, you're going to add another?」

The captain looks at Arbakin, the one with the highest authority.
It's unthinkable for him to leave the decision for the treatment of the insurgents to the noble of another nation.

「Unfortunately, I can't do that. I can't bend the rules for a noble of another nation when we're in Federation territory.」

I thought as much. Still, if I can somehow……
Arbakin coughs once to add something else, turning his head in a different direction.

「But I'm an ambassador for Goldonia, and my mission right now is to send Lord Hardlett to headquarters. All matters besides that are trivial, besides this ship isn't even a warship.」

So what is he trying to say?

「Neither I nor the crew has seen anything, meaning none of us would mind.」

It's decided then. I'll announce the sentence.

「The woman will be pardoned. The men will get killed.」
「That simple!?」

Celia immediately retorts.

「The woman will get suitable punishment…… I'll have her surrender her body, but I won't do anything to hurt her. Rest assured.」

The pirates bellow angrily at me.

「Don't be stupid! Annette or the other girls won't fall after a lecherous man like you saves them!」
「T-that's right! I'm a member of this pirate crew! I won't do something like abandoning my companions.」

It looks like there are a few other girls on this pirate ship other than Annette.

「Is that so?」

I see a look of relief wash over Annette's face briefly after that statement.
She's probably trying to be considerate of her lover or she joined in on the cursing because she wanted to remain a part of the crew, but I don't overlook that expression.
Now that I look, the other few girls also have sparkling eyes.

「I won't force anybody. If you want to protect your chastity, and share the same fate with your lovers and companions, that's fine too.」

The men nod as a matter of course.

「Heh, in other words you just want a woman's ass!」
「Nobody's going to follow a horny noble like you!」

The men throw their verbal abuse at me, while Annette remains silent.
Then, Annette's lover…… that is to say the boss of the pirate crew, yells.

「Annette! That lord pervert is infatuated with you. Give him a reality check, tell him you don't want his phimosis dick even if you have to die!」

That's rude, mine is peeled back.

Annette stands up without saying anything and walks until she's in front of me.
I don't want her to say that. It would be a loss to this world if she ends up rotting away.

「Ahー……」

Annette has trouble saying something, then spins away from me and faces the pirates.

「I've been in everyone's care for a considerable amount of time. Especially Gulin, who made lots of love to me as his woman.」

So Gulin is the name of that boss? Not that I really care.

「I don't hate any of you, plus I had a ton of fun. And so……」

The pirates also realized what would follow such an unsettling atmosphere.
Annette claps her hands together in front of her face.

「I'm sorry! I still have things I want to do and I don't want to die yet…… what I'm trying to say is that I'm moving over to that side!」

I could almost hear the sound of jaws dropping.

「Gulin, everyone…… thanks for everything you've done for me up till now. And sorry. I won't forget about all of you!」

With that said, Annette lines up beside me.

An angry bellow roars out like an explosion.

「Y-you traitor! Whore! ――――――!!」

Annette is not moved by the unbearable abuse.
The other girls stand up one by one and run to my side as well.

「I don't want to die either! I'll do anything so please spare me!」
「It's fine if you use my hole, so please, I beg you!」

「Alright alright, I'll release you after the punishment.」

I hug all the girls who gathered around me and leave with them.

「Kill the rest. If there are any girls left over, persuade them no matter what.」

「R-right……」
「I never thought I would feel pity for pirates……」

My allies finish off the pirates with arrows or swords.
There might be a lot of them, but being unarmed and bound up, they couldn't put up any form of resistance.
Furthermore, the male underlings are all crammed inside the ship so they shouldn't know what's going on.

「There aren't any girls in the ship, right?」
「No, all the girls were brought outside as you instructed.」

「Then seal the door and set it on fire.」

They have surrendered already, however I didn't make a promise to spare them and I don't need to show mercy to pirates.
As long as the women are saved, I don't care what happens to the remaining filth.

「Dammit――!!」

One large man with his hands bound pushes aside an ally of mine and jumps into the icy water of the river.
I don't think he can swim to the shore, but he probably thinks it's better than being killed.

「Don't let him escape! Aim your arrows at him!」

And then something mysterious happened.
The water around the man begins to foam up, then I could hear the sound of splashing as plenty of fish jump in and out of the water.
Next thing I know, the water was dyed red with blood…… and what looks like the man's skeleton floating.

My dumbfounded allies give me a sidelong glance, which in response I look to the water and ask a question.

「What happened?」

With a splosh, the kids of the cute Mirumi stick their heads out of the water.

「Gebh. Nothing~」
「Fuui~ it was tasty, that's all~」

Fumu, some things will always be a mystery.

「Alright, shall we hurry on ahead?」

All the pirates on deck have been taken out now, so I leave behind the pirate ship while ignoring the screams coming from the inside of room slowly being surrounded by flames.

Two Weeks Later.

「Nnbu! Nnbo! Nnnh――!!」

While sitting on a chair, I let out a groan and pour another load of my seed into Annette's mouth.

「Nngh……」

Despite letting out a strained sound, Annette gulps everything down.
My left hand presses down her head lightly while my right hand fondles her exposed breasts as I enjoy the pleasure orgasm.

「Puha…… nnah……」

After she confirms that I've finished ejaculating, Annette opens her mouth to show me she's swallowed all of the semen.

「You drank everything? That makes me happy.」

When I pat her head, she blushes and smiles.
Looking at her now, she looks like a normal city girl, except the tattoo on her chest and ass gives off an immoral vibe.

「You can rest for today. Leah and Marta will be coming soon.」
「……'kay.」

Annette rinses her mouth while still naked and then curls herself up in a thick blanket.

The punishment I gave to Annette was to, until the boat reaches its destination, service me all day every day.
During these two weeks, besides the time I spent eating, sleeping or embracing the other girls, most of my time is spent with my dick in her mouth.

「You let me drink a barrel's worth of that stuff. Because of that, I haven't really felt hungry.」

Meanwhile, the only time I've slept with Annette was the first day when she begged for her life to be spared.
She kept going on about how she had plenty of experience with men and how she was a lewd woman, but I didn't see any of that at all.
The scream she let out when I showed her my dick as well as the tightness and pain her vagina felt when I penetrated her made it seem like she was a virgin.

「No, that's because your thing was outside the norm. It can't even be considered a penis anymore, it's literally the size of an arm.」

Annette's attitude turned around completely after I fucked her once.
I embraced her with the condition that I would not kill her, but it would make me shrink if she genuinely didn't enjoy herself.
If possible, I'd like her to fall for me first, then it would feel better.

「You made me cry out so much on our first time…… but it wasn't like I'm in love with you, in fact it was more like your size and the feeling of being dominated or conquered…… I just couldn't bring out any energy to resist.」

In any case, we should be getting closer to White City now according to the captain.
Imperial ships are frequently wandering around from this point on so it would be dangerous to approach by boat.
We'll be stopping at the river's north coast and advancing on land.

「I see…… so it will soon be time for us to part ways.」

Incidentally, the other girls who surrendered are servicing the crew members in another room.
I slept with everyone on the first day, but it would be selfish of me to keep them all to myself.
As the girls' punishment and also to reward the crew who fought such an arduous battle, I ordered them to service the crew, like Annette did to me, until we reached the shore.
They'd have to handle multiple people at once so I was a little worried at first.

「They were on a pirate ship before so that's not a big deal to them. It's not rare for them to get fucked, besides they probably have it better here since they won't get hit. Rather, I'm more worried about them being on this Federation ship where you can do anything you please to them.」

That won't be a problem.
At first Arbakin and the ship's captain both looked on coldly, but they also reached their limit of not being with any females during the voyage and laid hands on them on the night of the third day.

「This is punishment for the female pirates! It's punishment so it can't be helped. I'm the captain after all!」
「As a noble of the Federation, I must chastise these pirates!」

That's what Pipi heard when she spotted them pounding some girls in the storehouse.
Well, now Arbakin and the captain and all the crew members are equally as guilty as I am. They can't just rat out on me.

「I won't say anymore then. More importantly, Leah ―― was it, she's late. Why don't you use my hole while she isn't here yet, it's been so long――」
「Master, I've come to attend to you~」

Annette mutters "nevermind" after hearing Leah's voice and covers herself up in the blanket again.

The next day, we finally landed at the port city Iruisk on the north coast of the river and it was time to say goodbye to everyone on the Surov.

「Did you think over what we discussed?」
「I'm fine with it. I'll become your lover so you'll look after me right?」

「You chose him over me!?」
「I would have liked if you were the chief navigator…… it's just that Hira's future prospects are something else」

It looks like the former pirate girls are arguing over something with the crew.
As promised, the girls will be acquitted at the harbor. We tell the guards that the girls were captured by the pirates and not actually part of their crew.

「Feelings will start developing after spending so much time on top of each other. The crew members are making them their wives or lovers.」

Now that it's mentioned, the captain also had a particularly large-breasted woman snuggling up against him.

「Wanting to make the girls yours is natural…… that's why they're having a small dispute.」

「It's because there are fewer girls. ……they may be released from custody but they have no money to their name and no job, so they would want to choose a man who can reliably earn a living.」

Annette is going with anyone.

「I have good looks, you see. I can pretty much get any job I'd like.」

Annette smiles with a face like she's about to cry.
I want to bring her with me, but she's not my woman yet.

「Your punishment is finished. However, it's sad to hear that you may end up standing in the alleys.」

I put several gold coins in between Annette's breasts.

「This also includes the fee for that information you provided me. Ration it out and go find a man who makes a decent living.」

How heartbreaking. If it was peaceful, I would persuade her into becoming mine.

「Lord Hardlett, please meet up with the army corps stationed in the garrison on the outskirts of the city.」

It's Arbakin. I have to hurry.

「Aaaaagh, I couldn't say it in the end.」

I hear Annette's voice.
Maybe I'll come pick her up after the war is over.

Iruisk Garrison Troops

「I'm telling you we have to recapture it as fast as possible!」
「I know that! I'm saying that we should do that by working together with the main squad in the west.」
「It will take time to contact them! We shouldn't take our time to set up and just attack them on our own!」
「Mounting an attack while climb a hill will be disadvantageous for us. If we aren't careful, we will suffer a counterattack and the city will also be endangered.」

When I arrive at the garrison with Arbakin, I see some sort of argument going on in the headquarters.
It doesn't look like I'll have a very nice journey.

「Did something happen?」

When I ask a question, all of them turn and give me a dubious look.

「Who the hell are you?」
「Entering the headquarters uninvited is――」

「Pardon him, I gave him permission to do so.」

They immediately complain about me, but perform proper salutes as soon as they saw Arbakin.

「If it isn't ambassador Arbakin-dono! I'm grateful that you've taken the trouble to grace us with your presence!」
「All present, salute!」

The soldiers suddenly stand up straight and salute. As expected of the Federation army, their salutes are excellent.

「This individual has come from Goldonia as reinforcements, Margrave Hardlett. Here is the decree from the Supreme Commander.」
「I will take a look.」

The person who appears to be the commander of this army corps takes the document and stares at me.

「Certainly…… it is an order from His Excellency Stessel.」

The air of suspicion around me doesn't disappear.

「I acknowledge the standing and objective of Lord Hardlett here. However……」

He looks behind me at Celia and the other girls.

「……these girls are my escorts and followers.」
「These escorts look quite reliable, don't they?」

Celia is accustomed to places like these and the armor she's wearing makes her look the part.
Natia is pretty tall and looks strong.
The deeply bowing Marta can be considered the follower of a noble so everything is still satisfactory up until this point.

The problem is when we get to Pipi the scatterbrain whose armor is very loosely fitting on her body, Leah who has a warm smile on her face, and Brynhildr who is wearing a gorgeous dress while looking slightly upward in a cold, condescending manner.
They clearly look to like lovers taken along under the pretense of being escorts or followers.
I can't really deny the truth.

「……ahem. In any case, I have an order from the Supreme Commander. We will require escorts as we head to White City.」
「That is not possible.」

It was an immediate response from the commander.
Arbakin's face becomes stern.

「Are you disobeying orders from the Supreme Commander?」
「As soldiers, we follow the orders from our superiors. However this order is an impossible one.」

The commander shows Arbakin and I the map laid out on a table.

「On the night of the day before yesterday, a squad of the Imperial army landed near Iruisk. They have occupied this hill and set up camp.」

Placed on the map is a red marker probably indicating the enemy's position.

「Don't be stupid, the enemy should have withdrawn to the south coast. You're saying they landed on the north coast at this point in time?」

Arbakin makes a groaning comment.

「It's not a full scale attack. Their aim is to probably land several small squads on the north coast to impede the overall actions of our army. Their fleet is controlling the waters. There's no way for us to stop them from landing.」

「In other words, right now the path connecting this city and White City is blocked by the enemy?」

When I chime in, the commander seems pissed off, yet he doesn't forget to reply politely.

「That's right. With that being the present situation, I regret to tell you, it is impossible for us to escort you safely to White City.」
「The road along the river is unusable so we'd have to make a huge detour to the north…… no, it'll be dangerous if we encounter a blizzard.」

Arbakin is mumbling something, but the thing is, we just have to trounce the enemy and everything will be fine.

「How many enemies are we talking about?」
「……」

The commander doesn't answer and looks to Arbakin.
Then he nods and speaks irritatingly.

「The enemy has approximately 5000.」

「And how many forces do we have?」
「…… about the same, approximately 5000.」

「If we're equal in number, we should be able to break past them.」

When I said that, the other commanders stand up altogether.

「How dare you say whatever you want when you have no clue what the battlefield is like!」
「The enemy is camped on the hill. It's doubtful we will win even if we attack with the same numbers!」

「So are you just going to let the enemy sit still in front of your eyes forever?」

「The plan is to wait for reinforcements from White City, then annihilate them with a pincer attack!」
「When are they coming?」

The commander becomes quiet. It's pointless to place any expectations on such uncertain reinforcements.

「By leaving the newly appeared enemy alone, you're basically telling them you don't have a sufficient amount of forces, which in turn prompts them to fortify their position with more troops.」

The other commanding officers become quieter.
They also know the current situation is not favorable.

「Let's begin our attack. Of course I will be taking part as well.」

The commanding officers lift their heads in surprise.
Arbakin gets shocked this time.

「I'll show you that I came to the Federation not just to sleep with girls.」

I may have gotten excited from sensing the atmosphere of the battlefield.
Fighting has eroded my heart, probably taking a hold of twenty percent of it at this point.
The other eighty percent is for women of course.
I'll show them the true power of that twenty percent.

The commander closes his eyes to think for a while, then declares in a loud voice after he opens his eyes.

「Very well. As the commander of the Iruisk Army Corps, I will allow Lord Hardlett to participate. The attack will be tomorrow morning, in time with the rising of the sun!」

「C-commander!?」「Given to a man who brings women with him!?」

Hooh, I thought he would be more reluctant about it.

「Either way, we don't know when reinforcements will arrive. We can't just leave the enemy alone. Which is why now is the perfect chance.」

I grin and nod, meanwhile the commander doesn't smile a single bit.
If he doesn't react, it makes it seem like I'm laughing while reminiscing and that's embarrassing.

「Relay the order to everyone. Make preparations immediately!」
「…… yessir!」「Understood, sir!」

The rules in the Federation's army are absolute. Opposition or objections are not allowed after the commander has given out orders.
The commanding officers who complained earlier also ran swiftly to their own squads.
……they clicked their tongues when they passed by me though.

「Now then Lord Hardlett, let's hope you can put your money where your mouth is. Show me what you're made of.」
「Sure. I was summoned here to fight after all.」

Alright, it's wartime.
Let's get some armor on Schwartz as well to make him completely ready.

「……why are you biting me?」

My head is being bitten as I get ready for tomorrow.
Schwartz continues to bite me the whole time.

「Like I said, why are you biting!? My hair will fall out! What are you going to do if I become bald like Adolph!?」

I got too excited without realizing and raised my voice.

「Adolph is bald……」「He's balding?」「So he's balding.」「So he's bald, huh.」「He's bald!」
「So he is bald.」

The girls repeat those words like they're hearing them for the first time. Well, be careful about mentioning it when you get back home.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 24 years old. Winter.
Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. Mountain Legend. Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless. Dragon Slayer Hero.
Elf Mediator.

Accompanying: Celia (escort, assistant), Marta (aide), Natia (temporary follower), Leah (temporary follower)
Brynhildr (temporary follower), Pipi (archer), Messerschmitt (worthless dog), Schwartz (horse)
Arbakin (Federation ambassador), Mirumi (Quietly, in the deep ……)

Family:
Nonna (legal wife), Carla (concubine), Mel (concubine), Miti (concubine, expecting), Maria (concubine, expecting), Catherine (concubine, expecting)
Melissa (lover), Kuu (lover), Ruu (lover), Mireille (lover)
Casie (ghost), Rita (head maid), Yoguri (playwright), Alice (fainting in agony magical girl)
Marceline (pregnant lover), Daughters - Stephanie (lover), Bridget (lover), Felicie (lover)
Sebastian (butler), Dorothea (capital mansion supervisor), Claudia (giant meatball), Clara (female attendant)
Felteris (perverted elf)

Non-humans:
Lammy (plant caretaker), Alraune (can move), Petit Roper (enlarging)
Pet:
Pochi (on a self-improvement journey)

Subordinates:
Irijina (commander), Luna (commander), Ruby, Myla (security officer, searching)
Gido (escort unit), Polte (refugee case worker), Gretel (wife-dog-to-be)
Leopolt (staff officer), Adolph (domestic affairs official), Tristan (domestic affairs assistant, in hiding)
Claire & Laurie (official merchant), Lilian (actress), Kroll (servant), Alma (servant)

Assets: 13,590 gold (Annette farewell gift -10)
Sexual Partners: 445, children who have been born: 55 + 555 fish

Chapter end