Fiance (Fake)

This is

Kuros Guild Card. By the way, as Im D-Rank, shes even better than me.

I also showed him my D-Rank card.

Mm? Kehma-dono, you arent B-Rank?

As you can see, I am D-Rank.

Hmm is that real? You shouldnt counterfeit those, Guild Card forgery is a serious felony you know?

Von ODoll said that as he looked at my Guild Card eh?

Whats with his reaction?

Wouldnt it be better for him to choose Meat as the fiance rather than me, a plebeian commoner? I showed him the card thinking hed follow that route, but his reaction is like he knows that I also have a B-Rank card.

Should I try feeling about?

Why do you think Im B-Rank?

Your name is in the Raverio Empires aristocracy listing as a noble near Sia.

What the heck.

Seriously? Theres an aristocracy listing? No, thered obviously be one, but I never thought that my rank could be found out by it.

So him trying to force Mai ODoll on me was exactly because he knew that Im (kind of) a noble.

Rather, Haku-san, how far do your claws reach no, maybe it wasnt her? Was my name placed on the listing because I was registered as a B-Rank? That means it was an out the moment I got the B-Rank Guild Card.

Which means you knew that Kuro is a noble?

Well, yes. Her name is rather eye-catching.

Yeah, seeing [Sex Slave (Meat)] in a high ranking list like that would be a bit surprising. As an aside, a man named that would hold the meaning of [Meat Shield (Meat)] from what I hear. [1]

By the way, does that list include gender?

It does. It does, but names are names. It might work if we went with saying that the listed gender is a mistake? Not even I thought that it would truly be a woman.

Right? I wonder if I should change names since its on there?

By the way, the list gets renewed every five years. It only came out just recently.

Could you show me it?

Sure.

A very large, thick, leather-covered and imposing book was brought out.

Were listed among the newly added nobles? Nobles that have newly established houses oh, Rokukos there too. Her family names Labriheart.

There has never been an adventurer with the name of Meat becoming a noble before this. Virtually all of those named Meat are rankless slaves, and even those that register as adventurers would change their names. And even if they didnt, any sensible record keeper would stop them when they became a noble there wasnt an inquiry?

Haku-san isnt sensible no, I guess its more that shes merciless.

As for me, Im Kehma Golen.

Its a very Golen Villages Village Chief-like name. Thatll give me away. did I not give Haku-san my family name?

But it not being my real nameMasudais convenient. I can insist that Golen that isnt me.

Ah, so thats it. I was surprised when you suddenly said I was B-Rank, but thats not me. As you can see, I am a D-Rank adventurer, just Kehma.

When I said that, Von ODoll looked at me dubiously.

However, I never said that I was a noble.

Did you just go crazy? Didnt you just admit to it a moment ago?

Huh? I was just checking out why you thought I was B-Rank. Its true that theres a noble family whose name matches that of my village, so I cant blame you for connecting them to me.

That so so Kehma-dono, you insist that you are a D-Rank adventurer?

Yes, it is as is written on the Guild Card. This card is a real one, I dont have the courage in me to do something like forgery.

You could even use a lie detection magic tool, my Guild Card is the real thing.

With that, Von ODoll burst out laughing, unable to hold back.

Kukuku, right. Sticking with it You can hold your own even compared to nobles, Kehma-dono.

Thank you for the compliment.

Lets go with your proposal and have Kuroinu-dono be the fiance.

Oh? He said that hed [Think] about it a moment ago, but hes already decided?

Well, Meats definitely the better pick assuming Im not a noble. Shes young, fit, and has an obedient personality. Other than her gender and slave status, theres no shortcomings about her.

Now then, my reward, please?

Mm, information about the [Godly Pillow] was it? Sure The [Godly Pillow], a part of the [Godly Beddings], is an extremely important sacred object for our Raverio Empire. Everything I say after this will be between you and me.

Its amusing that beddings and sacred object overlap in meaning there ah, but he probably wouldnt know that huh? [2]

Listen carefully as Ill only say this once. The [Godly Pillow] exists and is something that each lord of the Sia family protects from generation to generation.

Eh, so you mean its like that.

The [Godly Pillow] belongs to the Sia family?

By the way, its management is not administered by the the feudal lord themselves. Neither the successor nor the successor candidate can touch the [Godly Pillow]. This includes their partners do you understand?

The one managing it isnt the feudal lord, Von ODoll.

Same with his eldest son, the successor, and his second son, the spare.

Same goes with his spouse, which means

Mai-sama is the manager of the [Godly Pillow]?

Mais fiance would fit the management criteria as well.

I see. So its basically him saying you need to become the formal fiance if you want to use the [Godly Pillow].

In the name of the Sia family and White Goddess-sama, founder of the Raverio Empire, I swear that everything I said is true.

!

His oath was a guarantee of the Raverio Empires upper class nobility.

Its meaning was that [If this is a lie, I wouldnt complain even if Haku-san destroyed the Sia family and its conspirators]. Come to think of it, Haku-san did tell me [They all swear on me] as small talk at some point. Also, it appears that this oath has never been broken by anyone before.

I could put my oath into writing if you want? I couldnt write about the contents of our chat though.

Of course, I understand.

I had him write it down just in case.

*

By Meat becoming her fiance, it was decided that we would stay one more day.

Meat will once again be introduced to her family, this time as the fiance.

I wrote another letter and had it sent to Golen Village.

Its contents were simply: [I passed becoming the fiance over to Meat].

I returned to the same room as last night. I have some free time until dinner, so I decided to get some rest.

Just then, Meat tugged at my clothes, holding my shirt tightly.

Goshujin-sama?

Nn? Whats wrong?

Meat was trembling what happened?

Oi, whats wrong? Are you alright? Does your stomach hurt?

A-are you, getting rid, of me?

Meat asked me in a strangled voice.

Oh, so thats how it sounded to her? Thats my bad.

Theres no way I would part with my important hug pillow. Well just be lending your name for a while.

Then I can keep being Goshujin-samas slave, forever?

Youll be my hug pillow slave for as long as I live.

She stopped trembling when I said that.

I know that its me saying it, but isnt it a bad thing for me to treat her as a pillow slave her entire life?

Well, for now I decided to just take Meat as my hug pillow and have a nap.

Kehma-sama! What happened!?

You could at least knock, Mai ODoll.

Footnotes:

I feel like Keima mentioned this a long time ago. Return

Sacred Object = shingu = beddings Return