Atelier Tanaka

Book 7: Chapter 1 (4)

Ordinary Day

This maid is currently searching the mansion for Tanaka-san.

I need to find him so I can take a long overdue vacation. I’ve been trapped in this mansion for so long that I’ve had very few encounters with men and those that I have spoken to aren’t the type you want to talk with. If I allow this to continue, I’ll start to lose my charm as a woman. I decided to make this decision because of the sense of crisis I feel in my heart.

I can’t tell him my real reason for wanting to take a break, so I plan on telling him that I want to visit my parents in the capital. There’s no way he’ll deny my request if I use this as the reasoning. I felt confident as I searched the halls for him.

As I was walking through a corridor, I bumped into someone as I rounded a corner.

It was a member of the Twilight Company; a man with a mohawk I somewhat recognized.

“Ah, if it isn’t Sophia anego!”

“Eh? Ah, h-hello….”

I have no idea what his name is, but he’s visited me in the office several times when he was delivering messages from Gonzalez-san. His regular visits combined with his distinct appearance made him hard to forget.

However, I’m not good with people like him.

He has a scary face.

“Good timing. I have a message I want you to give to Master Tanaka!”

“Eh, a message for Tanaka-san?”

“That’s right! Please, give Master my thanks!”

“Umm, thanks for what…?”

I have no idea what this is about.

I might get into trouble if this message is important and I fail to convey its original meaning, so I needed to ask the mohawk man to clarify. He hesitated for a moment before sheepishly looking up and down the hall. Eventually, he spoke once more,

“I’m sorry that you have to hear this from me, Sophia anego, but we, the Twilight Company, have failed at our job. We forced Master Tanaka to finish a job we didn’t want to do. Just today, I saw him doing what we could not….”

“A job you didn’t want to do?”

What could that be? Maybe ditch clearing?

Tanaka-san seems to enjoy simple jobs like that. He’s always kept his room clean and he takes care of the day-to-day cleaning that would normally be a maid’s job. I’ve always felt like he could survive without me just fine.

“Refugees settled in the uninhabited slums. Normally, they wouldn’t be difficult to deal with, but they have arranged some sort of agreement with the Nui that already lived there. We were unable to do anything about them and I asked Gonzalez aniki for suggestions, but it seemed he had to resort to asking Master Tanaka for help….” (TN: The last [and only] chapter Nui were mentioned)

“I-I understand.”

“Gonzalez aniki told me that Master Tanaka had only returned from Academy City yesterday, but I was surprised when I saw him in the slums this morning! He was assaulted by one of the Nui, but still showed both the Nui and the refugees mercy. I’d expect nothing less of Master Tanaka.”

Refugees?

They must be the result of the war between the Penny Empire and Pussy Republic. I’d heard that many villages were razed to the ground by both sides of the war. This city appeared out of nowhere right on the border of the two countries. Many of the now homeless people must have thought it a sanctuary.

However, refugees tend to bring trouble.

It’s impossible just to accept one refugee. If you accept one, three more will follow. Small villages and towns almost never accept refugees whatsoever. This sudden influx of people can lead to the collapse of a small village incapable of supporting them. It is similar to child care or care for the elderly in poor villages. There’s a limit to each before the resources needed to sustain it are depleted.

Dragon City was built on a small parcel of land. There is little enough room for the people that already live here, so accepting refugees is out of the question. There are no residential areas to speak of inside Dragon City aside from the homes available to the Twilight Company and those that work here. This place is little more than an inn town.

“Aah, I knew Master Tanaka was stronger than the rest of us! It’s impossible for us to accept refugees to such a small territory without taking the proper precautions! If the wrong decision is made, we’d all be at risk!”

Based on his story, it seems that Tanaka-san allowed the refugees to stay in the slums.

I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I’ve been in charge of the city’s finances for a few weeks now and a sudden influx of people could spell trouble. If it’s just a few dozen, we could survive, but if the number surpasses one hundred, we likely wouldn’t be able to support them.

“Um, that’s….”

“I-I saw it myself. A large crowd of Nui and refugees surrounded him. He was disguising his face with his cloak, but there was no mistaking him for anyone else! His Fireball is like none other seen in this world and many among the Twilight Company admire it!”

“….”

“If I were as powerful as the Master, I could’ve handled the situation on my own! Dozens of Nui surrounded him. That number of those creatures would be a threat to an entire city, yet he effortlessly fended them off. Not only did he spare the Nui, the dozens of refugees that took over the slums threatened him as well. Such a thing would lead to a death sentence if it were any other noble!”

Mohawk-san is right.

I’ve heard on multiple occasions that refugees are usually turned away, typically by force. Towns and cities of all sizes are opposed to taking in refugees. I’ve even heard stories of groups of refugees seeking shelter in a small town, but eventually they take it over like a group of bandits.

The people that usually take in these refugees have sinister intentions for them. There are many cases where the people of a city look to take advantage of the refugees’ situation. They’ll send messages out to local slavers or adventurers to inform them of the recent influx of vulnerable individuals. Whenever a village of subhumans falls, it’s viewed as a particularly valuable situation.

“….”

Still, if anyone can find a way to make it work, it would be Tanaka-san.

It’s both a strength and weakness of my Master’s that he is so out of touch with the workings of this world.

“This is why, anego, that I want you to thank Master Tanaka for me! I was in a similar state to these refugees not long ago when Gonzalez aniki took me in. I’d expect nothing less from Master Tanaka! The way he simply turned away from the refugees after they attacked him was so cool!”

“I-I understand….”

But when did Tanaka-san accept this task?

I don’t recall ever receiving any word of it.

“I apologize for being in such a rush, but I’ll leave it to you. I still need to report the results of Master Tanaka’s intervention to Gonzalez aniki. Wow, Dragon City will sure be busy going forward!”

“Ah, sure.”

Mohawk-san smiled and ran by me.

For someone with such a scary face, he sure comes off as a nice person.

I don’t know why I’m just now realizing this.

His heavy footsteps quickly faded down the hall.

“….”

It sounds like you’re as busy as ever, Tanaka-san.

My absence may be noticed more than I expected. I don’t want to inconvenience Neumann-san too much, so I’ll take a shorter vacation than I originally wanted. I’ll spend a week or two back in the capital and take a fast horse to get back here as quickly as I can.

Maybe I can even find a man in Kalis and bring him back to Dragon City with me.

That sounds nice.

Maybe I can bring a couple back under false pretenses and use the time we have together to see if a relationship might be in the cards. I can handle one or two good looking men. Tanaka-san was kind enough to give me a raise when he returned from Academy City, so my pockets are feeling surprisingly heavy for once.

I even received something he called a ‘bonus.’ An extra payment on top of my normal salary.

“….’

I’m essentially being told I should spoil myself.

***

With Richard-san’s sudden arrival in Dragon City, I made the decision that it would be best to leave for the capital as soon as possible. If, by chance, the lolibitch and Allen were to bump into Papa-san, it would just lead to the same confrontation Allen barely survived previously.

Our method of travel would be the same airship that Richard provided for me.

If we can successfully leave here without him finding out about the pair, I would be able to say goodbye to the bitch and ikemen in the capital for good. Everything could go back to normal. Even if their whereabouts were to be questioned, there would be nothing concrete for those suspicions to land on.

Papa-san would suspect, but it would at least leave Allen with his life.

Now I have no chance of keeping my promise with the loligon. I’m sure she’ll be happier having someone like the noble mage praise her rather than a busamen like me. There are times when a busamen can make good use of an ikemen.

Once all of the preparations had been made, we made our way to the airship and quickly took off to the skies.

The members on the ship this time were: Ester-chan, Allen, Edita Sensei, Sophia-chan, Drill-chan, the Kimoronge, and the rest of the crew we had with us on our initial voyage.

My maid was a last second addition after she insisted she come with so she could see her parents. I couldn’t decline her request. She has been with me away from her parents for quite some time. If this were modern-day Japan, I’d likely be arrested and charged all in the same day.

I needed to separate the Kimoronge and Goggoru-chan from each other and Drill-chan insisted she be taken with. I made the decision to leave Goggoru-chan behind but promised to stay and talk with her for an entire week when I returned.

Some time had passed since our departure.

After the airship reached a safe altitude, I walked out onto the deck and leaned on the rail.

I was alone aside from the few crew members that were working on the deck.

“…when was the last time anything was simple?”

I looked down over the city and spoke to myself as the streets raced beneath me.

The forests that quickly followed made me feel nostalgic for the days I wandered the woods outside Kalis looking for herbs. Back then, I didn’t really think about it, but I spent each day doing whatever I wanted without the need to worry about how my actions may affect others. It wasn’t long before I became involved with a group of adventurers. This led to more and more interactions with the people of this world and it didn’t take long before I was starting to notice how both physically and mentally exhausted I was becoming.

His Majesty assigned me an important task and my first girlfriend turned out to be my first boyfriend. My precious slums have lost all the charm of a proper slum. Sophia-chan and I feel no closer now than when we first met, and the loligon is going out of control with her building.

“….”

Thinking about all of this made me come to a realization.

I need a proper vacation all by myself.

I could easily use my flight magic to fly off to some tropical island. The ideal vacation that only involves sipping on some tropical fruit juice beneath a parasol on a white sand beach. Not to mention the beautiful view of women walking around in skimpy bikinis.

“…how nice. That’s definitely the type of trip you need to take on your own.”

Honestly, I couldn’t imagine taking anyone else with me.

A pleasant vacation where you forget about all your problems at home and start fresh. I could even imagine having an affair with a beautiful loli with an intact hymen I met on my travels.

“Sounds good. I’ll definitely go on my own.”

That’s what I’ll do next. I’m going to travel by myself.

I can go back to the days of only needing to worry about me.

“Travelling the world alone is a sure-fire way of meeting new people.”

I made up my mind. Having an achievable goal to work towards took some of the stress off of me. I feel like I’ve constantly been forced to worry and think about others. It just feels nice knowing I’ll only have to worry about one person.

I was talking out loud to myself without really paying attention to my surroundings when I noticed someone walk up to me from behind.

“Ara~? Are you planning a trip?”

Nobody else has such a distinctive voice. It’s Drill-chan.

The first feature anyone would notice about her is her distinct hairstyle.

“…Doris-san.”

“I’m here to ask for my favour.”

I was the one that allowed her to get on the airship bound for the capital of the Penny Empire, Kalis. However, I seem to recall an important fact now. This girl was supposed to be a prisoner of war. The way she speaks and behaves makes this an easy fact to forget.

“What do you want?”

I made her a promise.

I should be true to my word.

“I wonder if I could come with you on this trip.”

“….”

Seriously?

My plans for a solo vacation have already ended.

“Why would you want to come with me?”

“I have nothing better to do. I’ve used your hot springs to exhaustion and, even though it’s been a while since I’ve been to Kalis, it’s not like I haven’t been there countless times before. I want to go somewhere new and you seem like my best option to achieve that.”

“I see.”

I guess young people can get bored with hot springs if they’re so readily available. I’m feeling old again.

How does she think this is a good idea? From my perspective, it’s amazing. A man and a woman travelling together on a long trip. My travelling partner being a beautiful loli with big breasts and an intact membrane would just serve as a bonus. In fact, she’d be the perfect partner.

“Are you sure about this? A young woman like yourself travelling with a man like me might raise questions to people we pass.”

“Ara~? Isn’t it obvious that I’d bring Gerosu with me? What are you even saying?”

“Right. Of course, he’d come with you.”

I completely forgot about him.

Her large breasts visible from the top of her dress are dangerous to any virgin. The way they freely sway one step behind her drills is always what draws my attention first. The moment they come into view, the rest of my mind goes blank.

“Ara~n? Did I inadvertently give you a false sense of hope?”

“No, no, I just wanted to be sure what you were asking. There was no other meaning behind my words. I am a noble of the Penny Empire while you are a noble of the Pussy Republic. I believe there are some lines that should be drawn when we consider our respective statuses.”

“Fu~n?”

“Is that everything?”

“Not quite.”

“What else?”

‘Of course, you plan on covering my costs, right?”

“I said I owed you and I plan on sticking to my word.”

“Ara, how sweet.”

Well, whatever.

The antagonistic relationship that exists between the Kimoronge and Goggoru-chan makes it beneficial to keep one of them near me at all times. This is the reason Drill-chan is on the ship in the first place while Goggoru-chan is back home. I want to do whatever I can to avoid them fighting again.

“I’ll let you know more about my plans when we arrive in Kalis.”

“I’ll be waiting. Ufufufu~, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Leave it to me.”

Drill-chan is just looking for a way to relieve her boredom.

With the Kimoroge tagging along, I doubt she’ll cause as much trouble compared to being on her own. We can go together, but I should still have the option to ask for some time to myself while we’re travelling.

Drill-chan turned away and casually strolled back to the cabin.

I thought about the trip as I watched her back disappear behind the door.