Chapter 190

“Kunpei-san, thank you for waiting. I’m done changing.”

“Sorry, I’m late, okay?”

No problem.

It’s totally fine.

I’ll wait for hours!

“… Kunpei-san?”

“Ha!”

Ah, that was close!

Aoi and Mikuma were too dazzling in their swimsuits!

“Ah, ah. I’m not, okay?”

“Why are you speaking like that?”

“What’s wrong with you? Kunpei-kun.”

Ah, stop!

I’m really going to react in all kinds of ways when you get any closer, so don’t!

“What are you doing? Are you in middle school?”

While we were having such a farcical exchange in the entrance hall of the Dailan royal family’s annex, Atol threw me a sharp jab.

The swimsuit covered the whole body for competitions, it’s a very serious outfit, just like this guy.

But I’m curious, how did you get the wings on your back into the swimsuit?

Ah, it’s got a zipper on the back.

Kayone, dressed in a modest one-piece swimsuit, shuffles down the stairs of the entrance hall with Atol following close behind.

She’s got style, too.

I know it’s very rude to stare at someone in her swimsuit. So I won’t look at her anymore.

I won’t look at her anymore, so please stop staring at me, Atol.

You’re killing me.

It’s hard to look directly at Aoi, Mikuma, and even Utai, and I don’t know where to look!

“Huh? Rouge, aren’t you going to change into your swimsuit?”

“I don’t like those clothes after all. Besides, even if it gets wet, it will dry soon anyway. I’m an earth dragon, after all.”

No, the seawater will be sticky when it dries.

Besides, I feel like, you know, I’m losing out. No, it doesn’t matter! Nothing!

“Dah!”

“Abu.”

Jaja, who was being carried by Aoi, and Nana, who was being carried by Mikuma, were of course also in bathing suits.

It is the same one they wore when we stayed at the cottage.

Nana was wearing a pink one-piece and Jaja was wearing a white one-piece with a floral pattern.

Oh, my, our princesses are so cute.

“It’s such a waste. Ru-anesama, you are so beautiful.”

Aoi complained to Rouge with her cheeks puffed out.

She was wearing a pure white bikini and summer sandals.

With her beautiful azure hair, Aoi’s image was truly pure.

It is hard to believe that she is a mother of two children.

“That’s right, Rouge-san. I would call her smart or slender. She has a good-sized chest and long limbs and looks like a model. It would look great on her.”

Mikuma, on the other hand, was wearing the same swimsuit she wore at the cottage.

Red and blue striped, this was the type of bikini that has a string circling the neck.

As always, it is still outstandingly destructive! Her breasts are so prominent that they seem to be about to fall out, and I am very curious about the contents of the pareo on the lower half of her body.

“I’m not sure. Maybe next time? Nana, come here.”

Rouge replied curtly and extended her hand to Nana, who was clinging to Mikuma’s chest.

“Dau.”

Rouge held out her hand and the twins respond.

This is a reflex action that is now ingrained in their bodies.

For Nana, Rouge is her second favorite big sister after Aoi.

If I’m unlucky, they might get more attached to her than me, it’s sad.

“You guys have a lot of baggage.”

Atol muttered something as he looked around me.

He looked at the shoulder bag I was carrying on my shoulder.

It was a large, sturdy bag made of soft material that I had bought for the twins for their outings.

My shoulders get sore from carrying it all the time.

“Hmm? Yeah, I’ve got two babies over here. I have two babies here, so I have to carry changes of clothes, milk, diapers, and so on. Well, you’ll understand someday.”

Ah, but you’re still a member of the royal family, aren’t you?

Maybe the nannies and maids will take care of it, so maybe you’ll never understand?

“I’m looking forward to it! The sea dragon island!”

“I’m looking forward to it too! But could you please lower your voice a little, Utai-san!”

All the glassware around us are rattling!

I’m getting caught up in the shouting!

Also, you have great breasts too!

Such a childish, frilly swimsuit, yet somehow it doesn’t look juvenile at all!

I wonder why! That’s so strange!

“I wonder how we’re going to get there from here?”

Shouhei, wearing trunks-type sea pants and a short-sleeved hooded parka, asks me.

“Who knows? Or rather, where are the dragons who claim to be our guides or whatever?”

The Sea Dragon King, Carolia-san said, I think it was… Theseara, right?

We were told that a dragon with a name like that would come to pick us up.

“Oh, I’ve kept you waiting! My apologies!”

“I was a little lost in choosing a swimsuit. Oh, you all look so pretty!”

On the second floor, the door at the back of the staricase opened vigorously, and Atol’s brother, the First Prince Gatol, and his wife, Gasha-san, came out.

They were wearing outrageous outfits, like V-shaped swimsuit and black string bikinis.

Both of them are very vulgar in a different way, but can you please give me a break?

Both of them are so exposed that I have no idea what the point of their swimsuits is.

You two really make a perfect couple!

I don’t really want the twins to see this, as it is not a good scene for education.

“Well then, let’s get on our way to sea dragon-sama!”

“G-Gatol-san. How are we going to get out to sea from here dressed like this?”

On behalf of everyone, I asked the question.

I’ve always assumed that because it’s called an island, we would have to go out to sea, but this is the royal capital of Dailan, located inland from the port city of Inteira.

I’m told we’ll be leaving from the basement of this house, but I’d like it if we could move as inconspicuously as possible.

“‘Well, well, well, it’s a bit of a surprise! First of all, you’ve been tricked, follow me! You’ll be surprised!”

Smiling with his white teeth bared, the First Prince of Gatol said so and stomped hard on the floor right beside him as he descended the stairs.

No, I can’t recover if I’m fooled by this outfit.

Well, I don’t think Atol’s brother is going to do anything to fool us now, so I guess we can rest assured.

“Uwahh”

“Daahh!”

“Whoa!”

Shouhei and the twins raised their voices in surprise.

With a rumbling sound, an entire section of the bright red carpet on the floor of the main hall opened to the left and right.

What appeared was a staircase leading to the basement.

“The messenger of the sea dragon king, who is not able to stay away from the water, is preparing downstairs. Come, come, let’s go!”

“Ufufu…this is so much fun!”

The Prince couple went down the stairs in high spirits.

The rest of us looked at each other and wondered what to do, but there was nothing we could do, so we silently decided to follow.

I still can’t keep up with those two.

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“Hey, how do we get out to sea from here?”

I ask Atol as we descend the stairs, illuminated by evenly spaced magic-lighted indoor lamps.

“… didn’t know.”

“Hah?”

Atol frowned with a sullen look on his face.

I also checked the faces of Kayone and Utai, who were following behind me, and they also tilted their heads, as if they didn’t understand anything.

“I didn’t even know that there was such a passageway in this house. When I met with one of the sea dragons when I was chosen to be the ‘servant of the sea dragon’, I simply took a boat from the port of Inteira to the waters near Dailan. At that time, someone named Amuril-sama greeted me.”

Oh, so it’s another first meeting with the dragon named Teseara who is waiting for us down there.

“Why are you in such a bad mood?”

You’ve been mumbling for a while now, did you eat something bad?

“… Perhaps this passage is a secret, known only to a limited number of royal family members. If you think about it in terms of hierarchy and duty, only the top three brothers and the eldest sister would know about this passageway. I don’t like that a bit.”

“Atol-sama, I am very happy to see you being as honest as you used to be.”

Woah, and why are you crying, Kayone?

“I’m sure His Highness of a few years ago would have stayed in his shell, sulking and swearing nastily. His highness has grown up, hasn’t he?”

Utai, you might think you’re whispering that, but you’re speaking too loudly and it’s reaching Atol’s ears, okay?

“… Shut up. I’ve decided it’s not worth keeping quiet about. ‘Sea dragon’s servant’ is a prestigious title in its own right. If it is directly related to sea dragon-sama, it would have been good to tell me.”

“You also have your own complications, huh?”

Not only do you have a lot of siblings, but you also have to take into account your duties as royalty and the hierarchy.

“You’re pretty dependable.”

“… Kazamachi, you.”

“Hm?”

What is it?

Did I say something weird?

“How can you say such a thing without batting an eye at all? You’re an embarrassment.”

Then Atol turned away from me and looked at the wall.

Hey, you can’t go down the stairs while looking away, can you?

“I think the best thing about Kunpei-san is that he properly praises the great things people do.”

Aoi, who was following right behind me with Jaja in her arms, nodded somewhat proudly and happily.

“Yes, that’s right. Kunpei-kun is someone with an open and honest personality.”

Hey, Mikuma, what’s up with you too, all of a sudden?

“Hm, Kunpei is great.”

Even Rouge!

Seriously, what is this all of a sudden!

I’m embarrassed!

“Well, looking at it from a different perspective, nii-chan just can’t think about things too much.”

“You don’t have to end it there, Shouhei.”

Can you please stop lifting me up and then dropping me down?

“Well, we’ll be there before you know it.”

“Oh, looks like we went down pretty deep.”

At Atol’s urging, I looked at the end of the stairs and saw light of a different color than the room light.

“Dah?”

“Au?”

“Jaja? Nana? What’s wrong?”

Jaja, who was being held by Aoi, and Nana, who is being held by Rouge, were holding out their arms restlessly and trying to grab something.

“Dah! Udah!”

“Maama! Mah!”

“Woah, it’s dangerous to lean forward, Jaja.”

What the?

Why are they both at the same… Ah, right.

There are things that everyone else can’t see, but only the twins can.

“Everybody stop for a second.”

“What’s up?”

“Nii-chan?”

I, who was at the head of the group except for Prince Gatol and Gasha-san who were ahead of me, stopped and everyone stopped.

“Kunpei-san?”

“What’s wrong?”

Aoi and Mikuma tried to look into my face curiously.

“… um, let’s see.”

“Ah!”

“Da!”

Alba Germain taught me the process for seeing spirits before.

I placed my hands on each of Nana and Jaja’s heads and focused my attention only on the twins.

Jaja took my hand and slapped it happily, while Nana shook her head in small increments.

Nana, I’m already pretty shocked, so please don’t be too cruel.

Let’s see, I’m pretty sure that rat said channeling…

I closed my eyes and felt only the warmth of the twins on my hands.

Like this?

“Whoa.”

“Kazamachi, what is this?”

“Fish?”

I heard reactions from Shouhei, Atol, and Mikuma in succession, so I guess that means it worked?

This is another of Alba’s words, ‘Instead of syncing my perception to the spirit, I’m going to adjust the spirit side to our channel,’ was it?

I don’t understand the details, but in other words, it means that it’s not just me and the twins, but for others to see.

“Is this a sea spirit…?”

Aoi’s face, which I saw when I opened my eyes slightly, had a surprised and stunned expression.

Around her, countless small blue fish were floating as if they were swimming in water.

“They look completely different from that of the earth lizard spirits. I didn’t know.”

“They are also different from the sky butterfly spirits.”

I don’t know about the spirits of the earth, because I’ve never seen one myself, but the spirits of the sky were in the form of white, luminous butterflies.

Even in the same butterfly form, the ‘Spirit of Life’ was green in color, and this little fish, probably a sea spirit, glowed blue.

“The spirit of the earth is a red lizard, and even now it’s all over those walls and stuff.”

“The spirits of the sky are also all around us now, too. I knew that the spirits of the sky, earth, and sea dragons look different from each other, but I had no idea they were so different.”

All three are still spirits, so why do different dragons see different things?

I’ll ask Alba when I meet him again.

“If Jaja and Nana were reacting to it, does that mean they could see it from the beginning?”

“I guess so. There are so many things I don’t understand anymore, I honestly feel like my head is going to explode.”

Once again, I looked around at the small fish drifting around me.

They don’t seem to be moving with any particular purpose.

They are just floating around, looking comfortable.

“Kayo-san, Kayo-san. I saw something amazing.”

“You’re right, Utai-chan. But it’s very beautiful…”

“So this the spirit of the sea. The source of the sea, ruled by the Sea Dragon king…”

The Dailan trio also seemed to be taken aback by the sight they were seeing for the first time.

It’s no wonder.

A school of small fish emitting a pale blue light in the dark underground is just fantastical.

“Oops, we can’t stay like this. There are people waiting for us.”

“Oh, yes. Prince Gatol, Gasha-sama, and the others are surely waiting for us.”

We all came to our senses and began descending the stairs once again.

Among them, there was one who looked up at the small fish with his mouth wide open and did not move.

What is he doing?

“Hey, Shouhei. Let’s go.”

“… Ah, yeah. I’ll be right there.”

Hmm?

What’s with him?

“Don’t just stand there, or you’ll fall down.”

” … Yeah, sorry.”

There is something wrong with him.

“What is it? Do you have a fever?”

I put my hand on his forehead to check, but Shouhei’s hand interfered just before I did.

“I already said I’m fine. Come on, let’s go.”

“O-oh.”

If you’re fine, then that’s okay.

Watching his back, I started walking behind him.

“… If I don’t tell you guys, is it… okay?”

“Ah?”

I couldn’t catch Shouhei’s voice as he mumbled something in a whisper, and I asked back a little bluntly.

Shouhei turned around and looked me in the eye.

“It’s nothing.”

“… Is that so?”

We finished descending the stairs, with me feeling very uneasy for some reason.