(Tl note: second sponsored chapter of the week by Alexandre Cordeiro, please give him a round of applause)

  (Tl note: since there’s a problem when posting the chapter, the illustration isn’t added before. Now there is an illustration of smiling at Chapter 176)

  Shadows are running through the forest, one and two small body comes pass the bushes one after another trying to take the shortest path.

  "Huff, huff! I will lose to Nina nee-chan at this rate."

  "There it is!"

  Impica who found the wild plants shouted to gather the surrounding children. Mururu and the other young children were careful as they try not to pull out the roots and take only the wild plants.

  Impica, what about this?"

  Impica then brough to her nose, the wild plants that Mururu brought and smell it.

  "This one is not good, its poisonous."

  "Is that so……"

  Although it was a shrubs taken next to a mushroom, Mururu still check it with Impica or the older children as the other collected it too.

  "Look here, aren’t we the best?"

  "Don’t get complacent, there’s a lot of the other too who collects it."

  "I’m busy, hurry, hurry!"

  Apart from Impica group, there are about seven groups each consisting of five to six people. The group was divided according to age and race.

  The children from the fallen dwarf have poor physical ability so their job is to gather the plants as the beast tribe, they take turns with the demi-human to carry the luggage. Even if they are still children, they already know about role-sharing……

  In the vicinity of the lake, in the middle of the mountain castle, Marifa who dress herself in maid clothes with all of her subordinates, the apprentices’ maid girl, are preparing the 「black wolf’s」 food.

  Marifa brought back seventeen black wolves at first but now their number are approaching hundreds. A lot of them are breeding fast. There are around twenty black wolves that managed to rank up like Coro. Although it was said that they ranked up, it was a rank 3 「Shadow Wolf」. Even so, they are still stood out in the pack.

  "Oh, sister, are you ready?"

  The girl who asked has a tiger’s ears and tail growing, however she couldn’t really put it into words that the thing she reported to Marifa was for feeding the black wolves because she’s not used to it. However, no one will laugh at the girl because the other are on the same level at her.

  (Tl note: it might not make sense but the way the girl reported it was awkward in Japanese so, that’s the gist of it)

  "Okay." Marifa nods, satisfied at the report as she moves to the black wolves. In front of them, Coro leads the pack and the other black wolves lined up in a row neatly behind him. Yet the small black wolf pup didn’t seem to be able to suppress it as saliva overflows from its mouth to the fruit and meat and even vegetables that was served.

  Yu is watching the situation while stroking the belly of Ran. For him that used to see lone wolf, the appearance of the wolves lining up in one big pack looked funny somehow but he will never say it out. In the unlikely event, he doesn’t know what Marifa will do if she knows what he is thinking.

  (Tl note: ran is mentioned in this chapter, we don’t know if it’s a black wolf pup or some other monster)

  "It’s good to eat, but you need to be well behaved."

  Although that was what Marifa said as usual, she knows that she doesn’t want to make even the tiniest bit of mistake in front of Yu.

  Yu was sympathizing with the appearance of the black wolves who had their body tensed up. Only the maids who are lining up behind Marifa understand the wolves’ feelings. Anyway it was meal time. As soon as Marifa give them the permission, the black wolves pounced at the food all at once.

  "Aooo!"

  Happy mastication sounds are emitted, the black wolves are barking excitedly at the meal and the shadow wolves quickly finished the meat and chews the fruit with their mouth full.

  "After all they are still a beast, their meal scene is not elegant."

  Russ who are standing behind Yu looked at the scene of the black wolves eating with eyes looking down on them. Ran also had a face that agreeing with Russ opinion, but he only scratched his head against Yu’s foot as they looked different from his.

  "Hmm? Are you not behaving good?"

  Yu saw the black wolf eating and one shadow wolf who finished eating his own portion tried to rob some food from a black wolf pup beside him as it cries out.

  "Woof!"

  The shadow wolf tried to take the food from the pup but Coro noticed it as he jumps and step on the face of the shadow wolf that is now pressed to the ground. The shadow wolf that is pressed down by Coro can only let out a sad cry, "Aiiing". Tears comes down as the shadow wolf shows its obedience to Coro which acts as the leader of the pack.

  Coro looked at Marifa as she nodded satisfied. After seeing her reaction, Coro then looked at Yu as he shakes his tail.

  Marifa can only helplessly watch Coro with a smile on her face as Coro looked at Ran at Yu’s arm.

  "What is it? You can’t be like me, praised and preferred by master?"

  However, Ran look at him as if saying "stupid" as Ran rubbed his tail on Yu’s cheek.

  Marifa looked at that as she muttered ’frustrating’. Marifa seemed to be jealous and envious as she showed it on her face.

  It was a lively meal scene, but then a voice can be heard from the sky.

  "I’m number one~" (Nina)

  "…… it’s also my win again." (Lena)

  Lena and Nina was sitting on top of a broom the slowly descended from the sky. After a while, Nina standing on top of it and jumped down with a small "Ei" let out from her mouth. She landed and hugged Yu the moment she touched the ground.

  "Nina-san, it is dangerous, please move away from Master." (Marifa)

  "Eeeeh, I’m sorry Mari-chan. Don’t get mad at me, here take this." (Nina)

  Nina comes from the mountain after gathering wild vegetables and mushrooms as she gives a basket full of it to Marifa.

  "…… Angry little sister." (Lena)

  "Who is your little sister? And who said that I’m angry?" (Marifa)

  The maids behind Marifa can only look at her coldly as if expressing, "look who’s talking".

  "We are the first one! Aren’t we the best?"

  "Ah, Nina nee-san are here!"

  The kids come out from the forest one after another. Their basket is full with wild vegetables and mushrooms just like Nina.

  "King, Lena nee-chan is cheating! She is flying through the sky while we can’t."

  "Yeah, we have to walk inside the forest."

  "Oh yea, besides that, Nina nee-chan is also using a knife while we gather it barehanded. Its cheating."

  "Eehhhh…… aren’t you guys just looking for excuses because you’re lost?"

  While the boys are saying their discontent, they are surrounding Nina as they speak out. Nina have to say sorry and hugged them one by one.

  The girls on the other hand are talking to Lena.

  "Why does Lena nee-chan flying?"

  "…… Because I’m smart."

  "But that’s cheating!"

  "……There is no rules that said I can’t use magic."

  "Well …… Lena nee-chan can you bring me to fly next time?"

  "…… I can"

  "really?"

  "…… I’m not lying."

  "But I’m a bit afraid."

  "But isn’t that cheating?" Marifa last question was destroying the girls hope to fly in the sky with Lena.

  Lena only look at Marifa while walking away and muttered: "……speaking unnecessarily."

  "The king, we also brought some!"

  When Yu is checking the basket that contains some mushrooms and bamboo, Impica sits down and asks: "Aren’t we amazing?"

  "I also found some poisonous herb but I’m able to discern them apart.

  "Oh, you’re smart."

  "My King, I can also do that."

  Impica then joyfully jumps around Yu as she received the praise. After a while, another large numbers of children comes out and all of them have returned.

  "How’re you guys doing? Look at what I’ve brought."

  It was Agafon from the half beast family. Inside the basket he carried, there are a lot of wild vegetables until it overflowed from the basket.

  "Ah, it’s the bear! What are you bringing? I have no idea you can bring that much."

  "Indeed, it’s because I’ve worked hard to take all the wild vegetables. Don’t you dare to claim the credit." (Agafon)

  Agafon was saying that with a loud voice but the children weren’t a bit frightened or afraid as they speak up.

  "Bear, it’s the bear!"

  "Do you even know how to pick wild vegetables?"

  "how about this my king? How’s this vegetable that I have taken? I bet this is much different from these idiots." (Agafon)

  "You, why are you here anyway? Don’t you have work?"

  "Is that for you to decide? After all, my field work has ended, I come to eat rice with the king too. Aren’t you all who shouldn’t be here?" (Agafon)

  Agafon says that he finished his work but actually it was a lunch break. The children that was with Yu earlier was envious with him and say in a hurry.

  "This is a poisonous plant."

  "Yes, that one is poisonous isn’t it?"

  "This one is also poisonous, how can you pick this one up? Even a child like me knows that I was poisonous."

  "That…… that’s……" (Agafon)

  The children didn’t back away from Agafon instead they are on the attack and makes Agafon feels miserable about it.

  "King, I’m hungry……"

  "I’m hungry."

  "Yes, we’re hungry."

  "Oh yeah, everyone is here, why don’t we have meal together?" (Yu)

  Using 《Earth magic》, Yu made iron pots, pour in oil and make some fire. The wild vegetables are washed and the mushrooms that are collected are cut into smaller pieces that is easier to be eaten.

  When Yu confirms that the oil is hot enough using chopstick, he put in the wild vegetables and mushrooms one after another into the oil. After a while there is crackling sounds coming from the oil and the children come closer to look.

  "Don’t get too near as the oil bounces."

  "Yes."

  There are also other dishes like bacon wrapped around vegetables that looked like asparagus and called parala as Yu fried it too. There is fish too, the fish was brough by Ao. The fish was made into meat cutlet and croquette and it was also fried like the other meal. After a while, the tempura was taken out from the oil and given first to the children that behave well by the maids.

  "You can eat it already if you’ve got your share. You can also eat the fried fish."

  The children were waiting for Yu’s permission and start to eat immediately.

  "Wow!"

  "Wow! Delicious!"

  "Yu, this is tasty~" (Nina)

  "……delicious." (Lena)

  It was a meal that is made using freshly picked vegetables and mushrooms. It tastes good and the children were delighted as this was the first time they eat tempura.

  "You can eat too."

  "We can?"

  Yu then asked the maids to eat too. The maids are actually hoping for it as they showed a delighted expression.

  "Wait first."

  Marifa then stopped the maids.

  "My master isn’t eating so we can’t eat first before him."

  "Uuh, I’m hungry."

  "Of course you guys are still a maid apprentice. You should learn the manners as we shouldn’t eat before our master."

  "What is maid apprentice?"

  "There are ranks between maid that served a master. The lowest one is maid apprentice."

  Of course it was a maid rank that Marifa made up randomly. Descending from the top rank it was head slave maid, slave maid, slave maid apprentice, head maid, maid, and maid apprentice. When they asked why slave maid are in higher positon than maid, she said that it was natural because a slave was possessed by the lord.

  "It’s bothersome. You should just eat without thinking much. Aren’t you hungry?"

  Yu picks up the tempura of the fish with chopsticks and takes it to Marifa mouth.

  "Mari nee-chan, are you going to eat it?"

  "No way, no. My master hasn’t eaten it so I couldn’t eat first. Because I’m also a maid like you."

  "Well, Mari nee-chan are severe and tough even to herself."

  The maids are convinced and respected Marifa from her acts. It can be said that Marifa is the ideal figure of a maid. It was a clear proof that Marifa will put Yu before herself.

  "I will eat it." (Marifa)

  "Eeeh?"

  The maids are shocked when they hear that. Marifa is fixing her hair behind her ears so her hair won’t touch Yu’s hand. Many couldn’t imagine the expression of Marifa that turned red, not only her cheeks, her ears are also red. This is a clear contrast from her earlier ice cold expression.

  "Is it delicious?" (Yu)

  "Oh, yeah…… the fried fish is delicious." (Marifa)

  "Yes, I think so too." (Yu)

  There is no choice, as Marifa can’t refuse Yu’s request. However, the maids are not convinced since what she did was the opposite of what she said.

  "shameless……"

  It also contains the maids grudge.

  "Oh, I didn’t prepare any drink." Mururu said.

  "I will prepare it right away." Marifa then instruct the maids to prepare the cup.

  "No, I will prepare a glass for this. Russ can you do it too?" (Yu)

  Yu then uses 【Black magic】, 《Ice bullet》 but shaped it in form of ice cups. The number of ice cups was the exact number of people present and the shape also thickness was the same.

  "What’s this?"

  "It’s an ice cup! The king is amazing!"

  "It’s cold, refreshing."

  The children become a big fan of the ice cup immediately.

  "Master, something like this is easy." (Russ)

  Russ who was on Yu’s side tried to copy what Yu did earlier and created an ice cup. However, the finished cup was irregular in shape and thickness.

  "Why……" (Russ)

  "If it was like this, it can’t be used. You shouldn’t put too much strength on it and focus more on the magic control." (Yu)

  "……I also want to try."

  Looking at Yu and Russ interaction, Lena decided to participate. She didn’t manage to create as much as ice cup as Yu.

  "Russ has more magic power, however Lena has higher control of magic power than Russ." (Yu)

  "Is that it?" (Russ)

  "……huhuhu…… I will overtake your magical power soon." (Lena)

  "Lena, this time remember, that I was defeated only because I was weak at ice-based magic. If it was other elements, I will definitely win. Don’t forget." (Russ)

  "……sour……loser……" (Lena)

  "What?" (Russ)

  "Russ lost to Lena, Russ is weak." (Namari)

  "……it’s Lena nee-chan." (Lena)

  "Namari!" (Russ)

  After that Russ is chasing after Lena and Namari but Yu didn’t put much attention to it.

  The maids are now also enjoying eating with the children whether Marifa give them permission or not.

  "Not good."

  "Yeah, it feels so hot today."

  "The ice cups are nice, I feel cold just touching it and its tasty."

  The fairy and Hisui has come and participate in the lunch feast.

  "Mhm…… why the meat that the King make always belong to a female species?"

  Yu wanted to calm down alone, however the children and fairies didn’t allow it. After that one of the children asked about it because it’s been on his mind for a while.

  "isn’t it because female meat usually softer and more delicious?"

  "Eh, but the meat is harder to eat."

  "I like soft texture food better."

  The beast tribe children tooth is strong and they like to eat meat better. The fallen dwarf and demi human preferred soft food better.

  "My king, is that a the reason? I always guess it like that." (Agafon)

  "Bear is lying. You said that you like to eat hard meat."

  "Did I say something like that?" (Agafon)

  "You say that you want hard meat!"

  A lot of complaints are coming from children towards Agafon.

  "Isn’t Agafon like hard meat?" (Children)

  "No, I like soft texture food now." (Agafon)

  "Do you want some hard meat?" (Yu)

  "My king…… I want." (Agafon)

  After that the children are giving cold gazes at Agafon but he didn’t realize it as he was absorbed in talking with Yu.

  After finishing the tempura, next is dessert. Children, more than anything, they liked desserts more. Today’s dessert is strawberries. The strawberries are planted by Yu and it tastes really sweet since Hisui helped in their planting. Yu also took out handmade condensed milk and pour it over the sweet strawberries. The sweet fragrance made the children drools and even the maids who supposed to have a full stomach already.

  "There is nothing more delicious than honey, honey!" (Fairies)

  "Fufufu, I don’t think our tongue can be easily satisfied." (Fairies)

  "Everyone is so unreasonable; you know that Hisui can’t collect lots of honey." (Fairies)

  "What I say is I am not easily satisfied, but I will eat it nonetheless." (Fairies)

  The fairies are speaking like that but their small nose are already twitching when the smelled the sweet fragrance emitted by the strawberries. It was amazing at how small the fairies’ mouth and it was able to eat the strawberries.

  "Amazing!" (Fairies)

  "What is this? This is good." (Fairies)

  "Yu-san, this is delicious." (Fairies)

  "It’s delicious because the strawberry is grown by me and Yu." (Hisui)

  Hisui said that while using her hands to support her pouting cheek.

  Momo and the other fairies are rolling around as they savored the sweetness of the strawberry and condensed milk.

  "……the best. This strawberry is the best." (Lena)

  "Yu, this is really delicious. Mhm. Yes, open your mouth." (Nina)

  "It’s a strawberry that I have grown." (Yu)

  "Nina, it’s my role as the head slave maid!" (Marifa)

  "Eh, Mari-chan, I’ve been doing this for a while though~" (Nina)

  Lena is silently eating the strawberry by herself. Meanwhile Marifa is trying to stop Nina from feeding Yu the strawberry.

  "Uuh, I’m full."

  "I can’t eat anymore."

  "The strawberry is delicious."

  "Everything is delicious!"

  The children after eating the strawberries, have clearly passed their limit for eating. They are patting their swollen belly and lay down on the ground. Although it looked a bit painful, everyone looked happy……

  Marima kingdom is a small country by the sea, in the northwest of Houdon kingdom. During the audience with the king, a man dressed in formal robe is kneeling. He is one of the priest from the holy kingdom Jadarc.

  "Tell me more about the island that have a mountains of treasures."

  "Yes your highness."

  The priest of the holy kingdom Jadarc are smiling when he hears the King’s request.