I'm going to apologize and negotiate with the Mayor as soon as possible.

'Mr. Mayor, my name is Asta. I'm sorry to have frightened the villagers.
'My God!　Was the monster a phantom?　And it's smaller than I've heard.

'Oh, it was my fellow elves who made it smaller with their secret arts. They are friendly to humans by nature, but they are afraid of big ones. This is the end of our work, but the reward amount is too high even though we only found the stone. So I have a proposal for the village chief...

　It gets complicated when I confide in you about the goddess.
　You'll have to forgive me for some of the expediency.
　Besides, the essence of the proposal remains the same, so I'll press on.

　It's rare, but demons and wild beasts can appear in this village, and there's also the fear of bandits. But the lord's manor is two mountains away. So, Mr. Asta!　They are quiet and people-loving phantoms, but they are bigger than ordinary wolves and can control fire and are strong. Their size is within the acceptable range for now.

　So in exchange for protecting the village, I'm proposing to broker a contract with the company to provide food and other offerings for free. Normally, there is no problem for Asta-san even if there is no contract, but people feel safer if there is a contract.

　It's a company and three fishes' worth of food every day, so it's a reward that doesn't exist, but amphibians are small eaters and phantoms, so it's a low mileage, too much for the smaller Asta-san.

In that case, I'd like to ask you for help!　The offering will be three fish or three village meals, and the shrine will be built along the waterway. Would you like this?

'Yes, I, Asta, will make a contract with you to guard the village. If there is a famine or other circumstances, I am not strong enough. So I won't violate the contract if my offerings fall behind.

　We got our story together quickly, and the head of the village gathered the villagers and introduced Mr. Asta to them. We were overseen by Manya, who built a sturdy but small company near the canal at the village's west gate. The water is drawn in and a good stone to sit on is placed a little below the water's surface. It's small but comfortable.

　Asta, the rest is up to you. Good luck with your work. I gave a hearty shout out to him, but apparently it wasn't necessary. An older man with his brother and sister's grandchildren came to greet us early.

'Hello, Asta-sama. Thank you for your service as a guardian. I'm going to go with my grandson to the west stream to pick wild vegetables, is it safe?

'Yes, hello. There's no sign of danger in the west stream. But there are signs of wolves in the distance. Please take this stone with you just in case. If you throw it to the wolf, the phantom flame will stop him for a quarter of an hour (about 30 minutes). Well then, be careful on your way.

'Thank you for this. Thank you, Master Asta.
I'll give you a watercress as soon as I can find it!
I'll send flowers for you!

　I'm still a little stiff, but it doesn't look like I need to support them.

　Afterwards, we received a reward from the village chief and a thank you gift from Asta-san, and then we had to leave the village.


★ After leaving the village for a bit.

Speaking of which, what kind of skills have you gained, Mogu-chan?

'My God!　I could make a 2m deep, 3m wide moat or earthwork in a matter of seconds!　Furthermore, the size and shape can be manipulated to some extent, and the magic consumption is terribly low!

　I don't have to dig a hole anymore, okay?　And it's high speed and eco-friendly. You can easily build trenches and simple bunkers in a short period of time!　Mog, great!

Well, it's a little awkward.

What!　You're disrespecting Mr. Mogg!　Midea, who can't understand how awesome it is, needs to be educated!　Nah, Mog.

Mogoo!

　Midea, who is not convinced, needs to be educated.
　So we did a mock battle to see how awesome Mog is.

　Rules: we both win if the twigs hit each other with weapons and shoulders.
　However, I'll be defending in the position Mog has created.
　Midea will be the aggressor.

If guns and physical training are prohibited, Ryota is a dead man.
"Hmph, you'll find out just how powerful Master Mogu is!

　My position is surrounded by a moat 2m deep and 3m wide, and defended by a wall of earthwork 2m high and 3m wide. Combined with the moat and the earthwork, it was 6m wide and 2m high. And there was even an octopus pot in the shelter!


The first mock battle.

　Midea's broad jump strategy, well, it's two meters tall and six meters wide, the back jump has not yet been invented in this world. No matter how much rabbit-beast blood flows through your body, there's no strengthening. A 6m wide jump might be possible, but it would be impossible to do it at the same time with a height of 2.

　Result.
　As expected, Midia was blocked by an earthen embankment and withdrew.
　Her foot got caught and she hit the embankment.


Second time.

　This time we climbed slowly. As soon as I saw her hand, I hammered it with a pestle branch to block it. He realized he couldn't manage to climb, so he surrendered and came into the bunker, half-heartedly.

　Aha! I tortured him a little too much...

Isn't it great?　This mog reinforcement is also thanks to Midia's hard work in the mud. I have the promise of an allowance, and since this mock battle was so nasty, I'll give you something to make up for it. If there's anything you want, just let me know, okay?

　It's hard when Midia is half-baked. By Japanese standards, Midia is an underage girl, and I was not very popular with my old man's habits.



　I used to be a terrible slacker, but I've grown up more than I used to.
　I can trust that Midia's wishes are also from pure motives.

'Are you sure it's me?　I'm happy for myself, but I don't have the income or the savings or the confidence that I won't inconvenience Midia in Japan... Of course I'll do what I can!　If you're okay with that, I'll ask for your engagement when the investigation is complete.

　Because of Toshiaki's influence, he thought it was a bad idea to be vague. He told me before, but it's not your father's surrogate that Midia is looking for. She thinks she's looking for a strong bond with him for romantic favors now, no matter how vain and laughable it may sound.

　I just wasn't sure if marriage was the best option for me, given the differences in the world, life expectancy, possible savings and pensions for retirement, etc. So I was late to the party because it was hard to bring it up.

'Shit, I've got to get it on paper!　No more reversals!　........But why wait until after the investigation?

　Documents are completely tainted by the culture of the earth... Well, I'll leave that aside, the reason I'm done is because of my experience with a terrible boss.

'You've got more friends these days, haven't you?　Sometimes I have to ask you to do the hard work alone. And I'm the commander. This is hypothetical, but when I came home after a tough job, I found that the boss I ordered to leave had made out with a girl. Wouldn't that make you angry if that was the situation?

Oh, I think I'd be angry with that too ... it's just the way it is. I'm afraid I'll have to wait!

　It pains me to say that there are a few lies...

But I asked for Ryota!　[Am I right? is ridiculous, I think!

　I'd die of embarrassment if you said that to me!　I'm a dull old man, and it takes a lot of courage to be a dull old man. I'm still the one who did my best in my own way, you know?

'Yes!　The girl made me say it and then I listened back, I was one hell of an a**h*le!　Midia, I'm sorry. I need to get you in a better mood.

　That convinced Midia to come back to everyone with a nonchalant look on her face.


　I apologized earlier, but I haven't given up on helping Midia find a better happiness.

　I'm going to ask the gods to complete their investigation before we get engaged and ask the gods of Ares to ban the people from discriminating against mongrels (mixes). If only the mix discrimination would stop, maybe someone would like Midia more than me and could make her happier.

　If Midia is lost then, I'm going to pretend the engagement never happened, even if it hurts. I'm happy enough for me to have Midea's feelings.　...and it's not good enough to have the engagement broken off afterwards.

　Besides, I still feel like a guardian, and Midia's happiness is a bit more important than my own. So I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable if she finds someone she likes.

　That's why the limit is the promise of a marriage promise. However!　I'm going to try and make sure that I don't get taken out too easily!　I'm not human enough to put up with some guy who's going to take my Midas!

　I'm going to polish up my man, and I'm going to take credit for my research and get ahead!

　But in the end, it's not much different than putting it off. And the armored car is kind of like a pseudo-family. I'll never stop worrying about relationships in this world, just happier troubles than I was before God picked me up. I vow to never forget to be attentive to this fun workplace.

　I've had a lot of things to do this time, but I've already finished my business in Odessa. That's why I talked with window flowers and decided to leave for Xina directly from the village.



A certain place in Japan
'Duh!　It's frustrating!　You're a Ryota and you're looking good for nothing!
"....the values of the Showa generation....brainwashed....the treatment....difficult...