Half-Dragon Slave Life Chapter 31

Author: Kaburagi Haruka

Translator: s.h.i.+roiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

Chapter 31: Submission

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

Extracting honey is uncomplicated work, so it was done surprisingly quick.

All we had to do was cut off the outer layer of the nest, then break the honeycomb into small pieces and apply heat to melt the stuff off. And then done; we've got giant bee honey.

The only annoying part was pulling out the giant bee corpses. And there was some stuff that couldn't really be called honey in there, so we had to remove those too.

If they were honeybees, then it wouldn't have been a big issue if we smashed them up just like that, but with the enormous bodies of giant bees, that wouldn't work so well.

So we broke up the nest, sorted through it to melt the insides, and pulled out the corpses while we were at it, but those raised as n.o.bility wouldn't get near it.

"Woulda been fine if they just got into it instead of screeching."

"Well, I don't count on much work coming from n.o.bles. The only one I'm counting on in this cla.s.s is you, Eir."

Master smoothly threw in a line that made me happy, so I must remain vigilant.

When he looks right at me and tells me he's counting on me, I can't exactly slack off.

I naturally pick up my working pace, and complain to Master.

"Hrmph, you've got a silver tongue. When you say that, I have to work hard."

"Then I guess sucking up to you paid off."

"You tricked me?! No fair!"

Hearing that Master was taking me for a ride, I grab at him.

Not in a serious way at all of course.

"Uwah! Eir, don't touch me with those hands! They're all sticky!"

"Then Master Rimuru can get sticky and gloopy too."

"Quit messing around, and get to work you two!"

The delinquent-ish student b.u.t.t into our silly skins.h.i.+p.

He was partic.i.p.ating in the honey extraction surprisingly seriously.

"Didn't see you there, Delinquent."

"My name ain't "Delinquent," it's Julio! Julio Tarasco."

Oh right, that was his name.

His eyes have a mean look to them, but he's a boy from a fairly upper cla.s.s part of society, and he came to the academy because he has some talent for magic.

His family has plenty of money to spare, but they're apparently not n.o.bles. And I guess he's not a delinquent. His eyes still have a mean look to them though.

"Why'd she repeat the "eyes have a mean look to them" part…? Er, I do squint though."

"Well, she's not trying to be mean. Probably."

"If she is trying, then I'll deck her!"

And with all that, we finished extracting the honey.

By the by, we collected one hundred kilograms of it. It's a big haul.

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

We plop down the hundred kilograms of honey at the feet of the teacher who gave us the unreasonable demand.

"I-impossible…"

"Just as you wished, giant bee honey. We gathered a little extra though."

"In just one day? What sort of fraudulent means did you use to obtain it?!"

"I can't let you call this ‘fraud'. We gathered it in the forest properly. Mister Cole can vouch for us."

"Indeed, I confirmed it with my own eyes. They used a slightly unusual method though."

"Lies!"

"You would call me a liar?"

"No, I-I did not mean to suggest…"

We gathered it right in front of our observer, but he called it a lie. Of course that would be upsetting for the observer.

Is this the kind of person who can become a teacher at the famous Raum academy…?

"This cla.s.s is made up of students who could not be considered high achievers. With them presenting results like this, I could not help but be surprised, so…"

"It simply means that magic is not everything. Their gathering method was far more efficient and safe than ours, which relies on power. Enough so that it's of value even to us who live in the forest."

"H-however… we are a magic academy. A gathering method that does not use magic is…"

"If magic is the problem, it was used. Though it was only as a subst.i.tute for a bonfire."

"That is a problem! Getting good results with only that much—"

"Making efficient use of it is of no value then? If the instructors only recognize that much, then the authority of the magic academy has dropped to the floor."

"Wha?!"

Clearly being given a look of disdain, the teacher is at a loss for words.
What was this teacher's name again anyway…? I wasn't interested, so I don't remember.

"In any case, if my mission is done here, I'd like to go. That okay?"

"Kgh, yes… I don't mind."

"Then excuse me."

Mister Cole turns on his heel, and takes his leave from the instructor.

Sure enough the teacher didn't seem to want to oppose him. After turning around, he came over to us and—

"You've shown me something quite interesting. From now on there will be fewer casualties when exterminating giant bees."

"If it was helpful, then I'm glad."

"Next time you're in the north forest, come visit me. I'll treat you to delicious mead."

"Urk…"

Upon hearing about an alcoholic beverage, Master gets tongue-tied. As much as he likes alcohol, he has little tolerance for it, so this invitation puts him in a tight spot.

Seeing Master in the reverse of his usual position in conversation brings a huge grin to my face.

"Uhh, that's umm… I'm extremely grateful for the offer, but I'm still a minor, so…"

"Aah, I see. Then I will prepare fruit juice with honey in it. In any case, allow me to welcome you."

"Yes, I would be glad for that."

After giving a satisfied nod to Master's reply, he continued onward and disappeared into the forest.

The moment my view of him was obstructed by the tall gra.s.s, he didn't appear again… so these are the stealth techniques of elves in the forest.

Seeing through it with regular abilities seems like it would be tough…

"s.h.i.+t! Cla.s.s five has cleared their task. Go and rest for the remainder of the time."

Once Mister Cole left, the teacher got his vigor back and peevishly declared that.

The orientation lasts for five days. We can't go back home whenever we feel like it, so we have to sit back until that time is up, or all the cla.s.ses clear their tasks.

In other words the remaining four days have devolved to a regular old campout.

The students, realizing this, shout in joy and head back to the cottage.

"This alright though? We ain't done anything…"

"Eh, why not? Just think of it as the escort job having been easy."

"Getting money for this just seems kinda wrong…"

Contrary to the students, the five hired adventurers display some complicated feelings. That makes sense.

By the end of the first day, the only ones to submit their tasks were cla.s.s five, and the ones with the easiest task, cla.s.s one.

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

That night, while we were putting the curtains we had taken down back up, a student from cla.s.s one visited us.

"Hey, this is the cla.s.s five cottage, correct?"

His high-handed att.i.tude immediately gave him away as a n.o.ble.

Neither Master nor myself want to deal with those kinds of people, so we acted like we're busy with the laundry and took some distance. I'd like to get out of here if possible.

At a glance he seems to be about one hundred and eighty centimeters, and seemingly large both vertically and horizontally. He has blonde hair and blue eyes just like Master, but looks much filthier.

His overflowing arrogance fanned the flames of discomfort.

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"I am asking if this is cla.s.s five. Come now, answer me."

"Talk about bad manners, you haven't even given us your name. Even rudeness has its limits!"

The cla.s.s president-ish Aleph shouted back at the n.o.ble.

He's also on the tall side, but is definitely overshadowed by that thing.

"Aah, this isn't good… things are going south at this rate."

Master commented on Aleph's response in a subdued mutter.

"Rudeness? You, the one shouting at I, Franz Littenburg, eldest son to a marquis house are the one being rude!"

"M-marquis?!"

Upon hearing the other party's status, Aleph very obviously ceases his posturing.

I might have seen him in a new light if only he showed a little backbone, too…

"Indeed, I, the head of cla.s.s one am asking. Now hurry and answer!"

And this guy is cla.s.s one… I can only feel something obnoxious coming on.

"Y-yes. This is cla.s.s five's cottage."

"What business might sir future marquis have with cla.s.s five?"

In place of Aleph, the n.o.ble girl steps forward.

"Hmph, count Velumate's leftovers, I believe."

"How impolite!"

"Is it? I have heard rumor that Valumate's eldest daughter's talent had all gone to the eldest son, and she is but the remains."

"I am not… my brother's extra."

"So you say, yet here you are."

"Kgh… what, exactly, are you here for?"

The girl is practically biting through her lip to hold back her humiliation.

I don't particularly dislike the girl. She acts a bit high-handed, but she thinks carefully about our cla.s.s.

Case-in-point, she hired those adventurers with her allowance for us. The hired adventurers are yellow rank. They probably weren't cheap.

"I heard you people used some dirty tactics to steal a march on us. I simply thought I would ask what methods you used."

"And you think we'll answer you? Is that head of yours filled with flowers?"

"You, mere leftovers, would speak that way…"

"We weren't directly involved in the first place, so we don't even know what was done."

"Ah, I suppose I should not have expected anything from leftovers."

"… …"

The girl holding back her tears brought on a feeling that I haven't felt in a while. This is the anger from back when we first met Kevin.

Just as I'm about to take a step forward, Master grabs my shoulder and stops me.

He instead takes a step forward and tells him.

"Giant bees don't have good night vision, so at night time we wrapped their nest in a net, and heated it up to kill them."

"Hmph, is that all… a cheap method befitting cla.s.s five."

"I'm not strong, so I used my wits instead."

"I suppose laboring on a plan proves how powerless you are. It is unnecessary for us."

"I'm sure it is. Though it's thanks to that we took first place."

"Tsk, do not get a big head just because you got lucky."

After peevishly spitting on the ground, Franz returned to his own cottage.

With him chased away for now, Master breathes a sigh of relief, and the rich girl talks to him.

"Was it okay telling him about that?"

"Yeah, I don't mind, Miss Valumate. He would only get himself hurt with half-baked knowledge and power anyway."

"You may call me Maria. But… half-baked power you say. In other words you can brag that your own isn't half-baked?"

"That's not my half of it really, but Eir's. She's the other half; her night vision and agility are how we managed to pulled it off."

"I-I see… so she's your other half…"1

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

I feel like… there was a subtle s.h.i.+ft in meaning there?

While the three of us were tilting our heads at each other, an energetic voice called over.

"Heya, cla.s.s five peoples. Heard our problem child was being a nuisance."

Upon looking in that direction, there stood a tall female student.

She's taller than Master, around one hundred and sixty centimeters. Her figure is fantastic and full bodied. Her hair is long, black, l.u.s.trous, and frames her slender face.

She looks to be about fifteen, but her appearance would clearly put her into the beauty category.

"When he gets that stuck-up, it gives us problems too. Well, think you could treat it like getting bit by a dog and let bygones be bygones?"

"And you are?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I'm Seele Caacrinolaas. You can call me Selly, or Cacs, or whatever you want, kay?"

Once they heard that name, I could hear whispers behind us.

"And now it's the second seat of cla.s.s one."

"They say she's actually stronger than the top of the cla.s.s though."

"That guy got the top spot because of his house's power. In reality she's…"

And so on.

In other words, I guess that means she's the real number one.

"Wouldn't want to just go picking fights with the other cla.s.ses, right? So here's a bit of an apology."

Saying that, she pulled out a single bottle. An alcoholic beverage.

Seems like an expensive brand too.

"I know I'm just wiping his b.u.t.t for him here, but I'm really sorry about this, yeah? Particularly to you, Miss Velumate."

"Eh, no, I don't… Well I do mind, but well… I will let it pa.s.s."

"About the alcohol, I'm pretty sure most of us are adults here, but it's not actually allowed, so drink in secret, okay? Ah, I don't plan on tattling or anything, so don't worry."

"Uh huh…"

Maria energetically and casually responds, with all traces of maliciousness gone.

"Sorry to the minors here, but you'll have to go without. So anyway… just while I'm here, would you mind telling me about it too? How you took care of the bees."

"Aah, so that's the main reason you're here."

"Just curious, that's all, I'm interested. Conversation to go with the drinks. I don't scheme like that, how rude."

"Well, there's nothing to hide, so I don't really mind…"

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

So one way or another, together with Seele we held a drinking party in the cla.s.s five cottage.

Looks like there are amiable people here too.

Author's Note: All the character names came out at once. I should probably reflect on this.

Other half: this is my lame attempt at translating a pun. The actual lines were Rimuru saying Eir has good night vision (yome), and Maria hearing that as Rimuru calling Eir his wife (yome). This is the best I could come up with for it without agonizing over it for days. ↩