Isekai Nonbiri Nouka

Chapter 841: Swan’s Circumstances

Swans are not suited for racing.

However, they have been racing well so far.

Why?

Because it was staged.

Odette and Odile are familiars of gods.

And unlike Niz, who rose in rank from a mere snake to a god’s familiar, they are directly created by gods.

I hate to admit it, but they are awesome.

Therefore, the swans obey Odette and Odile.

They don’t dare disobey.

Thus, they ignore their migrations and territories just to join races.

No, it was staged so they were only pretending to be racing.

「Wait wait wait」

Odette, who had recovered from her pond building fatigue and is already in her human form, interrupted me.

「You’re making it sound like we’re forcing them to race.」

Isn’t it?

「We’re not! Odile, please explain.」

Why don’t you explain yourself?

「Odile is better at explaining.」

I see.

-0-

According to Odile’s explanation, the swans in the race were swans that had lost their territorial battle and had nowhere to go.

It is difficult for them to find a new feeding ground given they have lost and because of that, they can’t eat.

Even if they are lucky enough to find a new feeding ground, they are often monsters or living there.

Swans that lose territorial battle of a known feeding ground among swans can only wait for death.

Odette and Odile led these swans to this pond and protected them.

And the swans are racing to repay Odette and Odile.

So that’s how it is.

Odette and Odile, I thought you were living a carefree life but you’re actually doing your job well.

「Isn’t that obvious?」

Yeah, I guess so.

「Fufufu」

Odette puffs out her chest.

Alright, let’s get back to the story……

In short, the swans aren’t racing voluntarily, right?

Odette and Odile asked them to do so so they are doing it.

「Mou……ma-maa, I guess there’s some truth in that but we’re not forcing them.」

A request on someone that can’t refuse is no different from coercion.

「Mou」

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Still, the problem is……

Can the swan race without the race being staged?

Can they?

I asked Odette and she looked at Odile.

Then, Odile looked at the swans.

The swans are……

After looking troubled, they looked at me straight in the eyes.

Can you?

The swans nodded.

What about migrating due to season change?

As long as you have food, you don’t have to migrate?

You’re already prepared to bury your bones here?

……

Good.

I’ll provide you the best food.

So do your best at the races.

-0-

As for you……

There are wild ducks and ducks who have been watching us from the shadows.

Unfortunately, you are no longer in the race.

Sorry.

No, you guys are migratory birds too, right?

Shouldn’t you show your guts?

Ah, alright alright.

If we get the numbers right, we will also hold duck races on the days we don’t hold swan races.

Is that alright?

That’s good. You want name tags so that people don’t hunt you?

Ah, I didn’t know.

The swans are protected by Odette and Odile but they are not protecting you ducks.

On the contrary, you were being attacked by swans?

I see.

I get it.

I’ll make necklaces with tags for you.

I will also ask Odette and Odile to tell the swans to not attack you.

In exchange, you know, right?

When you start to race, there shouldn’t be cheating or staging.

I expect you to do your best in each race.

-0-

Now.

As for the food for swans, wild ducks, and ducks, I already thought of something.

Pond turtles.

I heard that they were good at cultivating aquatic plants.

Thus, I asked the pond turtles and they said they would take care of it.

Thanks.

However, what I did not expect was that they would dispatch young pond turtles to go to the swan’s ponds.

I told them that if they think the pond in Big Tree Village is already too small for them, I would widen it but apparently, that is not the case.

They wanted the young pond turtles to practice.

The reservoir in Big Tree Village is safe so because of that, they don’t have any real combat experience.

Also, because there are so many pond turtles there, they can survive without using their natural abilities.

The adult pond turtles thought that what’s happening wasn’t good.

However, that doesn’t mean that they would send them to some dangerous places.

Suddenly, there’s swan’s ponds now.

It’s near Village Five.

Moreover, Odette and Odile are there.

Though they won’t still be able to gain real combat experience, when one pond is managed solely by a lone pond turtle, he would feel tense and won’t let his guard down.

Given that, three young pond turtles were selected.

Among the young turtles, three serious types were chosen.

………

Don’t they usually send the curious ones or the naughty ones for this kind of thing?

They said it’s true that they meant them to train but I came to them to get some workers so they picked up those who will seriously work.

They don’t want to send anyone who might become a nuisance.

I see.

I guess I’ll try to not push anyone annoying on my side to someone else too.

…….

What was that? I thought I heard the demon king’s voice from afar as if asking me something.

Well, I should just be imagining things.

-0-

The high elves, who had just finished building the building, made a bulletin board for displaying names, numbers, and multipliers of the swans in the race.

It is quite big so that it can be seen from a distance.

The names, numbers, and multipliers are changed manually so you have to use a ladder to change them.

Normally, it is the mountain elves who are in charge of this kind of thing but I asked the mountain elves to make an automatic ticket burner.

It is a machine……a golem that automatically burn stamps the numbers on wooden plates.

The machine is quite big because it has to include the name of the race and the date of the race in addition to the betting number.

Even so, it is high performance and multifunctional.

It takes about 5 minutes for it to start up and once it is up and running, it can burn stamps around 40 plates per second.

Not the same number but different numbers.

What is even more impressive is the ability to count the numbered plates.

This is very helpful in many ways.

Well, for confirmation, I’ll still have them count the plates manually.

This is not because I don’t trust the golem or the worker but because it is a factor that determines the multiplier and I want to keep a tight control on it.

That automatic burn stamper machine for the ballots…

We decided to make several more of it.

No matter how fast it can burn stamps, there’s no way one machine is enough because it involves money exchanges between people.

No, we won’t actually know until we give it a try, but I don’t want to lose sales because we can’t handle it.

Therefore, we would like to have more than one automatic burn stamping machine for ballots.

After that, we would need to add up the counts from multiple automatic burn stamping machines.

I guess we’ll have to manually do that.

-0-

The people who’ll do the calculations have arrived.

They are angels.

Five angels disguised as demons.

At first, I was going to ask Count Pugyaru to get some people who would do the calculations.

Count Pugyaru is a noble who has a human village near Howling village in his territory.

He was involved in Beton-san’s case one winter and is also the father of one of Gol’s wives.

He is also the father of a civil servant girl who has been with us since early on.

Thus, we have to use this chance to deepen our relationship.

That’s according to Loo.

Because of that, we tried to contact him through various channels……

Unluckily, we never met him.

As an alternative candidate, we switched to Count Glitch.

He is also a father of one of Gol’s wives and the father of one of the civil servant girls who has been with us since early on.

Unluckily, we didn’t meet him.

We had no choice but to call the angels who could afford to send some people.

The reason I didn’t call on them first was because I thought they would scold me for trying to get them involved in gambling.

They like conspiracy and being in control for some reason.

When I approached them prepared to be scolded, I did not expect their reaction.

Gambling.

They love it.

Behind the scenes.

They love it.

Yeah okay.

Just don’t suggest cheating.

It’s not like no one will ever find out.

No cheating allowed.

We’re going to do it fair and square.

I hope the five of you won’t only do your best in calculating dividends but also in exposing cheaters.

-0-

Village Chief: I won’t push anyone annoying on my side to someone else.

Village Chief: Hmm? What’s wrong, demon king? Why are you suddenly muttering Tiselle and Ursa’s names?

-0-

Count Glitch: Pugyaru? What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?

Count Pugyaru: You better escape too! With all your might!

Count Glitch: Eh? Eh? Eh?