Chapter 501.2

“Good one, Oni-san! What you just said about the competition…I think it’s very good!” (Nell)

Nell looked a little excited beside me. She was also listening to our meeting until we finished, and now we’re heading home.

After our discussion regarding the different sports we could try out, our main topic ended and after some mild discussions of other topics, the meeting was concluded.

Well, maybe I was the one with all the free time, because I doubt those two would have been so free to continue the off-topic discussions.

The question of what competition we were going to choose in the end was to be discussed with the other Leaders, especially with Finar. So, it was decided that we would talk about it at a later date.

For now, only the direction of the meeting was decided.

If we took it easy, there was a possibility that the event would be held several years in the future. In order to avoid that, we were planning to hold another meeting of the Leaders at Rogard Empire in about a month’s time.

They also hoped to use this opportunity to hold such meetings at regular intervals.

In other words, it would be something like an international conference.

It was exciting to see that a framework for all the races to move forward was steadily beginning to be established.

Of course, there would be various problems, but… well, I guess the world still had a long way to go before we could overcome those problems.

As for this competition, I was super motivated, and I intend to fully cooperate.

I was thinking that perhaps it would also take a while for me to get things into the right track…

Oh, right, I had to bring a doctor to our house once before I thought about that plan.

Layla, who brought back some medical books when we had a trip to her village and was rapidly improving her knowledge regarding pregnancy and care, and was the one taking care of Lefi at the moment, but well, I couldn’t just leave it to her forever and would need the help of an actual specialist.

I’ve got some things going on for that, as well, and I was making a lot of progress… so with the competition thing added on my plate, it was going to keep me busy for a while.

“Ah, it’s a very exciting discussion that I’m really looking forward to ahead of time. I think this kind of thing is a good move. I believe that if we can advance the exchange of races and mutual understanding in this way, the world as a whole could take a step forward. I think this kind of competition is important to move the times.”

At my words, Nell looked happy as she stared at me.

“? What?” (Yuki)

“Hmmm, nothing. I just thought that you’re actually an expert.” (Nell)

“What do you mean by that ‘actually‘? I exude intelligence from the outside, don’t I?” (Yuki)

“Well, no, you exude silliness instead.” (Nell)

“Nell, that’s a pretty terrible thing to say, you know?” (Yuki)

“Haha, sorry.”

Nell laughed.

“…Well, in all seriousness, I’m not that smart. I’m far from an intellectual. Illuna may be much smarter than me.” (Yuki)

I just, you know, have some knowledge that was out of this world.

I have neither the intelligence nor the experience to put all of it to use.

“But I think you’re a pretty quick-witted guy, Oni-san, you know? Though, you have little self-esteem in that regard.” (Nell)

“Really? But I fail at a lot of things. If I had any tact, I’d do better, wouldn’t I?” (Yuki)

“Oh, well, I guess it’s just a classic trend of you getting carried away and making a mistake.” (Nell)

“Don’t call it a trend.” (Yuki)

My lovely wife giggled at my protests and continued.

“As one of your wives, I would like you to be careful about it. And though you make a lot of mistakes like that, I don’t think you have repeated the mistakes you made. I think you learn from your mistakes, make the most of the experience, and take precautions for the next time. That’s a pretty good attitude, don’t you think?” (Nell)

“…I see.” (Yuki)

I couldn’t say anything to her motherly expression, like a parent praising a child, so I just replied without thinking.

“…By the way, Oni-san, are you free later today?” (Nell)

“Hmm… I think so. There’s nothing going on after this.” (Yuki)

“Right. Then…do you want to hang out with me afterward? Well, you see, I’ve been in charge of entertaining Oni-san for the day… I mean, His Majesty has taken care of things, and I don’t have any more work to do for today. So, it’s just the two of us for the first time in a while.” (Nell)

I looked at Nell’s face as she said this with a slight smirk on her face.

“Nell?”

“What?”

“Why are you so cute?”

“Wha, what, you’re suddenly…”

“Well, my wife is so cute, I thought I was going to fall in love again. I feel like screaming this emotion out loud right now.”

“Don’t do that.”

Nell chuckled and then took my hand.

We intertwined our fingers in a cuddly manner and held hands.

“So you’re okay staying with me?”

“Of course I am. And even if I was busy, If you told me to stay with you, even if people told me that a war was about to break out, I would ignore it and go on a date with you.”

“Well, you really can’t ignore something like that, okay?”

And so after that, Nell and I spent some time together, strolling around the city.

Incidentally, I had forgotten about Rir and neglected him completely, and we both apologized to my pet, who later said, “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time…”.

The fact that the owner apologized was actually not so strange in our family.