Otome Game Mob Villain

Chapter 757

"My mansion is where goods from Balst and the Empire are gathered. Compared to others, it's pretty big, right?"

"...Yes, indeed. I've never seen a mansion of that scale before."

Looking out the window at the mansion and warehouses in the distance, I nodded in agreement with Azteca's words.

The Horse Tribe chieftain's mansion looked from here to be about as large as the Baldia mansion.

The single-story buildings that seemed to be attached warehouses appeared to be even more massive in construction.

In fact, they were reminiscent of the 'logistics warehouses' of transport companies I'd seen in my past life.

"Haha, you'll be even more surprised when we arrive."

After saying this, Azteca returned to his seat, plopped down heavily, and placed his crossed feet on the seat in front again.

"Alright then, I'm gonna catch a little shut-eye until we get there."

"That's fine, but please take your feet off the seat in front."

"Yessir, yessir. Understood, Ridd-sama."

He gave a leering grin, shrugged his shoulders, took his feet down, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.

Then, he immediately started snoring loudly and vigorously.

"He's... quite the character, isn't he? He reminds me of the rough types from my adventurer days."

"...I dislike this sort of vulgar person."

Tink muttered with a look of exasperation, and Nina, who had been soothing her baby Claude, coldly whispered, "Aha ha... Well, we don't see many people like that in Baldia."

Scratching my cheek with a wry smile, I glanced sideways at Azteca.

Even though we're not hostile, to board without any guards and then snore this loudly and defenselessly...

He must have tremendous guts and nerve... or be a 'fool.'

However, considering that Azteca is the Horse Tribe chieftain, the chieftain council, and his behavior this time, the likelihood of the former is very high.

Is this intentional behavior to make us let our guard down?

Does he have some other aim?

In any case, it's certain that he's a person we cannot let our guard down around.

"My apologies. As a fellow beast tribesperson, I apologize for Azteca-sama's rudeness."

Amon placed a hand on his forehead, sighed, looked at us, and bowed his head.

"No, no, you don't need to worry about that."

"With all due respect, I believe Ridd-sama is correct. Amon-sama is Amon-sama, Azteca-sama is Azteca-sama. I do not believe Amon-sama needs to bow his head."

Capella, who had been silently observing until now, spoke up.

In fact, while feigning nonchalance, he had been keeping a sharp eye on Azteca's movements the entire time.

On the other hand, Azteca had also been glancing sideways at Capella, so I think he probably noticed the gaze as well.

The sense of the two mutually sizing each other up was palpable even through the air, so inwardly, it was hard to relax.

"But still..."

Amon raised his head but glanced at Azteca with a look of apology.

"There are always people whose words and actions are rude, regardless of race or whether they're good or bad. And I think that's precisely what makes the world interesting."

I smiled at him, and Amon's expression brightened a little as he said, "R-right. Maybe so."

"Still, Ridd, you're as mature and detached as ever. Are you sure you're not faking your age?"

"W-what are you talking about? That's impossible."

I flinched and tried to laugh it off, but Nina reacted, "Oh, I understand that remark."

I was inwardly startled by this unexpected person's comment.

"At one point, the sudden change in Ridd-sama's maturity was even a topic of conversation in the Baldia mansion."

"Huh? That was a thing?"

I couldn't help but ask back, and Nina chuckled with a "fufu" and nodded.

"It was a few years ago now, though."

A few years ago... That would be around when I regained my memories.

I had no idea it had been such a topic of discussion among the mansion staff back then.

"Come to think of it, I recall Cross saying something like that too. 'The young master Ridd has changed; the future of House Baldia is secure now,' or something along those lines."

Tink followed up as if drawn in, but immediately realized her slip and bowed her head deeply to me.

"That was an indiscreet remark. I am terribly sorry."

"A-aha ha. Don't worry about it, it's fine."

I smiled wryly, scratching my cheek, and motioned for her to raise her head.

"I was in a pretty bad state back then because of my mother, and I caused a lot of trouble for everyone at the mansion. It's only natural that Cross was worried about the future of House Baldia."

Before I regained my memories, I broke everything in the mansion I could get my hands on and took my anger out on those of lower status.

To add to that, in a future where I grew up without regaining my memories, Baldia would have become extinct.

You could say Cross's worry was justified.

"Huh, so Ridd had a wild, childish period too?"

Amon asked, sounding surprised, and I shrugged my shoulders theatrically.

"Well, a lot of things piled up. You know, like the 'terrible twos' or 'rebellious phase' people talk about."

"I see. Though, I feel like both of those are a bit off the mark."

"Th-they're similar enough, aren't they? More importantly, look."

Trying to divert Amon, who was tilting his head in doubt while offering a straight-man retort, I hurriedly pointed at the scenery visible from the window.

"We're getting quite close to the chieftain's mansion, aren't we? I can see a lot of wagons, connected to trailers, coming and going."

"Oh, you're right. This scene wasn't present in the territories we visited before."

Amon gazed out the window at the scenery, and instantly his expression shifted to that of a chieftain.

Phew, I think I managed to gloss over it.

Feeling relieved inwardly, I chimed in to continue the conversation.

"Yeah. I'd like to build a logistics hub like this in the Fox Tribe territory eventually. That way, we could sell not only Baldia goods but also goods collected from Renarute and the Empire within Zubaira. Of course, we'd need the Horse Tribe's cooperation."

"Right..."

Amon nodded, glancing sideways at Azteca, who continued to snore.

"It's not something to say in front of the person himself, but negotiations don't seem like they'll be straightforward."

"Yeah. But I'll do my best to steer them in a good direction."

I said this, then looked at Azteca and shrugged my shoulders as if to say "what can you do."

◇

"Azteca, wake up. We've arrived."

"...Hm? That so, we're here already? I slept better than I thought."

When I shook him and called out, he yawned, stretched, and slowly stood up from his seat.

He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders to work out the stiffness.

Watching his movements, I glanced sideways out the window at the unfolding scene and frowned.

"...Azteca. We've arrived, but what is this situation?"

"Huh? What situation?"

He frowned, looked at the scene outside, and grinned.

"What do you mean? It's a welcome, a welcome. The chieftain has returned. This much is only natural."

"H-huh...?"

Hearing it was a welcome, I blinked in surprise.

The Horse Tribe chieftain's mansion was the largest of any we had visited so far.

It probably doubled as a logistics warehouse, but the grounds of the mansion and warehouses were even more enormous than they had seemed from a distance.

But that wasn't the reason I blinked.

Right after our group arrived in front of the Horse Tribe chieftain's mansion, the mansion doors opened, and from inside, one brawny Horse Tribe man after another, dressed in military uniforms, appeared, lining up neatly on both sides of the path leading to the entrance.

There must have been dozens of men. They stood with their feet shoulder-width apart, their arms clasped behind their backs.

In terms of posture, it was 'at ease.'

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna eat you or anything."

Azteca gave a fearless grin and stepped out briskly, descending from the vehicle.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the chests of the men lined up on both sides of the path swelled out.

"Welcome home, Azteca-sama!"

A thunderous voice roared, the air trembled, and I felt the charcoal car shake, or so it seemed.

Wh-when did we enter the world of a yakuza movie?

While I was bewildered by the sheer force, Azteca looked around with a satisfied laugh.

"Hey, everyone. Thanks for the welcome."

Saying this, he looked back at us, who were still dumbfounded and unable to disembark from the trailer.

"Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up and get down."

"R-right."

Snapped out of it by his call, I gulped and stepped down onto the Horse Tribe's earth. At that moment, Azteca relaxed his mouth into a grin and snapped his fingers.

As if on cue, the men all raised their heads at once, their chests swelling out again.