Editing MaruMA:Gaiden04:Chapter 9 (section)

===The Brash Family Ponytailed Muscle Man===

The ponytailed muscleman wakes up really early.

	I mean, Adalbert wakes up really early.

	For some reason, this is the equestrian tribe’s camp in the middle of the desert.

	They’re moving water from the places where the soil is rich to the huge water tank in the village for storage. Since every family is getting their own water, of course it’s on a first come first served basis.

	If the lazy single man were to wake up slightly later, he would face the troubling problem of an empty water barrel. Even if he’s the messiah, when it comes to water, all gloves come off.

	“Family, you said--!?”

	Taking advantage of his muscles, Adalbert holds up a large bottle and yells at the entrance to his tent,

	“Since when did I have a family--!?”

	“…Good morning, Father.”

	The Cropped Ponytail, also known as Nigel Weiss Maxine gets out of bed while yawning. Although his head and arms are exposed outside, but everything below his chest is still wrapped up in a grass carpet, and he jumps into the tent nimbly.

	“Nigel! Don’t just eat, sleep and shit, at least do something around the house, or help me out a bit! And what’s the matter with your beard and hair? You didn’t shave at all… Hm?”

	Adalbert grabs Maxine’s bearded, cropped-ponytail chin—although his beard isn’t butt-shaped.

	“…Did you grow fatter recently?”

	As soon as he heard those words, the Cropped-Pony’s small eyes immediately tear up,

	“F-Father, you must never say ‘fat’ to a mermaid!”

	“In that case you should work out! At the very least bring back some water! It’s a mermaid’s duty to maintain their figure too, right!”

	“But if I go back to looking like a human and walk around outside, I’ll get discovered by His Majesty Saralegui, and then I’ll be punished.”

	“The Shou Shimaron king went back to the capital with his little brother ages ago, there’s no way he’ll discover you.”

	As Adalbert continues scolding Maxine, he hears the laughter of children coming from behind him.

	The Shinzoku girls Jason and Freddy are splashing each other with water.

	“You two--! Didn’t I keep on telling you to save water!”

	“But Muscleman!”

	“Muscleman!”

	The twins tilt their heads at the same time,

	“Muscleman said just now.”

	“Work?”

	“That’s right, work?”

	“You asked Ponytail work.”

	“What? Me? I did tell Nigel to work, so what?”

	“Children.”

	“Work.”

	What they probably mean is—Didn’t Muscleman just tell Ponytail to work? In that case, a child’s job is to play, then let’s splash each other with water.

	“Right—?”

	“Right—”

	“And why do you keep calling me Muscleman? Why do you call Nigel Ponytail? What does Ponytail mean?”

	“Because—”

	“Right?”

	The twins look at each other and smile, saying to the man called ‘Father’,

	“It’s Yuuri.”

	“It’s Yuuri.”

	“Right—?”

	“Right—” 

	Adalbert can’t help but get a little mad,

	“Dammit, you two, don’t say the same thing! Decide on a representative to speak amongst yourselves! Don’t waste time!”

	As soon as he says that, the twins tear up immediately, and both of them cover their faces with their hands,

	“Muscleman is angry.”

	“Muscleman got angry.”

	“Dammit—! This will only make me more annoyed, don’t cry! Stop crying! Ah~~ Fine, fine, it was my fault! I shouldn’t yell at you two. I’m helpless once girls cry, it’s so annoying, I’m begging you two, don’t cry!”

	“…And Ponytail?”

	“And Ponytail?”

	They peek at their guardian’s expression through their fingers, and the messiah can only put his hand on his forehead, staring up at the sky,

	“…I’m not angry at Ponytail either.”

	“That’s great.”

	“That’s great, Ponytail.”

	“Mgh-ya heh heh!”

	The mermaid who was just scolded collapses onto the sandy ground and can’t get up no matter what he does, meaning Adalbert has yet another chore to do.

	“Mr Muscleman--! Mr Muscleman--!”

	The translator, Ajira, who stayed behind in the village rushes into the tent.

	Although his beard looks like mould, he did help us a lot with his language changing-jutsu. Judging from the way he’s unused to Shinzoku life, he should be just a Nice Guy who happens to be good at two languages.

	“Equestrian tribe, Box of Destiny, caught. Weird happening.”

	“What? They drew a poem from the fortune box that would decide what the equestrian tribe does after this, and got a strange prophecy? That’s impossible, aren’t all five of those lotteries ‘initiate plan to release the slaves’? Logically speaking, no matter which one the elders drew, they would get a prophecy telling them to ‘help liberate the slaves’.

	“But this.”

	There are a few red-brown words on the paper he holds out,

	“Obey the Maou—”

	“R-right now when this hierarchal country is just starting to change, who would suggest such a drastic opinion… Who is it? Who put this annoying lot inside!? And it’s written in animal blood too! Who… No, there’s no point asking. You two, control yourselves—!”

	“Muscleman is angry—!”

	“Father is angry—!”

	“Stand right there, you twins! I won’t forgive you this time!”

	“Mm-choo!”

	“Ponytail was stepped!”

	“Muscleman stepped on Ponytail—!”

	The brash family of the Ponytail and Muscleman, are as happy as ever today.



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