CH 225

「Whyyy」

At night, after finishing dinner, I took a bath, changed into my sleepwear, brushed my teeth, and was ready for bed.

I normally spent this time relaxing, but that was not to be today.

I bent over in bed with my head in my hands.

「Urghh, why do you think that happened?」

Next to me on the bed, Rana tilted her head.

But it felt like she was just half-listening while reading her book.

「Eh, you don't understand why?」

Lanseal, who was brushing her hair at the dressing table, asked questioningly.

Both of them spend the nights in my room, so there's practically no point in them having their own rooms. It seems that they keep their personal belongings in their rooms, but I have a feeling it's only a matter of time.

The number of Rana's books is increasing, and Lanseals maid's outfits are also hung up in my room.

I'm seriously contemplating the idea of renovating the fourth floor, where my room is, by tearing down walls to connect it with the study.

It's really cramped right now.

I appreciate this crampedness though.

「It's simple. It's only normal for party members who have gone through thick and thin together to object to the sudden addition of a newbie to the party, isn't it?」

When I introduced Yukikaze to them, they were opposed to the point where Shuna and even Otou-san were questioning my sanity.

We argued so much over it that it stopped being a discussion, so we had to put it off to a later date.

「But you know, Yukikaze has just arrived here and doesn't know anyone. I only wanted to introduce her to my party members……」

「If you were only introducing her as a friend, that would likely have been fine. But when you brought in someone with absolutely no experience and implied that she would be involved in adventuring, that caused friction」

「She doesn't have experience, but she has me as a reference, or at least ummm……」

Hearing what she said, I get the feeling that it was a bad idea.

Everyone starts out as a greenhorn and desperately puts their lives on the line to――――――and yet, some never manage to become advanced adventurers.

However, simply having a connection is probably a huge advantage for Yukikaze.

No, might it also be a disadvantage? There might be people who would kidnap her for ransom or to threaten us.

Yeah, I suppose it's more a matter of envy.

「Adventuring is an achievement-based profession. That's why it's free and celebrated as equal in some respects. However, it's still unequal in terms of race, lineage, talent, learning ability, and familial wealth」

After setting down the comb, Lanseal tied her hair back.

「However, everyone who becomes an adventurer starts their adventures from the very first floor. Information is also gathered and put together from scratch. My father never did give Georg any advice on adventuring either」

「I do get where you’re coming from」

Would it be better to keep Yukikaze at a distance? Alternatively, there's also the option of not having her become an adventurer. She can be of help even if she doesn't go into the dungeon.

「I had thought you the kind of person who’s quite strict in such matters, Souya, so I imagine everyone in your party was surprised to hear you say that」

「Ah, yeah」

I do think I'm a demanding person. I'm someone who's ruthless with others.

I once shot arrows at Lanseal with the intention of killing her. I also pinned her brother Georg to a wall by impaling him with an arrow.

It was no big deal to me then.

I was certain that Lanseal and the others were so foolish that they deserved death. I hadn't thought about the consequences that might follow at all.

That's, well, the kind of person I am.

And that’s why……

「I don't know, I guess I just wanted to do something for Yukikaze. I have this weird urge to try to make adventuring a little easier for her……」

……I have this sentiment that I'm struggling to sort out even now.

「Doesn't that sound like you're favoring a relative or something?」

「No, Yukikaze isn’t related to me」

To begin with, we only met yesterday.

「Are you two really not related?」

「I'm all alone in the world. ………Not anymore though」

Without any reason, I patted Rana's head. She was concentrating on her book, so there was no response. Her bedtime hairstyle today was a side ponytail tied loosely on the right side. She looked cute no matter how she wore her hair.

「Actually―――――Scoot over a little please」

Lanseal also got on the bed. She unreservedly hugged me from behind and pressed her lips to the nape of my neck.

I could hear the swishing of her tail.

I've learned from being in a relationship with beastkin that this is an expression of affection unique to them. They're marking by kissing a spot they choose.

Tyutyu does it on my ear, and Lanseal does it on my neck, but at one time, it overlapped, which resulted in a huge fight.

A fight between two beastkin is something to behold.

Well, amid the rampaging, I remembered that I had witnessed a victim of it once before.

Leaving that aside……

「Umm, that person called Yukikaze……」

Lanseal sniffed me with a satisfied air.

「……she has the same smell as you, Souya」

「Smell?」

Is it a smell peculiar to the Japanese?

Worried, I tried sniffing myself. I couldn't detect it at all.

「I'm not talking about the smell of the body, but the atmosphere and bearing of the person. I thought you two might be related because both of you look like you've had the same upbringing. It's hard to believe that you two are strangers. Well, that's just what my intuition tells me though」

「Is that so?」

If that's what a beastkin's intuition is saying, then there might be some sort of connection between me and Yukikaze.

「………………」

With a slam, Rana closed the book.

「Let's turn in for the night. I heard from Makina that you were so fatigued that you coughed up blood」

「What?! Madam, please tell me things like that earlier. As I thought, I should contract with Roomen and give Souya some of my vitality. To be honest, just doing housework leaves me with plenty of energy to spare」

「No, you can’t. Lanseal, you're of royal blood, remember? It wouldn't be proper for you to contract with the god of prostitutes. That's why……」

Rana suddenly pulled out a collar and put it around her neck.

『Huh?』

Lanseal and I raised our voices in unison.

「Thinking that something like this might happen, I contracted with Roomen a while ago. I‘m tonight’s dream. Embodiment of lust. Servant of the flesh, cushion―――――」

「Excuse me, wait just one second, madam!」

Lanseal stopped Rana's chant.

「Eh, what?」

「Madam, aren't you're royalty too?!」

She's absolutely right.

「I've been cast off by the Heures clan, remember? Also, I've heard something interesting. In Souya's country, a wife can take her husband's name after marriage. I was wondering if I should give up the Heures name and follow that world's custom. What do you think, dear?」

「Well, I don't really……」

I was about to say, "I don't really mind," but the words got stuck in my throat.

I felt dizzy and foggy-headed. Maybe I was still fatigued.

「Then I'd like to have the same name as Souya as well」

「What about the Lemuria name?」

「I'm just a beastkin. We don't have formal names. I'm simply Lanseal」

「Don't try to hide it」

Rana was quick to retort Lanseal's words.

「You have a secret name, don't you? I highly doubt King Lemuria wouldn't have prepared for every eventuality」

「Th, that’s……」

Lanseal trailed off.

I suppose Rana is referring to the eventuality where every heir to Lemuria's royal family is dead except for Lanseal.

「Every family has its own set of troublesome secrets. I won't pry too deeply, but don't do anything that might cause my husband any trouble. You have to promise me that much」

「I do, madam. On my life」

「So……」

I opened my mouth.

「Rana, while it's true that you no longer need Melm's permission, won't your main god, Ezusu-sama, have a problem with it?」

Ezusu-sama is the god of the elves and the forest.

Would he look kindly on his kin contracting with the god of prostitutes so casually? He may look mild-mannered, but he's the type who angers easily.

「I got his permission, of course」

「Oh, so he's fine with it」

As expected of someone who has protected the elves' bedchambers since ancient times. He's open-minded about such things, huh? Now that I think about it, the store that Tyutyu used to work in also had elven prostitutes.

No no no, I'm not going to let Rana do that kind of work. Not even as a joke.

What's this, umm, complicated and abnormal feeling I have right now?

「Main god Ezusu. Gods that are revered side by side, Sleep Demon, Roomen, and god of fertility, Gastolfo. Provide a service of blood to this temporary master and slave. Here are the magic elements to be transitioned――――――」

「No no no! Rana, wait!」

「What?」

I was the one who stopped Rana's chant this time around.

This is bad after all. I'm worried about her health.

「You ran out of magic power and collapsed, remember? Isn't this dangerous?」

「I'm just sharing my vitality with you, so the magic power needed is very minimal. Don't worry」

「I see. That's a relief」

Is it really? I thought, but before I could ponder it any further, Rana sealed my lips.

It's said that chants are prayers to the gods, but if two hearts are truly connected, neither words nor gestures are necessary.

As our tongues met passionately, my body heated up like it had caught on fire.

I felt as if the cells that had been dead from exhaustion were being revived.

When our lips finally parted, Rana asked me a question.

「Are you okay?」

「Yeah, I'm fine. No problem」

Well, maybe I do have a good problem, so to speak.

「Souya, Souya」

Lanseal leaned closer rubbed her cheek against me, as if to say, "Me too."

But Rana grabbed her by the face and pushed her away.

「Lanseal, this is just my take on it, but aren't you the cause of my husband's fatigue?」

「What?! That's terrible of you, madam! Out of respect for you, I've been holding back quite a lot!」

「Really?」

「I mean, when I was feeling really lonely a while back, didn't you mfmm――――――」

Rana lunged forward and clamped her hand over Lanseal's mouth.

「Silence! Don't blab about the kindness of others!」

With a terrifying voice, Rana intimidated Lanseal.

I don't know what's going on, but I couldn't care less because of the boobs that had landed on my face.

「By the way, madam, I just thought of something, but mumble, mumble」

「Eh? Ehhh? Oh, so that's what you’re thinking of. I see~」

The two of them had a discussion on top of me.

My body was on fire, but I was starting to feel nice and sleepy, so I closed my eyes.

I could feel their softness on my back and face.

Their whispering voices and the pleasant smells enveloping me made my consciousness drift far away into dreams of――――――

「Dear」

「Yawn, eh? What is it?」

Rana woke me up with a nibble on my nose. I must have fallen asleep for a moment.

I could see Lanseal's ears twitching in front of me. There was something in her eyes that frightened me though.

「Souya, madam and I have discussed this, but……」

「Dear, since I can restore your vitality anyway, I want you to be intimate with both of us tonight. I've been interested in that for a while. There are some things I've been meaning to try as well」

「Obpfft」

My thought processes short-circuited.

Ah, yes, the other reason why the title of the arc is what it is keke. Rana…so she plays for both teams, huh…those two closet perverts are really made for each other, huh?

Well, that brings an end to arc 2 of 7 for this volume. Yeah, there’s still so much to come, so stay tuned!
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