Volume 4 - CH 2.09

Is that so? I would have never guessed that from Sherry’s reaction just now. I thought that this ban on slaves carrying weapons with them is probably a countermeasure against the slaves killing innocent people, but both Roxanne and Sherry do not look like someone who could commit such an atrocity, but if that is what the law dictates, then there is nothing that we can do about it.

After that bit of shopping was done, we moved on to buy a pair of socks and pumpkin pants at the clothing shop and a backpack, a small wooden tub and a wooden toothpick at the general store. We also bought some ingredients for the meals in the following days, and then we were on the way back home, by which I mean that we went back to the Adventurer’s Guild where I have created a Warp portal on the wall and went through it with absolute confidence, believing that we were not doing anything out of the ordinary. And when we were back home. . .

「Okay, I am going to take care of preparing the bath, so I would like you girls to take care of dinner like we agreed beforehand, okay?」

「Understood, master!」

「Should I not help you with that task, master?」

Sherry asked me.

「I appreciate the gesture, but I will be fine on my own. It might sound simple, but the process of filling the entire bathtub up is longer and more complicated than it might initially seem. Also, I do not want either of you to burn yourself with hot water by accident.」

Well, it would certainly be better if I could ask them to move the hot water into the bathtub for me, but as I just said, I really do not want to make them do it if there is any risk of them burning themselves by accident. Not to mention that as the tub gets filled, the overall temperature of the bathroom rises, making it more difficult to breathe and turning the simple act of filling the tub into quite an ordeal. As long as they can get in the bath with me when I will finish preparing it, it is going to be more than enough for me. And since I am the only member of my Party who can use magic, then I feel like this is my responsibility and mine alone.

Leaving Sherry with Roxanne as they were making the preparations to make dinner, I headed for the bathroom to get the process of filling it going right away. I will not lie: preparing a bath by using magic has turned out to be more of a hassle than I have initially expected it to be, but when I think about the incredible experience that is going to be waiting for me when I finally be done with preparing it, every fiber of my body is telling me that this is all going to be so worth it! And that is why I do not mind suffering for a bit myself now if it means that I will get to enjoy myself like never before later. That is how every good guy like me should aspire to be.

「Miss Roxanne, is that amount of food going to be correct? Is master really going to eat so much?」

Even though my Level has increased and I could fill more of the bathtub with a single MP bar, it was still running low at a very fast pace, so it was high time to go recover it before it drops to the critically low zone, and while I was making my way to the living room to prepare a Warp portal to the Labyrinth, my ears caught Sherry asking Roxanne such questions as they were in the kitchen in the middle of making dinner for us. Is there some sort of problem with the amount of food? Are Dwarves perhaps especially big eaters and no one informed me about it?

「Let me check real quick. . . . . . . . .  . . . .   hmm, this amount of food should be just right, but there is no need to hold yourself back, Sherry. If you want to add more of it, then feel free to do so.」

「Really? Master eats so much for a single meal?」

「Ah, so that is what it was about? In that case, do not worry. The meal we are making now is not just for master. It is for all three of us.」

「Eh? All three of us? Are we really allowed to eat the same thing that master is going to eat?」

Again with such issues? I do not want to sound overly rude, but this is starting to sound really pitiful.

「Yes, we are allowed to do it, because that is what master wishes.」

「But. . . . . . . . . .   but there is so much good meat in here! And also, when we were buying bread, I could not help but notice that we ended up taking only the loaves that were of the highest quality. I thought that since we are slaves that we are not going to get any, and that we would only eat the leftovers left after master’s meal.

What did Sherry say just now? She lowered her voice so much that I could not hear her words clearly, so with nothing better to do, I knocked on the wall a few times to interrupt them and get their attention.

「Roxanne, can I ask for the usual thing, please?」

「Ah, is it that time already? Then of course, master.」

Roxanne sprinted over to my side, and I handed the Leather Mittens and her Leather Shield to her, and placed the Leather Helmet directly onto her head.Of course, before I placed the helmet on her head, I did not forget to gently stroke her doggy ears.

「Master, thank you for giving us an opportunity to eat such a delicious meal.」

Sherry came and bowed to me as if it was something that I did. It should be the other way around, right? I should be the one thanking you for letting me eat delicious food, because how it turns out depends entirely on your cooking skills, you know? Also, since we are about to go recover my MP, then I might as well ask her this one thing that I wanted to bring up.

「By the way, Sherry, Roxanne and I are going to go to the Labyrinth for a little bit, and I was wondering if you would maybe like to go with us?」

「To the Labyrinth? Right now?」

「Yeah, because I have to replenish the reserves of my magic power so that I could finish filling the bathtub. If you decide to go with us, it is more than likely that you will not be fighting together with us this time, but you are more than welcome to watch us so that you could get yourself accustomed to our way of fighting. But if you do not want to go because you want to stay and keep an eye on the cooking, then that is perfectly fine with us as well. You do not have to come simply because I am telling you to. Just say the word, and we will respect your decision.」

For a moment Sherry looks as if she was deep in thought, and then she said:

「We have only just started to prepare the ingredients and did not put anything on fire just yet, so I think it should be fine for me to go together with you. Or rather, that I something that I want to do, so please, master, let me accompany you on your trip to the Labyrinth!」

「All right then, as you wish.」

Since Sherry decided that she is going to be coming along with us as well, I took out a pair of Leather Mittens and a Leather Helmet and gave them both to her. But when I was putting the helmet on her head and making adjustments to it. . .

「Hmm, how should I put it. . .  somehow, this is truly amazing.」

「What is, master?」

「Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself, that’s all.」

Sherry’s hair is very thick. I bet that even if she was not wearing a Leather Helmet, then just her hair alone would be enough to absorb the impact of some of the blows aimed at her head.

「I was simply thinking that you hair is unusually thick for a girl.」

Yeah, hair like that is definitely strange, just like I thought when I first saw her back at the Slave Shop.