When we got home, a messenger from Yasis’ was already waiting with a huge pile of materials for vibrators.
When the hell did she receive the order and beat us back here?
The woman handed over the materials silently and vanished without a sound.
OH JAPANESE NINJA!
…I almost said it out loud, but figured no one would get it, so I kept it to myself.
She probably doesn’t normally do errands like this.
Terrifying.
-0-
The three of us headed straight to the alchemy room and got to work mass-producing vibrators.
Come to think of it, this was Wendy’s first time seeing me make these things.
Still, I decided to focus and get it over with quickly.
Partway through, I started feeling weirdly embarrassed, so I asked Wendy to go prepare the bath.
Even after churning out a ton of vibrators, it still didn’t get close to ten million nohl, so I padded the rest with accessories—some of which could be counted as living expenses.
「Today was quite the ordeal, wasn’t it?」
「I think you look pretty pleased though.」
「Not at all! That girl’s debt was fifteen million, so I’m taking a huge loss here.」
「You’ll make way more than that selling this stuff.」
「Well, of course. Honestly, I’m so glad I signed that exclusivity contract with you back then.」
With that, Yasis stuffed all the items into her magic bag and left.
Man, I’m completely wiped out.
Now that I think about it, the other four still haven’t come back yet.
Hope they’re not still in “let’s kill him” mode…
「「「「We’re home—」」」」
While waiting for Wendy to finish prepping the bath, I was slicing up some moi when the four of them returned.
「Big house you got here ssu…」
「My liege, this is quite the estate.」
「You—er, I mean my lord, you got a house like this!?」
They all seemed shocked by the size of the place.
But… wow, they’re filthy.
That’s mud, right? Not blood…?
What the hell did they get into?
「You’re a mess. Go take a bath first…」
「You have a bath!?」
「Obviously. It’s amazing.」
「Woooow… I sure got picked up by someone incredible ssu.」
「Ah, and make sure you clean off before getting in, got it?」
「Of course, I know that much.」
Yeah, no way am I letting anyone get in the tub still covered in that gunk.
「How about lord?」
「He’s prepping stuff right now, so he can’t join.」
「Then Shiro will bathe with lord later.」
「Not a chance—you’re not stepping into the kitchen covered in mud like that.」
「Ugh. Then I’ll rinse off first and join him after.」
「Fine, that works.」
「Hold on a second!! My lord, you’re taking baths with that tiny girl!?」
Hah. Now she complains?
「? It’s normal here to bathe with lord.」
「Normal ssu!? The standard in this place is too high level ssu! But hey, bring it on ssu!」
Hey, you’re supposed to hate men, remember?
And what do you mean “bring it on”!?
If you so much as try bringing a towel into the tub, I’m kicking you out!
「Well then, we’ll go ahead.」
With that, Aina followed after Shiro, heading toward the bath.
Man, if I weren’t in the middle of prep work, I’d be in there too…
Ah—well, Wendy can heat the water with her magic, so that’s covered.
Guess I’ll take a solo soak later.
That might actually be nice and relaxing.
While I was thinking that, the door suddenly flew open and Yasis appeared. Everyone turned to look at him.
「Oh, pardon me. Ah, perfect timing. I’ll be borrowing Renge-sama for a bit.」
「Huh? Is there something else?」
「Yes. Even if it was a minor offense, I still need to report to the lord.」
「Ah, right. I’m technically a criminal slave now ssu.」
「Correct. Please come with me.」
「Got it ssu. Lord, I’ll be back in a bit ssu.」
「I’ll return her shortly.」
「All right. We’ll have dinner ready when you’re back.」
「See ya!」
「Now then, if you’ll excuse us.」
Oh right, we were supposed to report to the lord.
Completely slipped my mind after all the chaos.
Yeah… this is totally the adventurers’ fault.
「Aina, let’s bathe.」
「Hmm… shouldn’t we wait for Renge?」
「No need. You two should go in first. You smell.」
「Smell!? Well, of course we do—we just got back from a dungeon!」
「Hmph. A criminal slave daring to talk back to Shiro…」
「Gghh… (inhale, exhale)… My apologies, Shiro-sama.」
「Gross. Aina, dog, just act normal.」
「I told you not to call me dog!!」
「Come on, let’s go. If you stink, my liege won’t like you.」
「Stop saying ‘stink’ over and over again…」
「Ugh, fine! I’m going already!」
This place is going to get real noisy again…
I wonder if I’ll ever get to enjoy a peaceful life.
Maybe if I want to sunbathe, I could freeze a space in the air and float up there.
Though if I fall asleep and the magic wears off, that’s a problem…
Better try it out at a low height first.
I just hope Shiro and Sorte, and Wendy and Renge, start getting along.
Maybe I’ll pair them off and see how that goes.
As long as they don’t end up fighting, that is.
Oh—need to soak the moi in salt water or it’ll start discoloring.
Man, cooking for this many people’s a real challenge…
Well, this is just a snack anyway.
I’ll make the rest into plain old fries.
Still, I really want to make a red wine stew.
I’ve got some tomatoes, and I’m pretty sure there’s honey among the preserved food.
Just need to adjust things as I go.
Ah—pressure cooker…
I wonder if I can simulate pressure using Invisible Prison on a pot?
Oh, right—flour!
I’ve got flour, sugar, and salt… but no dry yeast…
Hmm… oh well, guess I’ll have to give up on baking bread this time.
Since I’ve got white bread, I probably have baking soda too.
In that case, I could make pizza with tomato, meat, peppers, and moi.
As for cheese… yep, got it. Shouldn’t be a problem.
-0-
One thing I’ve realized.
It’s hard to make Japanese food in another world.
There’s no soy sauce to begin with.
Or mirin.
Man, I’d love to eat some nikujaga…
Hmm… I’m still short on ingredients.
Forgot to buy olive oil too.
Maybe I should go out and restock?
「Master? The three of them have entered the bath. What about you?」
「Oh, perfect timing. Sorry, but could you handle the rest of dinner prep? I’m going out for a bit to buy a few things.」
「Alone? That’s too dangerous! Please at least take Shiro with you.」
「She’s still in the bath though.」
「Shiro said she was just rinsing off the dirt, so she should be out soon—probably soaking wet.」
「Lord ~Dry me~」
Step step splish splash—Shiro came out completely drenched, water dripping down her hair like a broken faucet.
「Hey, Shiro! At least towel off a little first! Ugh, now the whole floor’s soaked!」
「Sigh… I’ll clean up the floor. Master, please dry off Shiro and hurry with your shopping.」
「Hmm, going out? With lord? What about Wendy?」
「Master asked me to handle dinner prep, so it’s your job to protect him now. Do it properly this time.」
「Hmm. No letting my guard down.」
「Yeah, I’d really prefer not to get caught up in another life-threatening incident twice in one day…」
If that actually happened twice in one day, I’d seriously consider moving out of this town.
Time to find out if the problem is me or the city.
After drying Shiro off and getting her changed, I handed over the ingredients I’d already bought, then headed back toward the northern shopping district.
-0-
On the way, I was stopped by the madam who sold me vegetables earlier.
When I hear the word “madam”, am I the only one who pictures a plump woman?
「Oh, it’s you from earlier… Are you alright?」
「Yes. There’s no problem. As you can see, not even a scratch.」
「I see. I’m glad to hear that.」
「Ahaha. Sorry for causing a scene.」
「What happened to that girl?」
「She wasn’t hurt, so it seems the punishment will be light. She’s currently with Yasis, reporting to the lord.」
「I see. That’s good. Even if she’s a slave, she’s cheerful and lively. She really lifted our spirits, so I was worried.」
「Ahaha. It’d be troublesome for me too if something like that turned into a big deal.」
「Did you ask them to reduce her sentence?」
「Of course.」
「Thank you. There were others worried about her too. Mind if I let them know it’s nothing serious?」
「Go ahead. Just let them know there will still be some kind of punishment, so I hope they can understand that.」
「I understand. The beastkin shopkeeper was so worried he was pacing around. Be sure to stop by and let him know, alright?」
Ah, that’s right.
He’s involved too, after all.
I can’t go into too much detail, but I should at least tell him how it ended.
While I was at it, I bought more vegetables from Madam’s stall.
Shiro looked displeased, but since they were closing soon and she didn’t want them to go to waste, she sold them to me cheap.
-0-
On the way to the beastkin’s shop, several people came up to ask about the incident.
What I realized was that almost no one knew the details.
All they seemed to remember was that something happened, they saw me collapsed, and that the beastkin shop girl was taken away.
To the people who said they heard something about killing, I waved around a loin roast and forced an explanation.
Maybe they thought when I said 『This roast(kono rosu)~』 it sounded like 『Kill(korosu)~』?
Man, I’m really glad I bought that roast!
They probably didn’t catch on.
No one called me out on it!
「Lord, you sound like an idiot.」
「That’s harsh! It’s because Shiro said stuff like ‘half kill’ and ‘definitely kill’!」
「Muu. Renge said it first.」
「Renge is Renge. Shiro is Shiro.」
「That response is based on your subjective reasoning. Objection overruled.」
「What kind of trial is this…」
「The ‘no more vegetables’ trial. If I win, I get unlimited meat for life.」
「Judgment: Shiro, guilty.」
「Impossible… I sense the abuse of hidden authority. I demand a retrial.」
「What are you two even doing…」
While I was bantering with Shiro, we had somehow ended up right in front of the beastkin’s shop.
「Yo. Just came by to do some shopping.」
「Ah, yeah… Hey, um…」
「If you’re worried about Renge, she’s fine.」
「I-I see. I’ve been thinking about it the whole time…」
「Even on the way here, I could tell—she’s really taken a liking to you.」
「So others were worried too, huh. Well, she was working as a shop girl around here, so that makes sense.」
「Really. Then she’s been a slave for a while now?」
「Nah, only about three days, I think? She finishes her daily quota fast, so she keeps getting sent to the next shop. She ends up working multiple shifts in one day.」
「I see. Looks like the shop owners are the unlucky ones then.」
「Yeah… Guess so. But if you’re safe, that’s a relief. I honestly thought you might’ve died.」
「Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I came out of it unscathed…」
I mean, for someone who hates men to end up becoming my slave—can you really call that a safe outcome?
But at this point, her character has pretty much fallen apart. All that’s left is her perfect thighs and that 『ssu』 she tags on the end of sentences.
「What is it? Forced labor?」
「Nah, she became my slave.」
「Oh, then it’s fine. If the girl’s that attached to you, there’s nothing to worry about.」
The shopkeeper glanced down at Shiro, who was still clinging to my waist, looking up at me and repeatedly saying 「I demand a retrial.」
Is this what being attached looks like?
「Well, if possible, bring that girl along next time you shop. Everyone would be glad to see her.」
「I’ll come soon. Sounds like that would ease a lot of minds.」
「Thanks. Now then, dear customer, what can I help you with today?」
The shopkeeper let out a breath of relief, then smoothly shifted into customer service mode.
Truth is, there were a lot of things in this shop I’d been curious about.
I sold a decent amount to Yasis, so I had more than enough money to spare, and Wendy wasn’t around.
That meant I could just go ahead and buy everything I was interested in.
And so, I bought up all kinds of powders, spices, seasonings, and of course, the Olibul oil I missed out on earlier.
Then I moved on, talking about Renge while continuing my shopping.
Total cost: 550,000 Nohl.
Most of that was the Olibul oil I failed to buy before. The remaining 50,000 Nohl? Spent on a bunch of things I bought out of sheer curiosity, with no idea what I’d use them for.
Needless to say, when I got home, Wendy scolded me again for being so reckless.
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