Several days had passed since Hayato and the others arrived, and we spent them relaxing in Einzheil. The fatigue from the Amatsukuni trip had been fully recovered, but I still did not feel like heading straight into the Yggdra Great Forest. Just as I wished, today we were once again lazily enjoying tea in the garden.
Well, we had never clearly stated when we would leave, and there was no need for us to worry about that, so it should be fine.
The elves might be anxiously wondering when we would arrive, but that was not my concern.
「Ah…… Roasted green tea is delicious……」
Roasted green tea really is nice……
The calming feeling of regular green tea is good too, but I also like the soothing, comforting taste of roasted green tea.
「Indeed. I like green tea as well, but this one feels more suitable for me.」
Aina, who was sitting beside me today, was also relaxing and drinking roasted green tea with me.
「Fufu. You seem quite relaxed, my liege.」
「When I rest, I rest to the absolute limit. Haaaa…… Being lazy is the best……」
Ah…… On days when there is nothing to do, my heart relaxes so much that I just melt into laziness.
My eyelids feel like they might drop, but it would be a waste to sleep on a day like today.
「I will not tell you to stop being lazy, but if you keep that up you will slide right off the chair. More importantly…… why was I the only one invited today?」
「Hmmn……? That is because of what is happening right in front of us. I wanted someone to explain it to me.」
「I see. Sorte and Renge are quite pitiful. They have a quest, cannot have tea with their lord, and on top of that they cannot watch something this interesting……」
What Aina called interesting was probably the scene unfolding right before our eyes as we drank tea.
To be honest…… I have no idea what is going on, so I am quietly sipping my roasted green tea, but if I had to describe it in one word, it would be incredible.
「Can you see it, Aina?」
「Of course…… or so I would like to say, but I cannot see everything. I can grasp the general movements, but I cannot count the number of feints, for example.」
「Haaa…… As expected, both of them are amazing.」
「Yes. Amazing…… is the only way to describe it. Honestly, many adventurers would pay money just to watch these two fight. It is that educational and spectacular.」
「Ooh…… To me they both look so fast that I cannot see anything clearly……」
「Fufu. So you gave up and decided to drink tea instead. Mu…… Is it about to end soon?」
You can even tell that? I thought, and just as Aina said, the speed of the two gradually slowed down. Soon they became visible, and eventually they stopped facing each other, lowered their stances, and released their guards.
After a few seconds of breathing heavily with their shoulders, both of them showed smiles, sheathed their weapons, and Shiro came running over to us while Hayato approached at a leisurely pace.
「Lord, towel」
「Ooh. Wait, you want me to wipe you?」
「Hmm!」
I started by wiping Shiro’s face, which was drenched in sweat yet still smiling. She made a small 「Nya」 sound and showed a bit of resistance, but stayed still and let me wipe her.
After that, I thoroughly wiped her head so sweat would not drip from her forehead, then moved on to wiping her whole body.
「Hayato, here’s a towel for you too. You can wipe yourself, right?」
「Thank you. Of course I will wipe myself……」
Hayato accepted the towel with a smile, apparently having enjoyed the fight, and began wiping his neck and such before removing his armor.
He was not completely drenched in sweat, but he must have sweated on his head too. He brushed his hair back and wiped the sweat away, which made him look a little more wild than his usual gentle impression.
Of course, even with his hair up he was still handsome.
「Still, it is rare for both of you to sweat like that. I thought the two of you always trained with cool expressions.」
「No, I was really surprised at how much stronger Shiro-san has become…… She is clearly different from before.」
「Hmm. But I still cannot beat Hayato…… He really is strong.」
Ooh, she got praised by the hero, Shiro.
You have gotten even stronger, huh…… While thinking that, I used my fingers to fix Shiro’s messy hair that I had ruffled while she sat on my lap, then stroked her head. Shiro let out a small, pleasant 「Hmmu」 sound, so I gently rubbed around her ears.
「There were quite a few dangerous moments, weren’t there? I was aware of being broken through, and your tactics were more advanced than before.」
「Hmm. My aim succeeded. But as expected of your reaction speed. I can tell you are still far above me. Also, I have not seen the strengthening technique or the footwork you used when you fought lord.」
「Shiro-san did not use any skills either. It is mutual. Besides, is it not better training precisely because we do not use skills?」
「Hmm. That is true. It was fun. Shall we do it again?」
「Yes. I enjoyed it very much as well. It was excellent training, so I will gladly accept anytime!」
Yeah, yeah.
I could not understand much of it, but it seems like a very meaningful time for the two of them!
……Or rather, this is it.
As expected, when he fought me he was not going all out. Well, that was what I had wanted, but it looks like he could not use his full strength.
There is no way I could ever react to that speed!
「Muu…… Shiro has become even stronger than I expected…… At this rate, I cannot just sit here drinking tea. Mu, Shion. You came at the perfect time. Would you spar with me for a bit?」
「……Hey, Aina-san. I was planning to sneak up behind m’lord, press my chest against his back, hug his head, and ask 『Who am I?』 so please do not ruin my plan.」
Oh, so Shion had been approaching from behind.
I was too relaxed and did not notice.
But you can still do it now if you want, you know?
I am not very good at acting, but I can at least pretend not to notice.
「So? What was it again? Sparring? I absolutely refuse!」
「Wha…… Is that all right? Do you not want to become stronger?」
「Eeeh…… I do want to, but I am not in the mood today. I am an all-rounder. Right now, I want to deliver tea snacks to m’lord, get praised, and enjoy the moment together!」
「Hmm. Aina. Shiro will do it.」
「Are you sure, Shiro? I would love that, but are you not tired?」
「It is fine. The desire to become stronger is important.」
「I see. Then I will count on you!」
「Hmm!」
And so, it seems Aina and Shiro will have a mock battle next.
Shion took Aina’s place and sat down on the chair, placing the tea snacks she had brought. I prepared some roasted green tea.
Would cold tea be better for Hayato? I also prepared a chair and tea for him.
「Fufun. This is Amatsukuni roasted green tea, right? Mmm…… It has a nice aroma!」
「Haa…… Cold roasted green tea is really delicious……」
He still looks like wild Hayato right now, but the gap when he relaxes with cold roasted green tea is huge.
I bet Hayato got a lot of squeals from girls during physical education class back in school.
「Ah. Come to think of it, we have not done a proper greeting yet. It is not our first meeting, but allow me to introduce myself again. I am Shion, who has newly become m’lord’s slave and lover!」
「Ah, thank you for the polite introduction. I am Hayato Hayakawa, a friend of Itsuki-san.」
「Yes. I know～. You are the hero and count, Hayato-san. We met once before in Yutopola, right?」
「That is correct. I never thought we would meet again at Itsuki-san’s place.」
「Hmm, did you two not meet at the duke’s house?」
I had assumed that since both of them were on the same side, they must have known each other.
「I was always with Wendy-san, so I knew Hayato-san existed, but we never actually met.」
「That is right. I was also…… kept from getting too close to Wendy-san and Letty……」
「I see.」
Oops, better steer away from this topic.
It is all in the past, and I do not think we need to dwell on it, but some consideration from my side is still necessary.
「By the way, you two seem quite close. Where did m’lord and Hayato-san meet? Don’t tell me you already knew each other back in the original world?」
「No, Hayato saved me when I was in a pinch.」
「M’lord was in a pinch? Was it something like a love triangle……?」
「No, that’s not it…… Right after I came to this world, I was summoned not in the middle of a city but on the plains near Einzheil. I got attacked by caterpillars and was running away, but I got caught in their threads and thought 『Ah, this is the end』. Hayato was the one who saved me right when I was about to give up.」
「Ohh, so the reason I was able to meet m’lord is also thanks to Hayato-san!」
「Well…… it was just a coincidence. But now, I’m really glad I made it in time.」
No no, thank you so much for saving me, whether it was a coincidence or not.
Not getting eaten by bugs was one thing, but when I think about how happy my life is now, I feel like I received an enormous favor.
「I see, I see～…… So m’lord and you two have been together since right after m’lord arrived～…… Chira.」
Nn? Why did she deliberately say “chira” out loud?
Hayato seems to have noticed it too. Eh, what kind of signal is that?
「……Chii. Ha-Hayato-san is called a hero and has cleared many dungeons, right?」
「Y-Yes…… Several of them. Basically, I head to places where a Demon King has been reported.」
「Ooh～ Going to subjugate Demon Kings, as expected of a hero～! Which means…… you must have gotten tons of treasure, right!? Chira!」
This time the “chira” was noticeably stronger.
All right. Time to reason it out.
She suddenly changed the subject, so does it have something to do with the current flow of conversation?
Ah……
「Shion……」
「M’lord!」
「You’re curious about Hayato’s treasures because you were in the Yaoyorozu Agency, right? You don’t have to give me meaningful glances. Just say it directly. But it would probably cause trouble, so no.」
「That’s not it! Close, but wrong! Come on, come on, that thing! In Amatsukuni! We made a promise, remember!?」
「Hmm? Ah! Right, right. I forgot. Hayato. About the Yin-Yang Blade I borrowed. Shion wants to use it. Is that okay?」
「Yes, of course.」
「So light!!! Eh, is it really that casual!?」
I think it is that casual.
If it were something important, he probably would not lend it to an amateur like me……
「Just to explain the reason, we obtained the Yang blade in Amatsukuni. These two blades seem to be a pair, and it has been Shion’s long-time dream weapon.」
「I see. In my mind, I already gave it to Itsuki-san, so please use it as much as you like.」
「Waa…… Um, about payment or anything……」
「No need. I have received so much from Itsuki-san already. Besides, Shion-san is Itsuki-san’s lover, right?」
「Well, yeah. But you can still charge me if you want, you know?」
I ignored Shion, who was sending me a passionate gaze while saying 『M’lorddddd……』.
「In that case, you can charge me for the accessories I received and for the medicine you will make later as well.」
「Ah…… Yeah. Then I’ll gratefully accept. Let’s call it even.」
「Yes!」
That medicine…… huh.
The Yggdrasil related ingredients seem to be running low, so I probably cannot make a huge amount, but I can still mass-produce a decent quantity.
The journey ahead looks like it will have plenty of free time, so I can make it then.
「Waa…… You two really suit each other…… It feels like perfect compatibility.」
「Eh, r-really?」
「Hey, Hayato. Don’t look so happy and embarrassed. It’s going to create weird misunderstandings again.」
Especially Mii, Letty, Emily, and Mii again.
Come to think of it, I feel like I never resolved the incident that happened right before we went to fight Hayato……
Well…… I will go look for Mii later.
「……Hou hou. So to get Hayato-dono on my side, I just need to praise his relationship with m’lord…… This is valuable information.」
「If you try to use that valuable information to stir things up, I will push Shiro on you, got it?」
「N-No way, I would never do that…… By the way, isn’t Shiro-san getting way too strong? Ever since she started going to fox-shrine-maiden-sama’s place, she has been improving rapidly…… Even before, I didn’t think I could beat her, but now I’m losing the will to even fight……」
Hmm…… Both Aina and Hayato mentioned it, so Shiro really has become quite strong.
She was already ridiculously strong from the start, so I cannot tell very well, but if everyone says so, it must be significant……
「The fox-shrine-maiden-sama…… You mean the guardian deity of Amatsukuni? You actually met her!?」
「Yeah. Well, some things happened…… Nn…… I became a beastkin. I got ears and a tail.」
「Please give me the details. What exactly do you mean?」
He leaned forward with a serious gaze, hands on the table, clearly dying of curiosity.
I will tell you, but calm down a bit! Sit properly! Zip your mouth!
……And so on and so forth.
「Haaaa…… So something like that happened…… You had another valuable experience, didn’t you……」
「It was the best experience…… Hayato, you have been to Amatsukuni before, right?」
「Yes, I have. But of course, I never got to meet the fox-shrine-maiden-sama.」
「Obviously. She is not someone you can meet so easily. Besides, m’lord even got to touch the fox-shrine-maiden-sama’s tails.」
Ah, that was the ultimate moment……
If possible, I would like to ask for it again……
……How about going together with Shiro as thanks?
「Eeeh!? Not only did you become a beastkin, but you touched the fox-shrine-maiden-sama’s tails!? Itsuki-san, that’s amazing……」
「I don’t know the details, but the fox-shrine-maiden-sama was shaking and dizzy with a bright red face! What exactly did you do!? It felt like she was asking 『What did you do!?』!!」
「Like I said, it was just normal tail grooming……」
「No, I don’t buy that. There’s also the possibility that m’lord used his smooth techniques to seduce even the fox-shrine-maiden-sama!」
「I get it…… She said it herself, so just accept it.」
「Hmm. Lord’s tail care is ultimate. Since Kukuri is also a beastkin, she had no way to resist.」
Huh? Shiro came back already?
And Aina…… is lying spread-eagled on the ground!?
「Aina! Are you okay!?」
「Ah, my liege…… Haa…… As expected, Shiro is strong…… I let her attack as much as she wanted, but I could not block everything……」
「Hmm. But Aina has solid fundamentals, so you are tough. You were a good opponent.」
「I see…… I am relieved to know that I have grown stronger too. And if I was of any help, then that is good…… But I do not think I can move for a while……」
「Hmm. Let us do it again next time.」
「Yes. Please do……」
Aina looks satisfied as she relaxes and spreads out again, but I cannot just leave her like that.
For now, she is covered in sand, so let us take her to the bath…… No, to the hot spring.
Tea party cancelled!
「Waa…… I absolutely do not want to do that. I have to make sure I never fight Shiro-san……」
「Hmm? Next is Shion.」
「No way! I will run away like a frightened rabbit!」
「I will not let you.」
「Kyaa! You’re too fast at cutting me off! What exactly did the fox-shrine-maiden-sama do to you!」
Hey, you two, help me first.
Hayato is not supposed to be happily watching while sipping cold roasted green tea!
I cannot carry Aina by myself when she still has all her equipment on!
It is not that Aina is heavy, but when someone cannot put strength into their body, they feel much heavier!
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