「Now then… which mountain should I pick…」
I arrived near the royal capital to destroy a mountain, but every single one had houses scattered along the mid-slopes and around the base.
「Every mountain has people living on it… I really don’t want to drag civilians into this, so what should I do…」
Even if I evacuate them, the mountain itself is going to disappear anyway…
For the time being, I compared the map with the actual mountain positions and took photos with my smartphone for reference.
「Well, guess I’ll head back for now…」
I used transfer magic and returned straight to where Liliana and the others were.
「Ara, Yuuki-sama. Welcome back. You returned quite quickly.」
When I got back, Liliana and the others were in the middle of a pajama party.
「Yeah, I’m home. I just went to compare maps and scout the mountains, that’s all.」
「How did it go?」
「Well… every mountain has people living on it, so blowing one up feels kind of iffy.」
「I see…」
「Muu… That’s difficult.」
Selene rolled over lazily and came closer.
「In that case, how about we just make a new mountain, master?」
「Make one…? That would require a huge amount of dirt and trees, right?」
「Yes, but there is one way! Come on, Croco!」
She called toward her own shadow, and Croco popped right out from inside it.
「Tadaa! (Doyaa)」
Shia struck a smug pose, but she’s probably been hiding in the shadows the whole time.
「Hey, Shia. Come here.」
「Hyau! master, you’re so rough!」
I grabbed her by the collar and dragged her to the corner of the room.
「Seiza.」
「What’s seiza?」
Right, of course she wouldn’t know what seiza is.
「Kneel down, then sit back on your heels.」
「Higyuu!? Th-this hurts!?」
I made her copy me and sit in proper seiza. Her face had gone pale, but I continued anyway.
「Shia. Do you understand why I’m doing this?」
「Is it because master has an extremely sadistic side?」
「In my world, there used to be a punishment where they put a heavy stone on someone sitting like this. Want to try it?」
「Hiii!? I’m sorry, I’m sorry!」
「Jeez… I’m angry about how you’re treating Croco.」
「Huh?」
「Even if it couldn’t be helped, Croco ended up living with us. And I entrusted you with giving her a certain level of humane care and education, didn’t I?」
「Y-Yes…」
Now Shia was breaking out in a cold sweat. Does it really hurt that much?
「So. How much are you making Croco work right now? How much rest is she getting?」
「She has no breaks except for sleep every day…」
「Hooo…」
「Hiiii!? Master, you’re scaring me!?」
「Did I ever tell you to work her without any rest?」
「No, you didn’t!」
She started crying so hard that tears were streaming down her face… At this point, even I felt a surge of guilt.
「Haa… I left too much up to you as well, Shia, so the lecture ends here. Can you stand?」
「Uuu… I can… higyuu!?」
Shia collapsed before she could get up. I caught her, lifted her gently into my arms, and cast recovery magic.
「Zorry… Mazhterrr…」
「There, there. No more crying…」
I never expected a simple seiza to make her break down this badly.
「Here, wipe your face with this.」
「Uuu… zubii… suuuu」
I handed her a towel. She blew her nose hard, then, without missing a beat, took a deep sniff of it.
「That’s unfair…」
「So unfair…」
「That is quite unfair, isn’t it…」
「????」
Why are they all muttering “unfair” under their breath…? What exactly is unfair here…?
「Anyway. What was the reason you called Croco out?」
「Yes (haa haa)… With Croco’s shadow magic, we can create a direct gate and transfer an entire mountain from far away (haa haa) until Croco’s magic power runs out completely (suu… haa…)!」
Hey, how much are you sniffing that towel, and stop looking so blissed out about it.
「Nope, confiscated!」
I snatched the towel away and tossed it into spatial storage (item box). This is downright embarrassing.
「And Croco, is she okay with this plan?」
「Aah, so heartless!?」
「Yes! I was the one who suggested it first!」
「I see… So how exactly would it work?」
「Well, um… Selene-oneechan, could you lend me your hand?」
「Sure～ Like this?」
「Yes! Hold this cup under your hand, just like this!」
She made a little shelter with her hand, then poured tea from the pot. The tea flowed perfectly from Selene’s hand straight down into the cup below.
「「「「Ooooh～」」」」
「See! What do you think!?」
She held up the neatly filled cup with a satisfied smile. Yeah, this is seriously impressive.
「That’s amazing. You must have practiced a lot.」
「Yes!」
As I patted her head, I suddenly felt a weird surge of magic power flying toward me.
「Um… What’s wrong?」
「N-nothing at all!」
「Nothing!」
「Nothing whatsoever!」
Everyone’s faces turned bright red as they panicked. What just happened…?
「master… If it’s okay, could you pat everyone else’s heads too? (whisper whisper)」
「Huh? Sure… Come here, everyone.」
Following Shia’s suggestion, I reached out and patted their heads one by one. Slowly, they all melted into soft, boneless puddles.
「This is…」
「As expected…」
「It really is nice…」
Well… I guess that’s a good thing?
I spent the rest of the night enjoying the smooth feel of Liliana’s silky hair, the slightly wavy texture of Selene’s, and the pleasantly firm yet soft strands of Amilia’s, completely satisfied.
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