Primula Joins Us

I had exchanged the Fang Bear for money at the guild and was on my way home when someone suddenly grabbed my arm.

It was the daughter of Marlowe Trading Company—Primula-san, looking somewhat haggard.

"Primula-san?! What are you doing here?"

Her face was drawn, her once-beautiful blond hair was disheveled, and dark circles had formed beneath her eyes, as though she had been losing sleep.

Primula-san suddenly threw her arms around me.

"How could you do this to me?! You disappeared without warning! I never thought you could be so cruel!"

"No, but if the nobles captured me, Marlowe Trading Company, which had been hiding me, would be dragged into trouble too."

"Whether it would cause trouble is for us at Marlowe Trading Company to decide, not you, Kenichi-san!"

"That's true, but the other trading companies would be jealous too. If I ran away and said I didn't know what kind of person you were, everything would work out neatly."

"Thanks to the draisine you taught us about, Marlowe Trading Company was even granted a family name. Are you telling us to take axes with handles made from trees in the forest and go cut down trees?"

Ah, in Japanese, you'd call that repaying a debt of gratitude with harm.

"Now, now, calm down—"

In any case, standing around talking wasn't ideal, so we went into a nearby restaurant. This world had no stylish cafés.

Most dining halls and restaurants were combined with inns.

People drank and ate in the dining hall, then stayed in rooms on the second floor. It was also common for the serving girls and waitresses to entertain customers to earn a little spending money.

Azalea, the girl at the first inn where I stayed, lived that sort of life too.

As the establishment's rank rose, so did the prices. Naturally, the rank of the women rose too.

This restaurant stood in a prime location on a lively main street and was somewhere above average. There was no way I could take Primula-san into some run-down drinking hole.

Inside, the furnishings were surprisingly fine, made from expensive lumber.

Once we sat down, we ordered drinks and sweets. Our order arrived quickly—tea and something like cookies, made by baking wheat and sugar together.

Since sugar was a precious commodity, even sweets like these cost quite a bit.

If I sold sweets from my original world that I'd bought at Shangri-La, it would cause a tremendous uproar.

Primula-san didn't touch hers. Instead, she went on and on, haltingly explaining how much Marlowe Trading Company owed me.

Had I really helped Marlowe Trading Company that much personally? If anything, I felt as though I was the one who had always been indebted to them.

But she said that the goods I had supplied had become extremely popular with the nobles, and that the upper classes had come to look very favorably upon Marlowe Trading Company.

That had led to even more business, creating a snowball effect.

"That's not all. You even saved my life!"

"That is true, but—"

She said that, despite all that, I had vanished without even saying goodbye, and she had spent day after sleepless day worrying about me.

"I heard a rumor around town that you had decided to marry Baron Northpole."

"I did receive such a proposal, but I declined it."

What?! That had to be a devastating blow to the baron's pride. Would he be all right? Well, I didn't think he was the sort of person who would harass her.

He was probably hanging his head in disappointment.

"I thought it was an excellent match, though. The knight—no, Baron-sama—is a good person too."

"That's true, but I met him several times at my father's urging. He was always boasting about the sword at his waist, and the way he muttered to the blade was rather frightening..."

What a disaster! Come on, Baron-sama. He had seemed a little dense, but apparently he was a genuine eccentric.

Could that be why he had failed to rise in rank despite being so capable?

"The people around town were angry too. They said you were being so distant."

"I admit that disappearing without saying goodbye was wrong. But I couldn't let everyone get dragged into trouble."

"I already told you that!"

Primula-san flew into a rage and started to rise from her seat, so I tried to calm her down.

"I understand! I was wrong, all right? Now go back to Dalia and tell everyone."

"I'm not going back."

"What?"

"I'm not going back! I've already said goodbye to my father."

She fixed me with a fierce stare, and I could feel the firm resolve in her eyes.

"What?! What will your father do?"

"My father said he would wait until I brought you back, Kenichi-san."

"What?!"

Honestly, I had no intention of going back. Poor Mr. Marlowe.

"I don't intend to return..."

"Then I won't return either."

"What?!"

Still, how had she figured out that I was in this city?

"How did you find out I was in Astrantia?"

"I contacted the Merchant's Guild and the Adventurer's Guild and had them check whether you had registered in another city. When the information was updated the other day, I found your name, so I came here immediately."

"So that's why you came to this city and searched everywhere for me."

There were regular carriages between the cities, but she said she had chartered one because she was in a hurry. She really was rich.

"There are hardly any people with Item Boxes at the Adventurer's Guild, so it was easy to find you."

Wait, what about the guild's confidentiality? Their information was practically spilling out everywhere.

"So nobles can use the guild's information too...?"

"No. The Adventurer's Guild and the nobles don't get along, so I think we're safe."

By contrast, the Merchant's Guild received backing from large merchants and nobles, so information was apparently much more likely to leak from there.

I hadn't registered with the Merchant's Guild in Astrantia, and that had turned out to be the right decision.

But then I couldn't do business there. I could appoint Anemone as my representative, though...

"Hmm, I understand what you're saying... but the gates will close soon. Let's leave the city and go to my house."

"I'm not going."

"What?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you make me a woman here tonight!"

"What?! Wait, Primula-san!"

"And please stop calling me '-san.'"

As she spoke, she clenched both fists tightly in her lap.

"All right, all right..."

Primula-san refused to budge, and I eventually had no choice but to steel myself.

I raised my hand to call a server.

"Yes? What can I do for you?"

"We'd like to stay here. Do you have a room available?"

"Please wait a moment."

The server soon returned with the inn's ledger, and the two of us wrote down our names.

Payment was four small silver coins (20,000 yen) in advance. The inn where Azalea had worked, where I'd first stayed, had cost about 3,000 yen a night, so this was on an entirely different level.

The server led us upstairs and showed us to our room.

It was a spacious room with fine carpeting, its orange wood grain beautifully illuminated by the sunset shining through the glass window.

A large, decorated bed stood on the carpet.

It was immediately obvious that the furnishings in the room were of excellent quality—

Although the bed had no canopy, every corner had been thoroughly cleaned. It certainly felt like an expensive inn.

"This is a nice room."

"Yes..."

As soon as she answered, she began taking off her clothes.

"Hey, you're starting already?"

"If I don't do it here, you're just going to run away again, aren't you?"

When she removed her white blouse, round, white breasts appeared, and beneath her skirt were slender, beautiful, graceful legs.

"No, I wouldn't do that... but still."

Once she had stripped down to a shameful state, she hid her breasts and groin with both arms, looking embarrassed.

"I-I really would like to bathe, though..."

No matter how expensive the room was, there were no showers or baths like in my original world. If you wanted to wash, you had to draw water from the well behind the inn.

That was the same regardless of how expensive the inn was.

Primula-san's body, illuminated by the orange light coming through the window, was truly beautiful.

"Primula—Primula, you're beautiful just the way you are."

"B-but... I haven't bathed in a while... Um..."

"It's fine—but your hair is rather rough. You have a lot of split ends. Once we get to my house, I'll wash your hair and use that product to take care of it."

"Yes..."

We embraced in the sunset.

Still, was this really all right...? Seriously?

------◇◇◇------

――The next morning.

I woke up at the inn. Naturally, Primula was lying beside me.

"Sigh... I got carried away."

Primula was so adorably inexperienced that I had tried all sorts of things one after another.

She never said she disliked anything, after all.

It seemed she had no knowledge of this sort of thing at all, and simply let me do as I pleased.

Well, that was quite a feast.

Aaaah!

There was no point clutching my head over it now. I had to make up my mind. I was a man, after all.

Now the lives of two women, one child, and one Forest Cat would rest on my shoulders.

But I was hungry—come to think of it, we'd gone at it all night without eating dinner.

Even when I suggested we eat something along the way, she wouldn't let go of me...

Of course, we had used contraception afterward. We discussed that thoroughly and agreed not to have children until we had settled down.

"Phew..."

I let out a small sigh and woke Primula.

If we didn't eat breakfast before heading home, Anemone would worry. Well, Myaree was there, so I thought things would probably be fine...

"Ugh..."

I took the groggy Primula downstairs to the dining hall, where we ate breakfast.

The meal served on the white tablecloth appeared to be a soup made with potatoes, meat, and mushrooms.

But for a soup from this world, where they didn't even make stock, it was strangely delicious, warming me all the way to my innermost organs.

The mushrooms must have been providing the umami.

"Excuse me!"

I raised my hand to call the server and asked about the dish.

"What are these mushrooms called?"

"These are Nobi mushrooms, sir."

"Ah, so this is what they are..."

Come to think of it, I recalled seeing that name in the booklet I'd received from the Adventurer's Guild.

It said that tall mushrooms grew in fairy rings around trees.

It had also said that they were easy to identify because of their distinctive features. If they produced this much umami, they would probably be delicious in a hot pot too.

I would look for some in the forest next time.

"Primula, are you all right?"

She didn't seem to have much of an appetite.

"Yes..."

"Since it was your first time, you should have taken it a little easier."

"But I was afraid that if I let go of you, Kenichi would disappear somewhere again..."

"I wouldn't do that now, no matter what."

After we finished breakfast and left the inn, we went to retrieve Primula's luggage from the place where she had been staying.

Her walk was a little strange, but I could guess why.

Still, contrary to how she had looked when we first met, her steps were light.

You wouldn't have guessed it from her beautiful, refined appearance, but Primula also had her father's courage and drive. She might become a frightening presence for me...

While I was sweating nervously inside, her expression remained bright.

We arrived at the inn where she had been staying. A sign read The Dawn Pavilion.

"Good morning."

"Oh, it's you, dear. You didn't come back last night—and is that the man you were looking for?"

The woman who greeted Primula was the inn's proprietress.

She wore a dark green dress with a white apron and a bonnet on her head.

"Yes. I found him safely."

"With a beauty like you searching so desperately, I thought he must be a much better man than that."

Yes, yes, I'm just an ordinary middle-aged man. Average in every respect.

"That's not true. Kenichi is someone precious to me."

"All right, all right. My mistake."

I took the leather wardrobe case Primula had brought down from the second floor.

After saying goodbye to the inn and heading out into the street, we found a secluded spot where I put her luggage into my Item Box and took out water and painkillers.

She seemed to be in more pain than I'd expected.

They were a cheap knockoff of the familiar Bufferin, called Balsarin, but they contained the same aspirin, so they worked the same way.

"Primula, take this medicine. It's a painkiller."

"Yes."

It wouldn't take effect immediately, but it should start working as we walked.

We walked through the city streets hand in hand.

"Did the letter I wrote reach you?"

"Yes. A merchant named Fuyou delivered it. He said you had gone north, so I already knew there was a good chance you were in Astrantia."

Oh, right—I seemed to have forgotten to tell that merchant to keep quiet...

"What about the new draisine I mentioned in the letter?"

"My father has commissioned a craftsman to make a prototype. It's being worked on now."

Chains were difficult to manufacture, after all.

They could probably make something similar to the large-front-wheel bicycles that had once been popular in Europe. Basically, it would be like a gigantic tricycle.

It would be faster if I could take out the off-road motorcycle here, but drawing too much attention wouldn't be wise.

Beneath the blue sky, we passed through the gate and walked along the road into the forest.

"You don't live in Astrantia itself?"

"I want to use various magic tools, so it's better to live somewhere out of sight."

Once we had gone deeper into the forest and confirmed that nobody was watching, I took out the off-road motorcycle.

"W-What is this?"

"It's a draisine powered by magic. It moves without pedaling."

"Is it something like the horseless wagon that carried us from Shaga's hideout?"

"That's right. It's a summoned beast that obeys my commands. I can't use something like this in the city, can I?"

"Merchants and nobles would swarm us immediately."

I bought an adult-sized helmet from Shangri-La and put it on her head.

"Is this a helmet?"

"Yes. It would be dangerous if you fell."

I straddled the motorcycle, started the engine, and gestured for her to get on behind me.

As she nervously climbed onto the motorcycle seat, I told her to hold on to my waist.

"Like this?"

I twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle set off through the forest with the dry roar of its engine.

We raced through the spaces between the trees, sunlight filtering down around us.

"W-w-w-wait..."

Primula seemed bewildered by the motorcycle's speed, but I wasn't going particularly fast.

After making several trips to the city, I had settled on a route and my time along the stretch kept improving.

There was no need to hurry, so safety came first. Before long, we emerged from the forest and arrived near the house.

Anemone and Myaree were waiting in front of the house.

"I'm home~"

"Kenichi~!"

"Nya? Who did you bring with you?"

Primula was wearing a helmet, so Myaree hadn't recognized her at first, but she soon identified her by scent.

"Did you bring Marlowe's daughter too?"

"Kenichi! You left me behind, but you brought her with you! Am I really that insignificant to you?! I was so conceited that I thought I was the most important woman among all the women you were seeing..."

"Whoa, whoa, Primula—easy."

I got off the motorcycle and tried to calm her down as she raged.

"I'm not a horse!"

"Wait, wait. I didn't bring Myaree along. She followed us using her nose. She tracked us down herself."

"Nya-hee~. I never let my chosen prey escape, nya."

Myaree planted her hands on her hips and tilted her proud nose toward the sky, looking utterly pleased with herself.

"Then what about Anemone?"

"She's a child. I couldn't just abandon her, could I?"

"...I understand. I'll forgive you for today."

"Just for today?"

Primula gave me a sharp glare.

"Is she going to live here too? The house is going to get more cramped..."

At Anemone's words, it felt as though sparks were flying between her and Primula.

"Hey, we're all going to live together, so get along."

"Don't add anyone else."

Anemone was speaking to me, but—

"...I won't."

"Why didn't you answer immediately? Is there still another woman somewhere?"

"No, there isn't, so don't worry. I'm telling the truth."

I held both hands up to stop Primula as she pressed closer. Still, compared with when I had lived with the women I'd rescued from Shaga's hideout, this was nothing.

The room would be filled with beds, but I could store them in my Item Box every morning and use the room normally.

"No matter how kind you are, you'll end up in trouble if you keep helping people indiscriminately."

"I understand. You're right."

"Nyaa~."

While Primula and I were arguing, the Forest Cat came out of the woods.

"Oh, Bell. We've gained another companion. Be nice to her."

But when Bell looked at Primula, she wagged her tail, then turned away.

That was a sign that she was getting a little irritated.

"A-Am I beneath a Forest Cat...?"

"Calm down, Primula. She followed us here too."

That was a lie. I had actually loaded her onto the rear carrier, but I managed to gloss over that and calm her down somehow.

With more people living here, it would be nice if I could expand the house a little. Perhaps I could build another structure and connect it to this one.

But if it became too large, it wouldn't fit in my Item Box anymore. And making it two stories would probably be difficult...

Another option would be to have a professional build a structure that fit within 10 m × 10 m × 10 m, so it could still go into my Item Box.

Still, all the furniture and luggage were already stored in my Item Box, so the house was probably spacious enough as it was.

If someone wanted a private room, I could always have a small cabin built separately.

That way, it would still fit in my Item Box.

------◇◇◇------

――That evening.

We decided to try eating some of the Fang Bear meat we'd brought back.

First, I sliced it thinly and decided to grill it simply—placing an iron griddle over the campfire.

The sizzling smell of meat made my mouth water, but...

Bear meat contains a parasite called Trichinella that can cause food poisoning, so it had to be cooked thoroughly.

For the moment, we ate it with a commercially made sauce I'd bought at Shangri-La.

"Hmm—the meat is—it's tough."

The toughness couldn't be helped, but the smell... It really was bear. It tasted just like the bear meat I'd eaten back home before.

"Nyaa~ Bear meat's not my thing, nya."

"I didn't know beastfolk had likes and dislikes too."

"Of course we do, nya."

Anemone and Primula also seemed to have trouble with the bear meat.

All right, time to come up with a solution. Tough meat could be tenderized by pounding it.

I bought a meat tenderizer at Shangri-La and pounded the meat on a cutting board.

Then there was the problem of the smell.

I made my house's secret sauce. Though it wasn't really secret enough to call it that...

First, soy sauce. Then I added chili powder and black pepper, followed by dried mandarin peel.

Dried mandarin peel, known as chinpi in traditional medicine, was sold at Shangri-La. Yuzu would work too, of course.

Myaree apparently disliked soy sauce, so I made a special seasoned salt with salt, pepper, garlic, and chinpi, then sprinkled it over her meat.

Then we tried dipping the meat in them—

"It's definitely much better this way."

When I put it in my mouth, the scent of the mandarin peel passed from my mouth into my nose, easing the smell of the bear meat.

"Nya! With the spices, this is edible enough, nya."

"Yeah."

"Primula, if you don't like it, I can bring out some different meat."

"I-I'm fine."

"We have a mountain of this bear meat, after all."

"..."

She looked conflicted, but she could probably manage the meat grilled. Stewed, though, it seemed like it wouldn't be very good.

I had never eaten stewed bear meat in my original world either. Rabbit was commonly used in miso hot pot, though...

Perhaps there was some delicious way to prepare it, so it might be worth experimenting.

Shangri-La had plenty of cookbooks too.

For example, mutton was strongly flavored, but people made mutton curry. Maybe curry would work?

I would have to try all sorts of things.