Chapter 93
I spent all night with Nyamena after her beastfolk heat came on.
I was utterly exhausted and covered in wounds, but if I was going to stay involved with these women, I had to accept this too.
—I woke up. Above me was a blue sky.
"Mmm..."
But when I sprang to my feet, Anemone and Primula were sitting in chairs.
Myaree was sitting cross-legged on the ground.
"Kenichi, you're awake, nya?"
"Yaaawn... Sorry, I overslept. Has everyone eaten?"
"Everyone's already eaten, nya."
"Sorry I couldn't prepare breakfast."
"Don't worry about it. More importantly, are you all right? It sounded as though you were fighting as if you were beating each other up..."
"Yeah, it really was like that."
I pulled up my underwear to show them the wounds covering my body.
"Oh my!"
"I'll heal you! Heal!"
As Anemone ran over, blue particles of light gathered around me and seeped into my body.
"Phew—the beastfolk thing... Are they all like this?"
"It's not normally like this, nya. Honestly, Tiger, you're impossible, nya."
"Sorry about that..."
At those unexpected words, I looked toward the shed and saw her leaning against the open door, stark naked.
She looked utterly exhausted and limp.
"Hey, Nyamena. Are you all right?"
But when I tried to approach Nyamena, she moved away from me and fidgeted nervously.
"What's wrong?"
"Um... Husband... Sorry about this."
I took Nyamena's hand, pulled her close, and buried myself in her fur.
It was soft and fluffy, like embracing the finest blanket.
"It's all right. Being with a beastfolk means accepting things like this too, doesn't it?"
"Husband..."
When I stroked her chin, she closed her eyes blissfully and purred.
"Tiger, you owe me one, nya."
"I understand! When Kuro-suke goes into heat, I'll take care of you too."
"Nya! What are you talking about?! I don't have that kind of fetish, nya! No way!"
"Don't be shy."
"Gyaaah!"
Myaree's fur stood on end as she ran around trying to escape. She must really hate the idea.
"That's right, Nyamena. You should wash yourself. Anemone, could you heat some water for her?"
"Sure."
I took a bathtub out of my Item Box and filled it with water from the well.
"Warm!"
The water reached a comfortable temperature immediately, and steam began to rise. It was incredibly convenient.
Nyamena slowly lowered her legs into it, then sank her entire body beneath the water.
"Pheeeeew..."
I questioned Nyamena as she soaked in the tub with her eyes closed.
"Is that beastfolk thing always like that?"
"No way! It was my first time getting like that too... When I watched you defeat the lesser dragon, something hot rose from the core of my body, and I lost all idea of what I was doing... Ahh."
She splashed water over her face.
"Do you remember it?"
"...Vaguely..."
She seemed embarrassed, though it was difficult to read a beastfolk's expression.
"I'm hungry... You must be hungry too, Nyamena, right?"
"...I don't really have much of an appetite..."
"Hmm, in times like this, there's just the thing."
I bought a can of peaches from Shangri-La.
"Nya! That's the tasty stuff!"
"Oh? Does everyone want some too? Come to think of it, Nyamena wasn't with us the last time we had it."
Everyone wanted some, so I bought another can and opened it with a can opener.
I put the peaches in a small bowl and handed it to Nyamena along with a spoon.
"They're sweet-and-sour fruit preserved in sugar."
"They're delicious, nya! If Tiger isn't going to eat them, I'll take them, nya."
"...Shut up. Of course I'm going to eat them!"
She took a bite of peach.
"Mmm, delicious..."
"You should be able to eat this even without an appetite. It's easy to digest and packed with nutrients. You can't ask for more—oh, that's right!"
I bought some brandy from Shangri-La.
"For Nyamena, adding a little alcohol might be a good idea."
I poured just a tiny amount of brandy into the small bowl Nyamena was holding.
Then she ate it and muttered,
"...Husband, a little more..."
"Sure."
I poured brandy generously into the bowl.
"Ahh, delicious! It warms me right down to my very core!"
Do they use the expression "five viscera and six bowels" in this world too?
"Nyamena, has your body calmed down?"
"I'm still hot, but I'm all right now. I don't think I'll get like that again. It feels like I got enough for the next six months all at once..."
I brought out a jet heater and set it by the table for Nyamena, who was eating peaches in the bathtub.
As we all savored the canned peaches, the princess came over.
She was not wearing her usual white dress, but a tan jacket and something resembling navy riding breeches—
Her golden hair had been braided and tied up short as well.
"A bath first thing in the morning? How bold of you."
"Ha-ha, I got a little dirty..."
"What are you eating? Is there none for me?"
Canned peaches would probably suit the princess's tastes, so I put some in a bowl like ours and handed it to her.
"Oh, fruit..."
"They're fruits preserved in sugar."
"Hmm—why, it's delicious! Soft, with a refreshing tartness and intense sweetness."
"I'm glad it suits your taste, Lilith-sama."
"It reminds me of Linker, but I have never eaten fruit like this before..."
"Linker tastes similar if it is boiled and then preserved. My wife's store sold it that way, and it was very popular."
"I see... Then this will do!"
She was going to eat a mountain of it anyway, so I opened another can of peaches from Shangri-La and handed the entire can to the princess.
"Isn't this a little uncouth?"
"My apologies."
"Oh, never mind!"
I was about to transfer them to a bowl, but she began eating straight from the can.
She polished off the entire can in no time.
"Um—Your Highness, if I may be so bold, won't you gain weight?"
"I'm fine for now, am I not?"
"You may still be growing, but once you stop growing, if you continue eating like that..."
"You sound just like my doctor! But no one in the royal family has ever gotten fat."
Apparently, it was a family trait—how enviable.
I was nearing forty myself, and eating just a little too much was enough to make me gain weight.
I suppose that meant my metabolism had slowed down. Before I turned twenty, I could eat as much as I wanted without gaining weight...
Nyamena got out of the bath and began drying her fur with the jet heater.
Perhaps the peaches and brandy had replenished her energy, because she seemed livelier than before.
"Good grief! You are dancing naked in front of me—even if you are wearing fur, do something about it!"
"All right, all right."
The princess did not seem prejudiced against beastfolk, but Nyamena was performing a sultry dance right in front of her to dry her fur, and apparently she could not stand it.
If the people around us had been men, they probably would have applauded wildly.
However, since I had been told to do something about it, I reluctantly put up two screens in front of the table, completely blocking the view.
"All right, then. When shall we depart for Veronica Gorge?"
"As soon as Kaldon-san arrives..."
"I see. There is something I want you to take with you, so wait a little while until then."
"Understood."
"And besides—I shall be accompanying you, you know?"
"What?!"
The princess had just said something utterly outrageous.
"Are you dissatisfied?"
"Of course not, perish the thought, but we have no idea what might happen... Besides, you will be forced to live far less comfortably than you do in the castle."
"I know that! Besides, you are taking your house with you, are you not?"
"Of course. It is our home, after all..."
"As long as you are there, it seems I will not have to suffer too many inconveniences."
Ah, so she wanted me there. Well, I had an Item Box and could buy food or anything else from Shangri-La.
"However..."
"Now, wait. I understand that looking after me would be a nuisance for you."
"It would be an honor, so I would never call it that..."
"Listen to me. At the site, I shall act as the royal family's representative and take command. That way, even if trouble arises, there will be no need to send a fast horse all the way back to the castle, will there?"
I see... The princess was saying that, as a member of the royal family, she would take responsibility for everything at the site.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. His Majesty and my mother have already agreed. His Majesty cannot go to the site himself, after all."
Well, of course. With no male heir to the throne at present, if the king were caught in an accident, the resulting political upheaval would be disastrous.
"But if anything happens, all the responsibility will fall on you, Lilith-sama..."
"I am royalty, you know? I have always been prepared to bear that much responsibility."
"Then what is it that you want me to take with me...?"
"Just wait a little longer."
After Kaldon-san arrived, we sat at the table and drank something together.
We were going to visit Kaldon-san's family home and receive the magical tool, but he had a draisine with him.
"Did you make that draisine yourself, Kaldon-san?"
"Yes. I heard rumors about one in town, had a merchant show me the actual vehicle, and tried making something similar."
A motor-like device powered by magic, resembling the one attached to the princess's draisine, was mounted on the front wheel.
It must have been self-propelled. But apparently, the item I was supposed to take had nothing to do with Kaldon-san.
While we were discussing magical tools, it seemed something had arrived outside, loaded onto a wagon.
"It looks like it has arrived."
"That?"
The person who arrived with the wagon was a mage whose shapely white thighs peeked out from beneath a long black dress.
She was the granddaughter of that old woman Snowflake.
"What the heck is this?"
When I looked into the wagon bed, what caught my eye was a gigantic clione made from a log about two meters long.
I had seen this shape in a book...
"I hear you have an Item Box."
"Yeah. I'm Kenichi. Nice to meet you properly."
"Hmph..."
The female mage turned away. She was probably still unhappy about what I had done to her.
"This is a golem core, right?"
"Oh? You can tell?"
"Of course."
Hearing that, everyone gathered around the wagon.
"Wow, this is a gigantic golem core?"
"I've never seen anything like this, nya."
"We rarely see golems in the frontier, after all."
If even Primula, who traveled from place to place doing business, had never seen one, it was only natural that the others had not either.
Hearing that, Melissa raised her chin and spoke proudly, striking a pose like a villainess from a manga.
"Ho-ho-ho—a golem with a core this large requires a considerable amount of magical power to operate. A backwater mage from the frontier wouldn't stand a chance."
"Besides, don't you need the country's permission to operate a golem?"
"That's exactly it, Kenichi!"
The princess, who had been listening to our conversation, raised her voice.
"Huh?"
"If we are going to use a golem at the site, my presence should make it possible to obtain permission immediately, should it not?"
"Ah, I see. Lilith-sama is quite right."
"You insolent fool! How dare you call Her Highness the Princess by name—"
"It's all right, Melissa. I gave him permission."
"No, that can't be..."
Melissa could not hide her shock at the princess's words. She was probably stunned that I, a backwater mage, had won the princess's favor.
"Oh, I get it. This is the giant golem core from the one repairing the castle walls..."
"That's right..."
That enormous golem might indeed be useful for clearing away earth and rocks.
I stored the golem core in my Item Box.
"You seem to have an Item Box with an enormous capacity."
"I just sold a giant cave spider to a merchant, so I have some room."
"A cave spider?"
"It's true, Melissa. I saw it myself."
"..."
She really did not want to acknowledge my abilities.
Naturally, she did not want to believe that one of the royal capital's leading grand mages had been beaten by a backwater mage...
In reality, none of this was magic at all, but the fact remained that I had felled a lesser dragon with a single blow.
Putting that aside, I asked her about something that had been bothering me.
"You're Snowflake's granddaughter, aren't you?"
"Why do you know that name?!"
"I know your grandmother."
"Hmph! She was a traitor who sold my father for money!"
So she really had been raised hearing that.
"Your grandmother said she was born a commoner, so her child was forcibly taken from her and she was given money in return."
"Liar! She abandoned my father!"
"The former queen attended the same school, and your grandmother seems to have been famous. There must be elderly people in the royal capital who knew her..."
"Even so, for a mother to abandon her child!"
"A commoner couldn't possibly defy a noble. Judging by how you treat me, doesn't your attitude remind you of the way the Nasturtium family treated your grandmother?"
"..."
It seemed she had never searched around for the truth or questioned anyone herself. She had simply believed whatever her family told her.
That was why she could not completely deny what I had said.
Well, I had poked my nose into someone else's family troubles enough. It was time to get moving.
But the number of people had increased dramatically.
"How many people are accompanying Lilith-sama?"
"Besides me, there are Mairen, the head maid, one other maid, and a little luggage."
The princess's and the maids' luggage could go into my Item Box.
On our side, there were five of us, including me, plus one Forest Cat. Then there were the female mage, Melissa, and Kaldon-san.
That made ten people and one Forest Cat in all.
"Lilith-sama, where are your escort knights?"
"Why would we need them when there are three people of Grand Archmage caliber? The knights could not even touch you people, as it was."
That was true, but it completely destroyed the knights' dignity.
"Even so—"
"They may not be knights, but when it comes to swordsmanship, Mairen and the other maid are both highly skilled."
Oh, so being around the princess meant they were no ordinary people either.
"Kenichi, this many people won't all fit in the summoned beast we usually ride, nya."
"Husband, are you going to put us in that horseless wagon?"
"There's no way we can put Her Highness the Princess in a cart."
"That strange vehicle you let me ride couldn't carry this many people either."
We had no choice but to buy a new one... I had acquired antique furniture from the royal family, after all.
But with this many people... A minibus would be a little too large. Come to think of it, T○yota had a larger Hi○ce model.
It was used in the countryside to transport elderly people, as an assisted-living bus and the like.
What was it called again—? I searched the used cars on Shangri-La. Right—the Hi○ce Commuter.
It had a 2,800-cc diesel engine and could carry fourteen people. A vehicle in good condition with 50,000 kilometers on it cost 3.2 million yen.
It was a little expensive, but the optional equipment included an LSD (limited-slip differential).
Even with four-wheel drive, models without a differential lock could get stuck when the diagonally opposite tires spun freely.
An LSD prevented that. It was necessary equipment for driving through the rough terrain of this world.
This Hi○ce was a little expensive, but it was a necessary expense. I had no choice.
"T○yota Hi○ce Commuter—summon!"
The vehicle bounced as it appeared, then dropped down with its white body gleaming. It had been famous in my old world and was the most frequently stolen vehicle there, but no one would steal it in another world.
Besides, it had a diesel engine, so it could run on the biodiesel fuel I had made.
"Ooooh!"
Everyone cried out in amazement at the square iron box that appeared in midair and dropped to the ground.