Chapter 138 - Reunion, and the Silent Summer Bird
How much time had passed since I entered this room? The door opened, and a knight walked in. It wasn't Yanan.
"Your companions are here."
Cecily and I were led to the room where we had eaten. Fam, Mizuki, Maira, Aira, and a cat-eared man were there. Relief washed over their faces the moment they saw us. Cecily, still silent beside me, went and sat next to Aira.
"Master!"
Fam started to rush over, but I held up a hand to stop her and grabbed Aira's arm.
"Come with me for a second. I need to talk to you alone."
"?"
Aira glanced at Cecily for a moment before standing up without a word. I took her hand and led her out into the hallway. There was a conveniently placed stone pillar. I pulled her into its shadow and pinned her back against the wall. Then, I told her everything that had happened before we were reunited.
"Are you an idiot?" Aira asked after she finished listening to my explanation. I had no idea how much time had passed. I'd fallen asleep for a while after my… activities with Cecily, but I didn't know for how long.
"Why did you stop halfway through?"
"Wh-what was I supposed to do? When I saw Cecily crying and heard her resolve…"
I couldn't get hard anymore. I tried. But the more I panicked, the more impossible it became.
"Didn't your parents ever teach you that once you put it in, you finish, no matter what?"
"No parents teach their kids that!"
Aira let out a heavy sigh.
"So that's why Cecily was so angry. And here I thought that was the one thing you were good at…"
That was Aira for you. She hadn't exchanged a single word with Cecily, yet she'd already sensed her anger.
"That's a harsh thing to say, but I never thought that would happen either. I'm surprised myself."
Her hand reached for my crotch. She began to stroke me through my clothes.
"…Well, you're getting hard just fine now."
"But back then…"
Aira pulled her hand away.
"Back then, I felt like I had to say something to her. But I just didn't know what to say."
"In your case, I think you should just finish first and think later. Isn't that what you've always done?"
"Now that you mention it, I guess so. Was I always like that? And aren't you being a little crude? I'm a delicate soul, you know?"
"Hah… I think it'd serve you right if you got dumped."
Aira replied, sighing once more.
"What do you want to happen with Cecily, Mash?"
"I want her to stay with us even after we get to Migul. I don't want her to leave. But at the same time, I think she should go to the magic academy."
Back when she lost the duel in Richelle, she probably had a vague longing for the magic academy, but I doubt she'd thought about it deeply. However, after traveling with us and gaining all this experience, and especially after meeting Marmie, her desire to go has probably solidified into a firm resolve. Do I have the right to hold her back from that?
She's a mage. That's not a profession just anyone can take up. She has an opportunity to develop her talent.
"The Demon Lord waits at the end of your journey. The remnants of a battle from the age of myths are there. I believe it's something that will bring change to this world."
"Aira, do you really think the Demon Lord exists?"
At my question, she glanced upward as if gathering her thoughts.
"Racshell-sama told you to defeat the Demon Lord. That means you must defeat him. Even if you meet the same end as Akizuki Uta. Of course, we'll never let you walk the same path. But right now, Cecily and I have neither the wisdom nor the power to prevent it."
"Aira…"
"You called us your companions, Mash. And to us, you are an irreplaceable companion as well."
I never knew she felt this way. And I had forgotten that she was a priestess—a believer in the goddess. To her, a god's word was absolute.
No, I'm the one who's underestimating Racshell. She's a being deeply revered by the people of this world. If that's the case, Cecily's values are probably similar to Aira's.
"My sis—ahem, I'm not Maira, so I don't want to say this, but… you and Mizuki were sent by Racshell-sama. You have to think and decide for yourself. Cecily's feelings are irrelevant."
"…It's not that easy!"
I couldn't help but whine. It was pointless to say it to Aira. She just smiled at my words. Then, she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me, pressing her soft chest against me.
"Don't overthink it. To put it another way, whatever you decide will also be the will of the goddess. You have time to think until we reach Migul. And when you're with her, try to act as normal as possible. I'll help you two make up."
"Okay. Thanks."
As I answered, she pulled away.
"Anyway, don't you dare do it with anyone else until you finish inside Cecily! And when that time comes, call me! If you fail again, I'll be happy to take care of it for you."
"…"
Leaving me with words I couldn't tell were serious or a joke, Aira slipped past me and headed back to the dining hall.
In the end, what am I supposed to do? I turned to go back to the hall myself, only to jump in surprise. Fam, Mizuki, and Maira were standing right there.
"You guys… do I have no right to privacy?!"
Why do they always show up to listen in on the conversations I most want to keep secret?
"And why are you having secret conversations without us, Mash? Aren't we comrades?"
Maira pressed, her large breasts jiggling for emphasis.
"Hey, you all have things you wouldn't want people to know! Even I have a sense of shame. It was something I didn't want everyone to hear…"
"I cried and you still didn't let me off!" Mizuki said next, her voice full of resentment. Now that she mentioned it, that was true. But I had achieved a profound sense of satisfaction that time.
"…Sorry."
"Don't just apologize normally! I don't know how to react!"
Then how in the world did she want me to react? I studied Mizuki's expression.
"Wh-what?"
She flinched and took a step back. I really couldn't figure her out.
"You have everything I don't. You could spare one, couldn't you?"
"Not one! You stole two!"
My gaze shifted from Mizuki to Fam.
"Fam, do you have anything to say?"
"Yes. I have many things to say, but first, let's eat."
Even she didn't specify breakfast or dinner. Her sense of time must have been thrown off too. I felt hungry, but at the same time, I didn't.
Come to think of it, I could use my Storage here. I checked the time; it was four o'clock. Fam and the others must have been working all night to try and rescue us.
"Have you slept since you got here?" I asked Fam.
"Yes. They arranged a bedroom for us. But I'm not sure how long I slept."
I nodded at her and was about to put my smartphone back in my Storage when I realized something I hadn't considered before. Things in Storage were supposed to be preserved in the state they were put in. But my phone was charged, and time had passed on it. I decided not to think about it too deeply for now. I'd ask Racshell about it next time.
We headed to the dining hall.
On the table, in place of the mountain of what looked like worms, was a bowl of potato salad.
"Whoa, they have potatoes in this world too."
They might have existed here originally, but it was also possible a previous transferee had introduced them. I served some onto my plate and went to get some for Fam.
"M-Master! Surely, you're not going to eat that?!"
Her voice was laced with obvious fear.
"…You're not eating it?"
Mizuki looked just as confused by Fam's reaction as I was. With a shrug, I gave the potato salad I'd dished out for Fam to Mizuki instead. Looking around, everyone except for Mizuki and the chancellor, Koolia, who had joined us at some point, was recoiling.
Even the cat-eared man who had been here earlier. Looking closer, I realized it was Siril, the man the Chairman had put in charge of the farm. Had he come with Fam and the others? Why was he here?
"You're Siril, right?"
"Yeah."
He nodded.
"The ones who were raiding the farm are the Earth Dragon Tribe. But they have their reasons. We're currently trying to find a solution with Koolia here."
"Ah, I've already been briefed on the situation. You don't need to worry about this matter anymore. We'll take it from here."
"Does that mean the request is complete?"
Siril nodded. He took a sip of his soup.
"After you guys fell into the hole, a messenger from the Chairman arrived. He said that even if the request isn't completed, he'll hand over Shizuka to you. He also said you can take a few other women if any catch your eye."
"What?"
What could have changed the Chairman's mind? I looked at Maira, but she shook her head. It wasn't the church's doing. Had he heard about Marmie from Shizuka and decided I was a cash cow? Or had he heard that I summoned a goddess during the pirate subjugation?
"In any case, he said he wants you to return immediately."
As I listened to Siril, I went to eat my potato salad, only to notice my plate was gone. I scanned the table and saw that Fam had snatched it. She was trembling, trying to bring herself to eat it.
"Hey, you don't have to force yourself if you don't like it."
"No, if you're going to eat it, Master, then I will!"
I stopped her as she tried to force it into her mouth. Something was definitely wrong with her. She looked utterly tragic. Maira and the others were pale as well.
"Hey, what's the deal with this potato salad?"
"Mash, potatoes are the source of all kinds of diseases. It's better not to eat them…" Maira warned.
I recalled that even in my original world, their adoption had been slow in some parts of Europe. There was a superstition that you could cure an ailment by eating food that resembled the shape of the afflicted body part. Because of their ugly shape, potatoes were associated with the symptoms of a certain disease and were loathed. On top of that, the local religious groups forbade eating them, claiming they didn't exist in their scriptures.
Perhaps a similar superstition had taken root in this world. That would explain why there were no potatoes in the city. However, judging by their terror, it was possible that the potatoes in this world really could make you sick.
I glanced at Koolia, who was calmly eating the potato salad.
"Do potatoes make you sick?"
"Not at all. That's a rumor spread by the surface dwellers. The sprouts are poisonous, but we have removed them. It seemed the last meal was not to the liking of the surface dwellers, so we changed it to potato salad this time…"
He looked troubled.
I took the potato salad back from Fam and tried a bite. It tasted like normal potato salad.
Mizuki was eating it alongside me.
"It tastes a bit tangy, but… this is mayonnaise…"
Her surprise was directed elsewhere.
I wondered if there was a way to popularize it among the surface dwellers. I wanted to get Fam and the others to eat it first, but judging by their reactions, that seemed impossible.
"Fam, you once told me that the Dog-Eared Emperor's chancellor was a transferee named Richelieu, right?"
"Yes."
"In my world, Richelieu is known as the man who popularized mayonnaise, which is used in this potato salad."
He was also a cardinal who appeared in stories about three musketeers and a young man from the countryside, but I kept that to myself.
"Is that so?!"
She stared intently at the potato salad but didn't reach for it.
"So, what happened to the Earth Dragon King?"
I asked Koolia. He stopped eating.
"Yanan has already departed with a vanguard to intercept the Earth Dragon King in this city."
"What?"
"I heard that you possess a Divine Blessing, and the others who arrived later also suggested that you might be able to defeat the Earth Dragon King. Therefore, we cannot have you leave."
My words hadn't just taken on a life of their own; they were running rampant.
"You said 'in this city'?"
"Yes. We can think of no other space where you could fight the Earth Dragon King. Besides, our true home is beneath the great plains. Unless we reclaim that place, we have no future."
Koolia said quietly.
"What do you plan to do with the residents?"
"Either way, the Earth Dragon King will eventually come here."
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