Chapter 220 - Hyakka and the New World's Quest III
"Well, your brother and sister complexes are nothing new."
Etowan was staring down the treasure chest. In the meantime, Hyakka-chan and the others were keeping watch behind them. It seemed to be unlocked, but trapped.
"Chihiro, maybe, but am I a sis-con too?"
"No, if anything, you're the one who goes overboard. You're always looking after Chihiro one way or another, aren't you?"
"…Am I really like that? Is it that obvious to others… No, is it really?"
"Korne and I joined midway, so there are things we don't know, but even that outfit was picked out by Chihiro, and you picked out his."
It seemed Moos and Korne had decided to treat me completely as Hyakka. I wondered if that was okay, but they probably didn't know how else to act. He folded his arms and gestured with his chin toward Chihiro. Chihiro was tapping the floor with the butt of his lance, checking its condition. Next to him, Sierra watched him, looking somewhat out of place. I pinched my own clothes to examine them, then observed his attire as well. It was true that his clothes suited his slender frame well, but I couldn't explain what was good about them. Come to think of it, Mizuki chose Mash-kun's clothes, and she chose her own. Of course, her sense of style was better and made her look cuter, so I had no complaints.
"S-so, did Chihiro pick out these cutesy bear panties too?"
I almost lifted my skirt to check but caught myself at the last second and quickly stopped.
"I wouldn't know about that."
Moos chuckled wryly. I glanced at Chihiro again. He seemed to have noticed me too. He stopped checking his lance.
"Did you pick out this underwear?"
He nodded. Unlike the printed panties from my original world, these weren't cheap. Putting patches on the front and back must be unnecessarily expensive. What kind of taste did he have, making his sister wear underwear with patches? I remembered Mizuki saying that the quality of underwear in this world wasn't very good. But if you were to compare it to my original world, this world had a medieval feel to it. The very existence of panties was strange. How were panties made, how were they distributed, and what did Mizuki and Hyakka think when they wore them? I knew nothing about the underwear I so casually removed. I realized I needed to learn more about panties. With that, my thoughts returned to the bear panties Hyakka was wearing. If this was his taste, did that mean Sierra wore similar panties? I strode over to her and unceremoniously lifted the hem of her robe.
"…They're normal."
At first glance, they were just plain white panties. But they were not to be underestimated. The white fabric gently enveloped and emphasized the swell of her buttocks and the mound of her pubis. Above, her pale, slender waist tapered to a small navel. Below, her two legs, regaining their fleshiness from where the panties cinched them, formed a gentle curve, adding a touch of femininity to her. It was a masterpiece, truly worthy of guarding her trifurcation. After staring for a while, Sierra's face turned beet red, and she crouched down, clutching the hem of her robe.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
She was so quiet, I was surprised to hear her let out such a piercing scream.
"Shut up! I can't concentrate! You trying to attract monsters?!"
Etowan yelled at me. He was having trouble disarming the trap on the chest and seemed quite irritated. And Chihiro, Moos, and Korne were all looking at Hyakka-chan with cold stares. I hastily offered Sierra a hand to help her up, but she remained rigid, probably thinking I was going to lift her robe again.
"Sierra, I'm sorry. I just had to know…"
I looked to Chihiro for help, but he pretended not to see and resumed maintenance on his lance. His reaction annoyed me. The root of the problem was Chihiro making Hyakka wear bear panties in the first place.
"Why does Sierra get normal panties and Hyakka gets kiddy panties?!"
The Kansai dialect slipped out naturally. It was the perfect language for a retort.
"Because Hyakka is a child."
Chihiro pouted like he was sulking. It was such a girlish gesture. Hyakka-chan was the same age as Mizuki. True, she looked much younger compared to Mizuki. But two years had passed since she came to this world. The time difference was strange, but that meant she was eighteen. Making a woman that age wear such underwear was, by any measure, odd.
"What're ya sayin' to a lady like this?!"
Getting carried away, I playfully tapped Chihiro's chest with the back of my hand. He grabbed it.
"Hyakka, you don't have to pretend to be an adult! That's what makes you a child!"
He shot back. Had he forgotten that inside Hyakka-chan was an old man? I might look like this now, but I was definitely not a child. I was searching for a comeback when Etowan stomped over.
"Keep it down, you damn brats! If you don't like your clothes that much, I'll strip you naked!"
He yelled at me again.
"…So, why is it just Hyakka with the kiddy panties?"
Not wanting to be yelled at by Etowan again, I whispered to Chihiro.
"Sierra said she's a slave, so she doesn't need expensive things…"
"Huh?"
I was shocked that Chihiro had tried to make Sierra wear kiddy panties too, and that she was a slave. I didn't know which point to press. But if I continued the conversation about panties, Etowan would probably get genuinely angry. Come to think of it, I could have dealt with the panties later. Right now, Mizuki and Hyakka were at odds over how to deal with Yuuki. I also wanted to avoid conflict with the transfer students if possible. They were complete strangers, but we were from the same world, and there was a chance they knew someone, just like Mizuki and Hyakka, or Mizuki and Yuuki. Above all, I couldn't imagine how a battle of special skills would end. I couldn't let the members of Levante fight such a gamble.
"Whose slave?"
He looked at me. It meant she was Hyakka's slave.
"She's your girlfriend, right? Shouldn't you set her free?"
He fell silent. His attitude made me a little uneasy.
"Are you… forcing her?"
"That's not—" Sierra murmured. "That's not it. You're my master, so you could just order me to tell you, couldn't you?"
She was still crouching, staring intently at the hem of her robe. I crouched down next to her.
"Hey, I don't want to force you to do anything. I want you to listen to this as Mash's words, not Hyakka's. I want to be friends with you. If you really love Chihiro, I'll help you with your romance. If you don't, I want to change your current situation a little."
But she didn't even look up, still staring at the hem of her robe. I didn't know how she joined the New World party, but they must have spent a lot of intense time together. It was probably not my place to say anything, having only met her a short time ago.
"I want to, too… but, Hyakka…"
Just as she began to murmur in a voice so quiet I almost missed it, a hand suddenly tapped my shoulder.
"Hyakka, a dog-eared girl is here."
Chihiro whispered. Thinking it was Fam, I looked up. There stood a girl of about Fam's height, but with pure white, rounded, inverted-triangle drooping ears and fluffy long hair. There was no doubt; it was the dog-eared girl who had disappeared in the Crystal Garden.
"…Samuemu…"
Samuemu also stood frozen in surprise, but upon hearing her name called, she recoiled cautiously and placed a hand on her dagger.
"Samuemu… Is she one of Yuuki's allies?"
At Moos's words, tension ran through the members of the New World party. Sierra shot to her feet. As if forgetting our previous conversation, she glared fiercely at Samuemu and raised her staff. The other members also drew their weapons, forming a circle around her. Etowan, who had been staring at the treasure chest, was now holding a dagger. He silenced his presence and crept along the wall to get behind her.
"W-wait! You're wrong, she's not like that! Even if she is an ally, it must have been recent. It has nothing to do with you guys!"
I spread my arms and stepped between them. At that moment, Samuemu drew her dagger and closed the distance in an instant. The white blade shot straight for Hyakka-chan. I was completely defenseless against it. I hadn't thought she would attack. I knew I couldn't dodge, but my body was stiff and wouldn't obey. But as she moved, so did Etowan. He swung his dagger and deflected the blade aimed at Hyakka-chan. However, it wasn't enough; a sharp pain shot through my side.
"Guh…"
I clutched the wound and fell to my knees. The suffocating pain caught in my throat. In that time, Samuemu and Etowan had exchanged several blows. The instant their clash ended and they separated, Samuemu turned her back and started to run.
"Wait!"
The moment Etowan tried to give chase, Samuemu's dagger flashed.
"Guh!"
Her thrown dagger was deeply embedded in the top of his advancing foot. He lost his balance and rolled across the floor. Without even checking on him, Samuemu ran down the corridor and disappeared.
"Tch, damn it! Hyakka, Chihiro, heal me! I'm gonna chase her down and kill her!"
Etowan cursed and shouted.
"W-wait. Until a year ago, she was just a village girl living in a remote settlement. Please, I'm begging you, forgive her."
I stumbled forward and grabbed the hem of his clothes.
"Are you an idiot? Those movements weren't learned in a year or so. Besides, you got stabbed too. Hurry up and use your healing magic!"
He was right. Her movements since we encountered her had been polished. Etowan was an experienced 'Thief'. She had crossed blades with him, wounded him, and escaped. Those weren't the moves of someone with no combat experience. But in terms of experience, Fam, from the same village as her, had grown enough in just two months to be a capable adventurer on the front lines without any issues. However, this remarkable growth was also due to the influence of Mash-kun's special skill. Maybe Yuuki, or one of his allies, had an ability similar to my special skill. Or was it the result of Clovis, of his family House Leafclout's research into immortality? As I continued to ponder, I was hit on the head.
"Think later. Heal me now. You're bleeding too."
Moos's words reminded me that I had also been stabbed. The moment I focused on it, the intense pain in my side returned. I checked and saw it was a cut, not a stab wound. Not that it made it okay, but it hurt like hell. Inside, I was just a faithless old man, not a Paladin, but could even this version of Hyakka-chan use healing magic? With that thought, I placed a hand on the wound. I couldn't think of a suitable god, so I just pictured Racshell. When I prayed for a miracle of healing, my palm began to emit a faint glow. The pain in the area touched by the light subsided. It felt strange to heal my own body, but on second thought, it was no different from drinking a healing potion. Just then, Sierra stood before Hyakka-chan, clutching her staff.
"Be on your guard! She's coming back!"
Her sharp voice echoed. Moos, Korne, and Chihiro stood in front, protecting Hyakka-chan and Etowan. The person who came running from the end of the corridor was indeed a dog-eared girl, but she had large, drooping ears with soft, brown fur. She saw us and stopped in her tracks, surprised.
"Fam!"
"Master!"
When she saw that Hyakka-chan was injured, her face paled as if all the blood had drained from it. She rushed over.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. More importantly—"
"I saw Samuemu."
Fam finished my sentence.