chapter 98

After seeing Shirushu off and returning inside of the inn, we walked towards our bedrooms. When we went inside the room, there was four big beds and this was a great difference between the small cabin we had to sleep in just until yesterday. Well it was fine in its own way but…..

「….. Why am I also in the same room?」

「Eh? Is that a bad thing?」

「Obviously it isn’t good!」

Lydia pretended to be ignorant about this matter. I mean back when we were sailing in that ship and we were pressed for money, it was inevitable for us to stay in the same cramped room together, but if it was possible to obtain a decent room, obviously we needed to split the rooms.

「Nn~ But isn’t is way more convenient this way? I mean the thing with helping me with my magical power line…. back at the ship? It’s it more efficient this way jyan?」

Mu, if you mention it like that I suppose she has a point. It is certainly more… efficient this way….?

「I think it’s fine. After all I don’t think Zeph is the kind of person to do anything strange. Right, Claude?」

「I….I don’t particularly…. mind」

Averting her gaze, Claude glances towards me with a red face. The moment she met my eyes, she quickly lowers her gaze. Well if n.o.body else minds it then… I suppose I don’t really mind either.

「Well, I suppose I don’t really have any reason to oppose this either」

After saying this I sat down on the bed. We aren’t going to be staying here for a long time anyways, so at least whilst we are in Izu it should be fine. I always go out every night to hunt, so it would be bad of me if I woke them up during this time. Whilst thinking about this, Lydia stood up and did a big stretch for her body.

「Now then! Shall we take a bath!」

「That’s true, it wasn’t possible to take a bath in the ship so my body is really sticky」

「You can’t peep at us! Zeph!」

「As if I’d peek, how foolish」

Lydia leads the way and I saw the three girls off as they hurriedly left the room, finally having time to take a breather I was resting on the bed when suddenly it dawned on me. Now that I think about it, that girl Ain hasn’t come out in a while.

Because I don’t have any more high-quality mediums, is that why she can’t come out? In the fight I had with the Kraken, I used up all of it so… I tried chanting out the summon servant spell, but nothing happened.

I became a little worried so I opened up Milly’s bag and took out a high-quality medium before trying to chant the summon servant spell one more time. Along with a flash of light, Ain appears. In the brief time that I was feeling relieved, Ain was collapsed on top of me with her eyes still closed. I raised her body in front of me to take a good look at her face, but her usually cheerful appearance could not be seen.

「Oi Ain? Hey! Are you alright!?」

When I shook her shoulder, her small mouth moved and twitched in response.

「Uu…. Gramps….. Food…..」

The first thing she said from her small mouth was an urgent request for food. Although I’m glad that she wasn’t sick, I’ve really done a bad thing to her. From now on I need to be more mindful of this matter….

I instantly paid a visit to the town at night, purchasing about 100 high-quality mediums from a general store, I quickly went to the back of the alley to chant the summon servant spell again. I grabbed a handful of them to give towards Ain and she immediately munched on them.

「Oi, don’t eat so fast, you’ll choke on them」

「Wafuahfueru Wafuahfueru!」1

I didn’t really know what she was saying but, she seemed to be energetic so I felt relieved.

「I’m sorry, it’s not like I forgot about you but…」

「Wafure fuhihafuehi! Ehhai yuruha inrafurae!」2

Saying this, she pointed her finger on the tip of my nose. I’m telling you, I have no idea what you are saying.

「Just talk about it later, for now just stay silent and eat up」

When I presented her with more, it goes without saying that she quickly took the high-quality mediums from my fingers and gobbled them up.

「Fuhaah~ My stomach’s so full♪」

After a while she seemed to be really full. She patted her own belly and she breathed out a content sigh.

「My bad, Ain. I’ll make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again from now on」

「That’s right! I’m still in my growth period so I won’t permit it if you try to skip my meals!」

「I know, I know. I’ll make sure to feed you properly」

After patting Ain’s head, her rough breathing finally settled down.

「But well, it’s also not good to overeat so perhaps I might need to restrict your diet a little」

「Huh?」

Ain’s face which was really determined a little while ago suddenly turned pale.

「If you just eat like this without any restrictions, it will be really dangerous for my wallet. Not just that, Ain, I also know that you sometimes come out when I don’t call you and you sneakily eat the mediums」

「T-that’s because my stomach get’s emptyy….」

「In any case, I’m going to give you 10 pieces every day. Although, I will also feed you that much whenever you turn into your Divine Sword Form: Ainbell」

「No wayy~ ……Gramps come on….」

Turning her big wet eyes towards me, she gave me a puppy-eyed look. Holding on to my shoulders, she leaned against me coquettishly. Where did she learn such a trick, I wonder? But still,

「A no is a no」

「Auuu~」

After saying this, Ain looked depressed and she disappeared along with a flash of light. When I returned to the inn, Milly and the other girls had finished their bath. The three of them had already changed into their pajamas and they were combing their wet hair. In the middle of them, a red ball that Milly produced was floating in the air. They were probably trying to dry their hair with that.

「Welcome back, Zeph-kun」

「Where did you head off to~」

「I had a little something to take care of」

Sitting on my own bed, I looked at the three girls. Perhaps their body was flushed after taking a hot bath but, all their faces were red. Maybe they were still hot? But their clothes were quite exposed and their hair was sticking to their cheeks. They had a really long bath it seems. However, when these three girls are lined up like this….

「You’re still like a child aren’t you, Milly?」

「Whaa!?」

Raising a hysteric scream, Milly covered her small b.r.e.a.s.t.s with her small hands. That and the red ball floating in the air started to shake violently. Oi, that’s really dangerous you know? I immediately casted a blue ball to offset it.

「That’s precisely what I mean by childish」

「Muu~! Zeph you bakaa!」

Puffing up her cheeks, Milly glares at me, seeing the situation both Claude and Lydia laughs.

「Zeph-kun is such a tease isn’t he?」

「Because he’s like that Milly-chan can’t be honest with herself~」

Saying this, Lydia holds both of Milly’s shoulders and pushed her down on to the bed.

「Wait….. Lydia!?」

「Please stay still, Milly-san」

Milly was flapping her feet around, and Claude started to firmly hold her down, Lydia began taking her clothes off. In the twinkling of an eye, her outer garments were all taken off, and Milly’s small back was revealed. Milly was glaring at the two girls reproachfully, but she now resigned and buried her face into her pillow.

「There we go, all yours Zeph-chi♪」

「Even if you say that….. What do you want me to do?」

「Come on Milly-san, you need to ask him properly」

I couldn’t follow where this was going and both Claude and Lydia seemed to be having a lot of fun. Milly continues to be silent and doesn’t move.

「The truth is, we spoke with Milly a little while ago, and the reason she was so sulky this morning is….. 」

「Wahh! S-Stop! Claude! I’ll say it myself so!」

Shouting in a loud voice Milly tells Claude to not reveal anymore, and she gave a glance in my direction. It seems that she was greatly embarra.s.sed, so her face was dyed red. Milly’s mouth moved slightly and although she was mumbling something out, I couldn’t really hear her.

「What was that? I can’t hear you Milly」

「……your….hand…」

「Can you please speak in a louder voice?」

To be honest with, I already understood the gist of what she was trying to say, but I deliberately asked her. Claude looks at me with a face that said, “don’t be such a teasee”. Normally Milly was so cheeky and conceited, seeing her like this was rather sweet. Her shoulders were slightly trembling and Milly was tightly grasping on to the pillow.

「I…I want you to do the same thing….. that you did with the other two!」

While her face was still buried in the pillow, she spoke in such a big voice that the next room probably heard her. Both Claude and Lydia showed a smile of relief.

「Although I don’t really mind it…… Since Milly already has quite the developed magical power line, it probably won’t be that effective you know?」

「……That’s fine!」

Although she spoke in a smaller voice than previously, I could feel a strong resolution. Good grief, if she asked me in this manner every time, I would do it as much as she likes.

「I understand. I’m going to start caressing your back gently, okay?」

「…. Okay」

Looking downwards, Milly has a slight smile on her face. Sitting across from her, I placed my hand in the center of her small back. When I paid close attention, I found that Milly’s magical power line was indeed thick and developed throughout her whole body.

It really seems like this is just going to be me gently caressing her back… Well, considering Milly has showed her courage and went this far to ask me, it wouldn’t be nice if I just treated her with disdain. When I twined my magical energy with Milly’s magical power line, I could tell that bit by bit, Milly’s body was starting to tremble.

Was she feeling a little cold perhaps?

When I moved her magical line with my hand a little, Milly’s head sank further into her pillow. And,

「…….Puh! Ahahahaha! T…That’s really ticklishh! S-stop I can’t anymore! Hyafufuh!」

She suddenly started to burst into laughter.

I was staring blankly as she looked behind her back towards me and twisted her body. She escapes towards her futon.

「Hii…….hiii……sorry….. Zeph…. but I’m at my limits…..」

「You…..」

Rolling around laughing Milly was teary-eyed. Watching her like this, I let out a sigh with an amazed look on my face.