Doze

“It is already too late tonight. Let’s take it slowly tomorrow.”

Because the mood has been getting terrible, I decide to wrap the talk up.

It will be better to do it later.

“I understand, Master.”

Roxanne responds with a smile.

Immediately after, her expression turns back into the grim one.

She isn’t angry at me, though.

I am worried about the relations.h.i.+p between Roxanne and Rutina.

“Even though it is time to sleep, we only have one bed. All of us sleep together. Will Rutina be sleeping in the bed with us?”

“It is alright. As I am a slave, I am resolved to sleep on the floor.”

I invite her casually but she declines.

She has the same dodging ability as Roxanne’s.

In actuality, we have two beds conjoined side by side.

So, it won’t be much of a problem.

Actually, if I separated them, each bed could accommodate three, no?

Nah, I don’t need to go that far.

It is possible for her to give up sleeping on the floor.

It is a cruel method, though.

“Since I have an extra blanket, I will give it to you.”

Roxanne seems to have approved my idea.

“I guess. Miria, can you bring the extra blanket?”

No answer.

“Miria?”

Roxanne calls out to her.

She seems to have dozed off.

“Has she fallen asleep?”

“Miria, go and bring the extra blanket, please.”

“x.x.xx.x.xx.x.xx”

After Roxanne wakes her up, Miria leaves the room while muttering something.

The words she uttered half-awoken didn’t sound like Brahim.

“Such behaviour in front of Master.”

“It is such a time, so there is no helping it.”

I calm Roxanne down.

Provoking her more than she already is would be a bad idea.

It is unavoidable to fall asleep for it is so late.

It has made even Sherry sleepy.

Vesta, too, is on the verge of drifting off to the dreamland.

It may also be due to her body temperature going down, though.

Miria returns with a blanket.

Because there is lighting from the kandelaar this time around, I can see her clearly.

“Sorry for the trouble, guys. Well, let’s go and sleep then?”

“Yes, desu.”

“Here, have this.”

I receive the blanket from Miria and pa.s.s it to Rutina.

I can order her to sleep in the bed, too; however, since she herself wants to sleep on the floor, I will let her.

“I don’t think it is a good idea to give her special treatment.”

“Although you said special treatment, in actuality, she is sleeping on the floor. It is fine for the time being.”

“Is that so?”

Going to the room on second floor while holding the kandelaar, Roxanne voices her opinion; to which, I tell her I don’t see any problem.

Even though I said that, will it be alright to leave it as is for now?

Besides, if I bought her a bed, I would be giving her special treatment.

It cannot be helped.

“Leaving that aside, do you think we can trust Rutina?”

“Trust her?”

“If I take her to the labyrinth, she may learn about various things. That’s why I cannot have her go to the labyrinth right away.”

“I see. So, is that why you acted different from usual?”

I explain the reason as to why I cannot take Rutina to the labyrinth immediately.

Roxanne didn’t notice, it seems

I am glad the misunderstanding has been clarified.

“How much can we trust her? I cannot tell based on just today. However, she seems to be holding a grudge, so it is unlikely for her to be a spy.”

Sherry gives her composed evaluation.

I am unsure as to how much she has grasped the situation; nevertheless, she seems to have gotten relatively close.

So, there really was a possibility of her being an a.s.sa.s.sin sent by the Duke, huh?

“A spy?”

“A person who is sent in to investigate the internal conditions.”

“I won’t allow such a thing.”

Roxanne seemed to not know the word spy.

Sherry puts her heart into explaining.

Spies and rebels seem to be subversionary existences who are unrelated to the commoners in this world.

Or so I thought; however, Sherry knows about the spies well.

Should I say ‘as expected’?

“We will observe her carefully for the time being. Let’s sleep for now; I am really sleepy.”

Since it has gotten too late, I put a rest to it without thinking deeply over it.

Everyone slips into the bed.

Even though it is supposed to be a goodnight kiss, we do it under the light.

I don’t get to enjoy it for long, though.

Everyone is sleepy.

My eyelids feel heavy, too.

Miria drifts off to sleep while I take my time kissing Vesta.

I should make some noise, or sing maybe, so no one falls asleep.

Vesta always kisses pa.s.sionately and swirls her tongue.

I leave Miria at what could be called a mere greeting.

I am feeling a little lonely.

Sherry, too, finishes shortly.

I go somewhat crazy while kissing Roxanne.

As expected of Roxanne.

She is the finale, after all.

After parting our lips, I put the kandelaar light out and kiss Roxanne again in the dark.

I regain my consciousness as I feel Vesta stirring close by.

Amidst a vague euphoria, I wake up.

But I feel like sleeping again.

I know it is early in the morning; however, I continue to sleep as is.

It has been a long time since I last went back to sleep after waking up.

This may be the first time ever since I came to this world.

As it is, I may not even be able to enter the labyrinth.

It gets dark early, too.

Roxanne kisses me as soon as I wake up.

I see.

So, this is the reason as to why I wake up early and don’t go back to sleep, huh?

Did Roxanne go back to sleep, too, when I dozed off in the morning?

Or, did she wake up, lie next to and keep watching me?

In either case, I am grateful.

“Good morning, Master.”

“Good morning, Roxanne.”

I greet Roxanne normally.

Everyone seems to be up.

Earlier, I woke up to Vesta’s movement in the first place.

I claim the last night’s share as I kiss the three girls for a long time.

Vesta appears to be normal.

I receive Vesta’s a.s.sertive tongue service.

After kissing plenty, I change into my clothes

“The sun of the new day is already up.”

When Roxanne opens the window, the sunlight s.h.i.+nes inside the room.

Have I been asleep for so long?

“We can’t help it today. Let’s have breakfast first.”

“Okay.”

Everyone moves to the first floor.

Rutina was standing in the living room when we go downstairs.

She seems to have had already woken up.

“Good morning.”

“Morning, Rutina. We are going to make breakfast now. Do you want to make something, Rutina?”

“No, I have never cooked before.”

Rutina proudly sticks her chest out.

Seems to be voluminous it its own right.

Doesn’t it?

Since she was an earl’s daughter, is that why she hasn’t cooked before?

“Oh well. I guess you will learn after helping out for some time.”

“But I would like to devote myself eventually to the Lords’ a.s.sembly.”

“In this house, everyone cooks together, everyone eats together.”

Roxane cuts in.

She doesn’t need to devote herself fully to the Lords’ a.s.sembly.

She should have enough time to cook, too.

“Helping out would do until you are able to cook by yourself.”

“I understand.”

It seems to have settled for the time being.

“I will now be going out to buy bread and other ingredients for breakfast. Later, I will buy you shoes. Also, I will give you one piece of equipment. What about weapon? Is there a weapon you prefer to carry?”

Rutina isn’t barefoot; however, she is wearing gauzy shoes seemingly made of fabric.

They are probably slippers used for walking inside the Earl of Selmar’s castle.

She needs different shoes if she is to go out.

As for the weapon, when she becomes a Wizard, she will use either a spear or a stick; however, a stick would be difficult for a Villager.

Before that, wouldn’t there be rumors of a majestic Wizard carrying a stick.

Because I am not sure myself, I leave it to her to decide.

“Is it really okay for me to carry a weapon?”

“It is okay as long as you don’t have strange ideas.”

“Then, although I am not sure if I can use it well, I would like a one-handed sword, please.”

“One-handed sword?”

I go and get the equipment from the store room.

“I will practice a little for when I get to have an audience with that man.”

I could hear Rutina muttering as I was exiting the living room but I pretend not to have heard it.

I bring out Hard Leather Shoes from the store room.

As for the sword, Scimitar would do since she won’t be using it inside the labyrinth.

When I return to the living room, everyone was silent.

The mood seems a little edgy.

Is it really impossible for the girls to get along with each other?

“Here, take this.”

“Okay.”

“Put the shoes on, so you can come with us. We are going to the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“I understand.”

I have her change shoes and head to downtown.

While , Rutina keeps looking around restlessly.

She probably didn’t go outside the castle much.

Or, has she never visited Quratar before?

“Is it your first time visiting Quratar?”

“Yes, it is the first time I came here.”

“You can go and have a look around whenever you have time. However, since there is a labyrinth here, a monster may appear.”

“I will be careful.”

Even though I said a monster may appear, I have yet to see one.

With so many people around, it being the centre of Quratar, the monster can be tidied up immediately after it appears.

Besides, I move via [Warp] between home and the Adventurer’s Guild.

Even if one appeared it would probably be a Kobold Lv1.

Quratar’s residents wouldn’t have any problem.

However, it could be difficult for a Villager Lv2 Rutina.

“Since there isn’t much for you to help with, it being breakfast, you can simply observe for now.”

After returning home, we prepare breakfast.

I make a ham egg style dish.

Cooking such a simple dish for the breakfast is easy and quick.

“Did Michio-sama make this?”

“Master’s cooking is delicious and wonderful.”

Roxanne replies before I could.

“Do freemen cook their own food?”

“Well, we don’t have people to do it.”

“Is there a reason for not getting a slave responsible only for cooking?”

What might she be suggesting?

“There is none.”

“I have heard that you cannot make a delicious soup unless it is boiled well for several days.”

“There are a few techniques to make it quick.”

The dishes that n.o.bles eat are as such, after all.

A chef works there full time and serves meals all day.

I don’t want to bring the common sense of n.o.bility here.

Once the breakfast was ready, we take it to the table in order to eat together.

I distribute the soup, which Miria and Sherry made. Although I put the bowl in front of Rutina last, she doesn’t complain.

I start eating after finis.h.i.+ng up with the soup.

“I am grateful for the toil and tribute of everyone. I receive this with love.”

Rutina is the only one to mutter something.

Is this a prayer before eating?

I should have expected something like this from n.o.bles.

However, her prayer didn’t have a gentle ring to it.

Rutina tries the ham egg style dish.

“How is it?”

“Yes, it is delicious.”

I ask for her opinion. It doesn’t seem bad nor does it seem so-so.

It seems as if she ate something good.

Furthermore, the way Rutina is eating looks beautiful.

Elegant, versatile and fluent.

There is nothing uncouth, at all, about the way she holds the knife.

I wonder if she has refined manners because she was an earl’s daughter.

What about the Duke and Ca.s.sia?

I couldn’t observed them closely.

Actually, I couldn’t observe Ca.s.sia closely.

As for the Duke, I am not interested in the way he eats.

As far as Rutina is concerned, there shouldn’t be any problem even if I observe her closely.

And, It isn’t like I have any ulterior motive.

I watch her carefully from the seat next to her.

The sight of Rutina eating is so elegant.

I don’t think the way Roxanne and the girls eat is crude; however, there is a visible difference.

Smart, beautiful and graceful.

To the point that I want to eat her.

“After the breakfast, I will be going to Bode.”

I will be visiting the Duke’s place; however I said Bode because I am not sure as to how sensitive the subject would be.

“Okay.”

“I will leave the rest to Roxanne.”

“Please leave the rest to me.”

After I was done eating, I head to the Duke’s place.

It won’t be a problem to entrust cleaning and such to Roxanne.

The Bode Castle is peaceful today compared to yesterday.

You cannot tell that something happened at all.

“Is the Duke inside?”

“Yes, he is in the office.”

I enter inside as if nothing really happened.

Does the member of the order of knights at reception not know about the incident?

Ah, the person who was mobilized last night would most likely not be working in the morning.

When I knock on the door and enter the office, the Duke was buried within the papers.

Gozer isn’t here.

“Oh, Michio-dono. Sorry, I ended up staying up all night.”

The Duke greets me with a dispirited expression.

He is clearly lacking sleep.

“You look tired.”

“I must send these doc.u.ments to the concerned people as fast as possible. This is the only work I cannot delegate to my subordinates.”

“No wonder.”

“I would have asked you to come early had I known it would be like this.”

The Duke comes over with unsteady steps and sprawls himself on the sofa.

Didn’t he know he would need to complete paperwork beforehand?

Or, did something happen?

“Where is Gozer-dono?”

“Gozer was helping me out until a while ago. Was it until an hour ago? Not sure. Maybe it was until two hours ago?”

His memory seems to have already become shabby.

“If you are busy, then-”

“No, I am alright. How is she?”

“She isn’t entirely upset.”

“In actuality, she is an obedient and kind girl. She is just being adamant right now but she will calm down with time.”

Will she really calm down over time?

Also, is she really ‘just being adamant’?

I wonder.

Isn’t it natural for her relatives to see her in good light?

The more I think about it, the less I get it.

Meanwhile, the Duke turns silent.

When I look at him dubiously, he had his eyes closed and neck bent back.

Is he asleep?

Is it fine for him to be defenseless in front of someone else?

It would have been dangerous had I brought Rutina with me.

“Duke.”

“I am alright. As for her…”

He doesn’t seem to want to admit he dozed off.

Thereafter, I talk to the Duke without break.

The discussion ends properly.

The Duke seemed absent-minded till the very end. I wasn’t able to clearly understand what he wanted to say.

The purpose I was called here for was to talk about Rutina.

I thought he would ask me to make promises but he didn’t.

I don’t think he would remember what he said even if he did.

Can’t I use his hand to sign contracts?

For example, a contract to make Rutina a s.e.x slave?

I didn’t do that, though, but warned him that Rutina bears a grudge against us and it would be dangerous if she were allowed to approach.

Whether sleep learning is effective or not, it remains to be found out.

After reporting to the order of knights that I visited diligently, I return home.

Because I asked them to send my regards to their leader, it will reach Gozer.

“I am home. Wha-”

When I arrive at home, Rutina was crouching on the floor, her head lowered.

Did something happen?

Dogeza?

Nope, since she is receiving me, it must be mitsuyubi.

Also, Roxanne seems to be standing in the back, satisfied.

“I was wrong.”

Rutina takes the initiative and apologizes.

Did something happen here?

To be more specific, did she do something?

What exactly did you do, Roxanne?