After The Feast

I had been gathering jewel orbs in order to make Rāna grow and have her work as a shop clerk.

While I was at it, the Dwarf Duke had asked me to search for his daughter, who had run away from home. If I succeeded, he had promised to put in a good word for Liricia’s release from slavery.

Morning in the forest.

When I woke up in bed, Liricia’s white wings were wrapped around the two of us.

She was making soft, comfortable sleeping breaths. Each time she breathed, her large breasts swayed softly.

When I tried to put the sheets over her, Liricia opened her eyes.

She raised her face with her violet eyes still dazed.

“Hau… Good morning, Master.”

“Good morning. How do you feel?”

“Hmm, my head feels somewhat heavy…”

“A hangover?”

“It may be—Rest Heal.”

Liricia placed a hand on her head and chanted a spell.

She immediately shook her silver hair and smiled.

“I am healed, Master!”

“Good. Then shall we go search for the jewel orb today?”

“Yes!”

We went to the dining hall to have breakfast.

I could not see Teti, the elf girl, or Sophia, the priest.

“Are they still not awake?”

“That is unusual.”

“Ah, right. I gave them souvenirs, so maybe those two got drunk too.”

“I will go check on them.”

Liricia left the dining hall.

A scream was immediately heard.

“What’s wrong, Liricia!?”

I was startled and hurried to the dungeon. I ran through the passage.

Then, in the hall, Sophia had collapsed completely naked. Young Rāna was also collapsed flat on her back.

“Huh!? What happened!? Are they breathing?”

Liricia, who was crouching beside Sophia, raised her face.

“Master, her breathing and pulse are both normal!”

“Which means?”

“I believe she is only sleeping—completely naked.”

“She’s only sleeping, huh? That’s good—though she’s completely naked. What about Rāna?”

“It seems the same for her.”

“I hope they haven’t caught a cold… For now, please put clothes on Sophia. I’ll carry Rāna to her room.”

“Yes, Master.”

There was a table set up in the hall, with half-eaten food still left on it.

It seemed they had held a feast.

When I picked Rāna up in my arms, her long white hair fell smoothly.

Her body was slender and light. Her young lips were loosened in a smile, and she was sleeping while drooling.

How long had she stayed awake?

I entered the rear hall. There were four doors along the wall.

In the center, Kou’s spherical body was seated.

“Good morning, Kou.”

“Good morning, Master.”

“Which one was Rāna’s room?”

“I’ll open the door~”

There was a click, and one of the doors opened.

When I entered, it was a fairly spacious room. Besides a bed, there was also a table and shelves.

—I guess I’ll put nameplates on each room later.

While thinking that, I laid Rāna down on the bed, then returned to the hall.

Then the door beside it opened, and Teti came out.

She opened her mouth wide sleepily and yawned. Her long elf ears twitched.

“Nn-ah. Alec-sama, good morning.”

“Good morning. It looks like you had a feast until late yesterday.”

“Only those two did. I went to bed right away. They got drunk, and it was a disaster.”

“Is that so?”

“Liquor is something you drink, not something you let drink you~, really.”

Teti said this while shrugging her delicate shoulders. Her blond hair swayed softly.

In response to those words, Kou conveyed a new fact while making the surface of the white sphere glow blue.

“The ale has some kind of mechanism that confuses the mind? It doesn’t seem to be medicine or magic.”

“It seems it was dungeon-made liquor.”

Teti added.

“So that’s what it was… In that case, does the Dwarf Duke have a dungeon?”

If I recalled correctly, he had said the purity of the soil and sand was high, as if it were inside a dungeon.

Kou flashed brightly and denied it.

“But there aren’t any dungeons around that dwarf area?”

“That’s true too.”

“—If I could have a little more time, I could search more thoroughly, but…”

“In that case, while we have Liricia search for the next orb’s location and the Dwarf Duke’s daughter, let’s have her investigate that too.”

“Roger that!”

Kou answered energetically.

Teti left the hall first to eat breakfast.

After that, I called Liricia.

Beside Kou, we spread out the world map on the hall floor, and in her angel state with her wings out, she lowered the flail and chanted a spell.

I had her search for the orb’s location, as well as the Dwarf Duke’s daughter.

While spreading her wings, she dangled the flail over the world map.

“—Aura Detect.”

As she traced over the map with the flail, the weight attached to the end of the chain swung at a certain spot.

Liricia raised a surprised voice.

“Ah! The one in the Luktia Holy Papal State and the one in the sea have not changed locations, but the other jewel orb that was in the sea has moved somewhere else!”

“Hm? —Don’t tell me some monster or something swallowed it…”

“That may be the case.”

“What a pain… All right, let’s leave it for later. Let’s search for the orb that hasn’t moved. Also, what about Hilda?”

“She is in Northpton, the port town at the river mouth north of the Royal Capital.”

“Ah, that town. I’ve been there several times.”

If one went down the great river along the Royal Capital, one could reach Northpton.

When I was working as a hero, I had used it several times when heading to distant places.

I looked at Liricia.

“Is there a dungeon in the Dwarf Duke Territory?”

“There does not appear to be one.”

“Hmm? If even Liricia’s detection can’t find one, does that mean it doesn’t exist?”

“Perhaps it has already been defeated.”

“I see… Then after we eat breakfast, let’s go to Northpton and meet the daughter, then go to the Luktia Holy Papal State.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Is that fine with you too, Kou?”

“Yes. However, I can connect a dungeon entrance to Northpton, but Luktia is a little difficult.”

“Why?”

“Because it is across the sea. Also, there is a large dungeon near Luktia?”

“Another dungeon, huh. —Doesn’t this world have a lot of dungeons?”

“The world has won three world wars in a row, so the world is wealthy?”

“I don’t really understand, but if there are many dungeons, the world becomes richer too, huh.”

“That is how the setting works.”

Kou’s white sphere gleamed happily.

—I did not really understand, but apparently that was how it worked.

I nodded and said,

“Then, once we’ve eaten breakfast, take us to Northpton.”

“Aye-aye, sir.”

I took Liricia and returned to the mansion.

Teti had already finished eating her breakfast sandwich and was preparing to open the shop.

We had a light breakfast in the dining hall.

Bread, soup, and sausage. I also ate an apple.

However, before I had even eaten half of it, the walls and ceiling suddenly glowed red.

Kou’s voice echoed throughout.

“Warning! Wa-wa-warning! An enemy is attacking!”

I stood up from the table and took the sub-device in hand.

“What happened, Kou!? Is it a dungeon?”

“No! It’s a super-strong monster! It came to the shop! No, impossible! What is that appearance!? To the shop! To the shop!”

“What did you say!? —Ah! Teti is in danger!”

Teti was already out in the shop as a clerk.

I ran to the sword propped against the wall, grabbed it, and hurried out of the dining hall.