Episode 27

Unfortunately, there was no event where Ellie came to visit me in the middle of the night wearing just her underwear. But then again, thinking about it, wasn’t that obvious? If this were my previous life, it would be akin to an uwu middle school girl asking a full-grown adult man to come knock on their door in their underwear.

“…Maybe she took it as a sign not to come at all.”

Still, thanks to that, I was able to organize and test the new things I had pulled an all-nighter for.

The belt was sturdy and well-made for hanging things, so I decided to keep using it as is. I attached the low-grade mana potion to the corner of the belt along with the existing lowest-grade recovery potion.

The shield… I guess I have to sell it. It was equipment that didn’t suit me, and being 1-star, its performance was also dubious. There’s no need to take a risk by changing my style.

After that, I spent the most time exploring how to utilize the Gluttonous Stomach. I didn’t know at the moment how to use the unicorn horn, and the Hesitation-Free Pathfinding skill would be at its full potential once I went outside.

For that reason, I mainly tested the Gluttonous Stomach… It was exactly the kind of ability I had in mind, and its performance was beyond imagination. There was definitely a reason it was rated 3-star.

When I ate the jerky I had saved for a snack, I felt a satisfying fullness disproportionate to the amount consumed. After depleting my mana with Weak Flame, the mana herb I ate restored my mana at a much faster rate.

Moreover, after my mana was fully restored, even my total amount of mana increased slightly.

Yes. This means there was no need to refine it into an elixir; just eating the mana herb directly now had an effect…!

“Sweet.”

Now, I could maintain Weak Flame for as long as 1 minute. An incomparable growth from before when I was panting after just 20 seconds!

…However, it was a bit disappointing that it took all those magic herbs to achieve just this. This is why 1-stars are trash!

Well, I suppose I’ll be harvesting plenty of magic herbs from now on, so I could think of it as reducing the refining costs and the effort of selling them.

For reference, the healing herbs made me feel a bit better. They may have increased my stamina, but since stamina can’t be measured like mana, it was hard to tell.

Besides that, I’ll need to try elixirs, poisons, potions, etc., and see how they work.

One peculiar thing was that the power of gluttony literally applied only to things that could be eaten, and what was consumed went to a separate space, not the stomach.

It wasn’t much of a demerit that it only applied to things you could eat. If it were possible to swallow flying magic or to eat through space to cast defense-piercing attacks, how could that be a 3-star? That would be a 5-star.

Next, about the part where the foods were led to a separate space, not the stomach… This could just be interpreted as my being able to eat more now.

Once I reached a certain level of fullness, everything eaten thereafter would be stored in a subspace connected to the stomach rather than the stomach itself.

Thanks to this, my body could consume several times more than usual, and since digestion continued in the subspace, it improved overall efficiency.

I could say it was like running a dual-core stomach. That effect really was fitting to the name Gluttonous Stomach.

“Ugh.”

I got up from my seat, belching a loud burp that smelled of a mixture of magic herbs and healing herbs. I had done everything I could in my room. The rest needed to be resolved outside.

Knock knock.

“Ellie, are you awake?”

It was still early morning, so the shop shouldn’t be open yet. Instead of going downstairs, I knocked on Ellie’s door.

Not long after, a flustered voice responded.

“Huh? Yes! I’m awake! What’s up?”

“I just woke up this morning and thought I’d say hello and hear Ellie’s voice. Can I come in for a moment?”

“No, no!”

Ellie cried out in alarm. I heard the sound of rushing steps, followed by the door, which had been slightly ajar, being slammed shut.

…Strange. Usually, she wouldn’t mind whether I entered or not. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it when I entered her room.

“Ellie? Are you not going to let me in today?”

“That’s, ah, right! Clothes! I’m changing, so I’m naked! Even I think showing my naked body is embarrassing, Jonah.”

“What? Is that it? I can undress, too, then. If you’re not alone, the embarrassment will lessen!”

“Together?!”

Her voice flipped a little. It was filled with so much anticipation that it seemed to overflow all the way here…but Ellie clenched her teeth and refused.

“…Still, not now.”

“Hmm.”

What was it? Somehow, her tone was different from usual.

Normally, it would feel really, really regrettable, and if there were a chance, she’d want to sneak a hand over me but couldn’t due to ethical or realistic issues. And some of it had stemmed from her lack of confidence from being a virgin…

But right now, she conveyed a strong will that she absolutely cannot reveal herself to me.

Early morning…A flustered voice…A door desperately kept shut…

Could it be?!

“Ellie. Did you, by any chance, cheat on me?”

“Huh?”

“While I was asleep, did you bring another man into your room and…”

“That’s not it! What nonsense are you spouting, you dirty-minded pinkette!”

“Then why won’t you open the door! It must be because there’s something you can’t show me! If it’s not a man, could it possibly be a woman…I knew it. You and Lydia seemed too close. LydEllie was a thing, then.”

“I don’t care about the other ones, but that one is definitely not true! Don’t say unpleasant things like that!”

“Then there’s no reason to hide it from me! Haven’t you heard that couples are supposed to be one body and mind?!”

“First of all, we’re not a couple, and just because of being one body and mind doesn’t mean you have to reveal every secret. Lastly, I’ve never heard such a saying before!”

“Ah.”

Now that I think about it, that phrase was from my past life, so it’s not surprising it doesn’t exist in the Pan Continent.

The part about not needing to reveal all your secrets did bother me a bit. After all, I have many things I’m hiding from Ellie, too.

After a brief moment of contemplation, I let out a deep sigh.

“I understand. I won’t ask you to open the door… But can’t you at least tell me why you’re trying to hide from me?”

“…Alright. But you can’t laugh after hearing it, okay?”

“I don’t see why you’re making such a fuss, but okay. I promise.”

“Really?”

“Of course. When have I ever laughed at Ellie?”

“Now that you mention it, you haven’t. I’ve shown you quite a few embarrassing sides of myself, too, Jonah.”

Ellie chuckled. Then, after a pause, she cautiously began to speak.

“Actually, I’m wearing the underwear you gave me as a gift right now.”

“What?”

“Well, it was a gift, right? I thought it would be polite to wear it at least once instead of just shoving it into a corner immediately because it’s embarrassing… And I was also curious about your taste, Jonah.”

“……”

My goodness. She really wore it?

To be honest, I didn’t expect her to wear it right away. And for good reason, too, because not only was it see-through, but it’s a T-style that leaves the buttocks completely exposed, and the front part is split, so it didn’t cover the crucial parts at all!

The top was the same, with the center split to expose the tip. It was underwear made solely for sex appeal.

So, by the standards of women in this world, it was quite a scandalous design.

Even if she did wear it someday, I thought it would only be after I persistently asked or if there was some merit worth the humiliation.

But the very next day, she wore it. She wanted to understand my taste, as I had gifted it to her.

This was… true love indeed.

“Ellie, I’ll take back what I just said. Could you just open the door?”

“Why on earth?!”

“I want to see Ellie.”

“I don’t want to show myself!”

“Then marry me!”

“Aren’t the choices a bit strange?!”

Ellie’s mind seemed to be in a flurry of chaos. Seeing that she still had a firm grip on the door handle, she probably had no intention of backing down.

I shrugged and proposed a compromise.

“All right, if you really don’t want to, it can’t be helped. Then just show your face. Only your face. That should be okay, right?”

“Just the face?”

“Yes. Just hide behind the door and peek your face out. You can do at least that much for me, right?”

“…Wait a moment.”

The sound of a small deep breath. And then the door slowly opened.

Ellie, who peeked her face through the crack of the door, spoke with a face so red it looked like it was about to burst.

“Y, You’re satisfied now, right?”

Ellie was unable to meet my eyes. Her perked-up wolf ears were twitching busily.

I took everything in, slowly but surely. And then I went on tiptoes. Towards Ellie’s cheek.

Chu.

“…Huh?”

Ellie’s voice sounded dumbfounded. The lack of reality was mutual, but the softness left on my lips and her unique scent reminded me that it wasn’t a dream.

A half-impulsive peck on the cheek. But I had no regrets…!

“I’ll let it slide for today. Oh, and this is a gift.”

“Huh? Oh, okay….”

Ellie stared blankly at the book I handed over. It was nothing special, just the novel that came out of yesterday’s draw.

It was labeled a masterpiece, so I was curious, but it turned out to be an erotic story. “For Sale. Fallen Sire. Never Used.” What a strange title.

Honestly, it was entertaining, but being a gender-reversed version, it wasn’t exactly to my taste.

How could I immerse myself in a book where the female protagonist buys all sorts of male slaves to devour, or her fallen senior and professor, and even a god?

If it had been titled “For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used,” I would have read it thoroughly and praised it from all directions as a brilliant novel.

But to Ellie, who was born and raised in this world, it must certainly seem like an amazing erotic story.

“Consider this a gift, too, and please enjoy it while thinking of it as me.”

“I… will?”

Still not quite herself, she nodded dumbly and accepted the book.

But to receive the book, one must extend their arm. I grabbed the hand that poked through the gap and stuffed it into my clothes.

Squish.

Ellie’s rough fingers brushed against my soft, not yet fully muscular belly.

“Ghrrrrgk?!”

I smirked at Ellie, who had forgotten human language and was making animal-like sounds.

“That’s it for today… was what I said, but wouldn’t it be too heartless to end it there? So, this is a bonus.”

“……!!”

Ellie’s mouth was agape. After leisurely observing the twitching tongue inside, I finally released her hand and stepped back.

“Then, I have some things to do, so I’ll step out for a bit! Have a good day, Ellie!”

I waved my hand and hurried down the stairs.

“#?&!@&#$”

Ellie’s belated scream echoed through the building.