The New Fairy

“Umm… where am I?”

A little while later, it seemed Elnette came to.

“Elnette, are you okay? You got overheated in the bath and collapsed, remember?”

Kent tried asking Elnette.

“I see… it seems my training was still far from sufficient.”

“It wouldn’t be good to send you back like this today, so you should stay the night.”

“My apologies.”

Elnette said apologetically.

“Kent-san, I’ve already laid out the futon in the Japanese-style room.”

“Thanks, Catherine. Then… right, you didn’t have any clothes.”

He realized it when he helped Elnette sit up. The bath towel draped over her slipped off, exposing her chest.

“Kyaa!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Flustered, Elnette covered her chest with both hands.

“Yes! I win!”

Lifting up her own chest, Catherine said happily.

“To think I’d lose even to a child… and yet my little sister is so huge and bouncy, so why is there such a gap between us…?”

Looking down at her own chest, Elnette said sadly.

“Then I’ll be in your care for the night.”

Wearing the underwear and jersey Kent had brought out for her, Elnette gave a small bow and went into the Japanese-style room.

“You should sleep with your mother once in a while. I’ll sleep by myself.”

Saying that, Catherine went into Caro’s former room.

“Well then, Kent-san, shall we go to sleep too?”

“Yes, let’s. We have to get up early tomorrow too.”

Kent and Marie went into Kent’s room and got into bed.

“We haven’t done anything lately because we’ve both been tired from work, so I’m going to do my best tonight.”

“Marie-san, we have to get up early tomorrow too, so please go easy on me.”

The two of them took off their clothes and spent late into the night confirming each other’s feelings.

“It’s coooold… it’s daaaark…”

He remembered hearing a similar voice before. It was already deep into the night, and beside him Marie was fast asleep, snoring loudly. Seeing her ample chest rise and fall with her breathing made him feel the urge to touch it, but this time that was the least of his concerns. He had to get to the bottom of the cause. Kent put on his jersey and started searching for where the voice was coming from.

“Kent-san… doesn’t it sound like there’s some strange voice?”

When he stepped into the living room, Catherine was already awake. Looking frightened, she spoke to Kent.

“It’s okay.”

He pulled the trembling Catherine close and calmed her down.

“It’s cold… it’s cold…”

The voice came again.

“It sounds like it’s coming from the kitchen. I’ll go take a look.”

“Please don’t leave me alone.”

Catherine, who tightly grabbed the sleeve of Kent’s jersey, went with him into the kitchen.

“Is someone there?”

Saying that, Kent turned on the kitchen light. But there was no one in the kitchen.

“Kent-san, there’s no one here, is there?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s coooold… it’s daaaark…”

The voice came again.

“Kent-san, I think it sounds like it’s coming from inside the refrigerator.”

“Now that you mention it, it does sound that way.”

It seemed the mysterious voice was coming from the refrigerator.

“Is someone there?”

There wasn’t enough space inside the refrigerator for a person to fit, but just in case, Kent called out and gently opened the refrigerator door.

“It got brighter… but it’s cold.”

The voice came from inside the refrigerator. It seemed to be coming from the vegetable compartment. When he took the vegetables out one by one, there was something in the back.

“What is this?”

“It kind of looks like a fairy.”

“If I remember right, this spot was… yes, where we put the mandrake.”

Before, Catherine had bought a mandrake at the market. She had tried to eat it, but Kent had stopped her with all his might, and then they had left it in the refrigerator.

Kent gently scooped it up in both hands and took it out of the refrigerator.

“Thank you very much for saving me. And thank you for saving me before too, when I was about to be eaten.”

The palm-sized girl with yellow-green hair thanked Kent.

“I was the one who tried to eat you… I’m sorry.”

Catherine apologized to the tiny girl.

“My name is Alraune. To be precise, that’s the name of my race… though I think I’d generally be considered one of the fairies. Pleased to meet you, Master.”

“Why am I your master?”

Kent asked Alraune, puzzled.

“You rescued me from that cold place, didn’t you? That alone is more than enough to qualify you to be my master.”

(Sorry. I’m the one who stuffed you into the refrigerator.)

Kent silently retorted in his heart to what Alraune had said.

He remembered reading in some book before that an alraune was a subspecies of mandrake. In this case, though, it might be more accurate to say it had transformed rather than that it was a subspecies.

“Kent-san, she’s cute, just like a doll.”

“Hey, please don’t poke and prod me so much. Waaah, my hair’s getting messy.”

Catherine started touching Alraune curiously.

“Catherine, she seems to dislike it, so let her be.”

“Okaaay.”

After Kent told her, Catherine reluctantly stopped touching Alraune.

“So then, what are you planning to do from here on, Alraune?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do? I’ll do whatever my master orders, of course. If what you desire is a partner for the night, I’ll serve you with all my might.”

Pressing both hands to her cheeks, Alraune said bashfully.

“At that size, that’s obviously impossible, isn’t it?”

“So Kent-san was thinking of doing it…”

Kent had meant it as a retort, but Catherine looked at him with narrowed eyes as she said it.

“It sounds rather noisy in here…”

Saying that, Elnette came into the kitchen.

“Ah, did we wake you up? Sorry about that. So, how are you feeling?”

When Kent asked about her condition, Elnette replied that she was fine.

“By the way, what were you two whispering about?”

“Huh?”

It seemed Elnette couldn’t see Alraune.

“Could it be that ordinary people can’t see Alraune or something?”

“That’s right. Normally, people can’t see me unless I materialize. By the way, I haven’t materialized this whole time, you know?”

When Kent asked, Alraune answered. It had been the same with Emily, but Catherine seemed to have the ability to perceive fairies. That was why Kent and Catherine had been talking with Alraune so naturally that they had not realized other people couldn’t see her.

“Catherine, for now, let’s keep this a secret.”

“So this is a secret we’re sharing with Kent-san. Somehow that makes me feel excited.”

Kent and Catherine quietly discussed it so Elnette wouldn’t hear.

“What are you two whispering about?”

“It’s nothing. I just happened to wake up, and Catherine was awake too, so we were just talking a little.”

It seemed Elnette believed the desperate excuse Kent came up with.

“Elnette-san, are you going to sleep a bit more? Or are you staying up?”

“Let’s see. There’s still a little time before we have to get up, so I think I’ll go back to sleep. What about you two?”

“We’ll probably stay up. Well then, good night.”

Since they still hadn’t finished talking with Alraune, Kent and Catherine decided to stay awake. Elnette went back to her room, and Kent, Catherine, and Alraune decided to continue their conversation.